Holidays

Holidays

Holidays are one of the topics you will be asked to talk and write about: where you go, how you get there, and what you do. Every word below is shown four ways: the kana reading first, then the kanji where the word has one, then the romaji in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Learn the kana reading, because that is the form the exam board puts first.

Key words (1)

Start with four holiday words:

Match each word to its meaning

What umi means in Japanese

What does the Japanese word 海 うみ (umi) mean?

• the sea
• summer
• a trip, travel
• holiday, time off

Key words (2)

Now four more words you need for a holiday:

Match each word to its meaning

Getting there

Select the TWO Japanese words that are ways of travelling.

• 電車 でんしゃ (densha)
• 飛行機 ひこうき (hikouki)
• 荷物 にもつ (nimotsu)
• 山 やま (yama)

Choose the Japanese word

In Japanese, the word for 'the sea' is _____, and the word for 'summer' is _____.

Words from other languages

Japanese writes words borrowed from other languages in katakana, the more angular of the two kana sets. Holiday vocabulary is full of them: • ホテル (hoteru) hotel • バス (basu) bus So katakana is a fast clue: an angular word that sounds close to English is usually a borrowed one. One warning from the exam board itself: work written in romaji is not credited. The romaji in brackets is a pronunciation aid, nothing more.

Which script?

On a Japanese menu you see the word ケーキ. What does the script it is written in tell you?

• It is katakana, so the word is borrowed from another language
• It is hiragana, so the word is a grammar ending
• It is kanji, so it is one of the meaning-based Japanese scripts
• It is romaji, so it can be used in your written answers

Places and transport

Holiday words fall into two groups. Sorting them this way makes them easier to recall, and adds one more place: 島 しま (shima), an island.

Planning a holiday

Plan a summer holiday in Japan using the words you have learned.

• You want to spend the summer somewhere you can swim. Which place do you choose?
• The beach you have chosen is on an island far to the south. How do you get there?
• You are packing the night before. Which word describes the bags you take with you?

One more

The Japanese word for 'a trip' is _____, the word for 'a mountain' is _____, and the word for 'an island' is _____.

Your turn: write in Japanese

Write two or three sentences IN JAPANESE about a holiday. Write in kana and kanji - the romaji in brackets is a reading aid only and earns no marks in the exam.

• Say where you go with 〜に行きます。(〜にいきます - I go to ...)- 海 うみ (umi), 山 やま (yama) or 島 しま (shima)
• Say how you travel: 電車 でんしゃ (densha), 飛行機 ひこうき (hikouki) or バス (basu)
• Name the season or break: 夏 なつ (natsu), 休み やすみ (yasumi) or 旅行 りょこう (ryokou)
• Say what you like with 〜が好きです。(〜がすきです - I like ...), and end every sentence with 。