Minna no Nihongo I: Comprehensive Translation and Grammatical Notes Study Guide

Publication Information and Context

Book Title: Minna no Nihongo I (みんなの日本語初級Ⅰ 翻訳・文法解説英語版)
Type: Translation & Grammatical Notes, English Version.
Publisher: 3A Corporation (スリーエーネットワーク).
Address: Shoei Bldg., $6-3$ , Sarugaku-cho $2$ -chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo $101-0064$ , Japan.
ISBN: $ISBN4-88319-107-9 C0081$ .
Copyright: $1998$ by 3A Corporation.
Significant Dates: First published in $1998$ . Printed in Japan.
Foreword Information: * Designed to make studying Japanese enjoyable and interesting. * Took over $3$ years to plan and compile. * Acts as a companion volume to "Shin Nihongo no Kiso," an efficient resource developed for technical trainees of the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS). * Authored under the leadership of Iwao Ogawa, President of 3A Corporation, in March $1998$ .

Structure and Content of Learning Materials

The Set: Consists of a Main Text, a Translation and Grammar Text, and a set of cassette tapes.
Skill Focus: The primary emphasis is on listening and speaking; it does not explicitly provide instruction in writing hiragana, katakana, or kanji in the grammar text.
Main Text Components: 1. Japanese Pronunciation: Examples of main characteristics. 2. Classroom Instructions, Greetings, and Numerals: Essential for immediate school and community interaction. 3. Lesson Structure ( $25$ Lessons): * Sentence Patterns: Basic forms in order of appearance. * Example Sentences: Small dialogues (Question/Answer style) demonstrating practical use; introduces adverbs and conjunctions. * Conversation: Simple, practical scenarios involving foreigners in Japan. Memorization is recommended. * Drills: * Drill A: Visual charts for grammatical structure and verb conjugations. * Drill B: Patterns to strengthen the grasp of basic sentence structures ( symbol indicates pictorial charts).\n * **Drill C:** Discourse-style drills for oral skills.\n * **Practice:** Consists of listening practice (sub-divided into personal answers and key point confirmation) and grammar/reading practice (True/False responses).\n * **Review:** Essential points covered every several lessons.\n * **Summary:** Usage patterns of particles, verb forms, adverbs, and conjunctions recorded at the end of the text.\n * **Index:** Words, instructions, and idiomatic expressions.\n* **Translation and Grammar Text Components:**\n * Japanese script system overview.\n * Vocabulary and translations for each of the 25 lessons.\n * Translations for Sentence Patterns, Examples, and Conversations.\n * Reference words and cultural information on Japan.\n * Explanation of essential grammar.\n * Summary tables for numbers, time, and counters.\n* **Cassette Tape Content:** Recorded Vocabulary, Sentence Patterns, Example Sentences, Drill C, Conversation, and listening comprehension questions from the Practice section.\n\n# Kanji and Script Usage Rules\n\n* **Standards:** Kanji usage is based on the Joyo Kanji (official list of characters used in Japan).\n* **Ateji:** Words with special readings (e.g., 友達 \text{friend} $, 果物$ \text{fruit} $, 眼鏡$ \text{glasses}) are written in kanji.\n* **Proper Nouns:** Written in kanji despite non-standard readings (e.g., 大阪 \text{Osaka} $, 奈良$ \text{Nara} $, 歌舞伎$ \text{Kabuki}).\n* **Katakana Usage:** Used for foreign names and loan words.\n* **Arabic Numerals:** Generally used (e.g., 9\, ext{o'clock} $,$ 4\, ext{month } 1\, ext{day} $,$ 1\, ext{thing}). \n* **Kanji Numerals:** Used in specific fixed idioms (e.g., 一人で \text{by oneself} $, 一度$ \text{one time} $, 一万円札$ \text{ten thousand yen bill}).\n* **Punctuation Symbols:** \n * `[ ]`: Indicates omitted words (e.g., [\text{わたしは}]\,54\, ext{歳です}).\n * `( )`: Indicates synonyms (e.g., \text{だれ (どなた) }\text{who}).\n * `—`: Represents an alternative word or part.\n * `~`: Represents an alternative numeral (e.g., ~\text{円 }\text{yen} $,$ ~\text{時間 }\text{hours}).\n\n# Key Characters in Conversations\n\n* **Mike Miller:** American, employee of IMC (computer software company).\n* **Sato Keiko:** Japanese, employee of IMC.\n* **Jose Santos:** Brazilian, employee of Brazil Air.\n* **Maria Santos:** Brazilian, housewife (wife of Jose).\n* **Karina:** Indonesian, student at Fuji University.\n* **Wang Xue:** Chinese, doctor at Kobe Hospital.\n* **Yamada Ichiro:** Japanese, employee of IMC.\n* **Yamada Tomoko:** Japanese, bank clerk (wife of Ichiro).\n* **Matsumoto Tadashi:** Japanese, department chief at IMC.\n* **Matsumoto Yoshiko:** Japanese, housewife (wife of Tadashi).\n* **Kimura Izumi:** Japanese, announcer.\n* **Watt:** British, professor at Sakura University.\n* **Schmidt:** German, engineer at Power Electric Company.\n* **Lee:** Korean, researcher at AKC (Asia Research Institute).\n* **Teresa:** Brazilian schoolgirl (9\, ext{years old}), daughter of Jose and Maria Santos.\n* **Taro:** Japanese schoolboy (8\, ext{years old}), son of Ichiro and Tomoko Yamada.\n* **Gupta:** Indian, employee of IMC.\n* **Thawaphon:** Thai, student at a Japanese language school.\n\n# General Features of the Japanese Language\n\n* **Parts of Speech:** Verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and particles.\n* **Word Order:** The predicate always occurs at the end of the sentence. Modifiers always precede the word/phrase being modified.\n* **Predicates:** Three types exist: noun, verb, and adjective. Predicates inflect for affirmative/negative and non-past/past, but not for person, gender, or number.\n* **Adjectives:** Sub-divided into \text{i-adjectives} $and$ \text{na-adjectives}.\n* **Particles:** Used to denote grammatical relations, speaker intentions, or to connect sentences.\n* **Omission:** Subjects and objects are frequently omitted if understood from context.\n\n# Detailed Pronunciation and Phonetics\n\n* **Mora:** The basic unit of sound. All moras have approximately equal length.\n* **Vowels:** Five basic sounds: \text{a} $,$ \text{i} $,$ \text{u} $,$ \text{e} $,$ \text{o}. \n* **The sound ん (n):** \n 1. Pronounced \text{/n/} $before$ \text{t-, d-, n-, and r-rows} $(e.g.,$ \text{はんたい} $,$ \text{みんな}).\n 2. Pronounced \text{/m/} $before$ \text{p-, b-, and m-rows} $(e.g.,$ \text{しんぶん} $,$ \text{えんぴつ}).\n 3. Pronounced \text{/\eta/} $before$ \text{k- and g-rows} $(e.g.,$ \text{てんき} $,$ \text{けんがく}).\n* **The sound っ (small tsu):** Occurs before \text{k-, s-, t-, and p-rows} $. It represents a one-mora pause/length (e.g.,$ \text{にっき} $,$ \text{ざっし} $,$ \text{きって}).\n* **Long Vowels:** Pronounced twice as long as ordinary vowels. \n * **In Hiragana:** \n * \text{a-line} $: add$ \text{あ}.\n * \text{i-line} $: add$ \text{い}.\n * \text{u-line} $: add$ \text{う}.\n * \text{e-line} $: add$ \text{い} $(Exceptions:$ \text{ええ} $,$ \text{ねえ} $,$ \text{おねえさん} $use$ \text{え}).\n * \text{o-line} $: add$ \text{う} $(Exceptions:$ \text{おおきい} $,$ \text{とおい} $use$ \text{お}).\n * **In Katakana:** Represented by a dash \text{ー}.\n* **Devoicing:** The vowels \text{[i]} $and$ \text{[u]} $are devoiced between voiceless consonants (e.g.,$ \text{すき} $,$ \text{しました}).\n* **Accent:** Japanese uses a pitch accent (high vs. low pitch). The pitch never rises again once it has fallen within a word. \n * **Hana (nose):** Falling pitch does not occur (standard).\n * **Hana (flower):** Falling pitch occurs after the last mora.\n * **Bridge vs. Chopsticks:** Distinguished by accent patterns.\n\n# Lesson 1: Grammar and Vocabulary Fundamentals\n\n* **Key Vocabulary:**\n * \text{わたし (I)} $,$ \text{あなた (you)} $,$ \text{あのひと (that person)}.\n * \text{せんせい (teacher)} $vs.$ \text{きょうし (instructor)} $:$ \text{Sensei} $is a title of respect,$ \text{Kyoushi} refers to one's own profession.\n * \text{-じん} $: Suffix for nationality (e.g.,$ \text{アメリカじん}).\n * \text{はじめまして}: "How do you do?" (Used for first-time meetings).\n* **Grammar Point 1: \text{N}_1\text{ は N}_2\text{ です}**\n * Particle \text{は} indicates the topic and is read as "wa."\n * \text{です} is the predicate and shows politeness and assertion.\n* **Grammar Point 2: \text{N}_1\text{ は N}_2\text{ じゃありません}**\n * The negative form of \text{です} $. Informal conversation uses$ \text{じゃありません} $; formal use prefers$ \text{ではありません}.\n* **Grammar Point 3: Sentence \text{か}**\n * Particle \text{か} at the end turns a sentence into a question with rising intonation.\n * Answers to Correct/Incorrect questions must begin with \text{はい} $(Yes) or$ \text{いいえ} (No).\n* **Grammar Point 4: \text{Nも}**\n * Replaces \text{は} when the statement about a new topic is identical to a previous one.\n* **Grammar Point 5: \text{N}_1\text{ の N}_2**\n * Particle \text{の} $connects nouns;$ \text{N}_1 $modifies$ \text{N}_2 $. In Lesson$ 1 $, this identifies$ \text{N}_1 as the organization/group the person belongs to.\n* **Grammar Point 6: \text{~さん}**\n * Title of respect; never used with the speaker's own name.\n\n# Lesson 2: Demonstratives and Possessives\n\n* **Key Vocabulary:**\n * \text{これ、それ、あれ}: Demonstrative nouns (This/That/That over there).\n * \text{この、その、あの}: Modifiers; must be followed by a noun.\n * \text{そうですか}: "I see" or "Is that so?" used when receiving new info.\n* **Grammar Point 1: \text{そうです / そうじゃありません}**\n * Used for questions requiring an affirmative or negative noun-answer. \text{ちがいます} (to differ) can also be used as a negative response.\n* **Grammar Point 2: \text{S}_1\text{ か、S}_2\text{ か}**\n * Alternative questions. The answer states the chosen sentence; \text{はい} $or$ \text{いいえ} are not used.\n* **Grammar Point 3: Possession with \text{の}**\n * \text{N}_1 $explains what$ \text{N}_2 $is about or who owns$ \text{N}_2.\n * \text{N}_2 $can be omitted if obvious, unless$ \text{N}_2 refers to a person.\n\n# Appendix: Numerals and Japanese Units\n\n* **Basic Numbers (0-10):**\n * 0: \text{zero, rei} $,$ 1: \text{ichi} $,$ 2: \text{ni} $,$ 3: \text{san} $,$ 4: \text{yon, shi} $,$ 5: \text{go} $,$ 6: \text{roku} $,$ 7: \text{nana, shichi} $,$ 8: \text{hachi} $,$ 9: \text{kyuu, ku} $,$ 10: \text{juu}.\n* **Large Numbers:**\n * 100: \text{hyaku} $,$ 300: \text{sanbyaku} $,$ 600: \text{roppyaku} $,$ 800: \text{happyaku}.\n * 1,000: \text{sen} $,$ 3,000: \text{sanzen} $,$ 8,000: \text{hassen}.\n * 10,000: \text{ichiman} $,$ 100,000,000: \text{ichioku}.\n* **Fractions:**\n * 1/2: \text{nibu no ichi}.\n * 3/4: \text{yonbu no san}.\n* **Decimals:**\n * 17.5: \text{juunana ten go}.\n\n# Operational Procedures (ATM Withdrawal Example)\n\n1. **Step 1:** Push the \text{[お引き出し]} (Withdrawal) button.\n2. **Step 2:** Insert the cash card.\n3. **Step 3:** Enter the \text{暗証番号} (PIN/Personal Identification Number).\n4. **Step 4:** Enter the amount of money.\n5. **Step 5:** Press \text{[万]} $and$ \text{[円]} buttons to confirm units.\n6. **Step 6:** Press the \text{[確認]}$$ (Confirmation) button.

Step 7: Take the notes.