You have learned a writing system, the rhythm of the language, greetings, numbers, your first kanji and a self-introduction. This lesson checks what you know and shows what to do next.
What you can do now
- Read and write all 46 hiragana and 46 katakana, including voiced, contracted and long sounds.
- Pronounce Japanese by beats and tell short and long vowels apart.
- Greet and thank people politely and ask for help when you do not understand.
- Count to 100, say prices and the hour.
- Recognise 22 kanji and the days of the week.
- Introduce yourself and ask someone's name and origin.
Where do you need more work?
| If you struggled with… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Reading hiragana | Re-read Lessons 3 to 5. Write every character 10 times. |
| Reading katakana | Read every katakana word you see on food packages, menus and signs. Re-read Lessons 9 to 11. |
| Long vowels and っ | Listen to Lessons 2 and 7 again and clap the beats. |
| Numbers and prices | Say every price you see during a day in Japanese. |
| Kanji | Write the 22 kanji twice a day for a week, with a word for each. |
| Speaking | Repeat the dialogues of Lessons 8, 12 and 15 aloud, playing both parts. |
A 4-week plan for the next month
| Week | Daily 30 to 40 minutes | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 min write kana, 10 min read word lists, 10 min listen and repeat | All hiragana and katakana from memory |
| 2 | Read the dialogues aloud, write 5 words a day in kana, practise numbers | Greetings, numbers and time without notes |
| 3 | Learn the 22 kanji, listen to the dialogues again, add 5 new words a day | Read the kanji with their words |
| 4 | Do the checkpoint again, record your self-introduction, start the next course | A confident introduction and a clean checkpoint |
Free official resources
- Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan (the Japan Foundation): free textbooks, audio and "Can-do" lessons for the A1 and A2 levels.
- NHK WORLD-JAPAN: Easy Japanese: short audio lessons about real situations.
- NHK News Web Easy: news written with simple words and furigana for learners.
- The JFT-Basic website (Japan Foundation): the test overview, rules and a sample test.
What comes next
The next course in this series is Everyday Japanese (N5/A1): basic grammar and useful words about family, shopping, food, transport, time and work. After that, Japanese for Work and Daily Life prepares you for the JFT-Basic and the JLPT N4, the two ways to show the basic Japanese needed for the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa.
Final checkpoint: 20 questions
Answer on paper. Then check your answers below.
Check yourself
Try all 20 before you check the answers. Aim for 14 or more.
- Name the three scripts.
- Where does the verb sit in a Japanese sentence?
- Read: おはようございます.
- Read: ありがとう.
- Read: がっこう.
- Read: おかあさん.
- Read: ネパール.
- Read: カトマンズ.
- Read: コーヒー.
- Read: りょこう.
- Write "mountain" (yama) in hiragana.
- Write "cat" (neko) in hiragana.
- Write "bus" (basu) in katakana.
- How do you say 15 in Japanese?
- What is さんびゃく in numbers?
- Read: 水曜日.
- Read: 日本人.
- Ask "How much is this?"
- How is the particle は read, and what is its job?
- Say your name and where you are from in Japanese.
Answers
Count your correct answers. If you got fewer than 14 out of 20, read the lesson again and listen to the audio once more.
- Hiragana, katakana, kanji.
- At the end.
- ohayou gozaimasu: good morning.
- arigatou: thank you.
- gakkou: school.
- okaasan: mother.
- nepaaru: Nepal.
- katomanzu: Kathmandu.
- koohii: coffee.
- ryokou: trip, travel.
- やま.
- ねこ.
- バス.
- じゅうご.
- 300.
- suiyoubi: Wednesday.
- nihonjin: a Japanese person.
- これは いくらですか。
- wa. It marks the topic.
- (name) です。 ネパールから きました。
Comments
Loading comments…