Who Am I? - Family and Personal Characteristics
Start reading Japanese and talking about your family. Learn the key words in script and sound, and meet the three scripts Japanese uses together.
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Reading Japanese 🗾
Japanese is unusual: it is written with **three scripts at once**. **Hiragana** and **katakana** are sets of syllable signs, and **kanji** are characters borrowed from Chinese that stand for whole words. In this module every word is shown three ways: the **script**, the **sound** (romaji, our letters, in brackets), and the **English**, so you learn to recognise it and say it.
Saying who you are 🙋
Two words to introduce yourself: - **私 (watashi)** = I - **名前 (namae)** = name So 私の名前 (watashi no namae) means "my name".
The family 👨👩👧
The core family and friends words: - **家族 (kazoku)** = family - **父 (chichi)** = my father, **母 (haha)** = my mother - **友達 (tomodachi)** = friend
Match each Japanese word to its meaning
- 私 (watashi)
- 名前 (namae)
- 家族 (kazoku)
- 父 (chichi)
- 友達 (tomodachi)
- I
- name
- family
- father
- friend
Spot the word
Which word means "my father"?
- 父 (chichi)
- 母 (haha)
- 友達 (tomodachi)
- 家族 (kazoku)
Older or younger? 👧
Like Chinese, Japanese does not have one word for "brother" or "sister". It shows whether they are **older** or **younger** than you: - **兄 (ani)** = older brother, **弟 (ototo)** = younger brother - **姉 (ane)** = older sister, **妹 (imoto)** = younger sister
Match each sibling word to its meaning
- 兄 (ani)
- 弟 (ototo)
- 姉 (ane)
- 妹 (imoto)
- older brother
- younger brother
- older sister
- younger sister
Older or younger?
Which word means "older brother"?
- 兄 (ani)
- 弟 (ototo)
- 姉 (ane)
- 妹 (imoto)
True of Japanese?
Which statement about Japanese writing is correct?
- It uses three scripts together: hiragana, katakana and kanji
- It uses only kanji characters
- It uses the same alphabet as English
- It can only be written right to left
One more word
Which word means "friend"?
- 友達 (tomodachi)
- 家族 (kazoku)
- 父 (chichi)
- 私 (watashi)
Family members
Select ALL THREE words that are family members.
- 父 (chichi)
- 母 (haha)
- 兄 (ani)
- 友達 (tomodachi)
- 私 (watashi)
- 名前 (namae)
Introduce yourself
An interactive activity.
The right word
Using the romaji, complete: "my father" is _____, "my mother" is _____, "older brother" is _____, and "friend" is _____.
Japanese summary
Japanese is written using _____ scripts together: hiragana, katakana and kanji. The word for family is _____, the word for I is _____, and an older brother is _____.