HSC Japanese Continuers (NSW) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

標準語

Standard Japanese, based on Tokyo speech and used in education, broadcasting and official writing. Dialects differ from it in vocabulary, accent and grammar.

尊敬語

Respectful keigo that elevates the listener's or a third party's actions, e.g. いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, 召し上がる. It never describes the speaker's own actions.

謙譲語

Humble keigo that lowers the speaker's own actions toward an out-group listener, e.g. 伺う, 申し上げる, お目にかかる. Used for in-group members when speaking to outsiders.

内と外

The uchi/soto distinction separating in-group (family, own company) from out-group. It governs keigo choice: in-group seniors take humble forms when addressing outsiders.

おじぎ

Bowing, graded by angle: 会釈 about 15 degrees, 敬礼 about 30, 最敬礼 about 45. Deeper and longer bows mark greater status difference or apology.

Nikkei community in Brazil

The largest Japanese-descended population outside Japan, roughly two million people, centred in São Paulo state. Japanese immigration began in 1908.

終身雇用

Lifetime employment, the post-war practice of hiring new graduates for a career until retirement. It is declining as firms restructure and hire mid-career staff.

年功序列

Seniority-based pay and promotion, rewarding length of service over measured performance. Many firms have shifted toward performance-based (成果主義) systems.

非正規雇用

Non-regular employment including パート, アルバイト, 契約社員 and 派遣社員. It covers roughly 37 percent of Japanese workers and pays less with weaker security.

過労死

Death from overwork, typically stroke or heart failure triggered by excessive hours. Official recognition often involves about 100 hours of overtime in the preceding month.

36協定

An agreement between an employer and a labour union permitting overtime beyond statutory limits. Without it, overtime above 8 hours daily or 40 weekly is unlawful.

テレワーク

Remote work using information technology. Adoption rose sharply after 2020 but remains lower in Japan than in the US, especially in manufacturing and small firms.

報・連・相

Hō-ren-sō: report, contact, consult. A workplace communication rule requiring employees to inform superiors promptly and consult before acting.

就職氷河期

The employment ice age, a slump in graduate hiring from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. Its cohort remains over-represented among non-regular workers.

名刺交換

Business-card exchange. Cards are offered with both hands, text facing the receiver, and received with both hands while reading the name.

特定技能ビザ

A visa introduced in 2019 letting foreign workers fill shortages in sectors such as care, construction, agriculture and food service. Numbers exceed 200,000.

和

Harmony, a core social value prioritising group cohesion over individual assertion. It shapes indirect speech, consensus building and avoidance of open conflict.

先輩と後輩

Senior and junior roles based on year of entry, not age alone. They set speech forms, seating and greeting order in schools, clubs and workplaces.

いじめ

Bullying, a recognised school and workplace problem. A 2013 law obliges schools to adopt anti-bullying policies and report serious cases.

ひきこもり

Prolonged social withdrawal, mostly among young men who stay home and avoid work or school for over six months. It affects an estimated one to two percent.

介護保険

Long-term care insurance introduced in 2000, funded by premiums and taxes. It assesses people aged 65 and over for subsidised care services.

町内会

A neighbourhood association organising festivals, recycling, disaster drills and local notices. Urban membership is falling, weakening informal community support.

同調圧力

Peer pressure to conform to group expectations. It appears in proverb form as 出る杭は打たれる, meaning the person who stands out gets criticised.

Nuclear households

Households of a couple and their children, now more common in Japan than three-generation homes. Single-person households make up about 38 percent.

Discourse markers in listening

Words such as つまり, 要するに, ただし and 実は that signal restatement, qualification or revelation. They often precede the answer in listening tasks.

Hedged answers

Replies using たぶん, ちょっと or かもしれない that avoid firm commitment. In Japanese listening tasks they usually signal a soft refusal or uncertainty, not a yes.

Final particles

Sentence-ending particles carrying intent: ね seeks agreement, よ supplies new information, かな shows uncertainty, のに expresses complaint or regret.

〜ないことはない

A double-negative pattern meaning 'it is not that it isn't', i.e. it is possible or true. Listening traps rely on candidates missing the reversed polarity.

Kanji decoding by context

Inferring an unknown kanji compound from surrounding kana, particles and topic. Chinese meanings are unreliable because Japanese usage diverged after borrowing.

Causative passive

The form 〜させられる, meaning 'was made to do'. It appears in opinion writing to describe imposed obligations and to shift responsibility.

Transitive versus intransitive

Pairs like 開ける (someone opens) and 開く (something opens). The particle を usually marks the transitive subject; が marks the intransitive one.

Formal letter structure

拝啓, seasonal greeting, health inquiry, body, closing, 敬具, then date and signature. The seasonal greeting (時候の挨拶) is required in formal correspondence.