ＨＥＬＬＯ！ Ｉ　ＡＭ　ＱＵＩＺＢＯ™！Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online’s Japanese Word of the Weekday! Are you interested in Japanese language? Have you always wanted to learn Japanese language, but it seemed too daunting? Look no further as we are here to make your Japanese language learning dreams come true! The power was inside of you all along. And, it was also contained within the resources on our website.

This month, or any time that is suited to your needs in future, we at Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online are challenging you to learn a new Japanese word or phrase every weekday of the month.  We, here, at Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online know that rest is important for learning, so we planned in advance by keeping weekends free.

This special corner is not promising that you will suddenly become fluent in Japanese by learning these phrases. The goal is to allow you to test your revision/study habits as well as to get you into the routine of revision/study as a habit. Think of revision/study not as an obligation; think of it as a daily oasis from your usual routine that provides you with a continuously clearer window into a world that has been hidden in plain sight.

Learning one thing today is more than you knew yesterday! So, join us, as I, ＱＵＩＺＢＯ™, read a Japanese word or phrase, then present you with its usage, definition, and example sentences.

Let us NihonGO!!

Do you know how to write in Japanese? Anyone can do it if they try! This is a great opportunity to learn with us step by step. And, writing manually is an important kinaesthetic learning technique with which you can create more mental connections to the concepts you are learning as well as the vocabulary and characters. You may be surprised how many words only need two of the five vowels!

Word(s) of the Weekday:

ノートを取る【のーとをとる】nooto wo toru

1. to take notes

ノート【のーと】nooto※
Noun (名詞)、suru verb (「名詞＋する」の動詞)

取る【とる】toru

Class 5 verb (五段動詞), transitive (他動詞)

BONUS Word(s) of the Weekday:

書き取る【かきとる】kakitoru※

Class 5 verb (五段動詞), transitive (他動詞)

1. To take notes (like in a lecture or class); to write down (dictation); to take down (dictation)

※This is not to be confused withノート as in notebook. ノート is the abbreviation of ノートブック, nootobukku. So, you can say that you are going to take notes in your notebook, and it will still make sense.

※Often, you will choose this word if you mean copying something directly that you see written or that someone is saying by dictation.

Refrain from touching that dial! We will be right back with “Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko” after this!

Oh, that is what you are into? Alright~
We are back with “Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko”, starting now!

Helpful Hints with Kiki+Koko:

Hello, there!

We’re Kiki+Koko, your guides to learning about Japanese language and culture. There is no secret trick to learning a language quickly, however when you are learning, it is important to engage as many of your senses as possible. A few of these senses are visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. Kinaesthetic learning in the digital age is more important than ever. Though the digital makes communicating information more efficient, extra effort must be put forth to be sure you include kinaesthetic learning methods. That’s why taking notes is so important!

That’s why we’re here today to give you a just a few quick helpful hints on how to treat your note taking experience so that you get the most out of it.

The point of notes is usually to reference them often, but more importantly, you want to make sure you’re referencing exemplary materials. By this, we mean you should be sure to reference the original source material from which you copied your notes. This is to make sure that you didn’t accidentally copy down a mistake in your notes, further encoding an error into your memory.

But, also, when you’re referencing characters, it can be difficult the first few times to write them perfectly. So, it’s important that when you’re copying characters for practice repetitions, you reference the exemplary character from the original resource. Otherwise, you could be making a copy of a copy that may start to stray away from the best handwriting you could achieve, or worse, you could miss one of the characters strokes!

Let’s get away from what not to do and go towards what you should do once more:

Be sure to make your notes enjoyable to look at so that you’ll actually want to reference them! It can seem like a waste of time making your notes look pretty, but you’re more likely to want to look back at your note creation if it’s visually pleasing. And, it’s not even a waste of time! If you’re spending time writing out characters and concepts, you’re spending more time absorbing them visually and kinaesthetically.

Also, note taking isn’t just about taking the notes and referencing. Be sure to take some time away from the subject or concept that you’re revising and come back to it to see if you retained what you learnt. This can mean stopping at the end of the night and coming back the next day or going into a different environment and returning to quiz yourself. This is a good way to see if your methods are making it click. But, remember, learning doesn’t happen right away. For most people it takes at least several exposures and applying that knowledge in order to learn most material. So, be patient!

And, lastly, we want to be sure that every time you visit our website to learn and revise that you get the most out of your session. Engaging all of your senses in order to facilitate learning is easier than you think! For example, if you’re learning a new word, phrase, or character, we recommend:

• Listening to the pronunciation and repeating it aloud
• Writing the word or phrase using the correct stroke order
• Creating your own sentences through writing or aloud
• Take a break, then return to quiz yourself
  
• Try repeating the steps again until it’s second nature,
  and always be sure to take a look at previous lessons to keep them fresh in your mind

And, that’s it! We hope you’ll use these helpful hints on your Japanese language learning journey! We’ll be there to help you every step of the way.

We hope that helps!! Until the next lesson!

♡Kiki+Koko

Thank you, Kiki and Koko! The process by which every human learns may seem different, but using these general ideas should be helpful to many. And, using these methods should help you spend your time with us efficiently and enjoyably. And, now, it is time to return to our Japanese Word of the Weekday, using it in example sentences to provide more mental associations in order to help you learn and use the vocabulary in future.

Example #1

先生の言うことを　全部　書き取ります。

せんせいの　いうことを　ぜんぶ　かきとります。

sensei no iu koto wo zenbu kakitorimasu.

I’m going to take notes on everything the teacher says.

テストのため、先生のペットの猫の誕生日がいつか知らなければなりませんかしら・・・

てすとのため、せんせいの　ぺっとのねこの　たんじょうびが　いつか　しらなければなりませんかしら・・・
tesuto no tame, sensei no petto no neko no tanjoubi ga itsuka shiranakereba narimasen kashira…
I wonder if we will have to know when the teacher’s pet cat’s birthday is for the test…

Example #2

A:Bさん、何してる？
Bさん、なにしてる？
Bsan, nani shiteru?
Whatcha doin, B?

B:日本語クラスのためにノートを取っています。

にほんごクラスのために、のーとをとっています。

ninhongo kurasu no tame ni nooto wo totteimasu.
I’m taking notes for Japanese class.

A:君はただ絵描きしてるみたい。

きみは　ただ　えかき　してるみたい。
kimi wa tada ekaki shiteru mitai.
It just looks like you’re just doodling.

B:もっとよく読みたいために、ノートを美しくしています

もっとよくよみたいために、のーとを　うつくしく　しています。
motto yoku yomitai tame ni, nooto wo utsukushiku shiteimasu.
I’m making my notes pretty so that I want to look at them more often.

A:では、それはどういう意味？

では、それは　どういう　いみ？
de wa, sore wa dou iu imi?
Well, what does this mean?

「免税」

B:ええと・・・えへへ、知らないわ。

ええと・・・えへへ、しらないわ。
eeto.…ehehe, shiranai wa.
Erm.…ehehe, I don’t know.

C:ヘイ！キッズ！ノートを美しくするのは楽しくて有用なものだが、まだ、必ず時間をかけてノートを勉強してのよ！

へい！きっず！のーとを　うつくしくするのは　たのしくて　ゆうようなもの　だが、まだ、かならず　じかんをかけて　のーとを　べんきょうしてのよ！
hei! kizzu! nooto wo utsukushiku suru no wa tanoshikute yuuyouna mono da ga, mada, kanarazu jikan wo kakete nooto wo benkyou shite no yo!
Hey, kids! Making your notes pretty is fun and useful, but be sure to still take time to study them.

B:今やっとわかりました！

いまやっとわかりました！
ima yatto wakarimashita!
Now I (finally) know!

C: わかっておけば、もう半分勝ったようなものです。☆彡

わかっておけば、もうはんぶんかったようなものです。☆彡
wakatteokeba, mou hanbun katta you na mono desu.☆彡

and knowing is half the battle.☆彡

A:どういう意味？

どういう　いみ？
dou iu imi?
what does that mean?

That is all for today’s instalment of Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online’s Japanese Word of the Weekday! We hope that you will continue to join us for more of this special corner as well as more of our Japanese language and culture resources. Just because the activity of today is complete does not mean that your daily learning journey has to stop here. You can have a look at previous Word of the Week articles for even more Japanese vocabulary. You can be sure that you are caught up with the latest by visiting ieindigoeast.com, and clicking the sidebar link labelled 今週の単語 | Word of the Week, or go to ieindigoeast.com/kikiandkokoletsnihongo and scroll down until you see my monitor on the Word of the Week banner, and you can access the archives.

Recommended Related Lesson:🔊 Basic Classroom Vocabulary | Nouns | TAPE 1 – SIDE A || Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Japanese Language Learning Essentials

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♡QUIZBO™

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