#n5

By the Japan Foundation Sydney Length: 109 pages

With 9 chapters and 109 pages, this book is definitely among the most ambitious reading projects for beginners in Japanese. Every page is illustrated, and there are short summaries and additional context in English after each chapter, which really shows just how much work must have gone into it.

Furthermore, there is only few kanji with 100% furigana and even additional spacing between words, making the short and simple sentences very easy to read at the beginner stage.

While reading, I found it a bit of a shame that the Japanese text itself cannot reflect the more complex explanations due to the simple language. The story of this rice farmer in Australia and the numerous hurdles he has to face is quite interesting but without the additional English texts you are not quite getting the full story. I'm very interested to hear the opinions of beginner readers how it feels to switch languages like this!

This book is freely available at the Japan Foundation Sydney's homepage:

How do you talk about the number of family members you have in Japanese?

ご家族は何人ですか？ ごかぞく は なんにん です か？ Gokazoku wa nan'nin desu ka? How many people are in your family? (quite formal)

何人家族ですか？ なんにん かぞく です か？ Nan'nin kazoku desu ka? How many people are in your family? (less formal but still polite)

家族は四人です。 かぞく は よんにん です。 Kazoku wa yon'nin desu. There are four people in my family.

How do you count how many family members you have? Remember to include yourself in the number!

If your family is father, mother, you, and a sibling, or you, a parent, and two siblings, or any combination of four people, you would be a family of four:

四人家族です。 よんにん かぞく です。 Yon'nin kazoku desu. (We are) a family of four.

When discussing siblings, you say how many total siblings there are (including yourself).

兄弟は何人いますか？ きょうだい は なんにん います か？ Kyoudai wa nan'nin imasu ka? How many siblings do you have？

If you are an only child you can say:

一人子です。 ひとりっこ です。 Hitorikko desu. I am an only child.

If you (a boy, for example) have one brother, you would be two siblings (兄弟/きょうだい/kyoudai):

二人兄弟です。 ふたり きょうだい です。 Futari kyoudai desu. (We are) two siblings. In English: I have one sibling (and we are both male).

If you (a girl, for example) have one sister, you would also be two siblings (姉妹/しまい/shimai):

二人姉妹です。 ふたり しまい です。 (We are) two siblings. In English: I have one sibling (and we are both female).

Note: You can use 兄弟 (kyoudai) to refer to any two siblings, but writing it with the kanji 兄 and 弟 usually implies two males (other brother and younger brother).

There are other variations on the combinations of brother and sister. For example, older sister/younger brother, older brother/younger sister:

姉弟　してい　shitei　older sister, younger brother

兄妹　けいまい　keimai　older brother, younger sister

For multiple siblings, if you are a male and have only brothers you can use 兄弟 (kyoudai), and if you are a female and have only sisters you can use 姉妹 (shimai). If you have a mix you can use 兄弟 (kyoudai):

四人兄弟です。 よんにん きょうだい です。 Yon'nin kyoudai desu. (We are) four brothers/siblings. In English: I have three brothers/siblings.

四人姉妹です。 よんにん しまい です。 Yon'nin shimai desu. (We are) four sisters. In English: I have three sisters (and I am a female as well).

In general, if you use 兄弟 (kyoudai) that is the most generic way to say siblings.

兄弟はいますか？ きょうだい は います か？ Kyoudai wa imasu ka? Do you have siblings?

A good way to train for listening exercises or just to get used to how the language sounds, are comprehensible input videos.

I’ve been loving these recently! My favourite channel to watch that makes these sort of videos is Comprehensible Japanese. They make videos for all levels, but I’m watching the absolute beginner ones. The creator has a really calm, nice and welcoming voice. She shows Japan and her routine while describing it in a very easy way.

Not only that, but there are also videos where you get the same input but through games or comics.