Thursday 8 December 2016

Japanese Vocabulary list: Trains (電車) and related terms

電車 (densha): Train [this word is written with the Kanji for “electricity” and “car”, and thus is generally used to refer to electronic trains]
〜本 (~hon): Counter for trains [一本、二本、三本, etc….] (ippon, nihon, sanbon, etc)
列車 (ressha): Train [more general meaning than 電車 and can extend to non-electronic trains, though arguably sounds more formal than 電車]
乗る (noru): To ride [use に particle after the train, if specified]
降りる (oriru): To get off [typically use を, though から is also possible]
乗り換える (norikaeru): To change trains
乗り遅れる (noriokureru): To miss a train
乗り過ごす (norisugosu): To miss a train
鉄道 (tetsudou): Railroad
鉄道会社 (tetsudou gaisha): Railroad company
銀河鉄道の夜 (ginga testudo no yoru): Great famous novel by Kenji Miyazawa (“Night on the Galactic Railroad”)
地下鉄 (chikatetsu): Subway
駅 (eki): Train station
駅員 (eki): Station attendant
ターミナル駅 (taaminaru eki): Terminal station (where tracks end)
改札口 (kaisatsuguchi): Ticket gate
切符 (kippu): Ticket [sometimes written in Hiragana as きっぷ]
乗車券 (joushaken): Train ticket
通る (tooru): To go through something [use を with what is being passed through. Ex: a person through a gate, a train through a tunnel]
通過する (tsuuka suru): To pass through
通過駅 (tsuukaeki): A station that is passed through without stopping at
時間表 (jikanhyou): Time table (can be for train times at the station or something else)
掲示板 (keijiban): Bulletin board (can refer to informational, digital boards in stations, but also can refer to internet forums)
行き先 (ikisaki): Destination (of a train, etc.)
目的地 (mokutekichi): Destination (literally “target location”)
出発 (shuppatsu): Depart [can be a noun as is, or as averb with する]
出発進行 (shuppatsu shinkou): Equivalent of “all aboard!” when a train is starting to move
到着 (touchaku): Arrive [can be a noun as is, or as averb with する]
ホーム (hoomu): Platform which you walk on before getting on or off a train
汽車 (kisha): Steam train
機関車 (kikansha): Engine / locomotive
路面電車 (romen densha): Streetcar [runs on a track]
シュッシュポッポ (shusshu poppo): One way to describe the sound of a steam train moving
ガタンゴトン (gatan goton): One way to describe a modern (electric) train moving
車両 (sharyou): [train] car
架線 (kasen): Overhead electrical wire
線路 (senro): Train track
踏切 (fumikiri): Train crossing
遅延 (chien): Delay (like when a train is late)
停車 (teisha): a (train) stop
普通列車 (futsuu ressha): A normal train that stops at each station
特急列車 (tokkyuu ressha): High speed train that skips stops to get somewhere faster
夜行列車 (yakou ressha): Night train
女性専用車両 (josei sen’you sharyou): Train car which only women can ride (can be just 女性専用車)
運転席 (untenseki): Place where the person driving the train sits
運転士 (untenshi): Person who drives the train
休止 (kyuushi): Halting/suspension of operation for something, for example running of a train
電車オタク (densha otaku): “train nerd” or someone who is really crazy about collecting, playing with, and/or studying about trains
新幹線 (shinkansan): Bullet train, speed train
連結 (renketsu): Linking or coupling of trains
脱線 (dassen): Derailment [sometimes used for trains, but also used metaphorically to refer to a conversation, etc.]

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Thursday 31 December 2015

Wednesday 23 December 2015

Textbooks

Communicating in Japanese, Hiroyoshi Noto, 1999, Sotakusha
『コミュニケーションのための日本語』
Lesson 6 – 31
Intermediate Japanese for University Students, Hiroyoshi Noto, 1996, Taishukan Shoten
『英文　中級日本語』
Lesson 1 – 20
Mimi o sumaseba, Hiroyoshi Noto, Harumi Hibino Lory, Yoshiko Uchida, 2000 (used only at the University of Chicago)
『耳をすませば』
Lesson 1 – 14
Majo no takkyuubin, Hiroyoshi Noto, Harumi Hibino Lory, 2000 (used only at the University of Chicago)
『魔女の宅急便』
Lesson 1 – 7
Basic Kanji Book, Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, Eriko Ishii, 2004, Bonjinsha
『基本漢字500』
Lesson 1 – 45
Genki, Eri Banno, Kyoko Shinagawa, Yoko Sakane, Hiroki Ono, Kyoko Tokashiki, 1999, Japan Times
『げんき』
Lesson 3 – 23
Kanji Look & Learn, Eri Banno, Yoko Ikeda, Kyoko Shinagawa, Kaori tajima, Kyoko tokashiki, 2009, Japan Times
Lesson 1 – 32
Note: the kanji 吉 in lesson 27 is neither second level JLPT kanji nor educational kanji and thus is not supported by Kanji alive.
Adventures in Japanese, Hiromi Peterson and Naomi Omizo, 2007, 3rd edition, Cheng & Tsui Company
Vol. 1, Lesson 13 – 15
Vol. 2, Lesson 2 – 7 (no kanji in lesson 1 and 8) , 9 – 15 (no kanji in lesson 12)
Vol. 3, Lesson 1 – 4, 6 – 9 (no kanji in lesson 5)
Vol. 4, Lesson 1 – 4, 6 – 9 (no kanji in lesson 5)
Note: the kanji 嬉 from Chapter 7 of the fourth volume is neither a second level JLPTkanji nor an educational kanji and thus is not supported by Kanji alive.
Adventures in Japanese, Hiromi Peterson and Naomi Omizo, 2014, 4th edition, Cheng & Tsui Company
Vol. 1, Lesson 13 – 15
Intermediate Kanji Book Vol.1, Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, Eriko Ishii, 2011, the revised third edition, Bonjinsha
Lesson 1 – 10, LR1 and LR2.
Note: the kanji 訂 and 援 in lesson 3, the kanji 裕 in lesson 4, the kanji 拍 in LR1 (treated as Chapter 11 in Kanji alive), the kanji 併 and 睡 in lesson 7, the kanji 撃, 振, 煮 in lesson 9 and the kanji 被 and 購 in LR2 (treated as Chapter 12 in Kanji alive) are neither second level JLPT kanji nor educational kanji and thus are not supported by Kanji alive.
TOBIRA: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning Through Content and Multimedia,Mayumi Oka, Michio Tsutsui, Junko Kondo, Shouko Emori, Yoshiro Hanai, and Satoru Ishikawa, Kuroshio Shuppan
『上級へのとびら』
Lesson 1 – 15

Study Lists / Lesson Plans

Advanced Placement (AP) Kanji
AP日本語試験の漢字リスト
Lesson 1 – 20

Macquarie University
Macquarie大学日本語111の漢字リスト
Lesson 12 – 22

Must Learn Radicals - Kanji

The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants

Kanji are classified in kanji dictionaries according to their main components which are called radicals (roots) in English and 部首 (ぶしゅ) in Japanese. 部 (ぶ) means a group and 首 (しゅ) means a chief (head/neck). There are 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th century Kangxi dictionary.
Every kanji without exception only has one radical / 部首 (ぶしゅ). Each radical has a meaning(s) and lends its meaning(s) to the kanji of which it is part. Please take a look at the examples below. The right part of these three kanji is the same but the left part is different. The left part of these kanji is their radical. Note how each radical imparts its meaning to the kanji:
時: The radical of this kanji is 日 (sun, day, time). The meaning of this kanji is “time.”
詩: The radical of this kanji is 言 (words, to speak, say). The meaning of this kanji is “poetry, poem”.
持: The radical of this kanji is 扌(hand). The meaning of this kanji is “to hold”.
For this reason it is very important to learn each kanji’s radical, as well as the meaning(s) of its radical. Not all 214 radicals are in use in current Japanese but you will soon become familiar with the most important ones and their variants.
There are no official Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is why you will find differences in the Japanese names for the radicals on different websites and dictionaries.
Radicals are categorized into seven main groups according to their position within a kanji. Please note that some kanji are also radicals in and of themselves (such as 大, 日, 月). In those cases, the kanji and the radical are one and the same, and thus the position of the radical in the kanji is irrelevant. As a result they do not fall into any one of the seven categories.

へん (hen)		Radicals on the left side of the kanji
つくり (tsukuri)		Radicals on the right
かんむり (kanmuri)		Radicals on the top
あし (ashi)		Radicals on the bottom
かまえ (kamae)		Radicals which enclose the kanji
たれ (tare)		Radicals which "hang down"
にょう (nyou)		Radicals which wrap around the bottom of a character