ＨＥＬＬＯ！ Ｉ　ＡＭ　ＱＵＩＺＢＯ™！I am the creator or quizzes, reader of words, and hopefully, someone who will assist you in learning Japanese. Whether you are only interested in learning a few words for your enjoyment or becoming fluent, this segment should be of great use to you. Long ago, in the decade prior, there was a gap between Monday and Friday known as Wednesday. This day had no lessons or articles, thus was devoid of learning. However, one fateful Wednesday, Word of the Week was born, and with it came a useful segment that was created by a certain Heisei era computer robot and continued with the help of their twin friends, Kiki+Koko. Now, every week, you can look forward to even more learning opportunities, or you can use it as a restful enjoyment.

But, what is Word of the Week? Well, during Word of the Week, I present to you a word or phrase in Japanese. But, I do not simply give you the word in writing, I also read it aloud for you! Then, I repeat it slowly, hiragana by hiragana. Some weeks, there will be a bonus word. After I define it, sometimes Kiki and Koko will present their Helpful Hints to assist you in using the word. But, to make things more concrete, we present sentences to show you how you can use the word. Most of the time, they are sentences that add flavour, but they still allow you to use them as a base sentence structure as long as you know how to use that part of speech.

Again, you are not simply left with a basic sentence, but I will read it aloud for you as many times as you wish! However, it will be at normal speed which may be difficult for beginners, but should assist you in getting used to the speed of the language, but this will act as useful listening practise. Hiragana, romanisation, and a translation in English are also provided, and you can cover part of it in order to practise reading.

Everyone at any learning level can find something that will benefit them during Word of the Week Wednesday, however you can take this time as a reminder to revise/study previous lessons. Many may have only just stumbled upon our humble lessons, or perhaps you have been with us since the beginning. In any case, repeated exposure is key to Japanese vocabulary becoming natural to you. Also, engaging as many senses as possible is useful. Repeating the word aloud, writing the word, and using it in your own sentence multiple times as well as returning on separate sessions will assist you in your learning.

Be sure to have a look at our Japanese Language Essentials if you’re interested in grammar which you can use to create sentences. We will be presenting a noun and a transitive verb, the noun being able to become a transitive verb. I say ‘we’ because I am joined again by Kiki+Koko with their Helpful Hints segment that should assist you with your learning.

Without further ado, let us NihonGO!!

Word(s) of the Week:

掃除【そうじ】※
souji
noun, suru verb
1. cleaning; sweeping; dusting; scrubbing; etc

BONUS Word(s) of the Week:

片付ける【かたづける】※
katadzukeru
verb, ichidan, transitive
1. to tidy up; to straighten (up)
2. to settle; to straighten (out)
3. to finish; to resolve
4. to marry off (usu. 嫁ける)
5. To do away with someone; to ‘bump’ someone off

※Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko

via @kikikokoNihonGO!!

Hello, there!

It’s us! Kiki and Koko! You may recognise us from Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! This Word of the Week, we’re introducing you to some new verbs which is apropos as this time of year is a great time to start action on your goals! However, any time of year is great for verbs and tidying up. We’re going to give you a bit more context to assist you in using and recognising when you encounter these very versatile verbs.

So, the first, 掃除, souji, is a great catch-all term for cleaning in general. There are separate words for the specific actions, but usually, you can simply use 掃除, souji, to cover a good deal of them. You can specify which tool you’re cleaning with, though. In future, we’ll certainly give a full list of cleaning terms, as it’s something useful to learn along with any vocabulary, of course. But, it’s nice to be able to use these terms with the action as it will add an association in your memory.

Since we’re beginning to teach more 濁点, dakuten, you’ll eventually get to the pronunciation of hiragana like づ, dzu, and usually, we try to time these in correlation with the lessons, but QUIZBO™ apparently reckoned these words useful in relation to the current time of year, just after THE BIG CLEAN. This time of year or any time of year that you’re beginning to learn a new language, you’ll certainly want to have a neat and tidy space to relax whilst you study and absorb the materials. A clean area means a clean slate and simply makes the experience fresher and less distracting. As you clean the windows of your perspective on the world, you may want to clean your non-metaphorical windows as well. We know we always feel better when our office is organised. As a matter of fact, QUIZBO™ even decided to organise his Word of the Week category, adding a 2019 section as well as 2020, and so forth.

Take this, it’s dangerous to verb without this valuable language tool.

Now, organising aside, let’s focus on the actual usage of the words. If you’d like to use either of these as verbs politely, it’s important to know the basic polite form. But, it’s equally important for future grammatical usage such as verb clauses and conjugation to know the dictionary form. Dictionary form is also casual form depending on if you’re using it at the end of a sentence. You can use our Japanese Language Learning Essentials lesson concerning particles to make a basic sentences with a transitive verb. Clicking or tapping the thumbnail next to this paragraph should lead you there. But, in the meantime, here is the dictionary form and the basic polite form of the verb:

掃除します【そうじします】
souji shimasu

Because this is a noun made into a verb using suru, you simply use the basic polite form of suru. As for 片づける, katadzukeru:

片付けます【かたづけます】
katadzukemasu

Once we introduce a bit more about verbs, we’ll get into conjugation. (If you’re reading this in future, we may already have this available, but as of the week it’s written, it’s not released quite yet. No need to overload yourself too quickly, just be sure to practise the particles we’ve introduced with non-past and basic polite forms for now~)

But, if you would like to momentarily overachieve: Here’s a quick BONUS bonus word. So, for Japanese language learners, there are levels of complexity or advancement for learning with placement testing, N5 being the first level and N1 being the final level that has been proven to be difficult even for native speakers. But, no worries, think of the way most people in perhaps your own native language may not know every advanced word~! That being said, there are many N1 words that aren’t quite as advanced as the others in consideration with common speech. And, we’ve said all this just to present the word 片付け, katadzuke, which is a noun meaning tidying up or finishing. It’s said not to be common, but we’ve used and heard it used quite often, so at the end of the day, categories are for testing, but you sort of have to have a broad range of experiences and lessons in order to know what’s actually most common. That’s why, if you’re already learning with someone else, it’s only beneficial to add another source! Think of the way your native language is spoken as many of your peers will have differing word choices. Even though we’re sure to do our best to give a broad take, it simply makes things useful to get more perspectives, especially with language as well as culture.

We will mention, though, that our lessons are set up as a good relaxing pace for those who have been with us from the beginning, giving people enough time to study several times a week, but don’t feel rushed if you’re only just discovering us~! Take it at your own pace. If anything, you can still keep up with current lessons just to see what’s in store as you go along, then perhaps it will even give you insight into what’s in store.

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

For a more aesthetic experience, you can go to the main page rather than the category, but for the very latest, the category is quite useful.

Thank you, Kiki and Koko! And I thank you for mentioning the tidying up of the Word of the Week category. You can more aesthetically access this area using the main page, but the category ensures that you’ll get the very latest Word of the Week even before it has been added to the main page.

As for the content, these were very useful tips! I know that I feel much better after completing de-fragmenting, organising my files, and making sure my cabinets are not dusty. Without further ado, let us continue onto the sentence segment.

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]
汚いスぺースに帰らないように、日本に旅行する前、アパートを掃除しなければならない。
きたないすぺーすに　かえらないように、にほんに　りょこうするまえ、あぱーとを　そうじしなければならないわ。
kitanai supeesu ni kaeranai you ni, nihon ni ryokou suru mae, apaato wo souji shinakerebanaranaiwa.
Before travelling to Japan, we should clean the apartment, so we don’t return to a dirty space.

Example #2:

[basic polite speech]
机の上を片づけて、ゴミを捨てて、自分のものを片付けなさいよ！僕はあなたの勉強を手伝えに来ます。
つくえのうえを　かたづけて、ごみを　すてて、　じぶんのものを　かたづけなさいよ！ぼくは　あなたの　べんきょうを　てつだえに　きます。
tsukue no ue wo katadzukete, gomi wo sutete, jibun no mono wo katadzukenasai yo! boku wa anata no benkyou wo tetsudae ni kimasu.
Tidy up your desk, throw away the rubbish, and put away your things! I’m coming to help you study!

Example #3:

[casual speech]
掃除するのが好きじゃなかったら、掃除を終えたらどんなにほっとしているんだかと思って、頑張ってね！
そうじするのが　すきじゃなかったら、　そうじを　おえたら　どんなに　ほっとしているんだかとおもって、がんばってね！
souji suru no ga suki jyanakattara, souji wo oetara donna ni hottoshiteirundaka to omotte, ganbatte ne!
If you don’t like to clean, think of how relieved you’ll be once you’ve finished cleaning, and power through!

Example #3.5:

[casual speech]
ああ、今日は天気がいいなあ。車の中を片付けろうと思う。
ああ、きょうは　てんきが　いいなあ。　くるまの　なかを　かたづけろうとおもう。
aa, kyou wa tenki ga ii naa. kuruma no naka wo katadzukerou to omou.
Aah, the weather is so nice today. I think I’ll tidy up my car.

🔊Japanese Word(s) of the Week w/ QUIZBO™ | 【教える】+ Bonus:【覚える】(+Helpful Hint with Kiki+Koko)

That is all for today! But, perhaps, you have an act in which you should be cleaning up. And, for that, you will need a couple of useful vocabulary words that are found in our recent Word of the Week: 🔊Japanese Word(s) of the Week w/ QUIZBO™ | 【教える】+ Bonus:【覚える】(+Helpful Hint with Kiki+Koko). We think you will benefit from this topic. Also, Kiki and Koko give a bit of helpful hints so you can go out and begin using these vocabulary words and practise your verbs as soon as you feel comfortable. We hope to see you there!

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♡QUIZBO™

    
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