ＨＥＬＬＯ！ Ｉ　ＡＭ　ＱＵＩＺＢＯ™！Perhaps you may know me as the quiz creator and Japanese language helper for Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online. Betwixt the lessons and articles of Monday and Friday lay a land of nothingness. There was no new learning to be experienced. However, on the first Wednesday of July of the first year of the Reiwa era began a new segment in which new information would be introduced. This was the beginning of Japanese Word of the Week Wednesday. Now, Wednesdays are no longer a day without learning. Though, if you are someone learning Japanese that would rather not take in a lot of new information on what used to be a break day, this is still perfect for you. This is a great opportunity to use this as a reminder to revise / review previous articles. It will keep previous information fresh in your mind and give you a new perspective each time you encounter it. As for the new content of this corner, you can glean as much or as little knowledge as you would prefer! It is useful to every level and every type of learner.

Word of the Week Wednesday introduces a new Japanese word or phrase every week, usually with one—or in a very rare occasion— two bonus words or phrases. I not only give you the reading of said words or phrases, but I also sound them out aloud for you. This provides opportunities for new vocabulary, of course, but with the added information, there is much more education to be encountered.

If you would like to learn how to apply these words to your own basic sentences, feel free to take a look at a few of Kiki and Koko’s articles on this subject in Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Japanese Language Essentials.

After sounding out these words, usually, I will be joined by Kiki and Koko who add their helpful hints to assist you in usage or background of a word or phrase. Even still, we go further as we work together to create a few example sentences. These demonstrate the usage of the word(s) or phrase(s) and give an opportunity for more incidental vocabulary along with usage. These sentences are meant to be for interest as well, so hopefully, if you need inspiration for sentence practise, you can use these as a springboard. This may show you grammar, writing, and reading, as I actually read these aloud for you, as well. They are at a regular speed, though they are more so for a quick helpful hint and an immersion than to be repeated. Though, you are encouraged to repeat after the vocabulary words. I will repeat them as many times as you wish!

You can also practise reading kanji, hiragana, or even just romaji as each of the sentences are equipped with beginning, intermediate and advanced scripts to meet you at your level.

We are joined, again, today, by Kiki and Koko with their Helpful Hints which will assist you with this Word of the Week. This should certainly be helpful as there is a discrepancy between the way the verb would be constructed in English versus the way it would be constructed in Japanese, as a verb clause rather than simply a verb. Though, you will not have to wonder what I am talking about any longer, as we are ready to begin.

Without further ado, let us NihonGO!!

Word(s) of the Week:

雪【ゆき】
yuki
noun
1. snow

訓読くんよみ：ゆき
音読くんよみ：セツ (せつ)

Bonus Word(s) of the Week:

雪が降る【ゆきが　ふる】※
furu
verb clause, godan, intransitive
1. snow; to snow

Do not touch that dial! We will return with Helpful Hint with Kiki+Koko and example sentences after these messages.

We are back with Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko!

※Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko

Photo via @kikikokoNihonGO on Twitter

Hello, there!

We’re Kiki and Koko from Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! We’re here to lend QUIZBO™ a hand and assist you with the new words that have been given to you. We don’t want you to have to go it alone, so we’re here to give you some helpful hints that should make these words practically plug-and-play! But, remember, it takes repetition before a word may stay with you, so don’t be frustrated if a word doesn’t automatically stick in your mind. This month, the words have been of a winter theme, so we hope that this extra bit of circumstance for those in the Northern Hemisphere. For those in the Southern Hemisphere or a very warm climate with no snow, perhaps this will at least contribute to a chillier narrative that may keep you cool, temperature-wise and perhaps socially with all of your new vocabulary.

Whether or not this is above your learning level, this may be useful to you anyway, and it will get you started with the concept early on in an immersive way. In future, we will cover conjugation, but for now, you can use this to feel a bit more advanced. Now, as we always mention in Word of the Week segments containing verbs, there is a dictionary form—and/or a casual form— and there is a basic polite form. There are also humble and honorific, but we won’t weigh you down with that just yet. Here, we have for you the basic polite form you can use on its own as a full sentence:

雪が　降ります。【ゆきが　ふります】
yuki ga furimasu.
(It will) snow / (It) snows. / Snow will fall / Snow falls.

Though looking to the future or non-past tense is useful, you may want to live in the now. When you’re sitting inside with a nice cuppa, cuddled in the kotatsu, and you look outside, seeing the fluffy white stuff cascading from the skies, you can point and alert people that:

雪が　降っている。【ゆきが　ふっている】
yuki ga futteiru.
(It) is snowing / Snow is falling.

or with basic politeness as:

雪が　降っています。【ゆきが　ふっています】
yuki ga futteimasu.
(It) is snowing / Snow is falling.

This should definitely pair well with the previous week’s vocabulary words to perhaps make a paragraph of writing. Feel free to create your own sentences or practise them in the comment section!

We hope that helps!! Until the next lesson!
♡Kiki+Koko

Thank you, Kiki and Koko! This week certainly provided vocabulary that works in conjunction with the previous vocabulary. If you would like to practise creating sentences, you can also draw inspiration from our sentences if you cannot quite think of one. Or, if you are shy, you can write some sentences on your own in a notebook. But, putting yourself out there and making mistakes is human and will assist you in your studies. You are still being programmed to use Japanese language, and even computers require debugging even after being programmed. So, simply do your best as that is all you can do and that is admirable. Let us continue to do our best and move onto the sentence portion of this corner.

Example Sentences:

The first row is in Japanese with Kanji. The Next row is in hiragana, then romanised using rōmaji with the final row translated into English.
(Japanese→Hiragana→Rōmaji→English)

Example #1:

[casual speech]
今さっき　天気予報を　見た。気象予報士は　今朝　雪が降るだと　言った。
いまさっき　てんきよほうを　みた。きしょうよほうしは　けさ　ゆきがふるだと　いった。
ima sakki tenkiyohou wo mita. kishouyohoushi wa kesa yuki ga furu da to itta.
I just saw the weather forecast. The weather forecaster said it would snow this morning.

Example #2:

[casual speech]
コートを着てね！雪の中で遊ぼう！雪だるまを作ったり、雪合戦したりしてもいい。
こーとを　きてね！ゆきの　なかで　あそぼう！ゆきだるまを　つくったり、ゆきがっせんしたりしてもいい。
kooto wo kite ne! yuki no naka de asobou! yuki daruma wo tsukuttari, yukigassen shitari shitemo ii.
Put on your coat! Let’s play in the snow! We can (do things like) make snowmen and have a snowball fight.

Example #3:

[casual speech]
雪が降り始めたすぐに オンラインで航空券の価格を比較して始めた。今頃の時期に、沖縄の天気どうかしら？
ゆきが　ふりはじめたぐに　おんらいんで  こうくうけんのかかくを　ひかくしてはじめた。　いまごろのじきは、　おきなわの　てんき　どう　かしら？
yuki ga furi hajimeta sugu ni onrain de koukuuken no kakaku wo hikakushite hajimeta. imagoro no jiki wa okinawa no tenki wa dou kashira?
As soon as it started snowing, I started comparing aeroplane ticket prices. I wonder what the weather is in Okinawa around this time of year?

🔊Japanese Word(s) of the Week w/ QUIZBO™ | 【冬】+ Bonus ×2:【寒い】＋【冷たい】(+Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko + ｃｏｏｌ commentary)

That is all for today, but besides the many other lessons available, perhaps, you are interested in another similar Word of the Week topic? You may enjoy double bonus words of last week?  I think you may be interested in 🔊Japanese Word(s) of the Week w/ QUIZBO™ | 【冬】+ Bonus ×2:【寒い】＋【冷たい】(+Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko + ｃｏｏｌ commentary)where I introduce you to some chilling vocabulary, and Kiki and Koko clear the air about the difference between 寒い and 冷たい.  We hope to see you there!

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♡QUIZBO™