Japanese basics for English teachers in Japan
Hello, and welcome! I teach English here in Japan, and I remember how strange the school felt in my first weeks. The forms, the lunch menus, and the staff room chats were all in Japanese. You do not need to be fluent. A few hundred words and a little grammar will take you a long way. This page shows you where to start.
Where to start
Work through these in order. Each step takes you a little further than the last.
- 1. Hiragana The main Japanese writing system. Learn the 46 basic characters first.
- 2. Katakana The writing for foreign words, such as コーヒー (coffee) and ベッド (bed).
- 3. The first 100 words Greetings, the classroom, food, numbers, and the verbs you use every day.
- 4. Verbs and how they change Learn the polite form first. You will hear it all day at school.
- 5. Common verbs Twenty verbs you will hear every day, with their present, past, had to, negative, and future forms.
- 6. これ, それ, あれ This, that, and that over there. Point to things without knowing the name.
- 7. Mistakes to avoid The errors that English speakers make again and again. Read this before your first staff meeting.
Reading and writing
- Hiragana chart ひらがな All 46 basic characters, with example words. Practise writing them by hand, too.
- Katakana chart カタカナ The same sounds, written for foreign words. You will see it on every menu.
- The English alphabet アルファベット Your students will learn these 26 letters. Trace each one and hear how it sounds.
- Essential phrases 日本語の表現 Useful lines for the staff room, with the English meaning beside each one.
Grammar you will use at once
- JLPT N5 grammar 文法 All 60 beginner grammar points, from は and を to the te-form. Each one shows how it can trip up your students' English.
- Common verbs and their conjugations Sixteen verbs in three groups, with the polite, te, not, and past forms.
- Using this, that, and there これ・それ・あれ Pointing words for things, people, and places, and when to use each one.
- Mistakes to avoid Particles, yes and no, titles, counters, and the other traps for English speakers.
500 essential words
Learn them in five bands of 100. Each band has flashcards and an example sentence for every word. Try one band a week and you will know 500 words by the end of the term.
- Words 1–100 Start here. Greetings, the classroom, food, numbers, and the verbs you will use every day.
- Words 101–200 Everyday verbs, feelings, school life, and the places around town.
- Words 201–300 Your body, clothes, technology, seasons, time words, and directions.
- Words 301–400 More verbs, food and drink, the home, and describing things.
- Words 401–500 Connecting words, work and school words, and words for ideas and plans.