Paragraph
The Japanese paragraph explains about the picture below.
Some Kanji characters do not have Furigana because they are very basic, which means you should already know them if you are not a beginner anymore.
Make sure you listen to the audio below carefully to figure out how to read the basic Kanji characters.
こんにちは。これは私の家族の写真（しゃ・しん）です。一番右は兄です。兄のとなりは兄のおくさんです。真ん中（ま・ん・なか）は私の娘（むすめ）です。娘は今年九才になります。小学三年生です。父は一番左で、そのとなりは母です。父はシェフで、有名（ゆう・めい）なレストランで三十年間働（はたら）いています。
The words in yellow are explained further under Key Vocabulary. Scroll down.
Audio
Make sure you can read the paragraph fluently as you listen to the sound.
Meaning
Hello. This is my family photo. The far right is my older brother. The one next to him is his wife. The middle one is my daughter. She is 9 years old this year. She is in grade 3. My father is on the far left. The one next to him is my mother. He is a chef and has been working at a famous restaurant for 30 years.
Key Vocabulary
一番右
Meaning: the far right
- 一番 means ‘the first’.
- 右 means ‘right’ as direction.
になります
Meaning: become
- に is a particle, which does not mean anything in this case.
- What you need to remember is に has to be in front of the verb なる.
- なります is a polite form of the verb なる, which means ‘become’.
小学三年生
Meaning: Grade 3 in primary school
- 小学 means ‘primary (school)’.
- 三年生 means ‘grade 3’.
三十年間
Meaning: for 30 years
- 三十 means ’30’.
- 年 is a counter which follows a number when you talk about a year.
- 間 means ‘for’ in this case. It is used with a span of time.
- 二週間 → for two weeks
- 五週間 → for five weeks
- 一か月間 → for one month
- 三か月間 → for three months
- 七年間 → for seven years
- 九年間 → for nine years