A1 · Japanese

Japanese from zero to A1

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Japanese from zero to A1, taught in English: hiragana and katakana with moras, long vowels and small っ, introductions with です, the particles は, も and の and numbers to 100, food and ordering with を, ます verbs, これ・それ・あれ and counting with ～つ, home and things with あります・います and the two groups of adjectives, time, days of the week and requests with ～てください, town and transport with prices in yen, shopping, the past tense and wishes with ～たいです. Extras — forms and addresses, weather, feeling unwell and the phone; real-life scenes — convenience store, restaurant, station and clinic. Answers are in kana; typing in romaji is accepted too.

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PepelenCourse author

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Module 0. Kana and sounds

Lesson 1. Hiragana あ–の: five vowels and the mora

11 exercises · I can read any word written with あ–の, count its moras, and say every vowel in full: Japanese never reduces a vowel to “uh”.

Lesson 2. Hiragana は–ん: the other rows and three particle characters

11 exercises · I can read aloud any word in plain hiragana, give ん its full beat, and read は, へ, and を correctly when they're used as particles.

Lesson 3. Dakuten, handakuten, and っ: typing for the first time

13 exercises · I can read and type a word with the two strokes, the circle, or a small っ, and keep the pause, which matters in Japanese as much as a sound.

Lesson 4. Yōon and long vowels: two length traps

13 exercises · I can hear and write the difference between きよ and きょ and between a short and a long mora, without mixing up “hospital” and “hair salon”, and type such words on a keyboard.

Lesson 5. Katakana ア–ン: loanwords, countries, and foreign names

13 exercises · I can read a sign or a menu written in katakana, tell the look-alikes シ and ツ, ソ and ン apart, and hear the long vowels that katakana writes with the long-vowel mark.

Lesson 6. Extended katakana and your own name

12 exercises · I can read a word with ファ, ティ, ウィ, or ヴ and see how my name and my country look in katakana — the way they're written on a name tag or a form.

Module 1. Meeting people: first words and the first sentence

Lesson 1. Greetings, thanks, and “Could you say that again?”

14 exercises · I can say hello and goodbye by time of day and at work, thank someone, apologize, and ask people to repeat or speak more slowly — and understand when I'm asked whether I speak Japanese.

Lesson 2. Who I am: 「わたしはがくせいです」, the particle は, and the predicate at the end

15 exercises · I can say who I am and who the other person is, ask a question with か, and answer “yes, that's right” or “no, that's not right” — and I put the predicate at the end of the sentence.

Lesson 3. Where you're from: 「オーストラリアからきました」, the particle も, countries and languages

14 exercises · I can say where I came from and where I live now, name my nationality and language, and pick up someone else's line with the word “too”.

Lesson 4. The particles の and と: your family and someone else's

14 exercises · I can say who's in my family, ask about someone else's, and not mix up the two sets of words: the plain ones for my own relatives, the polite ones for other people's.

Lesson 5. Numbers 0–100 and age

14 exercises · I can count to a hundred, give my age and ask someone else's — and not get caught by the words where the reading changes: いっさい, はっさい, じゅっさい, はたち.

Lesson 6. Module 1 review

16 exercises · I can do everything the module was for: greet people and ask them to repeat, say who I am and where I'm from, and name my family members and their ages.

Module 2. Food, likes, and ordering

Lesson 1. What I like: 好きです and a polite refusal

15 exercises · I can say what I like and don't like, ask the other person about it, and politely turn down food I don't eat.

Lesson 2. What I eat and drink: を and the verb at the end

15 exercises · I can say what I do — eat, drink, watch, buy — and ask the other person about it, putting the verb at the end of the sentence.

Lesson 3. How often: いつも, よく, ときどき, あまり, ぜんぜん

13 exercises · I can say how often I eat and drink things, and I won't forget that after “not very” and “not at all” the verb takes ません.

Lesson 4. これ, それ, あれ: three sets of demonstratives

14 exercises · I can point to a thing and name it — “this” or “that over there” — ask which one of several, and say where things are.

Lesson 5. Ordering: “please give me,” “I'll have this,” and counting with ～つ

15 exercises · I can order food and a drink, say how many, ask if they have what I need, and finish my order.

Lesson 6. Module 2 review

16 exercises · I can review the whole module: say what I like and don't like, what I eat and how often, point to things, and order with quantities.

Module 3. Home, things, and where they are

Lesson 1. What's in the house: 【場所】にNがあります

16 exercises · I can say what there is and isn't in a room and in a house: 「へやにテレビがあります」, 「トイレはありません」 — and ask whether there's something I need: 「せんたくきがありますか」.

Lesson 2. What it's like: い-adjectives

15 exercises · I can describe a thing or a home: say 「へやはひろいです」 and 「ひろくないです」, ask 「たかいですか」 and give a short answer — without dropping です, which here means politeness, not “to be”.

Lesson 3. What it's like: な-adjectives

16 exercises · I can describe a place or a person with な-adjectives — 「へやはしずかです」, 「しずかじゃないです」 — without mixing them up with い-adjectives, and hear that 「はし」 comes with two melodies.

Lesson 4. How to make each word negative — and to what extent

15 exercises · I can tell from a word's form how to make it negative — くないです or じゃないです — add a degree (とても, ちょっと, まあまあ, あまり…ないです), and answer the question 「どうですか」.

Lesson 5. Who's where and what's where: います and position words

14 exercises · I can say where someone or something is: 「たなかさんはへやにいます」, 「ほんはつくえのうえにあります」 — and choose います or あります by whether it's alive or not.

Lesson 6. Module 3 review

15 exercises · I can put the whole module together: say what there is and isn't in a house, describe a thing with an adjective of either type with the right negative and degree, and say who's where and what's where.

Module 4. The day, time, work, and requests

Lesson 1. What time is it: ～時, ～分, 半 — and what time you get up

17 exercises · I can say and ask what time it is and when I get up, work, and go to bed: なんじですか, 7時におきます, 11時ごろねます.

Lesson 2. Days of the week and “from … to”: から〜まで — and “when works for you”

16 exercises · I can name the day of the week, say what hours I work, and agree on a day: きんようびがいいです, どようびはだめです.

Lesson 3. Where and with whom: the particles で and と

15 exercises · I can say where and with whom I do something, and ask about it: place ＋で, person ＋と, どこで, だれと.

Lesson 4. Requests at work: 貸してください and nine more set phrases

15 exercises · I can ask a coworker to do something simple and confirm a task: …、かしてください, …、かりてもいいですか, はい、…ですね.

Lesson 5. The calendar: months, days of the month, the year

15 exercises · I can say and ask the date and a birthday (5月5日です) and say “today”, “tomorrow”, and “next week”.

Lesson 6. Invitations: ～ませんか, ～ましょう, and 【日時】に【場所】で

16 exercises · I can invite someone to an event and answer an invitation: when ＋に, where ＋で, what ＋があります; …いっしょにいきませんか; いいですね; …はちょっと….

Lesson 7. Module 4 review

17 exercises · I can review time, days of the week, dates, the particles に, で, and と, the ten requests, and invitations — and check that it all works together.

Module 5. Town, transportation, and free time

Lesson 1. Hobbies and free time: しゅみは何（なん）ですか and どんなN

13 exercises · I can ask and answer what someone's hobby is and what kind of music, manga, or food they like, and say what I do on my day off.

Lesson 2. Transportation: 【乗り物】で, に乗ります／を降ります, から〜まで

15 exercises · I can say how I get from home to work and how long it takes, where I get on and where I get off, and ask “by what?” and “how?”

Lesson 3. At the station and in town: “Does this bus go to …?” and signs

14 exercises · I can ask whether this bus goes where I need to go, where the bank or restroom is, and which track the train leaves from — and understand station signs and a sign with opening hours.

Lesson 4. The adjective before the noun: おおきいたてもの and しずかなまち

15 exercises · I can describe what I see in town: put an adjective before a noun — おおきいたてもの, しずかなまち — and comment on what I see with “～ですね”.

Lesson 5. Prices and paying at the register: いくらですか, 百・千・万, ～円, ～枚

18 exercises · I can ask the price, understand and write down an amount in hundreds and thousands, ask for the number of tickets I need, and understand what the cashier is asking.

Lesson 6. Module 5 review

16 exercises · I can review the whole module: talk about hobbies and the way to work, ask what's where in town, describe a building and a town, and say a price.

Module 6. Shopping, the past, and wishes

Lesson 1. In a store: ほしいんですが…, floors ～階, and “push / pull”

16 exercises · I can ask for what I need in a store with a polite unfinished sentence, ask about and name a floor, and understand door signs.

Lesson 2. Yesterday and last week: V-ました and V-ませんでした

16 exercises · I can say what I did and didn't do yesterday and last week, and say “nothing” and “nowhere”.

Lesson 3. How it was: たのしかったです and たのしくなかったです

15 exercises · I can say how something was, “it was fun” or “it wasn't interesting,” and answer the question 「どうでしたか」.

Lesson 4. Was and wasn't: でした, じゃなかったです — the four forms of です

14 exercises · I can say what a day was and what a place was like: “yesterday was a day off,” “it wasn't quiet there.”

Lesson 5. What you want to do: V-たいです and V-たくないです

15 exercises · I can say what I want and don't want to do on the weekend and on a trip, and ask the other person about it.

Lesson 6. あと・それから・それに・でも: talking about the weekend

15 exercises · I can talk about my weekend in three or four sentences, linking them with まず, それから, それに, and でも, and answer the question 「しゅうまつはなにをしましたか」.

Lesson 7. Module 6 review

16 exercises · I can ask for something in a store, talk about the past in three ways, say what I want, and link sentences into a story.

Module 7. A1 extras

Lesson 1. Forms and addresses: how to fill out a Japanese form

16 exercises · I can fill out a Japanese form — last and first name, the katakana reading, date of birth, citizenship, and address — and say my phone number and email address aloud.

Lesson 2. Weather and seasons: 「いい天気ですね」

14 exercises · I can say what the weather is like today and in each season, and keep up a short conversation about the weather with a neighbor or a coworker.

Lesson 3. The body and how you feel: 「あたまがいたいです」

16 exercises · I can name parts of the body, say what hurts and that I have a fever or a cold, and ask the other person if they're all right.

Lesson 4. The phone, messages, and emergency phrases

13 exercises · I can start a phone call and say I'll call back, ask for the Wi-Fi password, and send a message — and call for help if something goes wrong, and understand a sign that warns of danger.

Module 8. A1 practice

Lesson 1. コンビニ: the register, heating food, a bag, and paying

15 exercises · I can buy food at a konbini: ask where things are, agree to have a bento heated, turn down a bag, pay with a transit card or cash, and understand what the cashier asks.

Lesson 2. レストラン・居酒屋: a table, ordering, and the check

14 exercises · I can walk into a Japanese restaurant or izakaya, say how many of us there are, ask what they recommend, order a set meal and a drink, ask for a refill, and handle the check — together or separately.

Lesson 3. 駅と道: tickets, platforms, and asking the way

14 exercises · I can buy a ticket from a machine or at the window, find my platform and track, read the departure board to see where and when a train goes, ask a passerby the way, and understand the answer.

Lesson 4. 病院と薬局: what hurts, the pharmacy, and making an appointment

13 exercises · I can go to a Japanese clinic: show my insurance card, say what hurts and since what day, understand the doctor's questions and “get well soon”, and at a pharmacy buy medicine, a mask, or a bandage and understand when to take the medicine.