Months of the Year in Japanese: Game
is the Japanese symbol that represents the moon and is read "tsu
ki". But you can also read it as "getsu" or "gatsu",
and if you put the numbers 1 to 12 in front of it, they become the months of the year.
This is just like English where "moon" and "month"
are basically the same.
Luckily, unlike in English where the "8th month", October, is
actually the 10th month of the year, in Japanese they haven't had any Roman
Emperors messing around with things so it's really, really simple, "1
month" or "ichi gatsu" is January, " ni gatsu"
is February, right up to " jyu ni gatsu " which is December.
Have a look at the numbers page & Months of the Year song if you haven't yet done so, then have a try at this quiz! Just click on
the octopus!
Learning to Read Japanese
Learning to speak Japanese is very easy because if you write it in the
Roman Alphabet (so it looks like English!), the sounds are pretty much
the same!
But if you learn the 46 letters of the Japanese "Katakana" alphabet, you'll be able to read a whole lot more! Try this talking page or the 4 katakana games to get an idea!
Move your mouse over the symbols below and you'll be able to hear the sounds, and some of the characters available in Japanese!
Recommended Courses
There are loads of great resources out there, and one of the good ones
is the "Pimsleur" series. They have a "Quick & Simple"
starter pack and also a full on "Gold Course". They are well
recommended if you want to learn Japanese, in January I used it to learn
everyday Spanish in a month!
Click here for more:
Or for slightly cheaper, but one that requires a bit more work, you can have a look at the Living Language series. Although now I would prefer the Pimsleur course above, I actually used
the Living Language series myself when I first learnt Japanese. It's good,
but you have to keep repeating and repeating the same CDs, whereas the
Pimsleur makes you think more, and reviews the language as you go along.
Click for more.
If you teach English in Japan you might be interested in my new Classroom English / Classroom Japanese CD.
All the Japanese on this page is suitable
for either guys or girls, and is pretty normal,
everyday Japanese. This means it's not too
formal, but you'll be fine as long as you
don't say it to anyone too posh!
Read the hints & tips I used to get fluent in Japanese.
Email me if you have any questions or comments,
Email:
