Getting Closer to Japan Series-Informative and Useful Japanese Conversation published by ASK Co., Ltd. (2002)

Langenscheidt’s Pocket Dictionary, Japanese/English, 2nd Edition by Langenscheidt Staff, published by Langenscheidt Publisher

Furigana Japanese Dictionary (Japanese-English English-Japanese) published by Kodansha

Basic Japanese-English Dictionary by Japan Foundation, published by Oxford/Bonjinsha

I also recommend Japanese electric dictionaries. Type in "Japanese electric dictionary" in a search engine and shop one for your needs and price range.

Grammar Dictionaries

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Makino, S. & Tsutsui, M., published by The Japan Times

A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar by Makino, S. & Tsutsui, M., published by The Japan Times.

English Grammar for Students of Japanese: the Study Guide for Those Learning Japanese by Hudson, M. E., published by The Olivia and Hill Press.

• Self-introduction
"Hajimemashite.
IBM no _________desu/tomoushimasu.
Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

Translation:
"How do you do?
I am _________ from IBM.
Glad to meet you."

The participants practice each line and the instructor asks participants to introduce themselves.

• Greetings
Practice general greetings such as “Good morning,” “Hello,” “Thank you,” “Excuse me,” and “Good-bye.”

• Useful expressions
Practice useful and frequently-used expressions both in business settings and also for everyday conversation.
Q&A

• Introduce resources and online references using Kazuko Suzuki blog website: http://ksuzuki.blog.uvm.edu/ibm/

Culture (150 minutes)
Introduce, discuss, and/or practice about:

“Customs and Manners” (video-29 minutes)
1) Bowing
2) Hanko
3) Business Meetings
4) Footwear
5) Mealtime/Taboo
6) Gifts
7) Awareness of others
8) Socializing

Japanese mentality
• Inside and outside
• Group harmony
• Real intentions and stated principles
• Ambiguity
• Modesty
• Moral obligation
• Proverbs

“Japanese family; the lifestyle of the businessman” (video-13 minutes)
• Generational gap
• Education
• Life of businessman

Japanese at Business Environment
• Working style
• Business etiquette
• Japanese in US – Mr. Saitoh, a Japanese IBM employee and his wife will speak for 10-15 minutes about their experiences at IBM and experiences of living in Japan for 20 years.

Alternatives – time permitting: review language section

2006
Download file

Here is a great quote from "Japanese for Busy People I" Revised Edition by Association for Japanese-Language Teaching: "Ah, we soon get old."

Japanese vowels: remember by "Ah, we soon get old"
Ah, = a
we = i
soon = u
get = e
old = o

During the second session, I introduced how Japanese sounds are transliterated. V=vowel, C=consonant
V ( i = stomach)
CV (ki = tree)
C (end only with "N") (CVC - hon = book) (VC - en = yen or circle)

There are exceptions: (These do not follow V, CV, CVC, and VC combination.)
1) double consonants: "kk," "pp," "ss" and "tt"
For example, kitte = stamps
2) modified syllables: some sounds are described as "kya," and "pyu."
3) Some people prefer to use different romanized letters in order to represent the sounds accurately. For example, they may write "kampai" instead of "kanpai." This is because "assimilation" occurs when "N" is followed by "B." "N" will sound like "M" although in writing, the letter "N" is used.
かんぱい(kanpai)
かんぱい(kampai)

Here is a fantastic website from Wikipedia regarding Japanese phonology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology

Session 2
May 10th, 2006
9am - 1pm
Main Building, IBM Essex Facility