School Activities

School activities in Japanese

This topic is about the activities you do at school - lessons, sport, music, trips, homework and tests. Every word comes with its Japanese script, the romaji in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Japanese is written left to right.

Words for school activities

Here are six to learn first. Each shows the script, how to say it, and what it means.

What taiiku means in Japanese

What does 体育 たいいく (taiiku) mean?

• PE
• Music
• Homework
• A library

Match each word to its English meaning

How the script works

Two things about Japanese writing. First, it mixes kanji (meaning-based characters, like 学校 がっこう) with two syllable scripts, hiragana and katakana. Katakana is used for borrowed words, like テスト (tesuto) and クラブ (kurabu). Second, it is written left to right, with no spaces between words, and romaji spells it in our Latin letters.

More school words

Four more, including a place and two objects you will need for the next check.

Which are activities?

Select the THREE words that are school ACTIVITIES, not objects.

• 体育 たいいく (taiiku)
• 音楽 おんがく (ongaku)
• 遠足 えんそく (ensoku)
• 本 ほん (hon)
• ペン (pen)

Match the script to how it is said

Where are you?

You go to the 図書館 としょかん (toshokan). What is it?

• The library
• The classroom
• The music room
• The gym

How do you say it?

A lesson 授業 じゅぎょう is read _____. Homework 宿題 しゅくだい is read _____. PE 体育 たいいく is read _____. A trip 遠足 えんそく is read _____.

Putting it together

Now you can talk about a whole school day. At school (学校 がっこう) you sit in a lesson (授業 じゅぎょう), you might do PE (体育 たいいく) or music (音楽 おんがく), and there may be a test (テスト). There are also school trips (遠足 えんそく) and the library (図書館 としょかん), and at home there is always the homework (宿題 しゅくだい).

The small particles do the work

The school words become sentences once you add the small particles. Which particle you choose changes the meaning, so they are worth learning as part of the pattern: - 私は音楽が好きです わたしはおんがくがすきです = "I like music". The thing you like takes が, not を. 好きです (suki desu) is really "is liked", which is why Japanese uses が here. - 図書館に本があります としょかんにほんがあります = "there are books in the library". に marks the place, and あります (arimasu) is "there is" for things that do not move. For a person you would use います instead.

The thing you like takes が in Japanese

The thing you like takes が in Japanese. Which of these says "I like music"?

• 私は音楽が好きです わたしはおんがくがすきです (watashi wa ongaku ga suki desu)
• 私は音楽を好きです わたしはおんがくをすきです (watashi wa ongaku o suki desu)
• 音楽が好きです私は おんがくがすきですわたしは (ongaku ga suki desu watashi wa)
• 図書館に本があります としょかんにほんがあります (toshokan ni hon ga arimasu)

Order the school day

Put a normal school day into a sensible order. (Each step tags its Japanese word.)

• You arrive at school (学校 がっこう)
• You have your first lesson (授業 じゅぎょう)
• You do PE (体育 たいいく)
• You visit the library (図書館 としょかん)
• At home you do your homework (宿題 しゅくだい)

Pick the word

For each situation, choose the right Japanese word.

• You want to talk about PE and sport at school.
• Your class is going on a school trip.
• The teacher gives you work to finish at home.

Read the script

Three questions about the Japanese script itself.

• Japanese writing mixes kanji with which two other scripts?
• Katakana is mainly used for which kind of word?
• Which word is the Japanese for "school"?