Here we go again! Daily Use Kanji!

OK, so I've been gone for a while again. Yes, I remember that I said I was going to update this blog more, but things are just busy all over, and I forgot about it. Again. For what the 4th or 5th time now? So yeah, let's try this again…here's an update for more daily use kanji for you!

First, note…there are different pronunciations for a lot of kanji, as anyone who studies Japanese will learn. Part of the confusion is that the word you use changes a bit depending on where it will appear in the sentence. For instance, my first example below is 中, or "naka". The "naka" is considered the "kun-yomi", or the kun reading. This is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word that closely approximated the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. There can be multiple kun readings for the same kanji, and some kanji have no kun-yomi at all.

There is also the on-yomi, or on reading. That is based on the Japanese approximation of the original Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time it was introduced. Like the kun readings, there can be multiple on readings for each kanji, since some kanji were reintroduced from different parts of China at different times. However, there are some kanji that have no on-yomi meanings at all.

Because of this, the kanji that I'll introduce here have both the kun-yomi and on-yomi listed where noted, in both the hiragana, katakana, and romaji spellings. My friend helped me to understand their differences; here's what he had to say:

"That's probably the most difficult part of Japanese. The pronunciation of the kanji depends entirely on how it's used. In 中's case, usuall if it's by itself it's read naka, if it's paired with another kanji it's usually read chuu. But of course there are exceptions. 背中 is read senaka ("back"), for example. The meaning can also change depending on how the kanji is used. It usually means "middle", but can also mean "during" in some situations. 一日中 (read "ichinichijuu") means "all day". You figure out how to translate each kanji in that one.

Think of kanji like numerals. For example, "1". How do you read that? If it's by itself, it's read "one", but what about if you put it with another 1 and make "11"? Or if you put it with a 0 and make "ten"? Of course there are only ten numerals to remember, but when you think about all the possible pairings and combinations, the number of "readings" for each numeral goes way up.

There are 5-10 thousand kanji in the "standard" set to remember.

It fucking sucks."

Indeed. So, now that we have all that defined, let's work on some kanji! This is a big list, 70 different 4-stroke kanji that are considered "daily use". We'll start with my initial example!

中 - kun-yomi: なか or naka, on-yomi: チュウ or "chuu" - in, inside, middle, mean, center
不 - ふ or フ ("fu"), on-yomi only - negative, non-, bad, ugly, clumsy
丹 - kun-yomi: に or ni. on-yomi: タン or tan - rust-colored, red, red lead, pills
予 - kun-yomi: あらかじ（め）or arakaji (me). On-yomi: ヨ or シャ, yo or sha - beforehand, previous, myself, I (note, I find it a lot easier to find this kanji with the on-yomi than with the kun-yomi when I type it in. That said, typing it in as ”あらかじめ (arakajime) and then deleting the "me" after having it generate the kanji works.
互 - kun-yomi: たが（い）or taga(i) (type it with the i at the end to generate the kanji). かたみ（に）or katami (ni) works too. On-yomi: ゴ or go - mutually, reciprocally, together. This is another confusing one, since the onyomi is the same as the kanji for "five" with entirely different meanings. Doh! Speaking of which…
五 - Kun-yomi: いつ or itsu. On-yomi: ゴ or go. Well shit. - Five. See what I mean? Different kanji, same on-yomi, different meaning. Get used to this, if you're learning Japanese!
井 - kun-yomi: い or i. On-yomi: セイ (sei) or ショウ (shou) - well, well crib, town, community
仁 - on-yomi: ジン (jin), ニ (ni), or ニン (nin) - humanity, virtue, benevolence, charity, man, kernel
今 - kun-yomi: いま (ima). on-yomi: コン (kon) or キン (kin) - now
介 - on-yomi: カイ (kai) - jammed in, shellfish, mediate, concern oneself with
仏 - kun-yomi: ほとけ (hotoke). on-yomi: ブツ (butsu) or フツ (futsu) - Buddha, the dead, France (side note, I really want to see someone fit all three meanings into one sentence some day…)
元 - kun-yomi: もと (moto). on-yomi: ゲン (gen) or ガン (gan) - beginning, former time, origin
公 - kun-yomi: おおやけ (ooyake). on-yomi: コウ (kou) or ク (ku) - public, prince, official, governmental
六 - kun-yomi: 無(mu). (kun-yomi can also be roku) on-yomi: ロク (roku) or リク (riku) - six
内 - kun-yomi: うち (uchi). on-yomi: ナイ (nai) or ダイ (dai) - inside, within, between, among, house, home (note, some parallel meanings with 中 above! But different as well. Different emphasis for different kanji)
円 - kun-yomi: まる (maru), まど (mado), and まろ (maro). On-yomi: エン (en) - circle, yen, round
冗 - on-yomi: ジョウ (jou) - superfluous, uselessness
凶 - on-yomi: キョウ (kyou) - villain, evil, bad luck, disaster
分 - kun-yomi: わ（ける） (wa(keru)) (include keru to get the kanji). On-yomi: ブン (bun), フン (fun), or ブ (bu). - part, minute of time, segment, share, degree, one's lot, duty, understand, know, rate, 1%, chances, shaku/100
切 - kun-yomi: き（る）(ki(ru)). on-yomi: セツ (setsu) or サイ (sai); it's easier to get this kanji by typing setsu - cut, cutoff, be sharp
刈 - kun-yomi: か（る）(ka(ru)). on-yomi: ガイ (gai) or カイ (kai) - reap, cut, clip, trim, prune
勾 - kun-yomi: かぎ (kagi) or ま（がる）(ma(garu)). on-yomi: コウ (kou) or ク (ku) - be bent, slope, capture
匂 - kun-yomi: にお（う）(nio(u)) or にお（い）(nio(i)). にお（わせる）(nio(waseru)) also works - fragrant, stink, glow, insinuate
化 - kun-yomi: ば（ける）(ba(keru)) or け（する）(ke(suru)). on-yomi: カ (ka) or ケ (ke) - change, take the form of, influence, enhant, delude, -ization
匹 - kun-yomi: ひき (hiki). on-yomi: ヒツ (hitsu) - equal, head, roll of cloth. Also: COUNTER for small animals
区 - on-yomi: ク (ku), オウ (ou), or コウ (kou) - ward, district
升 - kun-yomi: ます (masu). on-yomi: ショウ (shou) - measuring box, 1.8 liter (Yes, I know how odd this is as a daily use definition but you never know. 1.8 liter may be useful later on!)
午 - kun-yomi: うま (uma). On-yomi: ゴ (go) - noon, sign of the horse, 11am-1pm, seventh sign of Chinese zodiac (really…"go" again!? Argh!)
厄 - on-yomi: ヤク (yaku) - unlucky, misfortune, bad luck, disaster
友 - kun-yomi: とも (tomo). on-yomi: ユウ (yuu) - friend (perhaps by now you've heard ともだち or tomodachi as well!)
双 - kun-yomi: ふた (futa), たぐい (tagui), ならぶ (narabu), or ふたつ (futatsu). On-yomi: ソウ (sou) - pair, set, comparison. Also: COUNTER for pairs
反 - kun-yomi: そ（る）(so(ru)), or かえ（す）(kae(su)). On-yomi: ハン (han), ホン (hon), タン (tan), or ホ (ho) - anti-
天 - kun-yomi: あまつ (amatsu). on-yomi: テン (ten) - heavens, sky, imperial
太 - kun-yomi: ふと（い）(futo(i) or ふと（る）(futo(ru)). On-yomi: タイ (tai) or タ (ta) - plump, thick, big around
夫 - kun-yomi: おっと (otto). on-yomi: フ (fu), フウ (fuu), or ブ (bu) - husband, man
孔 - kun-yomi: あな (ana) on-yomi: コウ (kou) - cavity, hole, slit, very, great, exceedingly
少 - kun-yomi: すく（ない）(suku(nai)) on-yomi: ショウ (shou) - few, little
尺 - on-yomi: シャク (shaku) - shaku, Japanese foot, measure, scale, rule
屯 - on-yomi: トン (ton) - barracks, police station, camp
巨 - on-yomi: キョ (kyo) - gigantic, big, large, great
幻 - kun-yomi: まぼろし (maboroshi) on-yomi: ゲン (gen) - phantasm, vision, dream, illusion, apparition
弔 - kun-yomi: とむら（う）(tomura(u)) on-yomi: チョウ (chou) - condolences, mourning, funeral
引 - kun-yomi: ひ（く）(hi(ku)) on-yomi: イン (in) - pull, tug, jerk, admit, install, quote, refer to
心 - kun-yomi: こころ (kokoro) on-yomi: シン (shin) - heart, mind, spirit
戸 - kun-yomi: と (to) on-yomi: コ (ko) - door. ALSO: COUNTER for houses
手 - kun-yomi: て (te) on-yomi: シュ (shu) or ズ (zu) - hand
支 - kun-yomi: ささ（える）(sasa(eru)) or つか（える）(tsuka(eru)) on-yomi: シ (shi) - branch, support, sustain
文 - kun-yomi: ふみ (fumi) or あや (aya) on-yomi: ブン (bun) or モン (mon) - sentence, literature, style, art, decoration, figures, plan, script
斗 - on-yomi: ト or トウ (to/tou) - Big Dipper, 10 sho (vol), sake dipper, dipper.
斤 - on-yomi: キン (kin) - axe, 1.32 lbs, catty, ALSO: COUNTER for loaves of bread
方 - kun-yomi: かた (kata) on-yomi: ホウ (hou) - direction, person, alternative, square
日 - kun-yomi: ひ (hi) on-yomi: ニチ (nichi) or ジツ (jitsu) - day, sun, Japan. ALSO: Counter for days
月 - kun-yomi: つき (tsuki) on-yomi: ゲツ (getsu) or ガツ (gatsu) - month, moon
木 - kun-yomi: き (ki) or こ〜 (ko~) on-yomi: ボク (boku) or モク (moku) - tree, wood
欠 - kun-yomi: か（ける）(ka(keru - ka(ku) also works) on-yomi: ケツ (ketsu) or ケン (ken) - lack, gap, fail
止 - kun-yomi: と（まる）(to(maru) along with a lot of others…todo(me) and todo(maru), or ya(meru) too) on-yomi: シ (shi) - stop, halt
比 - kun-yomi: くら（べる）(kura(beru)) on-yomi: ヒ (hi) - compare, race, ratio, Philipines
毛 - Kun-yomi: け (ke) on-yomi: モウ (mow) - fur, hair, feather, down
氏 - Kun-yomi: うじ (uji) on-yomi: シ (shi) - Family name, surname, clan
水 - kun-yomi: みず (miss) on-yomi: スイ (sui) - water (ever watch anime and hear "Suiton" for water stuff? Now you know why!)
火 - kun-yomi: ひ (hi) on-yomi: カ (ka) - fire
爪 - kun-yomi: つめ (tsume) on-yomi: ソウ (sou) - claw, nail, talon
父 - kun-yomi: ちち (chichi) on-yomi: フ (fu) - father
片 - kun-yomi: かた (kata) on-yomi: ヘン (hen) - one-sided, leaf, sheet, slice
牙 - kun-yomi: きば (kiba) on-yomi: ガ (ga) - tusk, fang
牛 - kun-yomi: うし (ushi) on-yomi: ギュウ (gyuu) - cow
犬 - kun-yomi: いぬ (inu) on-yomi: ケン (ken) - dog
王 - on-yomi: オウ (ou) - king, rule, magnate, jade
辺 - kun-yomi: あた（り）(ata(ri)) on-yomi: ヘン (hen) - environs, boundary, border, vicinity
込 - kun-yomi: 〜こ（む）(~ko(mu)) - crowded, mixture, in bulk, included

Phew! Enjoy!

Some Daily Use Kanji

There are tons of these, so I'm posting them as I go through and memorize the list. Enjoy. A lot of these have many definitions, so I'm listing them all. I know it's a long list, but it helps me to see them all listed like this, so...oh, and also, they are organized by how many pencil/pen strokes it takes to draw the kanji.

(SIDE NOTE: all the romaji translations listed after the kanji are the exact HIRAGANA romani...so "take" is "ta" and "ke", or たけ. English translations will always be separated from the Romaji, so if I miss one, let me know! I also use the hiragana translations and not the audible pronounciations to make writing them easier...so "watashi ha" of course would be spoken "watashi WA".)

(SIDE NOTE #2: Some romaji have some syllables in parenthesis after the first word; this is because Windows would only generate the correct kanji if I used the entire phrase. For instance, see "Na (ki)" under 3 Strokes)

(SIDE NOTE #3: I've decided to do some examples to help memorize sentence structure. At the end of 3 Strokes, I'll go back and do examples for each kanji in order.)

1 Stroke
一 - Ichi - 1
乙 - Otsu - "the latter, duplicate, strange, witty, second"

2 Strokes
丁 - Chou - street, ward, town, even number, 4th calendar sign. Counter for guns, tools, leaves, or cakes of something.
七 - Shichi - Seven
九 - Kyuu - Nine
了 - Ryou - Complete, Finish
二 - Ni - Two
人 - Jin - Person, man (NOTE: this kanji is also formed with the hiragana "hito")
入 - Shio (In Windows, this is formed with the hiragana "iru") - enter, insert
八 - Hachi - Eight
刀 - Katana - Sword, saber, knife
力 - Chikara - Power, Strong, Strain, Bear up, Exert
十 - Juu - Ten
又 - Mata - or again, furthermore, on the other hand, again

3 Strokes
万 - Ban - Ten Thousand
丈 - Take - length, 10 feet, measure, Mr., Ms., height, stature, all (one has), only, that's all, merely
三 - San - Three
上 - Ue - Above, Up
下 - Shita - below, down, descend, give, low, inferior
与 - Ata - bestow, participate in, give, award, impart, provide, cause, gift, godsend
丸 - Maru - round, full, month, perfection, -ship, pills, make round, roll up, curl up, seduce, explain away
久 - Hisa - long time, old story
乏 - Tobo (shii) - destitution, scarce, limited
亡 - Na (Ki) - deceased, the late, dying, perish
凡 - Bon - Mediocre
刃 - Ha - Blade, sword, edge
勺 - Shaku - ladle, one tenth of a go, dip
千 - Sen - Thousand
及 - Oyo (bu) - reach out, exert, exercise, cause
口 - Kuchi - Mouth
土 - Tsuchi - soil, earth, ground, Turkey
士 - Shi - gentleman, samurai, scholar (NOTE the subtle difference from "tsuchi" above!!)
夕 - Yuu - Evening
大 - Oo - Large, big
女 - Onna - Woman, female (Those who've been reading should recognize this one)
子 - Ko - Child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM, first sign of the Chinese zodiac
寸 - Sun - measurement, foot/10, inch
小 - Shou - Little, small
山 - Yama - Mountain
川 - Kawa - Stream, River
工 - Kou - Craft, construction, work
己 - Onore - Self, snake, serpent, oneself
干 - Ho (su) - Dry, parch
弓 - Yumi - Bow, bow(archery, violin)
才 - Sai - genius, years old, cubic shaku

Sentence Examples!

1 Stroke
一 - 道で一ドルを拾った。- michi de ichi doru (w)o hiro tta. - I found a dollar in the street
乙 - 甲の食物は乙の毒。- kou no shokumotsu ha otsu no doku. - One man's meat is another man's poison.

2 Strokes

丁 - (No real examples, so here's a popular compound) 丁寧 - Teinei - Polite, courteous, careful, care, kind, close, thorough, conscientious
七 -　私は普通七時に起きる - watashi ha futsuu shichi ji ni o kiru - I usually get up at seven.
九 - 彼は午後九時にここへ来る事になっている - kare ha gogo kyuu ji ni koko he ku ru koto ninatteiru - He is supposed to come here at 9 PM.
了 - (No example again, here's a compound) 完了 - Kanryou - Completion, conclusion; perfective (form, aspect)
二 - 彼はネコを一匹と犬を二匹飼っている - kare ha neko wo ippiki to inu wo ni hiki katteiru - He has a cat and two dogs.
人 - 鉱山を所有している人から銀を買いました - kouzan wo shoyuu shiteiru hito kara gin wo ka imashita - I buy my silver from a man who has a mine on his property.
入 - (Compound only again) 輸入 - Yunyuu - importation, import, introduction
八 - 会は八時に解散した。- kai ha hachi ji ni kaisan shita - The meeting broke up at eight.
刀 - 江戸時代、武士は刀を２本指していた。- A samurai in the Edo Era carried two swords.
力 - 団結は力なり。- danketsu ha chikara nari - Strength in unity.
十 - 彼のこの十年間の経歴には問題はない。- kare no kono juu nenkan no keireki niha mondai ha nai - He has had a clean record for the past ten years.
又 - まずいよ。また遅刻だ！！はやくも遅刻魔の異名を取ってしまう。- Oh no! I'm late again!! I'm going to get the nickname 'King of Late Arrival'.

3 Strokes
万 - 私は銀行に言って預金から２万ドル引き出した。- watashi ha ginkou ni i tte yokin kara man doru hi ki da shita. - I went to the bank to withdraw $20,000 from deposit.
丈 - 彼の同情はうわべだけだった - kare no doujou ha uwabe dake datta - His sympathy was mere show.
三 - 月に三ないし四回映画を見に行く。- tsuki ni san naishi shi kai eiga wo mi ni i ku - I go to the movies three or four times a month.
上 - 彼の机の上は物だらけで、書き物をするスペースがなかった。- kare no tsukue no ue ha mono darake de, ka ki mono wo suru supe-su ga nakatta - There was so much stuff on his desk that he had nowhere to write.
下 - かごがひとつテーブルのしたにある。- Kago ga hitotsu te-buru no shuta ni aru - There is a basket under the table.
与 - (Compound only again) 贈与 - Zouyo - Donation, presentation
丸 - 我々は丸一ヶ月間、ブロードウエーで出演予定です。- wareware ha maru ikkagetsu kan, buro-doue- de shutsuen yotei desu. - We're booked for the whole month on Broadway.
久 - (Compound only) 恒久 - Koukyuu - Permanent, perpetuity
乏 - (Compound only) 貧乏 - Binbou - Poverty, destitute, poor
亡 - (Compound only) 死亡 - Shibou - Death, mortality
凡 - (Compound only) 平凡 - Heibon - common, commonplace, ordinary, mediocre
刃 - そのナイフは刃が鋭い。- sono naifu ha ha ga surudo i. - The knife has a very sharp edge.
勺 - (Compound only) 一勺 - isshaku - One Shaku
千 - 彼の取れるのはよくて千票でしょう。- kare no to reru no ha yokute sen hyou deshou - At best he'll get 1,000 votes
及 - (compound only) 及ぼす - oyobosu - to exert, to cause, to exercise
口 - 席、くしゃみ、あくびをする時は口を手で隠しなさい。- seki, kushami, akubi wo suru toki ha kuchi wo te de kaku shi nasai - Cover your mouth when you cough, sneeze, or yawn.
土 - 彼の農場の土はとても肥えている。- Kare no noujou no tsuchi ha totemo ko eteiru - The land on his farm is very fertile.
士 - (compound only) 力士 - Rikishi - Sumo wrestler, rikishi (rank); strong man
夕 - (compound only) 夕食 - Yuushoku - Evening meal, dinner
大 - 私たちは阪神の大フアンです。- watashi tachi ha hanshin no dai fuan desu. - We are great Tigers fans. (Great as in big, huge, etc)
女 - 男は度胸、女は愛敬。- otoko ha dokyou, onna ha aikyou - Man is judged by his courage, woman by her charm.
子 - この子は物覚えが速い。- kono ko ha monoobo e ga haya i - The child is learning quickly
寸 - 寸を与えれば尺を望む。- sun wo ata ereba shaku wo nozo mu - Give him an inch and he will take a yard (Note the different kanji for "shaku". Get used to that.)
小 - 大か、小か。- Dai ka, shou ka - Large or small? (Chiisai also means small)
山 - あの山の頂上は平らだ。- ano yama no choujou ha tai ra da - The top of that mountain is flat.
川 - 大きな川がその市を貫いて流れている。- oo kina kawa ga sono shi wo tsuranu ite naga reteiru - A broad river runs through the city. (Note the "oo" kanji at the start signifying the size of the river)
工 - (Compound only) 人工 - Jinkou - artificial, manmade, human work, juman skill, artificiality
己 - 己が誰なのか知れ。- onore ga dare na no ka shi re - Know who you are
干 - (Compound only) 煮干 - (niho(shi)) - (small crunchy) dried sardines
弓 - この弓は張りが強いです。- kono yumi ha ha ri ga tsuyo i desu - This bow has a strong draw
才 - 12才の時彼は声変わりした。- 12 (juuichi) sai no toki kare ha koega wari shita - His voice broke when he was twelve

PHEW! I'm done writing for now hehe...

Quick Phrases

Been very busy with classes, so here are some quick notes and phrases that are helpful:

お名前は何ですか - O-namae wa desu ka? - What is your name?
私の名前は (NAME) です。 - Watashi no namae wa (name) desu. (remember, last name, THEN first name)
どちらから来ましたか - Dochira kara kimashita ka? - Where are you from?
(PLACE) から来ました。- (PLACE) kara kimashita - I'm from (place).

大丈夫ですか - daijoubu desu ka? - Are you OK?
大丈夫です - Daijoubu desu - I'm OK.
大丈夫ではありません - Daijobou dewa arimasen - I'm not OK.
救急車を呼んで - Kyuukyuusha (w)o yonde - Call an ambulance.
警察を呼んで - Keisatsu (w)o yonde - Call the police.
緊急です - Kinkyuu desu - It's an emergency!
たすけてください- Tasukete kudasai - Could you help me, please?

メニューをお願いします - Menyuu (w)o onegai shimasu - I'd like the menu, please
あの料理をくさだい - Ano ryouri (w)o kudasai - I'd like that dish, please
お勘定をお願いします - Okanjou (w)o onegai shimasu - I'd like the bill, please.
地元料理は何がありますか - Jimotoryouri wa nani ga arimasu ka - What's the local specialty?

どこに行けばクラブがありますか - Doko ni ikeba kurabu ga arimasu ka - Where can I find a nightclub?
どこに行けばゲイの場所がありますか - Doko ni ikeba gei no basho ga arimasu ka - (I couldn't resist this one ;) ) Where can I find a gay venue?

All out of time for right now, got lots of homework to do...but enjoy! ;) Now you know how to find a gay bar. :p

Time to dust this off.

おはようございます！

It's time to dust off this blog I think...I see that, somewhere along the road, I picked up some followers for my intermittent Japanese studies. Neato. That said, I'm going to be really picking up on some study notes that I post here, since I'm going to combine my continued self-teaching with some extra classes. If anyone's still watching this thing...I'll try to keep it updated properly now :p

Let's take a step back...

For some alphabet practice! This is easy, but I'm bored and don't have much time...so here we go. Simple organation: Romaji - Hiragana - Katakana. Some notes, any letter where you see something like (w)O means that it's typed differently on a US keyboard when you try to make the letter. So, を is actually typed "wo" when you make the letter, even though the letter itself is just "O". For (d)Ji and (d)Zu, you would type those just "Di" and "Du" to make the characters, but they are still pronounced the same as Ji and Zu. For your reading pleasure, I've enlarged them a bit so that you can see the characters a bit better.

A I U E O - あいうえお - アイウエオ
Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko - かきくけこ - カキクケコ
Sa Shi Su Se So - さしすせそ - サシスセソ
Ta Chi Tsu Te To - たちつてと - タチツテト
Na Ni Nu Ne No - なにぬねの - ナニヌネノ
Ha Hi Hu He Ho - はひふへほ - ハヒフヘホ
Ma Mi Mu Me Mo - まみむめも - マミムメモ
Ya Yu Yo - やゆよ - ヤユヨ
Ra Ri Ru Re Ro - らりるれろ - ラリルレロ
Wa (w)O N - わをん - ワヲン

Ga Gi Gu Ge Go - がぎぐげご - ガギグゲゴ
Za Ji Zu Ze Zo - ざじずぞぞ - ザジズゼゾ
Da (d)Ji (d)Zu De Do - だぢづでど - ダヂヅデド
Ba Bi Bu Be Bo - ばびぶべぼ - バビブベボ
Pa Pi Pu Pe Po - ぱぴぷぺぽ - パピプペポ

Kya Kyu Kyo - きゃきゅきょ - キャキュキョ
Sha Shu Sho - しゃしゅしょ - シャシュショ
Cha Chu Cho - ちゃちゅちょ - チャチュチョ
Nya Nyu Nyo - にゃにゅにょ - ニャニュニョ
Hya Hyu Hyo - ひゃひゅひょ - ヒャヒュヒョ
Mya Myu Myo - みゃみゅみょ - ミャミュミョ
Rya Ryu Ryo - りゃりゅりょ - リャリュリョ

Gya Gyu Gyo - ぎゃぎゅぎょ - ギャギュギョ
Ja Ju Jo - じゃじゅじょ - ジャジュジョ
Bya Byu Byo - びゃびゅびょ - ビャビュビョ
Pya Pyu Pyo - ぴゃぴゅぴょ - ピャピュピョ

So, there's your alphabet in a nutshell for Japanese. IMO, the Hiragana is actually incredibly easy to learn, and once you get used to it you can actually blaze through anything written purely in Hiragana script. However, Kanji and Katakana are generally what trip me up the fastest, as those can be remarkably confusing when you're not as proficient at them (at least for me).

That's all I have time for right now, keep your eyes open later for more.

Continuing on...

Unit 3, Lesson 6

Note: Starting with this lesson, I'll also be using Microsoft IME to also type things up in Japanese. I may do this retroactively as well. For Windows XP and Vista users who want to know how to do this, follow this link. http://www.coscom.co.jp/japanesefont/inputjapanese/installime.html

haiiro no sakana ga nihiki oyoide imasu - There are two grey fish swimming (haiiro = grey, nihiki = the counter for the number of fish) - 灰色の魚が二匹泳いでいます。
haiiro no sakana ga ippiki oyoide imasu - There is one grey fish swimming - 灰色の魚が一匹泳いでいます。
shiroi inu ga aruite imasu - The white dog is walking　-　白い犬が歩いています。
neko ga aruite imasu - The cat is walking　―　根が画歩いています。

kangaruu - kangaroo. If you missed this, shut down the program, and close the blog :p You've failed.　カンガルー
yagi no mure - A herd of goats (yagi = goat while mure = a group, crowd, mob, throng, or herd, among other things)　ヤギの村
ushi no mure - A herd of cows　牛の群れ
ushi ga nitoo hashitte imasu - Two running cows (could be wrong here, but "nitoo" (or "nitou" in hiragana) doesn't seem to have any other definitions that I can find that fit the picture)　牛が二等走っています

hitsuji ga takusan tatte imasu - The large group of sheep are standing (hitsuji = sheep)　羊がたくさん立っています
ippiki no kame - One turtle (kame = turtle)　一匹の亀
raion - Lion.　ライオン
kuroi hakuchoo - Black swan (note, spelled "hakuchou" in hiragana, 白鳥)

hakuchoo - Swan 白鳥
tori wa suwatte imasu - The bird is sitting. - 鳥輪座っています
kirin - Giraffe - キリン
tori ga tonde imasu - The bird is flying - 鳥が飛んでいます

nihiki no buta - Two pigs (two little piggies...this little piggy...erm...sorry) - 二匹の豚
ittoo no kuma - One bear - 一等の熊 (note, the first word is "ittou" in hiragana not "ittoo")
nitoo no ushi - Two cows - 二等の牛 (same thing here, it's "nitou" in hiragana)
ittoo no tora - One tiger - 一等のトラ

hitsuji - sheep - 羊
zoo - Elephant - 像 ("zou" in hiragana)
rakuda wa sambon no ashi de tatte imasu - The camel is standing on 3 feet - ラクダ輪三本の足で立っています (rakuda = camel, sambon = the counter for 3 (sanbon in hiragana), ashi = foot)
rakuda wa yonhon no ashi de tatte imasu - The camen is standing on 4 feet. - ラクダ輪四本の足で立っています

kono uma wa hommono dewa arimasen - This horse is not the real thing - この馬輪本物出羽ありません。(Ok...hommono has a few notes. First, it's spelled "honmono" in hiragana, and second, it means "the genuine article" or "the real thing")
kono uma wa hommono desu - This horse is the real thing - この馬輪本物です
kono tori wa hommono dewa arimasen - This bird is not the real thing - この鳥輪ほっもの出羽ありません。
kono tori wa hommono desu - This bird is the real thing - この鳥輪本物です

kono nitoo no ushi wa hommono dewa arimasen - These two cows are not the real thing - この二等の牛輪本物出羽ありません。
kono nitoo no ushi wa hommono desu - These two cows are the real thing - この二等の牛輪本物です
kono uma wa hommono desu - This horse is the real thing - この馬輪本物です
mokuba wa hommono no uma dewa arimasen - The wooden horse is not a real horse - 木馬輪本物の馬出羽ありません。(mokuba = lit. "wooden horse")

dono neko ga hommono desu ka - Which cat is the real thing? - どの猫が本物ですか。
dono neko ga hommono dewa arimasen ka - Which cat is not the real thing? - どの猫が本物出羽ありませんか。
dono hitsuji ga hommono dewa arimasen ka - Which sheep is not the real thing? - どの羊が本物出羽ありませんか。
dono hitsuji ga hommono desu ka - Which sheep is the real thing? - どの羊が本物ですか。

shiroi tora wa aruite imasu - The white tiger is walking - 白いトラ輪歩いています
shiroi tora wa yoko ni natte imasu - The white tiger is laying on its side - 白いトラ輪横になっています。
shiroi tora wa nobotte imasu - The white tiger is climbing - 白いトラ輪上っています
ryuu - dragon - 竜

That's all for now...wanted to do more lessons, but I need to run ;) Enjoy the kanji!

More Unit 3

Unit 3, Lesson 4

Otokonoko wa teeburu ni tsuite imasu -
Otokonoko wa teeburu no shita imasu - The boy is under the table
Kodomo tachi wa teeburu no ue ni tatte imasu - The children are standing on the table
Kodomo tachi wa nawatobi o shite asonde imasu - The children are playing jump roping (nawatobi = "jump roping" literally, asonde = play)

Dare ga hashitte imasu ka. Otokonohito tachi ga hashitte imasu - Who is running? The men are running.
Dare ga suwatte imasu ka. Otokonoko ga suwatte imasu - Who is sitting? The boy is sitting.
Dare ga hashitte imasu ka. Onnanoko tachi ga hashitte imasu - Who is running? The girls are running.
Dare ga tobiorite imasu ka. Kodomo tachi ga tobiorite imasu - Who is jumping off? The children are jumping off.

Nannin no kodomo ga tobiorite imasu ka. Sannin no kodomo ga tobiorite imasu - How many children are jumping off? Three children are jumping off.
Nannin no kodomo ga tatte imasu ka. Sannin no kodomo ga tatte imasu - How many children are standing? Three children are standing.
Nannin no kodomo ga tobiorite imasu ka. Yonin no kodomo ga tobiorite imasu - How many children are jumping off? Four children are jumping off.
Nannin no kodomo ga teeburu no ue ni tatte imasu ka. Hitori no onnanoko ga tatte imasu - How many children are standing on the table? One girl is standing.

Nannin no onnanoko ga shiroi shatsu o kite imasu ka. Hitori desu - How many girls are wearing a white shirt? One.
Nannin no onnanoko ga shiroi shatsu o kite imasu ka. Futari desu - How many girls are wearing a white shirt? Two.
Nannin no otokonoko ga suwatte imasu ka. Hitori desu - How many boys are sitting? One.
Nannin no otokonoko ga suwatte imasu ka. Furati desu - How many boys are sitting? Two.

Onnanoko wa teeburu no ue ni imasu. Nawatobi o shite imasu - The girl is on table. Jumping robe.
Sannin no kodomo wa asonde imasu. Nawatobi o shite asonde imasu - Three children are playing. Playing rope jumping.
Kodomo tachi wa teeburu no ue ni imasu. Nawatobi o shite imasen - The children are on the table. Not jumping rope.
Otokonoko wa hashitte imasu. Nawatobi o shite imasen - The boy is running. Not jumping rope.

Teeburu no ue ni iru onnanoko wa nawatobi o shite imasu - The girl is jumping rope on the table.
Otokonoko wa nawa o mawashite ite, onnanoko wa tonde imasu - The boy is swinging a rope and the girl is jumping (nawa = rope, mawashite is one I can't quite say 100% for sure, since I can't find the base verb anywhere. "mawashiru" is not a word. Thus, "swinging" may not be the exact word, but you get the idea.)
Nawatobi o shite inai otokonoko wa hashitte imasu - The running boy is not jumping rope.
Hashitte inai otokonoko wa nawatobi o shite imasu - The jump roping noy is not running.

Kono neko wa soto ni imasu - This cat is outside (soto = outside/the exterior)
Kono neko wa naka ni imasu - This can is inside (naka = inside/the interior)
Hana wa soto ni arimasu - The flower is outside
Hana wa naka ni arimasu - The flower is inside

Kore wa ie no soto desu - This is the exterior of a house
Kore wa ie no naka desu - This is the interior of a house
Kore wa kyookai no soto desu - This is the exterior of a church (kyookai (kyoukai in hiragana) = church)
Kore wa kyookai no naka desu - This is the interior of a church

Otokonoko wa soto de yoko ni natte imasu - The boy is on his side outside.
Otokonoko wa naka de yoko ni natte imasu - The boy is on his side inside.
Kore wa tatemono no soto desu - This is the outside of a building (tatemono = building/structure)
Kore wa tatemono no naka desu - This is the inside of a building

Dochira no otokonoko ga naka ni imasu ka - Which boy is inside?
Dochira no otokonoko ga soto ni imasu ka - Which boy is outside?
Dochira no kodomo tachi ga soto ni imasu ka - Which children are outside?
Dochira no kodomo tachi ga naka ni imasu ka - Which children are inside?

Notes: Nothing too complicated this lesson. Meh.

Unit 3, Lesson 5

Tamago wa nani iro desu ka. Aoi desu - What color is the egg? Blue.
Tamago wa nani iro desu ka. Kiiroi desu - What color is the egg? Yellow.
Tamago wa nani iro desu ka. Akai desu - What color is the egg? Red.
Tamago wa nani iro desu ka. Pinku desu - What color is the egg? Pink.

Onnanohito wa dono uma ni burashi o kakete imasu ka. Chairo no uma desu - Which horse is the woman brushing? The brown horse.
Shiroi uma wa dore desu ka - Which is the white horse?
Dono uma ga tabete imasu ka. Haiiro no uma ga tabete imasu - Which horse is eating? The grey horse is eating.
Kuroi uma wa dore desu ka - Which is the black horse?

Kuro to shiro no inu - Black and white dog
Kuro to shiro no neko - Black and white cat
Chairo no inu - Brown dog
Chairo to shiro no neko - Brown and white cat

Midori no shibafu to midori no booshi - A green lawn and green hat (shibafu means "lawn" or "plot of grass")
kiiroi hana - Yellow flower
Akai shatsu - Red shirt
Shiroi tatemono - White building

Uma no haikee wa kiiroi desu - A horse on a yellow background (haikee = background)
Uma no haikee wa murasakiiro desu - A horse on a purple background
Uma no haikee wa aoi desu - A horse on a blue background
Uma no haikee wa akai desu - A horse on a red background

Aoi mizu - Blue water
Orenji iro to kiiro - Orange and yellow color
Kiiro to kuro - Yellow and black
Midori no shibafu - Green lawn/grass

Futatsu no akai hana - Two red flowers
Futatsu no shiro to kiiro no hana - Two white and yellow flowers
Kiiro to aka to pinku no hana - Yellow, red, and pink flower
Pinku no hana - Pink flower

San - 3
Nana - 7
Kyuu - 9
Yon - 4

Juu - 10
Kyuu - 9
Itsutsu no booru - Five balls
Muttsu no booru - Six balls

Hitotsu no booru - One ball
Futatsu no booru - Two balls
Happon no yubi - Eight fingers
Go - 5

Notes: This lesson should have been a breeze if you've paid any attention at all to the previous lessons. Only two new words to learn from the whole lesson, so it is hardly the most complicated thing you'll see in Rosetta Stone. I'm going to use that one as a good time to take a break, my hands are starting to get tired of typing.

Unit 3

I meant to post this over Thanksgiving, but I left my CD and my notes both at work ;) I had this already typed up, so I'll post Lesson 1 now. If you're reading this, and it ends at Lesson 1, please note that lessons 2 and 3 are going to be edited onto this post afterward, so keep checking back ;)

Unit 3, Lesson 1

Nempai no onnanohito – Elderly woman
Wakai no onnanohito – Young woman
Wakai no otokonohito – Young man
Nempai no otokonohito – Elderly man

Dansaa no ichidan – A group of dancers (Dansaa = Dancers, ichidan = a group, a party, a body, or a troupe)
Futari no dansaa – Two dancers
Soosha no ichidan – A group of runners (The word is “sousha” in hiragana, and it means Runner)
Futari no soosha – Two runners

Kono wakai otokonohito wa kami ga mijikai desu – This young man has short hair
Kono wakai otokonohito wa kami ga nagai desu – This young man has long hair
Futari no wakai onnanohito wa kami ga nagai desu – The two young women have long hair
Hitori no wakai onnanohito wa kami ga nagakute, moo hitori no wakai onnanohito wa kami ga mijikai desu – One young woman has flowing hair, and one young woman has short hair. (nagakute is a strange word, but one of the translations is flowing, and I like the way it sounds, so :P)

Dare ga kami ga mijikaikute kuroi desu ka – Who has short black hair?
Dare ga kami ga nagakute kimpatsu desu ka – Who has flowing blonde hair? (kimpatsu is spelled “kinpatsu” in Hiragana, and means Blonde)
Dare ga kami ga nagakute chairoi desu ka – Who has flowing brown hair? (chairoi = brown)
Dare ga atama ga hagete imasu ka – Who has a bald head? (base verb hageru means “to go bald”, hagete is the command form)

Kono wakai onnanohito wa kami ga kaaru shite imasu – This young woman has curled hair. (kaaru = a curl, the whole phrase “kami o kaaru shite iru” means “to curl one’s hair”)
Kono wakai otokonohito wa kami ga kaaru shite imasu – This young man has curled hair
Kono wakai onnanohito wa kami ga sutoreeto desu – This young woman has straight hair (sutoreeto = straight)
Kono wakai otokonohito wa kami ga sutoreeto desu – This young man has straight hair

Dare ga kami ga mijikaikute sutoreetode kuroi desu ka – Who has short, black, straight hair?
Dare ga kami ga nagakute kaaru shite ite kuroi desu ka – Who has flowing, black, curled hair?
Dare ga kami ga mijikaikute kaaru shite ite kuroi desu ka – Who has short, black, curled hair?
Dare ga kami ga nagakute sutoreetode kuroi desu ka – Who has flowing, black, straight hair?

Migi no otokonohito wa futotte imasu. Hidari no otokonohito wa yasete imasu – The man on the right is growing fat. One man is lean/thin. (migi = right, the base verb futoru = to get fat, the base verb yaseru = to become lean)
Onnanohito tachi wa yasete imasu – The women are lean/thin
Onnanohito tachi wa totemo futatte imasu – The woman are quite fat. (heh…totemo = “quite”, “utterly”, or “absolutely”)
Hidari no otokonohito wa futatte imasu. Migi no otokonohito wa yasete imasu – One man is fat. A man on the right is thin.

Hidari no piero wa se ga hikui desu. Migi no piero wa se ga takai desu – One clown is short. The clown on the right is tall. (piero = clown, hikui = short in stature, takai = tall in stature)
Hidari no piero wa se ga takai desu. Migi no piero wa se ga hikui desu – One clown is tall. The clown on the right is short.
Akai fuku o kite iru onnanohito wa se ga hikui desu – The woman wearing the red shirt is short.
Akai fuku o kite iru onnanohito wa se ga takai desu – The woman wearing the red shirt is tall.

Dochira no se no takai otokonohito ga megane o kakete imasu ka – Which tall man is wearing glasses?
Dochira no se no takai otokonohito ga megane o kakete imasen ka – Which tall man is not wearing glasses?
Dochira no se no hikui hito ga megane o kakete imasen ka – Which short person is not wearing glasses?
Dochira no se no hikui hito ga megane o kakete imasu ka – Which short person is wearing glasses?
(These four are a bit literal, but this is verb conjugation again which is still a bit hard for me. Basically, once you learn conjugation, it’s actually very simple…if you think about it, most Japanese people don’t actually know the rules, just as most Americans don’t know the rules about English verbs. We’re so used to saying them in context that we don’t have to think about them. This is why verb conjugation in Japanese is so difficult to learn, because we can’t simply say the phrase without having to think about the rules of how the verbs change, so sentences are easier or more difficult as a result.

Think about it this way: “I am going to run.” “I am running.” “Watashi wa hashiru desu.” “Watashi wa hashitte imasu.” We’ve been saying the first two our whole lives in English, so learning how to automatically say the last two is where verb conjugation is important…once we get the hang of that, a lot of the language will flow faster than before.)

Onnanohito wa kami ga kuroi desu – The woman has black hair.
Onnanohito wa kami ga sutoreetode kimpatsu desu – The woman has straight blonde hair.
Onnanohito wa kami ga kaaru shite ite kimpatsu desu – The woman has hair that is blonde and curled. (Kind of a weird one, I know...remember above, with kaaru shite iru, this is conjugation yet again)
Onnanohito wa kami ga haiiru desu – The woman has grey hair (haiiru = grey)

Notes: As with before, these lessons are going to start onto verb conjugation very heavily now. Volume 1 of Rosetta Stone really focuses on a lot of the vocabulary, while volumes 2 and 3 are what will get us into conversational Japanese more and more, working us towards fluency. That said, here's some things that my friend told me to get me on the right track before:

"(verb)-te +iru/imasu is VERY common grammar in Japanese, so if you see that pattern and can conjugate (or un-conjugate) verbs, you'll be able to look it up in an instant."

Also...

"Learn verb conjugation, and at that level there shouldn't be any words that aren't in your dictionary. The school I studied at taught the basic rules of verb conjugation alongside Minna no Nihongo book 1. I started from absolute zero, so I studied it hardcore for my first three months here. After my first three months, all my classmates changed. I studied with most of those new classmates for the next two years, but because they came in at Minna no Nihongo book 2, they were never very good at conjugation."

I'm currently studying Minna no Nihongo book 1 alongside Rosetta Stone, so I can honestly say that it's been a very useful item to have along in my work. It also has been crucial in identifying Hiragana and Kanji, so I highly recommend it. There are a few different versions, since they also teach Kanji and the like, but anyone who gets it wants to start with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Minna-Nihongo-Honyaku-Translation-Grammatical/dp/4883191079/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227938065&sr=8-5

Unit 3, Lesson 2

Oozee no otokonoko - A great/large number of boys (it's spelled "oozei" in hiragana and means a large or great number of ~)
Hitori no otokonoko - One boy
Takusan no fuusen - A large quantity of balloons (takusan = a large quantity (of) ~, fuusen = balloon. We're back to counters now...these suck, so pay attention!)
Sukoshi no fuusen - A small quantity of balloons (resist the urge to just say "three", since the picture in Rosetta only shows 3 balloons. Sukoshi = a small quantity (of) ~, not a specific number of items. It does, however, mean there are plurals involved, so you should not be using "sukoshi" in reference to one item, from what I understand)

Takusan no booshi - A large quantity of hats
Hitotsu no booshi - One hat
Takusan no kasa - A large quantity of umbrellas (is Umbrelli a word? It could be, if umbrellas ever learn to attack us. Oh...I'm rambling again...)
Ippon no kasa - One umbrella

Ikkin no pan - One bread
Takusan no pan - A large quantity of bread
Nikin no pan - Two breads
Pan wa arimasen - No bread

Ittoo no uma to issho no kaubooi - One horse together with a cowboy (issho = together, with, along [together] with)
Uma to issho ni inai kaubooi - There is not a horse together with the cowboy
Nantooka no uma to issho no futari no kaubooi - Three horses together with two cowboys
Kaubooihatto ga takusan arimasuga, kaubooi wa imasen - There are a large quantity of cowboy hats, but no cowboy. (Try pronouncing that one in Rosetta Stone...it'll take you a long time to say the words the way the program thinks that they're perfect, I can tell you!)

Koin ga nammai arimasu ka. Takusan arimasu - How many coins are there? A large quantity. (koin = coin, obviously. "nammai" is "nanmai" in Hiragana, but the definition is a bit unclear...best I can figure, it's a counter for money, but don't quote me on that.)
Biidama ga nanko arimasu ka. Ikko arimasu - How many marbles are there? One. (Biidama = marble, ikko = one, a piece, or a unit. Nanko is basically asking how many units)
Biidama ga nanko arimasu ka. Sukoshi arimasu - How many marbles are there? A small quantity.
Biidama ga nanko arimasu ka. Takusan arimasu - How many marbles are there? A large quantity.

Takusan no tomato to sukoshi no banana - A large quantity of tomatos and a small quantity of bananas.
Ringo wa takusan arimasuga, banana wa arimasen - There are a large quantity of apples, but not any bananas.
Tomato wa takusan arimasuga, banana wa arimasen - There are a large quantity of tomatos, but no bananas.
Banana wa takusan arimasuga, ringo wa arimasen - There are a large quantity of bananas, but no apples. (Quite note on these last 3...here's a brief explanation from Minna no Nihongo about the letter "ga" in grammar: "The object of a transitive verb is marked with "o" (or "wo" if you type it into a Japanese dictionary). However, objects of the verbs "arimasu" and "wakarimasu" are marked with "ga". Such adjectives as "sukidesu", "kiraidesu", "jouzudesu", and "hetadesu" require objects, and these are marked with "ga" too. The verbs and adjectives whose objects are marked with "ga" are those kinds that describe preference, ability, possession, and the like."

I bring this up because "arimasuga" is actually "arimasu" and "ga" all in one, but "ga" is fairly complicated in and of itself. For instance, it can be used to mark the subject in some sentences, such as "Otokonohito ga imasu" for "There is a man." It could also be used to express desire, such as "Watashi wa tomodachi ga hoshii desu" for "I want a friend." You'll be seeing words linked with "ga" a lot in Japanese, so take note of it now."

Teeburu yorimo isu no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of chairs in each direction of the table.. (complicated one, isu = chairs from before, "hoo" is "hou" in hiragana and means "direction", "a way" or "a side", and ooi means "lots of [things]". Yorimo won't show up in a dictionary, so don't look, but in most cases it means "than" or "of".)
Kuruma yorimo basu no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of busses in the way of the car.
Banana yorimo tomato no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of tomatos to the side of the banana.
Onnanohito to onaji kazu no otokonohito ga imasu - There are the same number of men as woman. (I got these really wrong and had to be educated. "~ to onaji" means "the same as ~", "kazu" means "figure" in the numerical sense. So "to onaji kazu" is saying that "~ is the same number as ~")

Uma yorimo hito no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of people to the sides of the horse.
Hito yorimo uma no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of horses to a side of the person.
Hito to onaji kazu no kasa ga arimasu - There are the same number of umbrellas as people
Kasa yorimo hito no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of people under an umbrella. (I'm cheating here a bit, since "hou/hoo" can mean direction, I'm substituting out of laziness ;) )

Hito yorimo uma no hoo ga sukunai desu - There are very few horses to the side of the people. (sukanai = very few)
Uma yorimo hito no hoo ga sukunai desu - There are very few people to the side of the horses.
Hito yorimo kasa no hoo ga sukunai desu - There are very few umbrellas over the people.
Hito to onaji kazu no uma ga imasu - There are the same number of horses as people.

Otokonoko to onaji kazu no onnanoko ga imasu - There are the same number of boys as girls.
Otokonoko yorimo onnanoko no hoo ga sukunai desu - There are very few girls to the side of the boy.
Otokonoko yorimo onnanoko no hoo ga ooi desu - There are lots of girls to the side of the boy
Onnanoko mo otokonoko mo imasen - There is not a girl or a boy.

Notes: AAAAAAHHHHHH! I should note that I hate "onaji kazu", and my definition is quite possibly wrong. If I find out it is, I'll correct it later, but I remember getting so pissed at this lesson, I just found a workable definition and moved on. It's one of my complaints about Rosetta Stone, it gives "onaji kazu" far too few times in this lesson, and it never does it alongside another example that could help explain the words, so it's a very hard one to nail down properly. That said, until I find out I'm wrong...my definition stays there ;) If it changes, I'll post some notes as to why.

Edit: Haha, I was way off ;) Look above, I fixed my definitions using "to onaji kazu" in the sentence, and added some notes as to what the definition is really supposed to be. That's a tough one!

Unit 3, Lesson 3

Otokonohito wa aoi seetaa o kite imasu - The man is wearing a blue sweater (seetaa = sweater)
Onnanoko tachi wa wampiisu o kite imasu - The girls are wearing dresses (wampiisu, btw, is spelled "wanpiisu" in hiragana and literally means "one-piece dress")
Otokonoko wa akai seetaa o kite imasu - The boy is wearing a red sweater
Onnanohito wa murasakiiro no seetaa o kite imasu - The woman is wearing a purple sweater.

Onnanohito wa kuroi shatsu o kite imasu - The woman is wearing a black shirt.
Onnanohito wa kuroi zubon o haite imasu - The woman is wearing black pants.
Otokonoko wa aoi shatsu o kite imasu - The boy is wearing a blue shirt.
Otokonoko wa aoi zubon o haite imasu - The boy is wearing blue pants.

Issoku no kutsu - A pair of shoes
Katahoo no kutsu - One of a pair of shoes (katahoo = literally "one of a pair)
Issoku no kutsushita - A pair of socks
Katahoo no kutsushita - One of a pair of socks

Kanojo wa aka to shiro no seetaa o kite imasu - She is wearing a red and white sweater
Kanojo wa murasakiiro no uwagi o kite imasu - She is wearing a purple jacket
Kare wa seetaa o kite imasu - He is wearing a sweater
Kare wa seetaa o kite imasen - He is not wearing a sweater

Kanojo wa aka to shiro no seetaa o kite, jiinzu o haite imasu - She is wearing a white and red sweater, and jeans.
Onnanohito wa akai wampiisu o kite imasu - The woman is wearing a red dress.
Onnanohito wa akai kooto o kite imasu - The woman is wearing a red coat.
Onnanohito wa akai sukaato o haite imasu - The woman is wearing a red skirt.

Kare wa kuroi tampan o haite, shiroi shatsu o kite imasu - He is wearing black shorts and a white shirt.
Hitori wa kiiroi uwagi o kite ite, moo hitori wa akai uwagi o kite imasu - One wearing a yellow jacket, and one wearing a red jacket (note, "uwagi" can mean "Coat", "jacket", or "outerwear")
Hitori no onnanohito wa kiiroi wampiisu o kite ite, moo hito no onnanohito wa akai wampiiso o kite imasu - One woman is wearing a yellow dress, and one woman is wearing a red dress.
Kanojo wa nanimo kite imasen - She is wearing nothing/She is not wearing anything (nanimo = no, nothing, or not ~ anything)

Wampiisu o kite imasu - Wearing a dress
Zubon o haite imasu - Wearing pants
Tampan o haite imasu - Wearing shorts
Sukaato o haite imasu - Wearing a skirt

Aoi shatsu o kite imasu - Wearing a blue shirt
Aoi zubon o haite imasu - Wearing blue pants
Aoi seetaa o kite imasu - Wearing a blue sweater
Aoi uwagi o kite imasu - Wearing a blue coat/jacket/outerwear

kutsushita o haite iru tokoro desu - Putting on socks
Kitsu o haite iru tokoro desu - Putting on shoes
Shatsu o kite iru tokoro desu - Putting on a shirt
Zubon o haite iru tokoro desu - Putting on pants

Piero wa zubon o haite imasu - The clown is wearing pants
Piero wa zubon o haite iru tokoro desu - The clown is putting on pants
Megane o kaketa otokonohito wa seetaa o kite imasu - The man wearing glasses is wearing a sweater.
Megane o kaketa otokonohito wa seetaa o kite iru tokoro desu - The man wearing glasses is putting on a sweater.

Notes: Don't try to find "tokoro" in a dictionary, you won't get the right definition. Well, you might, but it's a bit tricky...the sentences above actually leave a little bit out for simplicity. "Tokoro" more or less means "a place" or "a spot", so you could say "Zubon o haite iru tokoro desu" would mean "Putting pants on the legs" or something similar, but it's easier to just put the general meaning there for now.

Unit 2, end

Unit 2, Lesson 10

(2 lessons to go in Unit 2, so let's move forward, shall we?)

(In my last post, at the end, I talked a bit about this...these are conjugated verbs, and they won't show up in a dictionary. Take "tobikoemashita", the verb there is "tobikoeru" in its base form, the command form is "tobikoete", and the past-tense verb is "tobikoemashita". The link from my last post helps a lot in figuring this out.)
Onnanohito wa tonde imasu - The woman is jumping
Onnanohito wa tobimashita - The woman jumped (base form of the verb is "tobu")
Uma wa tobikoete imasu - The horse is jumping over
Uma wa tobikoemashita - The horse jumped over

Otokonoko wa korobikakete imasu - The boy is starting to trip/fall down (the verb is "kororu", but verb + kakeru is like "starting to do ~")
Otokonoko wa korobimashita - The boy fell down (past tense again, signified by "mashita")
Kaubooi wa uma kara ochisoodesu - The cowboy looks like he is going to fall from the horse (Kaubooi = Cowboy, the verb is "ochiru" but verb + sou (for example, shisou) means "looks like it's going to ~")
Kaubooi wa uma kara ochimashita - The cowbow fell off the horse (again, past-tense)

Onnanoko wa kami o kitte imasu - The girl is cutting the paper (base verb is "kiru", and the "kami" here is important. It is the word for hair, but also for paper, and in this case it is referring to paper. The kanji for "paper" is notably different than "hair", which is how you will eventually be able to tell the difference in written word later on.)
Onnanoko wa kami o kirimashita - The girl cut the paper. (past tense, same verb)
Otokonoko wa mizu ni tobikonde imasu - The boy is jumping into the water
Otokonoko wa mizu ni tobikomimashita - The boy jumped in the water.

Uma wa tobikoeru tokoro desu - The horse will jump over a place. (Tokoro = lit. "a place" or "a spot". In this case, he would not already be jumping over, as the verb does not use the command form (-te form))
Kodomo wa tobikoeru tokoro desu - The boy will jump over a place.
Uma wa tobikoete imasu - The horse is jumping over
Uma wa tobikoemashita - The horse jumped over

Onnanoko wa kami o kiru tokoro desu - The girl will cut a spot in the paper (base form)
Onnanoko wa kami o kitte imasu - The girl is cutting the paper (command form)
Onnanoko wa kami o kirimashita - The girl cut the paper (past-tense form)
Onnanoko wa tobiorite imasu - The girl is jumping down

Otokonoko wa mizu ni tobikomu tokoro desu - The boy will jump in a spot of the water
Otokonoko wa mizu ni tobikonde imasu - The boy is jumping in the water
Otokonoko wa mizu ni tobikomimashita - The boy jumped in the water
Otokonoko tachi wa mizu ni tobikonde imasu - The boys are jumping in the water

Kishu wa suberiochisoodesu - The rider looks like he is slipping from the horse. (Kishu = rider or horseman. Suberi is the word for slipping, in this case)
Kishu wa suberiochite imasu - The rider is slipping off the horse.
Kishu wa suberiochimashita - The rider slipped off the horse.
Otokonohito wa korobikakete imasu - The man is starting to fall down.

Onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobioriru tokoro desu - The girls are not jumping down. The boy is about to jump down from a place.
Onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobiorite imasu - The girls are not jumping down. The boy is jumping down.
Onnanoko tachi wa mada tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobiorimashita - The girls are still not jumping down. The boy jumped down. (mada = still)
Otokonoko to onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasu - The boy and girls are jumping down.

Otokonohito wa gyuunyuu o nomu tokoro desu - The man will drink milk in a place
Otokonohito wa gyuunyuu o nonde imasy - The man is drinking milk
Otokonohito wa gyuunyuu o nomimashita - The man drank milk
Otokonoko wa pan o taberu tokoro desu - The boy will eat bread in a place

Otokonoko wa pan o taberu tokoro desu - The boy will eat bread in a place Otokonoko wa pan o tabete imasu - The boy is eating bread
Otokonoko wa pan o sukoshi tabemashita - The boy ate a little bread (sukoshi = little, part of)
Otokonoko wa booshi o kabutte imasu - The boy is wearing a hat

(One lesson left, daijoubu desu ka?)

Unit 2, Lesson 11

Onnanohito wa hohoende imasu - The woman is smiling
Onnanohito wa yubisashite imasu - The woman is pointing a finger
Onnanohito wa shimbun o yonde imasu - The woman is reading a newspaper
Onnanohito wa denwa o hanashite - The woman is speaking on the telephone

Kodomo dewa nai hito - The person is not a child
Otona dewa nai hito - The person is not a girl
Neko dewa nai doobutsu - The animal is not a cat
Inu dewa nai doobutsu - The animal is not a dog

Ookina hako - Big box
Ookina fune - Big ship/boat
Chiisana hako - Small box
Chiisana fune - Small ship/boat

Aoi en wa akai en yorimo chiisai desu - The blue circle is smaller than the red circle
Akai en wa aoi en yorimo chiisai desu - The red circle is smaller than the blue circle
En wa seehookee yorimo chiisai desu - The circle is smaller than the square
Seehookee wa en yorimo chiisai desu - The square is smaller than the circle

Hitori no onnanohito ga yubisashite imasu. Kanojo wa migite de yubisashite imasu - One woman is pointing her finger. She is pointing with her right hand.
Hitori no onnanohito ga yubisashite imasu. Kanojo wa hidarite de yubisashite imasu - One woman is pointing her finger. She is pointing with her left hand.
Onnanohito wa dochira mo yubisashite imasu. Hitori wa migite de, moo hitori wa hidarite de yubisashite imasu - Two women are pointing their fingers. One is pointing with her right hand, the other with her left hand.
Onnanohito wa dochira mo yubisashite imasen - Two women are not pointing

Onnanohito wa denwa o tsukatte imasu - The woman is talking on a telephone
Onnanoko wa denwa o tsukatte imasy - The girl is talking on a telephone
Onnanohito wa yubisashite imasu - The woman is pointing her finger
Onnanohito wa denwa o tsukatte mo inaishi, yubisashite imasen. - The woman is not talking on a phone, nor is she ponting her finger.

Otokonohito tachi to onnanohito tachi wa tatte imasen - The men and women are standing
Onnanohito tachi wa tatte ite, otokonohito tachi wa suwatte imasu - The women are standing, but the men are sitting
Onnanohito tachi to hitori no otokonohito wa tatte ite, moo hito no otokonohito wa suwatte imasu - The women and one of the men are standing, but one of the men is sitting.
Otokonohito tachi to hitori no onnanohito wa suwatte ite, moo hitori no onnanohito wa tatte imasu - The men and one of the women are sitting, but one of the women is standing.

Otokonohito wa futari no onnanohito no yoko ni imasu - The man is to the side of two women.
Otokonohito wa futari no onnanohito no aida ni imasu - The man is between two women
Inu wa futari no aida ni imasu - The dog is between two people
Inu wa futari no yoko ni imaru - The dog is to the side of two people

Hana o sawatte imasu - Touching the nose
Kuchi o sawatte imasu - Touching the mouth
Me o sawatte imasu - Touching the eye
Ago o sawatte imasu - Touching the chin

Onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobioriru tokoro desu. - The girls are not jumping down. The boy will jump down from a place.
Onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobiorite imasu - The girls are not jumping down. The boy is jumping down.
Onnanoko tachi wa mada tobiorite imasen. Otokonoko wa tobiorimashita - The girls are still not jumping down. The boy jumped down.
Otokonoko to onnanoko tachi wa tobiorite imasu - The boy and girls are jumping down.

Unit 2, DONE!

Continuing on...

Alrighty, this is as good a time as any to continue onward with re-printing my notes here. Incidentally, I find myself wondering why I didn't type them all to begin with...this would be so much faster if I could copy and paste. Oh well. Also, I went back onto the previous notes and made some small corrections, I had mistyped a few things (for instance, someone pointed out that I mistakenly said "mado" meant "square" when I meant to type "window". Anyway, here we go.

Unit 2, Lesson 8

Otokonohito wa torakku no naka ni imasu - The man is in the truck.
Banana wa kago no naka ni arimasu - The banana(s) are in the basket.
Hitobito wa booto no naka ni imasu - The people are in the boat (Hitobito = People. There's also a word, "meimeino" that means "each person")
Hitobito wa booto no naka ni imasen - The people are not in the boat.

Otokonoko wa saku ni suwatte ite, otokonohito wa jitensha ni suwatte imasu - The boy is sitting on a fence, the man is sitting on a bicycle. (Quick note, "saku" also works for "railing" or "a paling". In the case of the example in this lesson, they are referring to a fence.)
Otokonoko wa booshi o kabutte imasu - The boy is wearing a hat on his head.
Kodomo tachi wa teeburu no ui ni imasu - The children are on the table.
Booru wa otokonoko no ue ni arimasu - The ball is on the boy. (as noted from a comment in my first blog back in January, this is not a real sentence; there is no verb in the sentence, so it's incomplete for now)

Otokonoko wa jitensha ni notte imasu - The boy is riding a bicycle
Otokonoko wa jitensha no yoko ni imasu - The boy is beside (or on the side of) a bicycle
Otokonohito wa uma ni notte imasu - The man is riding a horse
Otokonohito wa uma no yoko ni imasu - The man is beside (or on the side of) a horse

Roba wa otokonohito no shita ni imasu - The donkey is under the man
Roba wa otokonohito no shita ni imasen - The donkey is not under the man
Kyandii wa tana no shita ni arimasu - The candy is under the shelf (Kyandii = Candy, tana = shelf)
Kyandii wa otokonohito no te no naka ni arimasu - The candy is in the man's hand (te = hand)

Kono otokonoko wa ki no ushiro ni imasu - This boy is in the back of a tree (behind a tree) (ki = tree, ushiro means "the back" or "the rear")
Kono otokonoko wa ki no mae ni imasu - This boy is in front of a tree
Kono otokonohito wa kuruma no ushiro ni imasu - This man is at the rear of a car
Kono otokonohito wa kuruma no mae ni imasu - This man is at the front of a car

Futatsu no booru wa tonari awase ni arimasu - The two bowls are next to each other. (tonari awase = literally "live next door to each other". In this case, just next to each other. Booru is used in this sentence for "bowl" instead of "ball")
Kono kappu wa sara no ue ni arimasu - This cup is on the plate.
Go wa ichi to zero no aida ni arimasu - The five is between a one and a zero. (Aida is a hard word to place, and I'm honestly still not 100% that I got this answer right, but it fits with the pictures. "Between" is the best I could do, but I think it's right.)
Chuukurai no ookisa no booru wa ookina booru to chiisana booru no aida ni arimasu - The medium size bowl is between a large bowl and a small bowl. (Lots of notes...Chuukurai no = Medium, ookisa = size, ookina = ookii = large, and chiisana = chiisai = little/small)

Otokonohito wa futari no onnanohito no yoko ni imasu - The man is to the side of two women.
Otokonohito wa futari no onnanohito no aida ni imasu - The man is between two women (this one is what convinced me that "aida" meant "between" above, though the next entry did make me wonder if it means "in the middle". It's probably both.)
Inu wa futari no aida ni imasu - The dog is in the middle of two people
Inu wa futari no yoko ni imasu - The dog is to the side of two people (futari is a counter, but specifically can mean "two people")

Megane o kakete iru futari - Two people are wearing glasses
Megane o kakete inai futari - Two people are not wearing glasses
Boo o motte iru otokonoko - The boy is holding a stick
Boo o motte inai otokonoko - The boy is not holding a stick (Note time again, this is another one that Rosetta Stone lists weird. In Romaji it says "Boo", in Hiragana it says "Bou" which can confuse things if you're trying to look up the word. I specifically remember spending about 10 minutes on these two pictures trying to figure it out until I finally learned how to read the Hiragana, then everything got easier)

Hikooki wa chijoo ni arimasu - The plane is on the ground (yet ANOTHER one, "chijoo" in Hiragana is "chijou" meaning "on the ground")
Hikooki wa kuuchuu ni arimasu - The plane is in the air
Sakana wa daibaa no mawari ni imasu - The fish are surrounding the diver (daibaa = diver, mawari = "surroundings" among other things)
Isu wa teeburu no mawari ni arimasu - The chairs are surrounding the table.

Otokonohito wa jitensha no ushiro ni imasu - The man is at the rear of a bicycle
Otokonohito wa jitensha no yoko ni imasu - The man is to the side of a bicycle
Jitensha wa kuruma no yoko ni arimasu - The bicycle is to the side of a car
Jitensha wa kuruma no ushiro ni imasu - The bicycle is at the rear of a car

Notes: Tough lesson, a lot of annoying words here. The biggest issue I had with this lesson originally is that there are some words I just could not find in any dictionary, some of them because they did not use the same spellings as the hiragana characters. "Aida" is still a word I'm not sure about, since the picture implies that the correct term is "middle" or "between", but one of the exact definitions of the word is "Space" or "Interval". There is also a word, "aidawotoru", that means "take the middle (between the two)" which led me to believe that the meaning I have above was correct. If I'm wrong, I'll come back and edit this part, so keep that in mind for later, readers!!!

Unit 2, Lesson 9

Me - Eye
Hana - Nose
Kuchi - Mouth
Kao - Face

Ashi - Foot/Feet
Mimi - Ear
Otokonohito ga uma no mimi o sawatte imasu - The man is touching the horse's ear
Zoo no ashi - Elephant Feet (I never noticed before, but this is another weird word, in hiragana it's "Zou" instead of "Zoo")

Onnanohito no atama - Woman's head
Te - Hand
Otokonohito no atama - Man's head
Te to ashi - Hands and feet

Mittsu no te - 3 hands
Yottsu no te - 4 hands
Yonhon no ude - 4 arms (ude = arms)
Sambon no ude - 3 arms

(Edit: May have made a mistake here, will correct later...have to re-read my notes)
Otokonohito no te wa hiza ni notte imasu - The man's hand is on his knee
Otokonohito wa te de atama o sasaete imasu - The man's hands are supporting his head (sasaete = support/prop)
Otokonohito no ryoote wa teeburu no ue ni notte imasu - The man has both hands on the table (Another word, ryoote is "ryoute" in hiragana)
Otokonohito wa katate ni kao o nosete, moo ippoo no te o hiji ni atete imasu - The man is holding his face with one hand, and his elbow with one hand (Katate = one hand, kao = face, ippoo (ippou in hiragana) = one side, hiji = elbow.)

Onnanohito no ude wa hiza ni notte imasu - The mans arms are on his knees
Otokonohito no te wa atama ni notte imasu - The mans hand is on his head
Wakai otokonohito no hiji wa teeburu ni notte imasu - The young mans elbow(s) is/are on the table
Otokonohito no te wa teeburu ni notte imasu - The mans hands are on the table

Me to hana - Eye(s) and nose
Hana to kuchi - Nose and mouth
Kao - Face
Mimi - Ear

(EDIT: Ok, I finally got some help with these next sections. Here's the rundown: The words I had trouble with in this section and the next section (which isn't here yet) are conjugations of verbs; they won't show up in any dictionary as a result. My friend gave me this page to help with that:

http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa031101a.htm

So, "atete" is the command form of "ateru", meaning to hit/to touch to. Haitte is the command form of Hairu, meaning to enter/go inside. Sawatte, below, is indeed "Sawaru", so I'd gotten those right.)
Kodomo wa koppu o kuchi ni atete imasu - The child is holding a cup to their face.
Onnanohito wa koppu o kuchi ni atete imasu - The woman is holding a cup to her face.
Kono wakai otokonohito no kuchi niwa tabemono ga haitte imasu - There is food in this young man's mouth
Kono wakai otokonohito no kuchi niwa tabemono ga haitte imasen - There is not food in this young man's mouth

(Note, for these next four, I'm still (even lessons later) having a lot of trouble pinpointing the word "sawatte" down. It's not in any dictionary, and the closest thing I can find is "sawaru" which means "touch" or "feel". As a result, these four translations may be completely wrong! That said, they are also note complete sentences either way. EDIT: I got these right ;))
Hana o sawatte imasu - Touch the nose
Kuchi o sawatte imasu - Touch the mouth
Me o sawatte imasu - Touch the eye
Ago o sawatte imasu - Touch the chin (ago = Chin)

Onnanohito wa kami o burashi de tokashite imasu - The woman is coming her hair with a brush (burashi = Brush, tokashite = to comb one's hair)
Onnanohito wa onnanoko no kami o burashi de tokashite imasu - The woman is combing the girls hair with a brush
Onnanohito wa kami o kushi de tokashite imasu - The woman is combing her hair with a comb (kushi = comb)
Onnanohito wa onnanoko no kami o kushi de tokashite imasu - The woman is combing the girl's hair with a comb

Notes: As you'll notice above, this lesson gave (and gives) me quite a bit of trouble. I can memorize the words and repeat them perfectly, but the problem is I still haven't quite figured out what the pictures mean. The general idea is clear on them (a girl/woman with a cup to their lips, a guy crouching eating food, a guy standing and NOT eating food), but figuring out their exactly proper meanings is difficult for me. I'll update these at some point once I get some help, but there are some things I really wish I could have someone constantly at my disposal for. That said, I try not to impose on my friends who do speak Japanese too much, so it'll take a bit.

The link I posted above is going to be very important moving on, conjugation on verbs really confused me, but the link my friend gave me helped out a lot. For instance, in the next section, new forms of verbs like this wonderful phrase:

Uma wa tobikoemashita - The horse jumped over

It took some work right at first, since I knew "tobikoeru" from earlier lessons (which would've made it "jumping over"), and the shift into past-tense threw me off. Verb conjugations can appear to be extremely confusing, but are actually quite simple in practice once you get the hang of them. That said, in addition to the link above, I figure it's finally time to post this link:

http://www.dicts.info/2/english-japanese_romaji.php?e=mc2

Remember, some of the words in Rosetta Stone do not come up in this dictionary, since they are spelled differently in hiragana than it shows them spelled in Romaji. I actually use an electronic dictionary that goes more in-depth than this site, but it's a good substitute if any of you need it. The next post will cover lessons 10 and 11, finishing off Unit 2, and Lesson 10 starts immediately with conjugated verbs like the one I posted above, so study up on that first link now. It's going to be very helpful in a moment.