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  • Stella in Japan
  • Wabi-Sabi Words
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  • Head in the Clouds
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                                  Wabi-Sabi  
​                                              Words

A Japanese Language Blog for Young Travellers

Being Polite

6/26/2021

 
Speaking Politely 

It’s always a good idea to act and speak politely.

The Japanese 🇯🇵 language is a very polite language.  Similar to French 🇫🇷 how you speak to an adult is sometimes different from how you speak to a friend.  If in doubt, it’s always best to use
polite (
formal) speech.


Speaking politely in Japanese can take on many forms. 

Here are just a few:


🍥 Add “gozaimasu” to certain greetings to show respect
Gozaimasu = ございます

🍥 Formal verbs use the “masu” form
Masu = ます

 🍥 Handshakes 🤝 are not as common in Japan as they are in North America and other countries.  When meeting someone, you often bow 🙏🏽 instead of shaking hands.  


You have already learnt that there is informal and formal speech in Japanese.  

Do you remember the difference between the two?  

That’s right! 

Informal speech = how you would speak to friends  

Formal speech = how you speak to adults and strangers

Here are some examples:
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Japanese Verbs
Japanese children are taught the informal forms of verbs.  They later learn the formal forms.

I am only going to teach you the formal forms.  

​This is important since you are a visitor to Japan.
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💻    Prefer to watch the video?

✍🏻 Want to keep practicing?  Download the practice worksheet
Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Verbs.pdf
File Size: 5639 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Japanese Greetings

6/19/2021

 
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Greetings

​Before you depart, it’s a good idea to be able to say a few common words and phrases in the local language.  It shows interest in the culture and country that you are visiting.  

Japanese is a very polite language.  How you speak to a friend (informal speech) is sometimes different from how you speak to an adult (formal speech).   

Here are a few examples:







​



​

​​
Are you ready to learn some common greetings?


​Ready. Set. Let’s learn some Japanese


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💻    Prefer to watch the video?

✍🏻 Want to keep practicing?  Download the practice worksheet
Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Greetings.pdf
File Size: 2446 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Time: months, clocks & days

6/12/2021

 
Calendar

The really cool thing about Japanese is that if you know how to count from 1-12, then months and telling time are easy.  Watch!

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Time
​

If you remember how to count from 1-12, then telling time is easy.  

Do you remember how to count in Japanese?

Let’s do a quick review. 


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Here are a few other things that you need to remember:

Hour = Ji じ
AM = Gozan ござん
PM = Gogo ごご



Ready to Practice? 
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Days of the Week

Days of the week are not based on the counting system.  
The easiest way to learn them is to practice. 

Day = Youbi ようび

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💻 Prefer to Watch the Video?

✍🏻 Want to keep practicing?  Download the practice worksheets
Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Months.pdf
File Size: 1527 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Telling Time.pdf
File Size: 1615 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Days of the Week.pdf
File Size: 729 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


🔖 Need a reminder? Download a quick reference sheet
Wabi-Sabi Words Reference: Calendar 2021.pdf
File Size: 601 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wabi-Sabi Words Reference: Time.pdf
File Size: 933 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wabi-Sabi Words Reference: Days of the Week.pdf
File Size: 26 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Learning about currency: Stella & Ming go shopping

6/6/2021

 
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Currency

Do you know what the word “currency” means? 

 It’s the money used in a country. 

 Do you know the name of Japan’s currency? 

It’s the Japanese Yen or Yen ¥
In 🇯🇵 it’s written as えん

Each country has its own currency.  Each country’s currency has its own value, printed money 💵 and coins. 

Here are some examples:  






​

​What’s the name of the currency in your country?  

What if I am in 🇯🇵 and I want to know how much something costs in 🇨🇦 dollars?

You need to know the exchange rate.

Have you heard the word "exchange rate” before?

Knowing the exchange rate lets you know the value of items in different currencies or how much your currency is worth.  

For example:


$1 🇨🇦 is worth about 90 Japanese Yen (¥ = symbol for Yen)


Here are some examples of converting the price in 🇯🇵¥ to 🇨🇦💲


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What if you want to know how much your 🇨🇦 $ are worth in 🇯🇵 ¥ ?
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💻    Prefer to watch the video?​

In this video, Stella will:

🍥 Say the cost of items in Japanese
🍥 Take you shopping and add up the total cost in 🇯🇵¥​
🍥 Compare the cost in 🇯🇵¥ to 🇨🇦💲
🍥  Show you what some Japanese coins look like



✍🏻 Want to keep practicing?  Download the practice worksheet

Wabi-Sabi Worksheet: Currency.pdf
File Size: 896 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

    Authors

    Sheri & Stella like to travel and learn new languages.  Join Stella on her Japanese language learning journey.  
    ​Are you ready to become trip savvy? Together you'll build a travel-ready vocabulary.

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  • Stella in Japan
  • Wabi-Sabi Words
  • Fly with Stella & Lizzy
  • Head in the Clouds
  • Stella's7Stories Merchandise
  • Follow Stella on more travel adventures