{"id":22415,"date":"2016-02-14T20:21:59","date_gmt":"2016-02-14T11:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/?p=22415"},"modified":"2026-02-18T11:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:09:12","slug":"japanese-quick-reference-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/japanese-quick-reference-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Quick Reference Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:3119,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/itunes.apple.com\\\/us\\\/book\\\/id1084212441&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/itunes.apple.com\\\/us\\\/book\\\/id1084212441&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:3120,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/amzn.to\\\/1RBhDSW&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/gp\\\/product\\\/4883196038\\\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738&amp;creativeASIN=4883196038&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=randomwire-21&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>When I <a href=\"\/randomwire-moves-to-tokyo\/\">moved to Japan<\/a> in 2013 I spent the first six months taking intensive Japanese classes at a language school in Tokyo. During that time I got frustrated with the&nbsp;quality of the teaching materials and in particular the explanation of grammar rules which I found over-complicated things for the average student who just wanted to get a hang of the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>To that end I put together my own quick reference guide which covers a variety of useful topics, summarised in as simple a manner as possible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hiragana and Katakana<\/li><li>Numbers &amp; Times \/ Dates<\/li><li>Counters &amp; Pointers<\/li><li>Expressions of Time<\/li><li>People &amp; Family<\/li><li>Useful Verbs<\/li><li>Useful Adjectives<\/li><li>Conjugation Basics<\/li><li>Common Verb Conjugations<\/li><li>Useful Adverbs<\/li><li>Useful Nouns<\/li><li>Common Particles<\/li><li>Sentence Recipes<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s sat dormant on my computer for the last few&nbsp;years so I felt it was time to set it free in the hope it might be useful to others. You can download it for free as a PDF or from the iBooks Store (for iPhone \/ iPad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"bailey-download\" href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese-quick-ref.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download PDF<\/a> <a class=\"bailey-download\" href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/book\/id1084212441\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download iBook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The guide roughly covers the content of the first &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1RBhDSW\">Minna no Nihongo<\/a>&#8216; textbook and is intended as a supplement for classroom study, not as a replacement &#8211; it does not include copious examples or explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the content has been proofread by a native speaker there may be errors &#8211; if you spot one or have suggestions on how things could be improved please <a href=\"\/contact\/\">get in touch<\/a> and I&#8217;ll do my best to keep it updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I moved to Japan in 2013 I spent the first six months taking intensive Japanese classes at a language school in Tokyo. During that time I got frustrated with the&nbsp;quality of the teaching materials and in particular the explanation of grammar rules which I found over-complicated things for the average student who just wanted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[498,17,19],"tags":[856,98,499,1236,63,65],"class_list":["post-22415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howto","category-japan","category-travel","tag-ebooks","tag-education","tag-guides","tag-howto","tag-language","tag-learning"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":645,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/back-to-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":0},"title":"Back to School","author":"David","date":"21st October 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a long time since I posted anything under the \"University\" category since I graduated over two years ago and whilst I may be a little older and wiser the learning never ends! Since visiting Korea twice this year I felt it was about time I learned a bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Korea&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Korea","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/korea\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hangul-chart.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4855,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/resources-for-planning-a-trip-to-japan\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":1},"title":"Resources For Planning A Trip To Japan","author":"David","date":"28th October 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought I'd take a break this week from relaying my travel tales to bring you some useful info for anyone planning a trip to Japan themselves. For me the planning part is as much a part of the holiday as the time spent travelling itself - there's something\u00a0innately\u00a0enjoyable about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;How-to&quot;","block_context":{"text":"How-to","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/howto\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tokyo-metro.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tokyo-metro.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tokyo-metro.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tokyo-metro.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26436,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/how-to-find-tech-jobs-in-japan\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":2},"title":"How To Find Tech Jobs in Japan","author":"David","date":"30th June 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I often get asked how to find Software Engineering or related jobs in Japan, so to avoid repeating myself, I thought I'd collate my advice here. As with most places around the world, Software Engineers and ancillary roles (Product Design\/Management etc.) are in high demand in Japan. Even if you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Japan","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"woman sitting in front laptop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-1181677.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7358,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-asian-languages\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":3},"title":"How To Tell The Difference Between Asian Languages","author":"David","date":"25th February 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"To the untrained eye or ear, Asian languages can appear completely incomprehensible and\u00a0indistinguishable\u00a0from each other. The written characters may as well be\u00a0hieroglyphs and\u00a0unlike some other languages, listening in on a conversation isn't going to give you much to go on. The guide below it intended to provide a simple quick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/korean-keyboard.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/red-ted-china\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":4},"title":"Red Ted in Red China","author":"David","date":"8th July 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"After his highly successful and critically acclaimed fact-finding mission to Japan last November, Red Ted is off on his travels again, this time to Shanghai in China. Few know that amongst his many abilities he speaks fluent Mandarin and even less known that the title of Chairman Mao's \"Little Red\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sniffrevolution.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11680,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":22415,"position":5},"title":"Why Japanese Web Design Is So&#8230; Different","author":"David","date":"10th November 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the mind's eye of many people, Japan is a land of tranquil Zen gardens, serene temples, and exquisite tea ceremonies. Both traditional and contemporary Japanese architecture, books and magazines are the envy of designers worldwide. Yet for some reason, practically none of this mastery has been translated into digital\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rakuten-ichiba.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rakuten-ichiba.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rakuten-ichiba.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rakuten-ichiba.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rakuten-ichiba.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}