Frequently asked questions

FAQs

This section compiles a list of students most common questions from various lesson throughout the course.  Some questions are helpful before you start and others may not make sense until you get to the relevant lesson.  

Remember to check back here if you have any queries, if your question isn't already answered then please add it to the discussion and we will answer you as quickly as possible and then add to this FAQ page for others. 

How are the classes released?

The course begins when you enrol, with 5 days of lessons being released each week until all the course content is unlocked. We advise you to complete the lessons chronologically but don’t worry if you can not complete them as they are released as once you have bought the course the content is available for six months from when you join.

What is the link for the student community?

You can find the community here or go to your dashboard and along with any courses you are enrolled in you can also see the communities you are part of.

What is the flip password?

The password is: GGNnek0#

It is also written in every lesson that requires access to flip ;)

Do I have to show my face when sending videos on flip?

Whilst it is very important for students to upload videos for us to check their pronunciation, understanding and progress, please note that you don't have to show your face if you don't want to. You can cover it with an emoji, when you record your video, use "pixel mode" or just hide it!

Where do I go if I have a question about the course?

If you have a question about anything in the course or the platform itself, check this section first, if you don't see an answer use the discussion option to ask our course leaders and teachers.

How do I know when my course enrollment will expire?

You can check your User Profile page, click on “Order history” and there you will find the course login and expiration date.

You can ask questions and get support from the teachers and the Go! Go! Nihon staff by writing what you want to know more about in the community.

Will I be able to talk to the teachers directly. Will there be a live class?

Although you will be able to interact with teachers, Go! Go! Nihon staff and other students through the community, the lessons are not run as a live class. All lessons are pre-recorded and created to help you learn as quickly as possible using our online platform and allows you to complete lessons at your own pace.  

However, as an Akamonkai 12-week beginner course student you can also choose to have an extra 20-minute add-on lesson with an Akamonkai teacher for only 2,000¥.

What is an add-on lesson with an Akamonkai teacher?

An add-on lesson is a one on one private Japanese Language lesson with one of the Akamonkai Language School teachers. They are limited sessions available and they are currently only offered on Tuesday's and Friday's between 9:30-5:30 JST.

Each session lasts 20 minutes and you can use them to have a more personalised lesson to practice conversations and do more in-depth pronunciation checks.

Book your session here.

Why are some of the words written differently to how I have seen them before?

The written text in this course focuses on teaching the vocabulary phonetically to make it easier for you to pick up the correct pronunciation faster.  This means that with some word endings, especially with the vowel sounds す (su) き (ki) く (ku) し (shi) ち (chi) つ (tsu) ぴ pi (ぷ) pu, where in many cases the final sound [I] or [u] is often not pronounced, we drop that from the spelling.

An example of this is です desu which ends with す (su) but we write in English as des rather than desu, as it is pronounced without the u sound. 

When do I use ha (は) versus ga (が) as a particle?

- GA is used after the subject of the sentence 

eg. keki ga arimas (there is -what?- a cake)

eg. asoko ni sensee ga imas (over there there is -who?- the teacher)

- WA is a topic marker: what you have before this particle is the topic of the sentence. 

eg. kono keki wa watashi no des  (this cake is mine or, regarding this cake, it is mine). 

eg. watashi no hon wa takai des (regarding my book, it is expensive)

Particle WA usually divides the sentence into two parts: before WA there is the topic of the sentence, the topic you want to speak about; after WA there is the content of your sentence.

-o, vs. -ga. What determines the use of one or the other form when they both are meant to design the object of a sentence?

Which one you will use it depends on the verb. For example:

You will use 「が」ga with「あります」arimas「います」imas.

You will use 「を」o with「食べます」tabemas「飲みます」nomimas, etc.

Arimas v. imas What is the difference and how/when to use these two verbs? 

Imas = this verb means something like "There is, There are, To exist". It is used to express the existence of people and animals, or in general living things (and IMASEN is its negative form).

e.g. Anna-san ga imas = There is Anna or, better, Anna is here.

Arimas = this verb has the same meaning but it is used to express the existence of inanimate things (and its negative form is ARIMASEN). 

e.g. keki ga arimas = there is a cake/there are some cakes.

p.s. remember you use "ga" because the name before this particle is the subject!

What is the difference between "Kashimasu" and "Karimasu"? Are both the word for "to lend"? and how do I know, which one to use? or is there a difference?

かします (kashimas) means to lend, to rent out or to loan. While かります (karimas) means the opposite, to borrow or to rent.

What is the difference between "o" and "wo"?

In this course, we focus on teaching the vocabulary phonetically to make it easier for you to pick up the correct pronunciation faster. So when we write in romaji we put "o", however, を, can be also typed as wo.

Is ふ pronounced Fu or Hu?

Both ways of writing are correct and the sound of it is never a perfect "f" or "h". Also depends on the region where the Japanese speaker is from, it can be closer to ha "f" or an "h" sound. In romaji as well, you can find it in both ways depending on the word and the most common pronunciation of it. 

What is the difference between kono, sono, ano / kore, sore, are...

Usage example explanation:

Kore works like a noun "this" just by itself and kono works like an adjective in conjunction with a noun "this thing". 

For example, you could say: kore o kudasai  (Please give me this thing (that I'm pointing at)) while pointing at the object.

Kono only works with a noun and if you said kore o kudasai people would not know what you are referring to even if you pointed as it more closely translates to: this specific thing and needs a noun to explain. 

So you would say Kono ringo kudasai (please give me this apple) instead.

Grammar explanation:

In grammar, a demonstrative is a determiner or a pronoun that points to a particular noun or to the noun it replaces. The standard demonstratives in English are; the "near" demonstratives ‘this’, and the "far" demonstrations "that", In Japanese, there is a further standard "that over there", the variations on how these are used are below: 

Please also note:

1. この その あの can also be used in front of person-related nouns.

2. The polite demonstratives こちら and so on are equivalents to both これ and ここ and so on

3. As you can see in Day 3 lessons, all the place demonstratives such as どこ, ここ can also be combined with ‘のN’ like ‘どこのれいぞうこですか’

How do I conjugate the ます verbs?

See below for a simple chart and example using the verb たべます/Tabemas (To eat)

Note

In Japanese whoever the subjects are, verbal forms and their conjugation are always the same.

How do I correctly use particles?

If you have a question related to Japanese particles, we have created an overview cram sheet on how to correctly use them.  You can find it here.

What Kanji will I learn on the course?

We teach 90 Kanji on the course.  As there is currently no official published N5 Kanji list, you may occasionally see other Kanji mentioned by other sources but our course covers the most common kanji that appear on the N5 exam.