The National Diet Building of Japan こっかいぎじどう(国会議事堂)
The National Diet of Japan is the name for Japan's legislature in its national government. It consists of two houses: the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected by the people of Japan under a parallel voting system. The Diet passes laws for the country and is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The National Diet Building is located in Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, in Tokyo. It is one of many important buildings in Tokyo and Japan that show different styles of architecture.
In this Unit we are going to talk about homes and architectural styles in Japan. It will be very important to read all of the cultural information in this unit, and to study the Japanese terms included in them.
Image By Wiiii - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Unit Vocabulary
All the vocabulary in this unit relates to the general theme of talking about your home and furnishings. Click each Play button below to see and hear the some of the vocabulary you will learn in this unit to get started. As you go through the unit, return to this section from time to time to practice this vocabulary, and be sure to practice the vocabulary added in later parts of the Unit as well.
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もうふ(毛布)
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まくら(枕)
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カーテン
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じゅうたん（絨毯）
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せんぷうき(扇風機)
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れいとうこ(冷凍庫)
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ミキサー
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くさかりき（草刈り機）
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かいだん(階段)
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だんぼう(暖房)
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エア・コン
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しばふを かります。（芝生を 刈ります。）
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き/はなに みずをやります。（木/花に 水を やります。）
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おふろ(お風呂）
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つくえといす（机 と椅子）
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ソファー
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More Cognates
Cognates are words in Japanese that look similar to words in another language. In Japanese, the cognates are written in the separate system of Katakana that you have learned to read and write, and that you are learning to spell correctly. Learning these patterns of cognates can be very helpful and you can add to your vocabulary very quickly if you learn how these work. We will continue to learn more cognate patterns in this unit.
Before we begin to learn additional cognates, we are going to learn of a few FALSE cognates. These are words in another language that look like a word in English, but they do NOT mean what we expect them to mean in Japanese. They are also sometimes called “false friends” because although they seem to be user friendly, they are actually the opposite.
It is wise to make a list of these words and begin to learn them so that you avoid using them at the wrong time. You can try to guess what these words mean, but be prepared as you will probably not guess correctly.
Click on each word to see the actual meaning of each in Japanese.
False Cognates in Japanese |
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| スマート | |
| サラリーマン | |
| スキンシップ | |
| マンション | |
| ミンチ | |
| コンセント | |
| トランプ | |
| シャープペン | |
| ストーブ | |
| トレーナー | |
| ピーマン | |
| パンツ | |
Graded Assignments
Please return to the Section 1 Tasks & Assignments folder to complete the graded assignments for Section1, Part A.
