Page 10 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

are not sure what to do. 2) Listen to the first cue, insert your response during the
following pause, listen to the model answer, and repeat the model answer during
the second pause. 3) Repeat this procedure for the following cues. It is
recommended that you loop back to the beginning of the drill frequently. Always
give yourself a chance to respond to the cues before you listen to the model
answer. Be sure that you understand the meaning of what you are saying, and not
merely repeating the sounds.

Exercises: Two additional types of exercises follow the drills. The first is “Say it
in Japanese”, which is a translation activity. The other is “Role Play”, in which
learners can freely respond to each other within the given context and expand the
suggested interchange into a longer interaction. For this exercise, learners are
encouraged to perform the roles as naturally as possible while integrating body
language, facial expressions, etc.

Review questions: By answering the review questions at the end of each lesson,
you will be able to assess your understanding of the chapter before moving onto
the next one. If you are unsure of the answers, simply refer back to the grammar
notes in that chapter.

Practice using what you learn
Make a clear distinction between knowing the material and using the material in

actual real-life conversations. You may learn the grammar and vocabulary
quickly, but it takes practice to develop the skills to speak Japanese in real-life
situations. You should aim to be able to verbally respond to a native speaker in a
culturally appropriate way. For this reason, the book contains drills and exercises
for oral practice. Audio recordings are provided also to allow you to practice on

your own without a Japanese speaker being present.

Japanese syllables
A Japanese syllable is constructed in one of the following four ways.
1. one vowel alone can be a syllable (a, i, u, e, o)
2. one consonant + one vowel (62 possible combinations)
3. one consonant alone (n, t, s, k, p)

4. one consonant + y + one vowel (33 combinations)
All syllables have the same spoken duration or beat length. The pronunciation of
the letters are similar to English.

The Japanese Vowels