ＨＥＬＬＯ！ Ｉ　ＡＭ　ＱＵＩＺＢＯ™！Welcome to the tenth instalment of Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online’s special corner, January Japanese Word of the Weekday! Though this corner is for any time of the year, the nature of this is to challenge you to incorporate learning one new concept at least every weekday. We understand that weekends are for the [gender neutral] boys, so we left it up to you to decide whether you would like to spend the weekends revising/studying the other Japanese language learning resources on ieindigoeast.com, or just take the weekends to allow this information to absorb and encode into your memory.

As the second week of Word of the Weekday comes to a close, we would like to congratulate you on your dedications and thank you for joining us on this journey and allowing us to join you on your Japanese language learning journey. We hope that you have started to become accustomed to dedicating some time each weekday towards furthering your Japanese language learning goals. This corner is also meant to allow you to explore your own learning methods. Though we are here to provide you with materials and support, you must determine what helps you encode these concepts into your long term memory.

If you have found some methods that are truly helping you that we have provided through our lessons and articles, we would appreciate if you told us what works best for you. Everyone learns differently and it is impossible to tailor lessons to each and every person, but we still do our best in the usual lessons to delve into deep explanations to assist you.

If there are any concepts with which you are struggling so far, we certainly understand. Our usual method of teaching absolute beginners is to start with learning to read and write basic Japanese characters, then introducing basic grammar, and continually building on those basic concepts one by one allowing you to have a steady pace.

If you are struggling, then this is actually the exact corner for you! It means that you are beginning to realise the challenges of Japanese language as well as beginning to see the breadth of its concepts. Do not let this discourage you, this is a critical first step and as this is part of the learning process to break through this barrier.

Use this as an opportunity to use our many other Japanese language learning resources such as some of the recommended Japanese Language Learning Essentials series. Japanese may be very different to your native language, and it is normal for it to feel foreign to you. Take it step by step and understand your limitations, then try to focus on the concepts that are most difficult for you in order to make them second nature. It is easy to focus on what is natural, but in order to learn, you must confront difficult concepts. What is difficult for some may be easy for others and vice versa. This is your Japanese language learning journey, so do what you must in order to achieve your goals. We know you can do it! You are capable and you have the determination to continue onward!

And now, we are going to cover a very useful concept to talk about what you have learnt. When it comes to sentence structures, there are many ways to order and express these concepts in Japanese, but this should help you get started.

Word(s) of the Weekday:

（○○は）○○で○○について学んでいます。
（○○は）○○で○○についてまなんでいます。
(○○wa) ○○de ○○ni tsuite manandeimasu.
(○○am/is) learning about ○○ at/in○○.

For beginners, this may feel like a lot to dissect if you have not learnt about the sentence structure of Japanese language, but with time and practising, you can do it! And, with our help, you will be telling others about what you have been learning about wherever you have been learning about it soon.

○○は
(○○wa)

Subject + Particle 「は」
(主語＋助詞「は」)

As we talked about in the first instalment of Word of the Weekday, this is a topic marker, the particle 「は」, to be exact, pronounced (わ・wa). This particle suffixes the topic/subject of the sentence. In this case, if the subject is implied contextually, the subject/topic can be omitted.

○○で
○○de
Location where the action takes place + particle 「で」
(行為の行われる場所＋助詞)

The particle「で」can be used for many things, but in this case, it is indicated the location in which an action is located. There is an explanation about this in the lesson How to: Make Basic Japanese Sentences | Particles で （+に+へ ｅｘｔｅｎｄｅｄ）, the sequel to the famous How to: Make a Basic Japanese Sentence | Particles に+へ （ｉｎｔｒｏ）. I will never forget the many sentences that were used as examples to explain these concepts thoroughly.

○○について

○○ni tsuite
Object+Particle 「に」
(目的語+助詞「に」)

This expression 「について」is defined as ‘concerning’ or ‘regarding’ but is used as often as the equivilant ‘about’ in English. Simply replace the blanks with the subject you are learning, or if you are more intermediate, a verb phrase, which we will show in a later example sentence.

学んでいます。

manandeimasu.

学ぶ (まなぶ・manabu)
Verb (Present progressive form)
動詞(現在進行形)

Verbs generally go at the end of Japanese sentences, but to learn more about basic Japanese sentence structure, be sure to read the article about particle 「は」 called, 「How To: Make Basic Japanese Sentences | Particles は+が」as it opens with a useful explanation.

We also have a very important series on Japanese verbs. In order to understand conjugating verbs, you will want to start by reading:

• 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| |（ｉｎｔｒｏ＿ｐｔ１）
• 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| |（ 辞書形ｉｎｔｒｏ）| dictionary form intro
• 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| |（ 動詞の語幹ｉｎｔｒｏ）| verb stems intro| identifying verb types & stems,
• マス形とは？｜What is Masu form? | 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| |（ マス形ｉｎｔｒｏ）| masu form intro| applying conjunctive form & verb types
• How to: Dictionary to Masu Form?｜ （辞書形をマス形に）|う-Verbs マス形 Crib Sheet| 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs
• [QUIZ] Practise: Dictionary to Masu Form｜ （辞書形をマス形に）|う-Verbs +る-verbs’ マス形| 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs
• Blast from the Past| 動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| マス形の過去形|| Past Tense of Masu-Form Verbs
• Blast from the Past (pt 2)|動詞の基本| Basics of Japanese Verbs| マス形の否定形と過去形 | Masu-Form’s Negative Forms & Past Tense

And, we are still continuing to make more lessons about verbs and their conjugations. Understanding the verbs of Japanese language may be what you spend most of your time learning, so certainly do not feel obligated to understand all of these lessons at once. This is simply a springboard to jettison you into the vast sea of Japanese language studies.

All that you have to know if you are just dabbling, however is that this is the polite present progressive form of 「学ぶ」(まなぶ・manabu) which is one of the ways to say 「to study」 or 「to learn」.

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BONUS Word(s) of the Weekday:

（○○は）○○によって○○について学んでいます。
（○○は）○○によって○○についてまなんでいます。
(○○wa) ○○ni yotte ○○ni tsuite manandeimasu.
(○○am/is) learning about ○○ by (means of)○○.

If you are talking about you or the subject of the sentence learning 「by means of」 something like a physical object or action, rather than at a location, you will want to use this structure.

Now, it is more important than ever to present to you some example sentences so that you can begin to use these sentence structures for yourself!

Example #1

私は Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!Onlineのブログを読んだりして動画を視聴したりすることによって日本語と日本の文化について学んでいます。

わたしは Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!Onlineのブログをよんだりして　どうがをしちょうしたりすることによってにほんごと　にほんのぶんかについてまなんでいます。

watashi wa Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!Online no burogu wo yondari shite douga wo shichou shitari suru koto ni yotte nihongo to nihon no bunka ni tsuite manandeimasu.

I am learning about Japanese language and culture

by reading Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!Online’s blogs and watching their videos.

Oh my, what a pertinent sentence. Be sure to go to ieindigoeast.com to keep up with our latest blog posts. Anyway, let us continue with a few simpler sentences that you can also use.

Example #2

弟は庭で虫を集めることによって虫について学んでいます。
教育的なのでやめさせることはできません。（助けて）

おとうとは にわで　むしを　あつめることによってむしについてまなんでいます。
きょういくてきなので　やめさせることは　できません。（たすけて）

otouto wa niwa de mushi wo atsumeru koto ni yotte mushi ni tsuite manandeimasu.

My little brother is learningabout insectsby collecting bugs in the garden It’s educational so I can’t stop him. (Help.)

Example #3

おじさんは本によってロボットの反乱の最中に生き延びる方法について学んでいます。
いつもロボットたちより2歩進んでいますね。

おじさんは ほんによってろぼっとの　はんらんの　さいちゅうに　いきのべるほうほうについてまなんでいます。
いつも　ろぼっとたちより　にふ　すすんでいますね。

ojisan wa hon ni yotte mushi robotto no hanran no saichuu ni ikinoberu houhou ni tsuite manandeimasu. itsumo robottotachi yori nifu susundeimasu ne.

My uncle is learning about surviving amidst the robot uprising by book. Always one step ahead of the robots.

…

Well, that is all of the time we have for today’s instalment of Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online’s Japanese Word of the Weekday! It is the 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 a smiling blue face on the Word of the Week banner, and you can access the archives. (That is the face of me!)

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Thank you so much for learning with us!

♡QUIZBO™

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