"One of my best childhood friends is originally from Nara. When I was visiting their family this past summer, I realized how different Kansai-ben was. The sentence structure and speaking mannerism are different, and I had a hard time understanding some things, when normally I would be ok if it was standard Japanese... I spoke to his grandparents a lot. It was hard to understand because it seemed like very informal speech. A lot of the phrases would end in "na". Almost like they were conjugating their words differently. I had to concentrate a lot to correctly understand them." - a student who studied Japanese for three years

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READ FIRST

For Students

Anybody who wants to learn/understand the Kansai dialect can take advantage of this site, but the basic knowledge of the standard Japanese grammar is a MUST!

If you visit the area outside Tokyo as an intern, as an exchange student or as a researcher, or just as a tourist, you will never fail to be exposed to the local dialect of the region. Yes, you have to face the fact that not everybody speaks the Japanese you were taught at school!  The most powerful dialect in Japan is the “Kansai dialect” spoken by over 20 million people in Kansai area in Western Japan, including the major cities such as Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. You may be shocked to see the differences in pitch, intonations and even grammar between these two language varieties, especially if you hear the talk of the local elderly people. Your Kansai native friends or coworkers may be helpful in teaching you the Kansai dialect in person and you might even acquire some slang and phrases in the dialect. However, you might wish to have had at least learned the characteristics of the dialect as preparation… Now, help is on its way!

This site is designed for those who are in or are going to the Kansai area for work, study or travel as well as for those who are simply interested in the cultural, linguistic diversity in Japan. The site will help you to gain basic knowledge of structure and intonation patterns of the Kansai dialect, and to build up basic aural (and a touch of oral) communication skills with Kansai native speakers.  By including video clips of interviews to various Kansai local people, this site can also be a helpful resource to examine how this local dialect relates to their local identity.

We hope you will enjoy utilizing this site to learn the Kansai dialect and understand the culture.

*If you have not studied basic Japanese grammar, please study standard Japanese first, as this site requires the basic knowledge of standard Japanese necessary to compare the differences between the standard and this dialect.

Sincerely,

Ikue Shingu (Instructor of Japanese, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Junko Hatanaka (Instructor of Japanese, The University of Texsas at Austin)

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For Teachers （日本語(にほんご)の先生方(せんせいがた)へ ）

　このサイトは英米圏の日本語教育施設で教鞭をお取りになっている関西圏出身の先生で、日本語のクラスで教える標準語とは別に自分の 地方方言や地域 文化を 授業のカリキュラムに取り入れてみたいと思われている方にも是非役に立てていただきたいとの願いを込めて、開発致しました。
　関西出身の先生は学生によく「関西弁を紹介してくれ」と頼まれる事があるかと思いますが、順序だった文法書や教科書がある訳でもなく自分の『ネイティ ブ』の感にたよって教材を作ったりされた方は少なくないかと思われます。（私自身がそうでした！）また、日本の文化イコール東京の文化のような紹介の仕方 に違和感を覚える方もあるでしょう。そこで、学生の関西弁自主学習教材というだけでなく、日本語教育に対応した適切な関西弁紹介教材を先生方に提供すると いう目的も兼ねて、このサイトの開発に着手致しました。
　このサイトの第一章から第四章には関西弁の特徴及び基本文法を標準語と対照した形で取り上げ、第五章と第六章には実際に関西圏で録画した会話及びインタ ビューのビデオクリップを聴解及び討論用の教材として収録致しました。話し方の多様性を示すため関西圏内の様々な地域／年代の人々の会話を収録し、インタ ビューでは関西の人々が関西人として自分たちをどう見ているか、地域人としてのアイデンティティーが推察できるような質問を設定致しました。日本文化、日 本語の中での多様性を紹介する意味も含めて、是非、中上級のカリキュラムの中で「地方の文化、言葉、人々」を題材に取り上げる際に参考教材として使用して いただければ幸いかと存じます。また、関西圏の大学に留学生を送り出している教育機関の先生方には、学生に留学準備の一つとしてこのサイトを紹介してくだ さることを是非お勧め致します。
　尚、試行錯誤で開発したサイトであるが故、至らない所も多々あるかと思われますが、是非一度ご覧、ご試用になった上でご意見ご感想などお寄せくださると 今後の参考になるかと存じますので，何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます。

新宮育枝（企画撮影編集責任者、マサチューセッツ工科大学　日本語講師）　
畑中淳子（企画撮影編集協力、テキサス大学オースティン校　日本語講師）　

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What are in this site?

Chapter 1. Characteristics: This chapter briefly explains the overall characteristics of the Kansai dialect in terms of sound, grammar and history. You will be able to establish an idea of what “Kansai-ben” is by reading this page.

Chapter 2.  Expressions: This chapter provides a list of common greetings, leave-takings and useful expressions in Kansai-ben along with the standard Japanese expressions.  Audios and video greetings by locals are included.

Chapter 3. Basic Grammar: This chapter provides the basics of Kansai grammar that are vital to comprehending what local people are saying. Short video clips, grammar notes, aural/oral exercises are provided so that you can internalize the target structure.

Chapter 4. Functional Grammar: This chapter introduces the important functional structure patterns that you will encounter in daily life, and are distinct and different from the standard, such as the expressions of permission, prohibition, obligation, imperatives and honorifics/pejoratives. This is followed by comprehensive exercises.

Chapter 5. Talks in Town: This chapter contains a collection of video clips of interactions between local people in town, in locations such as local retail stores. All the video clips have comprehensive exercises to check your understanding. The video clips in this chapter enable you to observe the communication styles and strategies, and cultural practices in Kansai as well.

Chapter 6. Interviews to Locals: This chapter consists of a collection of short video clips of interviews with a variety of local Kansai people. Clips can be sorted by interview questions or interviewees. These clips can be great tools for comprehensive exercises as well as for observing the diversity in the way local people talk and how they think of themselves as Kansai locals.

Chapter 7. Other Resources: All other video clips, photos, user-oriented information, Kansai-related information and links are introduced in this chapter.