IB Japanese Ab Initio SL Notes – For International Baccalaureate Japanese Ab Initio SL

Summary:

This is a collection of study notes or resources for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Japanese Ab Initio SL course. The notes cover topics such as grammar, vocabulary, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension, as well as cultural aspects of the Japanese language. Ab Initio is a Latin term meaning “from the beginning,” and indicates that this course is designed for students who have little to no previous experience with the Japanese language. SL stands for “Standard Level,” which is one of the two options for the level of difficulty within an IB course.

Excerpt:

IB Japanese Ab Initio SL

Verbs List

There are 3 groups of verbs:
• Group 1- る verbs
• Group 2- う verbs
• Group 3- neither る or う (irregular)

Verb conjugation rules:
• U verbs (group 1): Remove the final う and add います
• Ru verbs (group 2): Remove the final る and add ます
Irregular (group 3)
○ くる becomes きます
○ する becomes します

…

Verb Rules

て form
て form can be used for:
• Asking for things (please) ~てください
• Linking sentences (and)
• Showing the order of things (first, and then)
• Present progressive tense (~ing)
• Doing something when something happens

There are 3 types of verbs:
いちだん（一だん）verbs (simple verbs)
○ ‘え’ sound OR 1 hiragana before ます
○ Drop the ます then add て e.g. たべます→たべて

ごだん（五だん）verbs (complex verbs)
○ ‘い’ sound before ます
Drop the ‘い’ sound and ます then add the correct て according to the table below e.g.
かいます→かって

IB Japanese Ab Initio SL

Irregular verbs (EXCEPTIONS)
○ します→して (to do)
○ 来ます→きて (to come)
○ 行きます→行って (to go)
○ おきます→おきて (to wake up)
○ できます→できて (to be able to do)

Linking sentences
Two sentences can be combined in Japanese to mean ‘and’ by changing the verb in the first
sentence into the て form.

Example:
本をよみます。ＣＤをききます。→    本をよんで、ＣＤをききます。
I read books. I listen to CDs.                  →    I read books, and I listen to CDs.