Expressing Approval: Vocabulary and Grammar

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Express approval and disapproval
Read the hiragana for the long (double) vowels

Vocabulary

Words

tsukue - desk
isu - chair
kokuban - chalkboard, blackboard
manga - comic book
Amerika - America, the United States
Nihon - Japan
dame - no good, useless, worthless, defective
ii - good, nice
-yo - a particle used for emphasis

Phrases and expressions

___-o mite kudasai. - Please watch ___; Please look at ___.
Dame (desu). - Don’t do that; Stop it; That’s not good.

Other words and expressions you will hear in this lesson

gamu - chewing gum
akusesarii - accessories

What do you call borrowed words such as these?

The answer is in Lesson 1 (Expanding Your Vocabulary).

Vocabulary Notes

Dame

The word dame means no good, useless, worthless, or defective. It can also be used to express disapproval.

Dame desu-yo. - Stop it!; Don’t do that!; It’s broken!
Kore-wa dame desu. - This is no good; This is useless (defective).

Ii

The basic meaning of the word ii is good, nice, fine. As we learned in Lesson 11, the expression Ii desu-ka? is commonly used to ask permission.

Ii desu-ka? - Is it good? Is it O.K.? May I . . .?

NOTE: Although dame is a word you will frequently hear Japanese use to express disapproval, avoid using it with superiors and people you do not know well.

Grammar

The particle -yo

In Lesson 2 you learned about two sentence-final particles: -ka and -ne. The particle -yo, which also comes at the end of sentences, adds a sense of emphasis or assertiveness to the utterance.

The particle -yo may be translated in different ways in English.

Dame desu-yo.
- It’s no good, you know!
- I’m telling you that it’s no good.
- It’s no good. Believe me!
Takeda-san desu-yo.
- It’s Mrs. Takeda!
- I tell you - it’s Mrs. Takeda.
Wakarimasu-yo.
- Of course, I understand.
- I certainly do understand.

NOTE: Do not use -yo when speaking to a teacher or superior because it can seem too abrupt and impolite.

Culture

Discipline in Japanese schools

Discipline in Japanese junior and senior high schools is generally very strict. Most aspects of student life are carefully monitored and controlled. These include hair length and style for boys and girls, school uniform and footwear, required school supplies, and type of book bag (color, style, and dimensions).

Teachers are responsible for monitoring student behavior outside of school as well. Japanese students in American public schools are frequently shocked by what seems to them to be an environment with very little discipline.

School uniforms

Uniforms are common in many Japanese junior and senior high schools. In secondary schools a boy’s uniform commonly consists of a white shirt and blue or black matching slacks and jacket. The jacket has a stand-up collar and buttons up the front similar to a military uniform. Uniforms for girls are also generally blue or black and include a long, pleated skirt and a matching blazer worn over a white blouse with a fold-down collar.

Popularity of comics (manga)

Manga are extremely popular among males and females in almost all age groups in Japan. They span a broad range of interests, which is one of the reasons for their universal appeal. Japanese manga are well-bound and are often as thick as a telephone directory for a major city! Manga give their readers a brief escape from the stresses of the real world.

Writing Japanese

In Lesson 1 you were introduced to the concept of long (or double) vowels as in obaasan (grandmother) and ojiisan (grandfather). To pronounce the double vowels aa or ii, make the vowel sound twice as long as the single vowel sound. You may find at first that double vowels are sometimes more difficult to spot in hiragana than in roomaji. Look at these words:

おかあさん = okaasan (mother)
おとうさん = otoosan (father)

Here are the basic rules for writing Romanized double vowels in hiragana (notice oo!):

aa - write the second a as あ: okaasan (mother) ~ おかあさん
ii - write the second i as い: kiite (listen/ask) ~ きいて
uu - write the second u as う: suuji (numeral) ~ すうじ
ee - write the second e as い: gakusee (student) ~ がくせい
oo - write the second o as う: otoosan (father) ~ おとうさん

There are a few exceptions, specifically for ee and oo:

ええと (eeto - well! - used as an interjection), where the second e is written as え
おおきい (ookii - big), where the second o is written as お

Finally, remember: the only difference is how long you hold the vowel sound, so that a and aa have the same sound, but aa is held for two beats, while a is held for just one.

Interactive Activities

The directions for the activities below are written with the idea of you working with a partner. If you do not have a partner available, complete the practice on your own, completing both parts of the activity as well as you can.

Vocabulary check

Silently review the new vocabulary in this lesson. Then have your partner orally test your knowledge of the new Japanese words, phrases, and expressions. Your kurasumeeto says the word in eigo, and you give the equivalent in nohongo. Switch and test your partner.

Long or short?

Whether a vowel sound is long or short in Japanese is very important since many pairs of words with vastly different meanings differ only the length of the vowels. With a partner, practice saying and recognizing long and short vowel sounds. Cover your partner’s side. Partner A and B alternate in reading the words and in identifying which word was read.

**Long or Short Practice**
Partner A	Partner B
obaasan	obasan OR obaasan?
tansu OR tansuu?	tansuu
doro	doro OR dooro?
seto OR seito?	seito
toori	tori OR toori?
ma OR maa?	ma
ne	ne OR nee?
ie OR iie?	iie
suuji	suji OR suuji
ojisan OR ojiisan	ojisan

Hiragana reading practice

With a partner, take turns reading these words with double vowels and checking each other.

えいご
いいえ
どうぞ
がくせい
ああ
ざあざあ
おおきい
いい
こうこう
ちいさい
そう
ええと

Questions and Answers

With a partner, practice asking and answering questions about each other and about classroom and office objects. Ask as many different questions as you can, and answer in complete sentences. Use the pictures from Lesson 11 to supplement the actual objects you have around you in the classroom. Select words and phrases from the words bank below, but do not limit yourself to these or to this order. Alternate asking and answering questions. Use only nihongo during this activity!

**Helpful Words and Phrases**
Phrases	Words
#-nen-sei desu-ka? ___ ja nai desu. ____, chotto, ii desu-ka? Aa, chotto... Akai kaban desu-ka? Doomo arigatoo (gozaimasu). Doozo. Eigo-no hon desu-ka? Gakkoo-wa Atoranta desu-ka? Gakkoo-wa doko desu-ka? Gakkoo-wa Jefason-Kookoo desu-ka? Konpyuutaa-wa dore desu-ka? Kookoo-sei desu-ka? Kore/sore/are-wa eigo-de nan-to iimasu-ka? Kore/sore/are-wa nan desu-ka? Kore/sore/are-wa nan-to iimasu-ka? Kore/sore/are-wa nihongo-de nan-to iimasu-ka? Kore-wa ____ desu-ka? Kore-wa eigo-de paper-to iimasu-ka? Nan-nen-sei desu-ka? Nan-sai desu-ka? O-ikutsu desu-ka? O-namae-wa nan desu-ka? Shoogaku #-nen-sei desu-ka? Sore/are-wa ____ desu-ka? Sore-wa nihongo-de denwa-to iimasu-ka? Sumimasen, ___-san desu-ka? Sumimasen, ii desu-ka?	aoi chuugakkoo daigaku daigaku-sei denwa enpitsu fakkusu hon isu jisho kaban kami keshigomu kokuban konpyuutaa kookoo kuroi manga nihongo/eigo nooto pen shoogakkoo shoogaku-sei Soo desu. terebi tsukue Wakarimasen. Wakarimasu. watashi/boku

Reading practice

Practice reading the following words, phrases, and sentences until you can read them fluently.

いす
あかい　いす
あかい　いす　です
あかい　いす　ですか。
あかい　いすwa　どこですか。
あかい　いすwa　いい　ですか。

Write it in Japanese!

Write each of the following sentences in Romanized Japanese.

May I use your pencil (for a second)?
Excuse me. May I use your phone?
It’s a Japanese book.
It’s a red book.
Which one is the English dictionary?

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Lesson content based on material created by Georgia Public Broadcasting, 1996. All rights reserved. Used with permission.