How to Speak Basic Japanese

Video Transcript

"YUU ASAKURA: Here, I'd like to go over some of the subjects we've covered so far. Let's start with numbers. I'm going to read a number, so you tell me in English what the number is. Okay, the first one is "roku-hyaku-juu-hachi." I'll repeat it, "roku-hyaku-juu-hachi." What is it? Okay, the first part is "roku-hyaku," is "roku-hyaku," so 600. And I say "ju," so "ju," 10. And "hachi," "hachi" is eight. So it's 618. You got it? Okay, the next one is a little bit bigger. It is "go-man-yon-sen." "Man" is the counter for 10,000. So I said, "go-man-yon-sen." "Yon" is 4 and it's a thousand. So in English, it will be 54,000. And in Japan, remember, "yen" is two digits more? So you often use "sen, man, ju-man," so you have to get used to it. And also, I would practice with the time. Okay, I will tell you what time it is now, so you have to know what time it is. I'll say, "go-go, yo-ji sanjuppun." "Go-go yo-ji sanjuppun." Yes, that's 4:30 p.m. And finally, answer my question. "Kore wa pen desu ka?" Yes, I asked you, yes or no question. So this is a pen, so you can tell me, "hai." Good. So if I asked you, "kore wa nan desu ka?" That was "what" question. What is this? So you answer, this is a pen. Okay, let's move onto the next lesson."