Japanese Language Crash Course

Learn to say yes and no in Japanese with hai and iie, matching pronunciation to body language through nodding and head shaking.

Practice yes and no in Japanese by answering questions with hai or iie, including prompts about sushi, sashimi, sake, and marriage.

Discover the five Japanese vowels written in the English alphabet, learn their pronunciations as a, i, u, e, o, and practice by repeating them in order.

Practice pronouncing Japanese vowels ai, ue, ao, ie by blending vowel pairs into words, noting long vowels and meanings such as ai 'love', ue 'up', ao 'blue', and ie 'house'.

Practice Japanese greetings, including ohayoo, konnichiwa, konbanwa, oyasumi, sayonara, arigatoo, and sumimasen, and learn that the two o vowels in ohayoo indicate a longer vowel held twice as long.

Learn to introduce yourself in Japanese by using watashi, watashi wa, and desu to form polite self introductions, such as watashi wa Yamaguchi desu and konnichiwa.

Learn to describe yourself in japanese using the watashi wa desu pattern, practicing nouns like samurai, ninja, or gei and writing sentences in your notebook.

Learn how to turn a Japanese sentence into a question by adding 'ka' at the end, the equivalent of a question mark, with examples like 'Yamaguchi-san desu ka?"

Practice turning statements into yes/no questions in Japanese and learn when to omit the subject or name it explicitly, with examples like samurai desu ka and gei desu ka.

Learn to ask what's your name in Japanese with 'namae wa nan desu ka' and respond 'watashi wa yamaguchi desu' or 'yamaguchi desu'.

Practice asking for names in Japanese and responding with names using phrases like 'namae wa nan desu ka' and 'Yamaguchi desu'.

Learn how to ask where something is in Japanese using doko desu ka, including casual doko and the polite form; master the phrase toire wa doko desu ka.

Apply the recently learned structure to ask where things are in Japanese, practicing basu wa doko desu ka, hoteru wa doko desu ka, and Yamaguchi-san wa doko desu ka.

Learn how to say water in Japanese as 'mizu', with the polite form 'omizu', practice pronunciation of 'onegai shimasu', and request it in cafe or restaurant contexts.

Learn to order sushi, sashimi, and ramen in Japanese using onegai shimasu to say please at a restaurant.

Learn to tell a taxi driver to take you to the Hilton hotel in Japanese, using the example phrase hiruton hoteru, onegai shimasu.

Master a basic Japanese self-introduction with 'watashi wa' and 'desu'. Add 'yoroshiku onegai shimasu' for 'nice to meet you' and practice the pronunciation of yoroshiku.

Practice introducing yourself using the advanced expression demonstrated by the instructor, then take a turn to respond with 'Konnichiwa. Yamaguchi desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.'