Minna no imine Thy’ a 5D =P Abe Hey DR] FAR - EMR RAM Translation & Grammatical Notes RY -T-4p9-9 Minna no Nihongol BATED AAR WRI RR - SCAR SERB HK lation & Grammatical Notes RY-T-stop9-9 Minna no Nihongo BNIED AAR ae RL PAR - Sc RNR Translation & Grammatical Notes AY-T-toh9-9 © 1998 by 3A Corporation AL rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, uf transmiued ia any farm or hy any meaas, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Pubbsher. Published by 3A Corporation ‘Shoei Bldg., 6-3, Sarugaku-che 2-chome, Chiyods-ku, Tokyo 101-2064, lapan ISBN4-88319-107-9 COOS1 First published 1998 Printed in Japan FOREWORD As the title Minna no Nihongo indicates, this book has heen designed to make the study of Japanese as cajoyable and interesting as possible for students and teachers alike. Over three years in the planning and compilation, it stands ax a complete textbook in itself while acting as a companion volume to the highly regarded Shin Nihongo no Kiso. As readers may know, Shin Nihongo no Kiso is a comprehensive introduction to elementary Japanese that serves as a highly efficient resource enabling students wishing to master basic Japanese conversation to do so in the shortest possible time. As such, although it way originally developed for use hy AOTS’s technical wainces, it is now used by a wide range of people both in Japan and abroud. The teaching of Japanese is branching out in many different ways. Japanese economic and industrial growth has led lo a grewter level of interchange between Japan and other councries, and non-Japanese from a wide varicly of backgrounds have come to Japan with a range of different objectives und ace now living within local commmnities here, The changes in the social milieu surrounding the texching of Japanese that have resulted from this influx of people from other counteies have in turn influenced the individual situations in which Japanese is taught. Theme is now a greater diversity of learning aveds, and they requice individual responses, Tt is against this background, and in response to the opinions and hopes expressed by a large number of poople who have been involved in the teaching of Japanese for many years both in Japan and elsewhere, that 3A Corporation proudly publishes Minna no Nihongo, ‘hile the book continues to make use of the clarity and ease of understanding provided by the special features, key learning points and learning methods of Shin Nihongo no Kiso, the scenes, situations and characters in Minna fo Nihongo huve been made more universal in order to appeal to a wider range of enmers, Its contents huve been enhanced in this way to allow all kinds of students to use it for studying Japanese with pleasure. Minna no Nihongo is aimed at anyone who urgently needs Lo learn to communicate in Japanese in any situation, whether at work, school, college or in theit local community. Although i i an introductory text, efforts have been made to make the exchanges between Japanese and foreign characters in the book reflect Japanese social conditions and everyday life as faithfully as possible. While it is intended principally for those who have already left Tull-time education, it can also be recomncaded as an excellent textbook for university entrance courses us well as shor term intensive courses af technical colleges and universities. ‘We at 3A Corporstion ate continuing actively to produce new study materials designed to mevt the individual needs of un inctewsingly wide range of learners, and ‘we sincerely hope that readers will continue to give us their valued support. In conclusion, U should fike (o mention the extensive help we received in the preparation of this text, in the form of suggestions and comments from various quarters and trials of the materials in actual lessons, for which we are extremely grateful, 3A Corporation intends to continue extending its network of friendship all over the world through activities such as the publishing of Japanese study materials, and we hope that everyone who knows us will continue lo lend us their onstinting, encouragement and support in this. Twao Ogawa President, 3 Corporation March 1998 EXPLANATORY NOTES |. Structure ‘The learning materials consist of a Main Text, a Translation and Grammar Text and a set of cassette tapes. The Translation and Grammar Text is currently available in English. Versions in other languages will be published shortly. The materials have been prepared with the main emphasis on listening and speaking Japanese; they da not pravide instruction in reading and writing hiragana, katakana of kanji, Il. Content and Method of Use 1. Main Text 1) Japanese Pronunciation This scetion gives examples of the main characteristics of Japanese pronunciation. 2) Classroom instructions, greetings, numerals These are useful for understanding classroom instructions and daily gteelings. They are frequently used by teachers in clase 3) Lessons There are 25 lessons, and each contains the following: @ Sentence Pattems Basic sentence patterns are shown in the order they appear. @ Example Sentences A small dialogue in the style of a question and answer is given to show how the sentence patterns ate used in practical conversation. New adverbs, conjunctions, and other grammatical points are also introduced. @ Conversation In the conversations, various foreign people staying in Japan appear in a variety of situations. The conversations include everyday expressions and greetings, As they are simple, leaming them by heart is recommended. If time allows, students should try developing the conversation by applying the reference words given in each lesson of the Translation and Grammar ‘Text in order ty maximize theie communication skills. @ Drills The drills are divided into three Icvels: 4, B. and C. Drill A is visually designed in chart style to help understanding of the grammatical structure, The style helps students to learn systematically the basic sentence patterns through substitution dritls, and applying verb forms and conjugations following the chart. Drill B has various diff pattems to strengthen students’ grasp of the basic sentence patterns. Follow the directions given in each practice, Drills marked with a «> sign use pictorial charts. Drill C is given in discourse style to show how the sentence patterns function in actual situations, and to enhance practical oral sI Is. Do not simply read, repeat and substitute, but (ry making your own substicution, enrich the content, and devetop the story. (& Practice Two kinds of practices are given: one type for listening ( (@@) ) and the other for grammar practice, The listening practice is further divided into a question asking for a personal answer, and a question confirming the key point of the given discourse. The listening practices are designed to strengthen students’ aural skills. while the grammar practives check comprehension of ‘vocabulary and the grammar points in the lessons suudied. The reading practices mostly reyuire students to give a true or false response after reading a simple story compiled with words and sentence patterns from the lessons learned. @ Review This is provided to enable students (0 go over the essential points every several lessons studied, @ Summary ‘At the end of the Main Text, a summary of grammatical points is given, such as the use of the particles, verb forms, adverbs and conjunctions, using example sentences appearing in the respective lessons, ® Index This includes classroom instructions. greetings, numerals, new vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions introduced in each lesson of the Main Text, 2, Translation and Grammar Text 1) Explanations of the general features and pronnuciation of Japanese as well as the Japanese writing system 2) Translation of classroom instructions and greetings in the Main Text 3) The following are given in each of the 25 lessons. @new vocabulary and its translation @translation of Sentence Patterns, Example Sentences, and Conversation @usetul words related to the lesson and small pieces of information on Japan and the Japanese @ explanation of essential grammar appearing in the lesson 4) Translation of the particles, how to use the forms, adverbs and adverbial expressions, and various conjugations fonnd at the back of the Main Text 5) Tables showing how ta express numbers, time, periods of time, and counters, ete. including items which the textbook does not cover 3. Cassette Tapes: On the casseite tapes, Vocabulary, Sentence Patterns, Example Sentences, Drill C, Conversation and tistening comprehension questions of the Practice section are recorded. Students should pay attention to the pronunciation and intonation when listening to the Vocabulary, Sentence Patterns and Example Sentences. When listening to Drill C and Conversation, try to get accustomed to the natural speed of the language. 4, Kanji Usage 1) Kanji usage is based on #31 89°%, which is an official list of the most commonly used Chinese characters in Japan, DEBI (words which are made by a combination of two or more kanji and have a special reading) shown in the Appendix Chart of #8 HIF are written in kanji. eg EE friend 4 trvit BRA glasses @ Proper nowns are written with their own Chinese characters even if their readings are non-standard, eg. AOR Osaka AR Nara SEE Kabuki 2) For freeing students from confusion, some words are given in kana although they are included in M4325 % and its Appendix Chart. eg BS AS possess ES exit) ASL BH) perhaps S04 (HE) yesterday 3) Numbers are principally shown in Arabic numerals. eg 90% Go'clock 4418 IstApil ‘T-> one thing) However kanji is used in the following cases. eg. CAT by oneset! AE onetime “F940 ten thousand yen bill 5, Miscellaneous 1) Words which can he omitted from a sentence are enclosed in square brackets Cl. eg. Xd S4(R2 TT. My father is $4 years old, 2) Synonyms are enclosed in round brackets ( ). eg HH (CA) who 3) The part for an alternative word is denoted by ~~. eg. ~lt O84, How would you like ~ ? If the alternative part is a numeral, — is used. eg. M+ yoursold = - FA - yen — HHH - hours