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地上管制から 皆様へ、こんにちにゃあぁ！Ground Control to everybody: konnichinyaa! Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online! We have our headsets adjusted and our radio communications tuned in. We’re your anchor to the Earth, guiding you through your mission through the cosmos. That’s right, it’s time to take your protein pills and put your helmet on. When learning another language, it’s important to put your skills to the test, and your skills shall certainly be put to the test, this time! We reached for the stars with our quiz on Basic Space Vocabulary | SIDE A,and sent you over the moon with Basic Space Vocabulary | SIDE B. Now, it’s time to take one small step for man and one giant leap for…. learning Japanese demonstratives! As we’ll not only be putting your spatial knowledge to the test, but your spacial knowledge! Yes, it’s a test of your knowledge of the solar system. If you live in this solar system, it’s your duty as an Earthling to know these things! (Or, as a Venusian, Mercurian, Martian, Jovian, etc)
We reckoned something on this large of a scale may give you a better feel for こそあど言葉, kosoado kotoba. It can be quite tricky at first, and before we move onto more, we want to be very sure that you’re grounded or connected to the shuttle so you don’t end up floating off into space and losing your way. Once you reach that threshold of understanding this concept which is very different to the very binary system of English’s demonstratives, it can be easy to want to gloss over this as something that feels simple. But, this is simply a sort of curse of expertise or the curse of knowledge as you may find yourself distancing yourself further and further from your initial mindset. This is something that plagues many teachers, and really native speakers of a language. It can be difficult to put themselves into a beginner’s perspective to know what concepts are difficult to grasp as their mind is already biased towards understanding. For the reason of being effective teachers for you, we always do our best to not fall into this, and we’ve even been taking steps to stay in the mindset of a beginner which we’ll hopefully be documenting more on our personal blog: ♡Kiki+Koko™.
But, the reason why we’re focusing on this view for learners is to never forget the previous steps of your journey. Never forget the things you struggled with and overcame when you start out learning. It can show you how you’ve already accomplished so much and when new challenges inevitably come your way, you won’t think of yourself as unblemished, you’ll remember that there’s always more to learn and with more time, effort, and patience, you’ll eventually overcome the next hurdle of your lifelong journey.
This time, even if you are completely comfortable with the concept of these first demonstratives and demonstratives in general, you can at least use this as a way to generally practise sentences and grammar! It’s useful to have random sentences using vocabulary you’re familiar with in different ways in which you can adapt your speech to in future. And, it’s simply nice to feel your feet on the ground after a long stint on such a timeless flight. But, if you haven’t even packed your bags, you can have a look at the previous lessons and you can always return to this at any other time when you’re ready.
Before Our Ascension
Before we continue, there are three quick activities and lessons we recommend, other than the previously mentioned lessons. Though, of course, we recommend being completely caught up in order to get the most out of these, we know many may simply need a refreshing on some of them. You’ll be able to train with the above practice which uses a flashcard technique in order to grasp the way demonstratives function in Japanese.
You’ll also benefit from understanding some of these basic Japanese question words. Though, it’ll be important to know this lesson, in order to understand that lesson, and this lesson to understand that one, you’ll also need to start with the previous lessons concerning question words. But, no worries, they’re linked within the page.
Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to take a look at our monster of a lesson (most realistically over the course of a few sittings): Here, There, and Everywhere| Existential Verbs| 「に」／「が」＋「いる」／「ある」|| Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Japanese Language Learning Essentials. The reason for this is, as well as the previous one, is that they’ll be utilised during this quiz, and we wouldn’t want to you dwell on other topics that you may already be having trouble with. However! On the other hand, if you do have a grasp on demonstratives so far as well as their general pattern, then you can use this quiz to practise these other skills and concepts.
And with that, it’s time to blast-off and start our space excursion! Let’s do our best, and: Let’s NihonGO!!
Demonstratives in SPACE!|宇宙の指示語！
In this activity, we’re going to guide you through our solar system whilst we help you read through some Japanese sentences! Now, we know the planets in real life aren’t aligned neatly in a row, and it’s almost as rare to see them all in the same night sky. However, for this, we’ll just all play a bit of pretend that the solar system is like a model project and that we can easily move back and forth between them, very much so like a playing pretend. The point of the activity is spatial knowledge with the bonus of spatial vocabulary usage. So, if you’re an astronomer, astrophysicist or planetary scientist, we apologise in advance. Just think of this as a play group or nursery school diorama and voice your opinion about this model in Japanese with these vocabulary words! (In future, we’ll provide more location words for you to use.)
Note: We’ll be using a lot of Japanese in this! But, we’ll be sure to translate words we haven’t introduced, yet. Think of it as a look into the future of your Japanese language learning journey!
Scenario 1
Do your best to read the following passage. The demonstratives will be written in their usual hiragana rather than their helpful kanji, so as to help you when reading common passages where they are written in hiragana.
あなたは 地球上に います。宇宙人と 会うに 宇宙飛行士に なります。
あなたは ちきゅうじょうに います。うちゅうじんと あうに うちゅうひこうしに なります。
anata wa chikyuujou ni imasu. uchuujin to au ni uchuuhikoushi ni narimasu.
友達と しゃべります。あなたは 空を 指し、「[ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に 行きます」と 言います。
ともだちと しゃべります。あなたは そらを さし、「[ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に いきます」と いいます。
tomodachi to shaberimasu. anata wa sore wo sasu,「[koko / soko / asoko / doko]ni ikimasu」to iimasu.
You talk with your friend. You point to the sky and say, ‘I’m going [ここ(koko)・そこ(soko)・あそこ(asoko)・どこ(doko)]’
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for this sentence.
Scenario 2
Again, do your best to read the following passage. Even if you’re unfamiliar with a few words, it should help you in understanding the order and structure of the grammar. And, no worries, we’ll give you a full translation if you’re stuck. We’re just giving some more intermediate beginner sentences here and there for those more experienced who want to practise.We’ll get back to the simpler ones, soon.
宇宙への ロケットの 発射する 時間です。ボタンを 押しさえすればいいいの。
うちゅうへの ろけっとの はっしゃする じかんです。ぼたんを おしさえ すれば いいの。
uchuu he no roketto no hassha suru jikan desu. botan wo oshisae sureba ii no.
「ボタンは [1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]ですか。」と あたなは 聞きます。
「ぼたんは [1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]ですか。」と あたなは ききます。
「botan wa [1. koko・soko・asoko・doko]desu ka。」to anata wa kikimasu。
「ボタンは 君の 真正面だ。[2. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]だよ。」と あなたの横の 宇宙飛行士が 言います。
「ぼたんは きみの ましょうめんだ。[2.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]だよ。」と あなたの よこの うちゅうひこうしが いいます。
「botan wa kimi no mashoumen da. [2. koko・soko・asoko・doko] da yo。」to anata no yoko no uchuuhikoushi ga iimasu.
「The button is [1. koko・soko・asoko・doko]desu ka。」you ask.
「The button is right in front of you. It’s [2. koko・soko・asoko・doko]。」says the astronaut beside you.
「ボタンは [1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]ですか。」と あたなは 聞きます。
「ぼたんは [1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]ですか。」と あたなは ききます。
「botan wa [1. koko・soko・asoko・doko]desu ka。」to anata wa kikimasu。
Please choose the most appropriate word for the first sentence.
「ボタンは 君の 真正面だ。[2. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]だよ。」と あなたの横の 宇宙飛行士が 言います。
「ぼたんは きみの ましょうめんだ。[2.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]だよ。」と あなたの よこの うちゅうひこうしが いいます。
「botan wa kimi no mashoumen da. [2. koko・soko・asoko・doko] da yo。」to anata no yoko no uchuuhikoushi ga iimasu.
Please choose the most appropriate word for the second sentence.
Scenario 3
Do your best to read the following passage. Many words may be new, but try your best to put the pieces together, and if you’re stuck, just check the translation.
あなたは ロケットに 乗って 宇宙に います！火星に 着きます。
あなたは ろけっとに のって うちゅうに います！火星に 着きます。
anata wa roketto ni notte uchuu ni imasu! kasei ni tsukimasu.
「[1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]で うまくいっていますか？」と 地球上の 地上管制官は 言います。
「[1.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]で うまくいっていますか？」と ちきゅうじょうの ちじょうかんせいかんは いいます。
「[1.koko・soko・asoko・doko] de umaku itteimasuka?」to chikyuujou no chijoukanseikan wa iimasu.
答える 隙も 与えず、 宇宙人を 見ます！
こたえる すきも あたえず、うちゅうじんを みます！
kotaeru suki mo ataezu, uchuujin wo mimasu!
「[2. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]から 来ましたの？」と 宇宙人さんは 聞きます。
「[2.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]から きましたの?」と うちゅうじんさんは ききます。
「[2.koko・soko・asoko・doko]kara kimashita no?」to uchuujinsan wa kikimasu.
あなたは 地球を 指差します。
あなたは ちきゅうを ゆびさします。
anata wa chikyuu wo yubisashimasu.
「[3. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]？金星か 地球ですか？」と 宇宙人さんは 言います。
「[3.これ・それ・あれ・どれ]？きんせいか ちきゅうですか?」と うちゅうじんさんは いいます。
「[3.kore・sore・are・dore]? kinsei ka chikyuu desuka?」to uchuujinsan wa iimasu.
あなたの 一番近くを 指差して「[4. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]です。」と 答えます。
あなたの いちばんちかくを ゆびさして「[4.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]です。」と こたえます。
anata no ichiban chikaku wo yubisashite「[4.koko・soko・asoko・doko]kara kimashita no?」to kotaemasu.
「まじ 最高 だ なあ。」
「まじ さいこう だ なあ。」
「maji saikou da naa」
Ground Control asks you on Earth, ‘Is it going well [1. koko / soko / asoko / doko]?’
Before you can answer, you see an alien!
‘[2. koko / soko / asoko / doko] are you from?’ asks the alien.
You point to Earth.
‘[3.kore / sore / are / dore]? Venus or Earth?’ says the alien.
You point to the one closest to you and answer, ‘It’s [4.kore / sore / are / dore].’
‘Hecka rad’ (lit.seriously supreme)
「[1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]で うまくいっていますか？」と 地球上の 地上管制官は 言います。
「[1.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]で うまくいっていますか？」と ちきゅうじょうの ちじょうかんせいかんは いいます。
「[1.koko・soko・asoko・doko] de umaku itteimasuka?」to chikyuujou no chijoukanseikan wa iimasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the first sentence.
「[2. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]から 来ましたの？」と 宇宙人さんは 聞きます。
「[2.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]から きましたの?」と うちゅうじんさんは ききます。
「[2.koko・soko・asoko・doko]kara kimashita no?」to uchuujinsan wa kikimasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the second sentence.
「[3. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]？金星か 地球ですか？」と 宇宙人さんは 言います。
「[3.これ・それ・あれ・どれ]？きんせいか ちきゅうですか?」と うちゅうじんさんは いいます。
「[3.kore・sore・are・dore]? kinsei ka chikyuu desuka?」to uchuujinsan wa iimasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the third sentence.
あなたの 一番近くを 指差して「[4. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]です。」と 答えます。
あなたの いちばんちかくを ゆびさして「[4.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]です。」と こたえます。
anata no ichiban chikaku wo yubisashite「[4.koko・soko・asoko・doko]kara kimashita no?」to kotaemasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the fourth sentence.
Scenario 4
Do your best to read the following passage. Again, many words may be new, but try your best to put the pieces together, and if you’re stuck, just check the translation.
「ねえ、友達と ユーフォ―に 乗りたいのですか。」と 宇宙人さんは 聞きます。
「ねえ、ともだちと ゆーふぉーに のりたいのですか？」と うちゅうじんさんは ききます。
「nee, tomodachi to yuufoo ni noritai no desuka?」to uchuujinsan wa kikimasu.
「もちろん！」と あなたたちは 二人とも 答えます。
「もちろん！」と あなたたちは ふたりとも こたえます。
「mochiron!」to anatatachi wa futaritomo kotaemasu.
「[1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に 行きたいの ですか。土星？冥王星は どうでしょうか。」
「[1.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に いきたいの ですか。どせい？めいおうせいは どうでしょうか。」
「[1.koko・soko・asoko・doko] ni ikitai no desuka. dosei? meiousei wa dou deshouka.」
冥王星を 指差して「[2. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]!」と 答えます。
めいおうせいを ゆびさして「[2.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]!」と こたえます。
meiousei wo yubisashite「[2.kore・sore・are・dore]!」to kotaemasu.
新しくて 宇宙人の 友達と 冥王星へ 飛んで行きます。
あたらしくて うちゅうじんの ともだちと めいおうせいへ とんでいきます。
atarashikute uchuujin no tomodachi to meiousei he tonde ikimasu.
冥王星で ピクニックし、その間 宇宙人さんは お菓子を 食べないかと 申し出ます。
めいおうせいで ぴくにっくし、そのあいだ うちゅうじんさんは おかしを たべないかと もうしでます。
meiousei de pikunikku shi, sono aida uchuujinsan wa okashi wo tabenai ka to moushi demasu.
「[3. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]が 好みますか？宇宙の クッキーか 月から 餅は どうでしょうか？」
「[3.これ・それ・あれ・どれ]が このみますか？うちゅうの くっきーか つきから もちは どうでしょうか？」
「[3.kore・sore・are・dore]ga konomimasuka? uchuu no kukkii ka tsuki kara mochi wa dou deshou ka?」
宇宙人が持っているお菓子を 指差して、「[4. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]を お願いします。」と うれしく言います。
うちゅうじんが もっている おかしを ゆびさして「[4.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]を おねがいします。」と うれしく いいます。
uchuujin ga motteiru okashi wo yubisashite「[4.kore・sore・are・dore]wo onegai shimasu」to ureshiku iimasu.
Epilogue|跋
それで、あなたと 友達と 宇宙人さんは 冥王星で 宇宙のクッキーを食べました。
それで、あなたと ともだちと うちゅうじんさんは めいおうせで うちゅうの くっきーを たべました。
sore de, anata to tomodachi to uchuujinsan wa meiousei de uchuu no kukkii wo tabemashita.
メールアドレスを交換し、週末に グルチャし、大親友に なりました。
めーるあどれすを こうかんし、しゅうまつに ぐるちゃし、だいじんゆうに なりました。
meeru adoresu wo koukan shi, shuumatsu ni gurucha shi, daishinyuu ni narimashita.
ミッション完了
みっしょんかんりょう
misshon kanrou.
‘Of course!’ you both reply.
‘[1. koko / soko / asoko / doko] do you want to go? Saturn? How about Pluto?’
You point to Pluto and answer, ‘[2. koko / soko / asoko / doko]!’
You fly off to Pluto in the UFO with your new alien friend.
You have a picnic on Pluto where the alien offers you a treat.
‘[3.kore / sore / are / dore] would you like? How about a space cookie or mochi from the moon?’
You and your friend point to the one the alien is holding and happily say, ‘[3.kore / sore / are / dore], please.’ And, so, you and your friend and the alien ate space cookies on Pluto. You exchanged emails, group chat on weekends, and became best friends.
Mission accomplished.
「[1. ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に 行きたいの ですか。土星？冥王星は どうでしょうか。」
「[1.ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ]に いきたいの ですか。どせい？めいおうせいは どうでしょうか。」
「[1.koko・soko・asoko・doko] ni ikitai no desuka. dosei? meiousei wa dou deshouka.」
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the first sentence.
冥王星を 指差して「[2. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]!」と 答えます。
めいおうせいを ゆびさして「[2.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]!」と こたえます。
meiousei wo yubisashite「[2.kore・sore・are・dore]!」to kotaemasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the second sentence.
「[3. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]が 好みますか？宇宙の クッキーか 月から 餅は どうでしょうか？」
「[3.これ・それ・あれ・どれ]が このみますか？うちゅうの くっきーか つきから もちは どうでしょうか？」
「[3.kore・sore・are・dore]ga konomimasuka? uchuu no kukkii ka tsuki kara mochi wa dou deshou ka?」
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the third sentence.
宇宙人が 持っている お菓子を 指差して、「[4. これ・それ・あれ・どれ]を お願いします。」と うれしく 言います。
うちゅうじんが もっている おかしを ゆびさして「[4.これ・それ・あれ・どこ]を おねがいします。」と うれしく いいます。
uchuujin ga motteiru okashi wo yubisashite「[4.kore・sore・are・dore]wo onegai shimasu」to ureshiku iimasu.
Please choose the most appropriate demonstrative for the fourth sentence.
Wow! What an adventure that was! How did you do with this one? It was certainly quite different to our usual quizzes, but we hope at least this one reaches, perhaps, a wider student and visitor base. Of course, we want to be sure we target each learning level, but at times, even for beginners, it can be enjoyable to take on a huge task just to have an assessment of where you are and maybe even how much you already know. Either way, we really hope this gave those learning to read and write in Japanese a useful opportunity to feel accomplished about reading through a long passage. We certainly enjoyed giving a short, simple, and hopefully pleasant adventure to help you apply your knowledge and have an experience you may not have anywhere else. And, again, this can be a daunting passage of reading for early learners, and that’s okay! It’s about challenging yourself and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone; and, even still, it’s all about patience. Even though we travelled light years in moments in this adventure, there’s no secret trick or hidden method to make learning faster for you. You just have to go into it with a positive attitude, give it your best try, and take your time! Your skills will be out of this world with time!
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Speaking of which, we want to continue to ensure your steps to success in your Japanese language learning goals, whether you want to just learn a bit for fun or become fluent. You can ensure the continuation of the creation of new and even better content by leaving a TIP in the TIP♡JAR to keep it going. Or for long or even short term contributions, you can join our Patreon where our gracious host, Indigo East, usually posts behind-the-scenes, sneak-peeks, exclusive content, and more. And, we join in as well! Again, if you’d like to support our survival and the creation of more content to be made available to as many people as possible, you can also share the content! You can easily share via Twitter and Pinterest where you can retweet and repin respectively without even having to type! Gestures like that go a long way, and we appreciate it. We just want to do our best to fulfil our mission.
Thank you for joining us! We hope that you continue with us on this adventure, and we appreciate that you’ve chosen us to assist you on your Japanese learning journey.
Stay Safe!!
♡Kiki+Koko
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