Learning Japanese Through JLPT N5 Reading: Read a Simple Weather Description

This article will guide you through understanding a simple weather description in Japanese, designed for the JLPT N5 level. We’ll focus on practical phrases and vocabulary, with realistic conversation examples. Don’t worry about perfect grammar at this stage; just try to understand what is being said!

Key Vocabulary – Weather Words

Let’s start with some essential words:

• 天気 (tenki) – Weather
• 晴れ (hare) – Sunny
• 曇り (kumori) – Cloudy
• 雨 (ame) – Rain
• 雪 (yuki) – Snow
• 風 (kaze) – Wind
• 暑い (atsui) – Hot
• 寒い (samui) – Cold
• 涼しい (s uzushii) – Cool/Nice Weather

Common mistakes: Remember ‘atsui’ and ‘samui’ are adjectives, so they go before the noun. Incorrectly saying “atsui 天気” is a common error for beginners.

A Simple Dialogue & Reading Passage

Here’s a short dialogue between two friends discussing the weather:

Hiroki: こんにちは、田中さん！(Konnichiwa, Tanaka-san!)

Takashi: こんにちは、広樹さん！(Konnichiwa, Hiroki-san!)

Hiroki: 今日は天気はどうですか？(Kyō wa tenki wa dō desu ka?)

Takashi: 今日は晴れです。涼しいです。(Kyō wa hare desu. Suzushii desu.)

Hiroki: いいですね！(Ii ne!)

Takashi: はい、とてもいいですね。(Hai, totemo ii desu ne.)

Translation:

Hiroki: Hello, Mr. Tanaka! How is the weather today?

Takashi: Hello, Mr. Hiroki! It’s sunny. It’s cool.

Hiroki: That’s good!

Takashi: Yes, it’s very good!

Reading the Passage – Step-by-Step

1. こんにちは (Konnichiwa) – Hello. This is a standard greeting during the day.
2. 天気 (Tenki) – Weather. Understand this word as ‘weather’.
3. どうですか (dō desu ka?) – How is it? This is a question phrase.
4. 晴れ (Hare) – Sunny. Notice the particle ‘です’ (desu) which indicates a statement of fact or description.
5. 涼しい (Suzushii) – Cool/Nice Weather. Again, ‘desu’ provides context.
6. いいですね (Ii ne!) – That’s good! This is an expression of agreement and approval.

Practice & Further Learning

Try reading this dialogue aloud several times. Can you understand it quickly? Now, try to create your own short weather descriptions using the vocabulary we’ve learned!

Example: “今日は雨です。とても寒いです。” (Kyō wa ame desu. Totemo samui desu.) – Today is rainy. It’s very cold.

Resources for continued learning: Look for beginner-level Japanese textbooks, online resources like Duolingo or Memrise, and simple Japanese children’s books with pictures.