Japanese School Week 2

Today at my Japanese lesson, we learned more words and phrases to help us navigate conversations. The most challenging part for me is to not sound out every syllable when I am speaking a word. Saying the words smoothly is part of my homework for the week. 

Here are a few key points I learned today. 

1. “ka” at the end of the sentence is a question mark. “Dwyer-san desu ka.” Are you Mrs. Dwyer? “Hai, Dwyer desu.” Yes, I am Dwyer. 

2. “no” shows possession. “Watashi wa ABC no Dwyer desu.” I’m Dwyer from ABC. “Iie” pronounced “e-a” means “no.”

3.  There is a BIG difference between “kawaii” and “kowaii.” Kawaii means cute. Kowaii means scary. Make sure to pronounce the ka heavily at the beginning. 

4. We also learned how to say “watashi wa shufu desu.” I am a housewife. Practicing one of the students said, “watashi wa shofu desu.” The teacher laughed and said NO NO! Not shofu. Shufu. Shofu apparently means prostitute. 
To quote our teacher, “so today was a funny lesson.”