Rare Earth Elements (Metals) - List

Rare Earth Elements (Metals) - List This is a list of rare earth elements (REEs), which are a special group of metals. Key Takeaways: List of Rare Earth Elements The rare earth elements (REEs) or rare earth metals (REMs) are a group of metals found within the same ores and possessing similar chemical properties.Scientists and engineers disagree on exactly which element should be included in a list of the rare earths, but they generally include the fifteen lanthanide elements, plus scandium and yttrium.Despite their name, the rare earths arent actually rare with respect to abundance in the Earths crust. The exception is promethium, a radioactive metal. The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and IUPAC list the rare earths as consisting of the lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium. This includes atomic number 57 through 71, as well as 39 (yttrium) and 21 (scandium): Lanthanum (sometimes considered a transition metal)CeriumPraseodymiumNeodymiumPromethiumSamariumEuropiumGadoliniumTerbiumDysprosiumHolmiumErbiumThuliumYtterbiumLutetiumScandiumYttrium Other sources consider the rare earths to be the lanthanides and actinides: Lanthanum (sometimes considered a transition metal)CeriumPraseodymiumNeodymiumPromethiumSamariumEuropiumGadoliniumTerbiumDysprosiumHolmiumErbiumThuliumYtterbiumLutetiumActinium (sometimes considered a transition metal)ThoriumProtactiniumUraniumNeptuniumPlutoniumAmericiumCuriumBerkeliumCaliforniumEinsteiniumFermiumMendeleviumNobeliumLawrencium Classification of Rare Earths The classification of the rare earth elements is as hotly disputed as the list of included metals. One common method of classification is by atomic weight. Low atomic weight elements are the light rare earth elements (LREEs). Elements with high atomic weight are the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). Elements that fall between the two extremes are the middle rare earth elements (MREEs). One popular system categorizes atomic numbers up to 61 as LREEs and those higher than 62 as HREEs (with the middle range absent or up to interpretation). Summary of Abbreviations Several abbreviations are used in connection with the rare earth elements: RE: rare earthREE: rare earth elementREM: rare earth metalREO: rare earth oxideREY: rare earth element and yttriumLREE: light rare earth elementsMREE: middle rare earth elementsHREE: heavy rare earth elements Rare Earth Uses In general, the rare earths are used in alloys, for their special optical properties, and in electronics. Some specific uses of elements include: Scandium: Use to make light alloys for the aerospace industry, as a radioactive tracer, and in lampsYttrium: Used in yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) lasers, as a red phosphor, in superconductors, in fluorescent tubes, in LEDs, and as a cancer treatmentLanthanum: Use to make high refractive index glass, camera lenses, and catalystsCerium: Use to impart a yellow color to glass, as a catalyst, as a polishing powder, and to make flintsPraseodymium: Used in lasers, arc lighting, magnets, flint steel, and as a glass colorantNeodymium: Used to impart violet color to glass and ceramics, in lasers, magnets, capacitors, and electric motorsPromethium: Used in luminous paint and nuclear batteriesSamarium: Used in lasers, rare earth magnets, masers, nuclear reactor control rodsEuropium: Used to prepare red and blue phosphors, in lasers, in fluorescent lamps, and as an NMR relaxantGadolinium: Used in lasers, x-ray tubes, computer memory, high refractive index glass, NMR relaxation, neutron capture, MRI contrast Terbium: Use in green phosphors, magnets, lasers, fluorescent lamps, magnetostrictive alloys, and sonar systemsDysprosium: Used in hard drive disks, magnetostrictive alloys, lasers, and magnetsHolmium: Use in lasers, magnets, and calibration of spectrophotometersErbium: Used in vanadium steel, infrared lasers, and fiber opticsThulium: Used in lasers, metal halide lamps, and portable x-ray machinesYtterbium: Used in infrared lasers, stainless steel, and nuclear medicineLutetium: Used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans, high refractive index glass, catalysts, and LEDs Sources Brownlow, Arthur H. (1996). Geochemistry. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0133982725.Connelly, N. G. and T. Damhus, ed. (2005). Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations 2005. With R. M. Hartshorn and A. T. Hutton. Cambridge: RSC Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85404-438-2.Hammond, C. R. (2009). Section 4; The Elements. In David R. Lide (ed.). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 89th ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis.JÃ ©brak, Michel; Marcoux, Eric; Laithier, Michelle; Skipwith, Patrick (2014). Geology of mineral resources (2nd ed.). St. Johns, NL: Geological Association of Canada. ISBN 9781897095737.Ullmann, Fritz, ed. (2003). Ullmanns Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. 31. Contributor: Matthias Bohnet (6th ed.). Wiley-VCH. p. 24. ISBN 978-3-527-30385-4.

buy custom Organizational Change in Corporations essay

buy custom Organizational Change in Corporations essay This paper seeks to explore the subject of organizational change in corporations. In so doing the paper will analyze in depth the fundamental questions of why, who, when, where, what, and how. Organizational change is a widespread aspect in any corporation may it be small sized, medium sized or large sized. A corporation undergoes change because it wants to deliver excellent services and products to its customers. In addition to better products and services, the company will undergo organizational change so that employees can have excellent performance. Organizational change can happen in three aspects: on the products or services, the employees, and the upper management. Organizational change refers to the notion in which the corporation revolutionizes its systems on a larger scale as opposed to small-scale changes in the organization like hiring a new employee or changing a program. Transformations in the corporations are because of external forces of the company. In most cases, th e corporation will undergo organizational transformations in an attempt to evolve to a better degree of entrepreneurial activity. One of the many corporations that have undergone significant organizational change in the recent years is Procter and Gamble. For this company to be one of the most recognized product producers it had to undergo a substantial organizational change, which undoubtedly worked for the corporation. This paper will explore the implementation of organizational transformation that is in relation to the strategic development of Procter and Gamble. Procter and Gamble is a primary producer of household goods in the whole world its most accepted products being the disposable diaper. The initial idea of the disposable diaper was from Procter and Gamble, and so was the first creation of the diaper. The year 1837 saw the establishment of Procter and Gamble Company whose headquarters was in Cincinnati. Over the years since its creation, the company has evolved in to a well-known manufacturer of consumer commodities producing more than 300 brands worldwide. Procter and Gamble manufacturers a wide ran ge of household products ranging from beauty products, laundry detergents, to dental care products. Initially the company was in two separate businesses- William Procter who manufactured candle and James Gamble a soap maker business. In the 1859, the two businesses merged to form Procter and Gamble Company (Dyer, Dalzell Olegario, 2004, p. 66). In analyzing the organizational changes that have taken place in the above corporation, the paper will be expounding on the reasons as to why these change took place, who initiated the changes, how the transformations took place, and time when these changes took place. As for Procter and Gamble, organizational transformation has been in different contexts, but they have all contributed to its present formidable reputation. Initially the company started with its headquarters in Cincinnati, but, in the recent years, it has expanded all over the globe. It has acquired another headquarter in Ohio where it carries out its operations. The reasons for this acquisition of a new headquarter are to be able to manage the international operations of the company, as it was growing in to an international corporation. By having a separate headquarter, the company was protecting itself from being bound by the legal bindings of one state. In the event, of poor legal and political conditions of one co untry the company may be forced to close down its affiliate factories or retrench its employees. Therefore, its transformation in the location settings was paramount in ensuring that the company meets its international supplier of products objective. Technology plays a crucial role in most manufacturing companies, and it is the ones who adapt to the best technology that manage to hold the market. One of these companies is Procter and Gamble Company, which has undergone extensive transformations in terms of technology. The growth in the information technology sector of a corporation is significant in creating a transformation in the company. Pertinent technological development in the Procter and Gamble Company include telecommunications, on-line training, internet, and product and process innovations. This is evident in Procter and Gamble Corporation as it has become a multinational company venturing into new markets worldwide. The company has also been on the forefront in the inventions of new products that fit the particular needs of all sorts of consumers. This is because of technological advances in the company, which enables them to provide for all their customers wants needs and demands (Harvey Brown, 2001, p. 78). The transformation in the technology sector of the company has been gradual with the company adopting new and better technological ideas. The reason for this adoption was to catch up with the ever-changing market and the growing competition from other manufacturers. Times have changed, and with change, people tend to change in different ways. For instance, the company will have to adapt to the changing customer needs because the needs vary from time to time. Bringing in new experts on technology, new machines, new ideas on technology, and advancing on the ccurrent technologies has seen Procter and Gamble Company be a household name when it comes to manufacturing industry. In most cases the top management who identify the need to have advanced technology for better services and goods implements these technological transformations. When an organizational change occurs, it is usually for the best, and it results in to employees improving their services, which in turn improves the corpor ations efficiency. In an attempt, to capture, the global market for its products Procter and Gamble has undergone organizational changes in the top management area, which involves the managers and directors. This is by hiring and acquiring many top management staffs from the west or countries it intends to set up its offices in like in the Asian countries. The top management is people responsible for making crucial decisions of the company, which will determine the companys future performance. Bringing on board new and diverse talent has seen a rise in the ratings of Procter and Gamble Company as the new employees offer varied ideas and skills. Having international market Procter and Gamble requires competent top management staff, who have the ability to reach informed decisions about the company and ensure that its implementations takes place. The notable change in the top management of Procter and Gamble is by having a decentralized form of management where by decisions of the company originate from various people and areas. Various representatives from diverse locations of the corporation come together in teams with a goal of developing proposals, which allow the company to minimize on production costs and increase sales. This has enabled the company to overcome the tough times of depression. The corporation manages to implement these various changes through several methods, which include market segmentation, differentiation strategy, and cot leadership strategy. These methods have enabled Procter and Gamble to undergo remarkable transitions and manage to remain in the business for over a century. The success story of Procter and Gamble Company is based on the companys frequent and constant transformations. This has enabled the company to meet the needs of different consumers. The company saw the need for having a decentralized top management and using diverse strategies to identify competitors and new markets. The services and products Procter and Gamble Company offers its customers are because of its development programs and meritorious research of the business it deals with, and these will enable the company to stay in the market for an exceedingly long time. Buy custom Organizational Change in Corporations essay

The Freedom of Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Freedom of Education - Essay Example Foucault calls this concept of mental change â€Å"panopticism†. The main key to this concept is to build a mechanism which would be able to suppress and control people’s minds and thoughts in order to make all we feel happy. As a result of this concept, social institutions, such as schools, prisons, and hospitals, were created. In an essay called â€Å"The â€Å"Banking† Concept of Education† by Paulo Freire, the idea of â€Å"panopticism† is intruding into an educational process, where children are treated and educated as â€Å"robots†, where the independent way of thinking is totally prohibited. In an ancient world, people were always thinking about the perfectly governed city which they called Utopia. This city of state could be primitive and simple but at the same time one of perfect happiness and fulfillment. Today a perception of a perfect governed city was slightly changed. Michel Foucault, who was one of the world’s leading intellectuals, gives us his own point of view regarding a definition of Utopia. In order to make this world more positive and decent, â€Å"some bunch of people† should build a machine that would control and even change people’s ways of thinking, and once this creation is built, the evolution of thoughts completely depend on it (Foucault, M 210-213). According to Bentham’s point of view, that machine would be a perfect key to manipulating the educational training of people. He calls this creature Panopticon, which is the architectural figure, the purpose of which is to observe and control people from the side (Bentham 213-214). The main point of this structure is that the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at during any one moment, but he must be sure that he may always be so (Foucault 215). This perfect concept of control gives the opportunity to create a society where there are no crimes, violence, or child abuse; where all people are happy and love each other.  

Research Proposal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Proposal - Assignment Example 4-5). This means that HR has broadened its function from the administrative work to the payroll processing, training and development and various others. This has led the managers and supervisors think about how to utilize maximally the employees with their competence that can significantly contribute to the accomplishment and flourishing of the overall enterprise (Mathis  & Jackson, 2011, pp. 1-3). Therefore, the hypothesis statement with respect to this research proposal is "The effect of HR management on the success of organization", since it is one of the most imperative aspects to measure. Brief Literature Review The human capital for any organization is the amalgamation of the skills set that they have attained from the duties and responsibilities, their attitudes, knowledge, training and experience (past and current) that sets the value of the employee within the marketplace. Therefore, the human management is not only a function, as the role of workforce has become vital in the contemporary times that add the competitive advantage for the enterprise. This has come under numerous research and investigations (Sims, 2002, pp. 2-5). According to one of the empirical studies, it has come to notice that those organizations have been more successful and thriving that value their employees (HR), in contrast to the enterprises, which have not given much importance to their employees and have considered them of negligible worth. This is because when the employees feel that their participation and involvement towards a particular task is being recognized, the level of motivation amongst the employees boost, thus they tend to be more productive and efficient in producing the outputs, which facilitates in accomplishment of the company goals and missions (Sims, 2002, pp. 2-5). In fact, few of the research studies have concluded that the organizations that are generating more profits practice various universal things that include providing job security to the employe es, having active participation from the workers, involving them in self-managed teams, training and educating the new and current staff. Creating a collective organizational culture, sharing of sufficient company information with the members are also few of the aspects that the successful organization practice as their routine procedures (Pynes, 2009, pp. 23-26). Studies also indicate that the traditional role that the HR personnel enlightened was the acquiescence and fulfillment of the rules set by the organizational executives, where they kept the tracking of the records of the employees through simple matrices such as number of hired workforce, number of training hours completed by the employees and so forth. However, this traditional role of HR transformed and now they have a broader vision and focus on outcomes and results of the employees and not just figures and compliance, which have come under evidence in the current researches. Indeed, investigations indicate that HR prof essionals also pursue the employees’ skills sets that they are using to the achievement of the company goals that can provide success and benefit to the overall organization and to their own personalities as well (Storey, 2008, pp. 153-156). To put it in nutshell, the organizations

Ballads Case Essay Example for Free

Ballads Case Essay Ballads are poems that tell a story. These ballads are distinguished by such features as few characters, dramatic plots, and may include dialogue, as well as action because it tells a story. They are considered to be a form of narrative poetry. They are often used in songs and have a very musical quality to them. According to the dictionary, Ballad is a narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain. It is the music for such a poem. It is also defined as a popular song especially of a romantic or sentimental nature. Here is an example: (Ballad of a Mother’s Heart) Origin There have been many theories about the originators of the ballads all of which have some validity when applied to the different types of ballad, the main ones are as follows:  · Minstrels: A minstrel is a musician or a poet. Originally, the minstrels were paid entertainers who worked for the Court and influential personages. They wrote songs about current events and historical victories of their patron and they included rewritings of old songs, legends and ballads in their theatre. The theory that the minstrels were the originators of the ballads was held for quite a long time. They are certainly a factor in the spreading of the ballads into the community; ballads were a stock item in the theatre of the minstrels even when their status had declined to that of street singers.  · Dance: Certainly some of the ballads were tied to dances. The word ballad probably comes from medieval French dance songs or ballet (â€Å"ballares† dance).  · Ceremonial dance and songs. Some ballad refrains contain ceremonial chants and responses  · Monks: The monks were the amongst the few who could read and write in the early times of the ballad history and that it follows that they must have had a hand in the composition and writing of the ballads.  · Communal composition: It has been suggested that ballads may have developed as a communal effort; particularly those that contain refrains and rhythms that are connected with work such as weaving and spinning. Example is the walking songs of the Hebrides.  · Cante-fable. This is a story, which is classified with verses that are sung or chanted. Some ballads are distinctively English or Scottish in origin but the older ballads are more likely to have a European source as their beginnings, deriving from earlier poems and old folk tales brought into Britain by its many invaders, immigrants and soldiers returning from foreign wars. Composition Scholars of ballads are often divided into two: The ‘communalists’ who argue that ballads arose by a combined communal effort and did not have a single author. They tend to lead to the view that more recent, particularly printed broadside ballads are a debased form of the genre. The ‘individualists’ who assert that there was a single original author. They tended to lead to the view that later changes in the words of ballads are corruptions of an original text. More recently scholars have pointed to the interchange of oral and written forms of the ballad. Classification European Ballads have been generally classified into three major groups: traditional, broadside and literary. * Traditional ballads Traditional folk ballads exhibit certain characteristics which help to identify them as being genuine in origin. Traditional ballads or folk ballads were universal songs meant to be understood by everyone, so writers would choose words that even the uneducated might understand. Traditional ballads follow a standard format and tell lengthy stories that call on imagery. * Broadsides Broadside ballads are descriptive or narrative verses or songs sung or recited in public places or printed on broadsides for sale in the streets. It is commonly in a simple ballad form. Broadside ballads appeared shortly after the invention of printing in the 15th century and were hawked in streets, fairs, and marketplaces of Europe into the 19th century. Among the topics were love, religion, drinking-songs, legends, and early journalism, which included disasters, political events and signs, wonders and prodigies. * Literary ballads A literary ballad (also known as art ballad) is a narrative poem written in imitation of the old anonymous folk ballad; the author is most often a known professional poet. Usually the literary ballad is more elaborate and complex. Literary ballads were quite popular in England during the 19th cent. The literary ballad, unlike the traditional ballad and the broadside ballad, is a sophisticated rather than a popular form. Importance of Ballads Ballads are important to look at because they show how the form has developed over time. A ballad is not simply a romantic song, although that definition will still apply in the field of music. Romance can be infused into ballads, especially if they are a narrative tale of love (or hate) as seen in the ballad by the anonymous Spanish poet. However, they are so much more as well. Anyone who knows the ballad knows how complex the story is in terms of theme, imagery, characters, symbolism, and many other literary devices and significations.

Databases Essays -- essays research papers

Databases in My Organization Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Databases have been in use since the early days of computing programs. An Information Technology services company, such as Getronics, not only utilizes databases for information and record management, it earns revenue by providing database management services. Getronics uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000 as its database software. The clients that contract Getronics for Information Technology services rely and depend on the accuracy and currency of the database information that is stored. Databases will continue to exist and expand as more companies become more of aware of the importance of record and data management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Databases have been in use since the early days of computing programs. In basic terms, a database is a collection of information that can be easily accessed, managed, and updated. (www.whatis.com) Regardless of the type of information that is stored in a database, it is categorized and filed. And every type of business utilizes a database for information and record management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An Information Technology services company, such as Getronics, not only utilizes databases for information and record management, it earns revenue by providing database management services. Some of the other services that are provided by Getronics rely on a backend database that is integrated with a client facing application. These databases have tables that contain end user information such as phone numbers, employee numbers, and site addresses. As well as tables that include many application functions that directly connect with a client facing application.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Getronics is a certified Microsoft Partner; therefore, Getronics uses Microsoft technology such as Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Microsoft SQL, or structured query language, is a standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database. (www.whatis.com) Every application that is developed or purchased by Getronics uses a SQL database as its backend office application. This standard application allows for development teams to design and implement applications and utilities that can integrate with one another. This type of design is intentional based on the type of services Getronics provides to its clients.   Ã‚  &nbs... ...nformation. There is a human resources database, a phone database, network database, an incident management system database, and many more. If these databases could be consolidated and linked then management of the systems could be reduced. Getronics has a many databases servers. If consolidated to one large database cluster, then unnecessary hardware could be decommissioned and enterprise licenses returned to the license pool. Also, Getronics could improve the database architecture by designing a similar and standard structure or common schema for the data records. This would also improve the maintenance and management of the database servers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regardless of the type of business, it is supported by a database or many databases. Even if the database is a paper based system of record, or it is organized by the most sophisticated, technically advanced software, it is a important fundamental piece of the business. Databases will continue to exist and expand as more companies become more of aware of the importance of record and data management. Resources http://whatis.techtarget.com/ Online Information Technology Encyclopedia, TechTarget Copyright 2005 Databases Essays -- essays research papers Databases in My Organization Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Databases have been in use since the early days of computing programs. An Information Technology services company, such as Getronics, not only utilizes databases for information and record management, it earns revenue by providing database management services. Getronics uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000 as its database software. The clients that contract Getronics for Information Technology services rely and depend on the accuracy and currency of the database information that is stored. Databases will continue to exist and expand as more companies become more of aware of the importance of record and data management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Databases have been in use since the early days of computing programs. In basic terms, a database is a collection of information that can be easily accessed, managed, and updated. (www.whatis.com) Regardless of the type of information that is stored in a database, it is categorized and filed. And every type of business utilizes a database for information and record management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An Information Technology services company, such as Getronics, not only utilizes databases for information and record management, it earns revenue by providing database management services. Some of the other services that are provided by Getronics rely on a backend database that is integrated with a client facing application. These databases have tables that contain end user information such as phone numbers, employee numbers, and site addresses. As well as tables that include many application functions that directly connect with a client facing application.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Getronics is a certified Microsoft Partner; therefore, Getronics uses Microsoft technology such as Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Microsoft SQL, or structured query language, is a standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database. (www.whatis.com) Every application that is developed or purchased by Getronics uses a SQL database as its backend office application. This standard application allows for development teams to design and implement applications and utilities that can integrate with one another. This type of design is intentional based on the type of services Getronics provides to its clients.   Ã‚  &nbs... ...nformation. There is a human resources database, a phone database, network database, an incident management system database, and many more. If these databases could be consolidated and linked then management of the systems could be reduced. Getronics has a many databases servers. If consolidated to one large database cluster, then unnecessary hardware could be decommissioned and enterprise licenses returned to the license pool. Also, Getronics could improve the database architecture by designing a similar and standard structure or common schema for the data records. This would also improve the maintenance and management of the database servers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regardless of the type of business, it is supported by a database or many databases. Even if the database is a paper based system of record, or it is organized by the most sophisticated, technically advanced software, it is a important fundamental piece of the business. Databases will continue to exist and expand as more companies become more of aware of the importance of record and data management. Resources http://whatis.techtarget.com/ Online Information Technology Encyclopedia, TechTarget Copyright 2005

Political Risk Analysis Kenya 2012

Political Risk Analysis KENYA Table of contents Kenya covers an area of 582,646 square kilometers. The land stretches from the sea level (Indian Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the peak of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. From the coast, the altitude changes gradually through the coastal belt and plains (below 152 meters above sea level), the dry intermediate low belt to what is known as the Kenya Highlands (over 900 meters above sea level).The monotony of terrain in the low belt is broken by residual hills, masses of broken boulders and inselbergs. Settlement is confined to places where water can be found. Wildlife are masters of the greater part of the low belt. The famous Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo National Parks are situated here. The Great Rift Valley bisects the Kenya Highlands into east and west. Mount Kenya is on the eastern side. The Highlands are cool and agriculturally rich. Both large and small holder farming is carried out in the highlands.The Lake Victoria Basin is dominated by Kano plains which are suited for farming through irrigation. The northern part of Kenya is plain and arid. However, a variety of food crops do well through irrigation. Kenya is located approximately 8-10 hours flying time from major European cities, and about 16-20 hours flying time from North American cities. 1. 2. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Kenya enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast parts of the country. The average annual temperature for the coastal town of Mombasa (altitude 17 meters) is 30. 0 Celsius maximum and 22. 40 Celsius minimum, the capital city, Nairobi (altitude 1,661 meters) 25. 20 Celsius maximum and 13. 60 Celsius minimum, Eldoret (altitude 3,085) 23. 60 Celsius maximum and 9. 50 Celsius minimum, Lodwar (altitude) 506 meters) and the drier north plain lands 34. 80 Celsius maximum and 23. 70 Celsius minimum. There is plenty of sunshine all the year round and summer clothes are worn throughout the year. However, it is usually cool at night and early in the morning. The long rains occur from April to June and short rains from October to December.The rain-fall is sometimes heavy and when it does come it often falls in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest period is from February to March and coldest in July to August. The annual migration of wildlife between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya takes place between June and September. The migration of almost two million wildebeest, zebras and other species is nature's greatest spectacle on earth. 1. 3. POPULATION Kenya’s population has rapidly increased over the past several decades, and consequently it is relatively young. Some 73% of Kenyans are under 30.In 50 years, Kenya’s population has grown from 7 million to 43 million. Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity. Most Kenyans are bilingual in English and Swahili. Kenya has a very diverse populati on that includes three of Africa's major sociolinguistic groups: Bantu (67%), Nilotic (30%), and Cushitic (3%). Kenyans are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 11% Muslim, and the remainders follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most city residents retain links with their rural, extended families and leave the city periodi-cally to help work on the family farm.About 75% of Kenya’s population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for most of its income. Nearly half the country’s 42 million people are poor, or unable to meet their daily nutritional requirements. The national motto of Kenya is Harambee, meaning â€Å"pull together. † In that spirit, volunteers in hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and other facilities each year and collect funds to send students abroad. 1. 4. BACKGROUND OF KENYA’S ECONOMY (1960-2010) Kenya is the largest economy in east Africa and is a regional financial and transportat ion hub.After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public invest-ment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and incentives for private (of-ten foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual average of 6. 6% from 1963 to 1973. Agri-cultural production grew by 4. 7% annually during the same period, stimulated by redistrib-uting estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening new areas to cultivation. After experiencing moderately high growth rates during the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya's eco-nomic performance during the 1980s and 1990s was far below its potential.From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance since independence. Growth in GDP stagnated, and agricultural production shrank at an annual rate of 3. 9%. In-flation reached a record 100% in August 1993. In the mid-1990s, the government imple-mented economic reform measures to stabilize the economy and restore sustainable growth, including lifting nearly all administrative controls on producer and retail prices, im-ports, foreign exchange, and grain marketing. Nevertheless, the economy grew by an annual average of only 1. 5% between 1997 and 2002, which was below the population growth estimated at 2. % per annum, leading to a decline in per capita incomes. The poor economic performance was largely due to inappropriate agricultural, land, and industrial policies compounded by poor international terms of trade and governance weaknesses. Increased government intrusion into the private sector and import substitution policies made the manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The policy environment, along with tight import controls and foreign exchange controls, made the do-mestic environment for investment unattractive for both foreign and domestic investors.The Kenyan Government's failure to meet commitments related to governance led to a stop-start relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, both of which suspended support in 1997 and again in 2001. During President Kibaki's first term in office (2003-2007), the Government of Kenya began an ambitious economic reform program and resumed its cooperation with the World Bank and the IMF. There was some movement to reduce corruption in 2003, but the government did not sustain that momentum. Economic growth began to recover in this period, with real GDP growth registering 2. % in 2003, 4. 3% in 2004, 5. 8% in 2005, 6. 1% in 2006, and 7. 0% in 2007. However, the economic effects of the violence that broke out after the December 27, 2007 general election, compounded by drought and the global financial crisis, brought growth down to less than 2% in 2008. In 2009, there was modest improvement with 2. 6% growth. In May 2009, the IMF Board approved a disbursement of approximately $200 million under its Exogenous Shock Facility (ESF), which is designed to provide policy support and financial assistance to low-income countries facing exogenous bu t temporary shocks.The ESF re-sources were meant to help Kenya recover from the negative impact of higher food and in-ternational fuel and fertilizer costs, and the slowdown in external demand associated with the global financial crisis. In January 2011, the IMF approved a 3-year, $508. 7-million ar-rangement for Kenya under the Fund's Extended Credit Facility. To a considerable extent, the government's ability to stimulate economic demand through fiscal and monetary policy is linked to the pace at which the government is pursuing reforms in other key areas. The Privatization Law was enacted in 2005, but only became operational as of January 1, 2008.Parastatals Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Telkom Kenya, and Kenya Re-Insurance have been privatized. The government sold 25% of Safaricom (10 billion shares) in 2008, reducing its share to 35%. Accelerating growth to achieve Kenya's potential and reduce the poverty that afflicts about 46% of its population will require c on-tinued deregulation of business, improved delivery of government services, addressing structural reforms, massive investment in new infrastructure (especially roads), reduction of chronic insecurity caused by crime, and improved economic governance generally.The gov-ernment's Vision 2030 plan calls for these reforms, but realization of the goals could be de-layed by coalition politics and line ministries' limited capacity. Economic expansion is fairly broad-based and is built on a stable macro-environment fos-tered by government, and the resilience, resourcefulness, and improved confidence of the private sector. Despite the post-election crisis, Nairobi continues to be the primary commu-nication and financial hub of East Africa.It enjoys the region's best transportation linkages, communications infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are less prominent than in past years. Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high population growth, de-forestation, shifting climate patterns, and the overgrazing of cattle in marginal areas in the north and west of the country. Significant portions of the population will continue to require emergency food assistance in the coming years. Kenya is pursuing regional economic integration, which could enhance long-term growth prospects.The government is pursuing a strategy to reduce unemployment by expanding its manufacturing base to export more value-added goods to the region while enabling Kenya to develop its services hub. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the East Afri-can Community (EAC). The EAC's objectives include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes, free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures. In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Customs Union Agreement paving the way for a common market.The Customs Union and a Common External Tariff were es-tablished on January 1, 2005, but the EAC countrie s are still working out exceptions to the tariff. Rwanda and Burundi joined the community in July 2007. In May 2007, during a Com-mon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit, 13 heads of state endorsed a move to adopt a COMESA customs union and set December 8, 2008 as the target date for its adoption. On July 1, 2010, the EAC Common Market Protocol, which allows for the free movement of goods and services across the five member states, took effect.In October 2008, the heads of state of EAC, COMESA, and the Southern African Development Communi-ty (SADC) agreed to work toward a free trade area among all three economic groups with the eventual goal of establishing a customs union. If realized, the Tripartite Free Trade area would cover 26 countries. 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2. 1. GENERAL From the moment Kenya became independent, they went through lots of big changes. In 1962 the KANU-KADU coalition government was formed. The coalition government included both Kenyatta and N gala.The country was divided in 7 regions and each one of the regions had its own regional assembly. After forming the coalition, the principle of reserving seats in the parliament for non-Africans was abandoned and the first open elections were held in May 1963. In 1964 Kenya became a republic, and constitutional changes further centralized the government (Wikipedia – September 2012). When in 1978 Daniel Arap Moi became president in an authoritarian and corrupt manner, there were several changes in the politic of Kenya.Moi reduced the power of the Kenyatta’s men in the cabinet by identifying them to be traitors. Also although the parliament started off as coalition during the whole presidency of Moi there was only one party who had all the power. Even after being requested by United States to have multi-party system Moi declined. In the end because of the local and foreign pressure Moi was forced to accept a new party so that the multy-party could be restored. Moi won the elections in 1992 and 1997 where he used fear and electoral fraud to win (Wik-ipedia – July 2008).In 2002 Moi was not able to present himself in the presidential elections because it is stated in the Kenya’s constitution that a present cannot be in the presidential elections more than three times. Moi unsuccessfully tried to promote Uhuru Kenyatta, as his successor. Moi’s former vice-president Mwai Kibaki was elected president by a large majority. International and local observers reported that the 2002 elections to be generally more fair than those of both 1992 and 1997 when Moi was elected as president. Kibaki lost quickly much of its power because his regime was too close linked with the Moi forces.The continuity between Kibaki and Moi became one of the reasons for the self-destruction of Kibaki’s regime. In 2007 Odinga attacked the failures of the Kibaki regime. In December Odinga won majority of the seats in the Parliament, but the presidential elections votes were divided. In the end it became never clear who won the elections, still the election committee stated that Kibaki was the winner. Odinga accused Kibaki of corruption which resulted in several big confrontations between followers of Odinga and Kibaki. The European Union did not agree with the outcome either because of the detected fraud in the presidential elections.As relation mass protest were triggered, bring-ing simmering ethnic tensions. The protest and the ongoing violence between several groups continued and became worse over the months. Between December and February 1. 500 people died and 600. 000 people became homeless. The United Nations tried to settle and offered a compromise whereby Kibaki stayed president and Odinga became Prime Minister (Chartis – February 2008). In August 2010, a reference date taken on a new Kenyan constitution. The new Kenyan con-stitution restricted the power of president which would benefit to the parliament and re-gions .The reference date was accepted by the majority of parliament and passed peacefully. 2. 2. THE POLITICAL BALANCE OF POWER Various people speak of the heritance of Moi when looked at Kibaki and the amount of pow-er he has. Moi reduced the power of the cabinet – this resulted in more power for him, the president. When Kibaki became the president he had his first years as much power as Moi had in his years. But the second time Kibaki became president there were many protests against him becoming the president. Many people and also Odinga accused him winning unfairly.United Nations stepped in and made Odinga prime minister and shortly after that the Kenyan constitution changed. With the new Kenyan constitution rules Kibaki, or the pre-sent president, is not allowed to appoint more than 50% of the ministers. The rest of the ministers can be chosen by the prime minister. In this way the president is never able to al-ways have full support by his ministers. Nowadays you can speak o f a power-sharing cabinet in Kenya. The cabinet is fifty percent Kibaki appointed ministers and fifty percent Odinga appointed ministers.At the moment we can speak of balanced coalition when we look at Kenya. 2. 3. PRESENT GOVERNMENT AND HIS ATTITUDES AND PROGRAMS Although many opposed of Kibaki to become the president Kenya again in 2007 he did by some say an outstanding job. The country is compared to the Moi years much better man-aged and has by far more competent personnel (Wikipedia – October 2012). Many sectors of the economy have recovered from collapsing in 2003. So did many state corporations who had collapsed during the Moi years have been revived and are performing profitably. Also the infrastructure has been going through changes.Several ambitious infra-structural and other projects are planned or ongoing. Kibaki also introduced the Constituency Development Fund, this was introduced in 2003. The fund was designed to develop resources across regions and to control imbalances in regional development. The CDF program has invested in putting up new water, health and education facilities. There was also special attention for the remote areas of Kenya; these areas were usually overlooked during projects (CDF – official website). Another fact is since the presidency of Kibaki the dependence of Kenya on aid by western donors has been decreased.The country is still getting funded significant but is now finding more fund by internally generated resources, such as tax. During Kibaki presidency, Kenya was more democratic and freer than before. When Kibaki came to power in 2003, he gave away free learning in primary school as well as in secondary school. This resulted in increase of number of children in primary- as in secondary school. 2. 4. POLITICAL STABILITY IN KENYA Before August 2010 all the power laid in the hands of the president. Ex-president Moi for example used his position for his own benefits.After the new Kenyan constitution the powe r changed of only one person, the president, too have it shared with the cabinet. With the new Kenyan constitution it results in a more stable government. When we look at the further the cabinet of Kenya will go through huge changes starting from 4 March 2013, because the general election will then be held. So far Kibaki did not state that he will run in the president elections next year. Odinga will be participating as well as several other ministers, for example: the Deputy prime minister and the Cooperative minister (Wikipedia – October 2012). . CRITERIA RELATED TO DOMESTIC ECONOMY 3. 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Most of Eastern Africa's economy is centralized in Kenya, although this gives them a power-ful position they still suffer from corruption and the low prices of their most important ex-port products. Lately the government has lacked investing in infrastructure which leaves them in danger of losing the position of the largest economy in Eastern Africa. The government is a ccused of the lack of attempting to stop the corruption which opened the doors to a lot of scandals within Kenya's economy.This has led to a deduction of financial support options. Recently Kenya have had a lot of setbacks like: high food and fuel import prices, a severe drought and reduced tourism resulted in rise in the interest rated and an increased cash re-serve. 3. 2. GDP The GDP in 2011 was $ 72, 34 billion, in 2010 this was $ 68,9 billion and in 2009 $ 2,6 billion. GDP growth in % Because of violence used during the elections plus the global financial crisis have led to a deduction in the GDP, in 2008 the growth was only 1,7% but luckily the economy rebounded since the year 2009.Now in 2011 the growth was only 4,3% due to the inflation and currency depreciation. The GDP per capita was $1,700 in 2009 and in 2010 and increased to $1,800 in 2011. If you would compare this with the rest of the world this leaves Kenya on the 195th place in the, which is dangerously low when we lo ok at the risk of doing business with Kenya. Year PPP growth 20051398. 7034. 74 % 20061490. 4066. 56 % 20071592. 9866. 88 % 20081604. 9250. 75 % 20091616. 1430. 70 % 20101675. 9183. 70 % Even though historical facts do not look good, the forecast concerning the GDP are looking better.The GDP is likely to increase due to expansions in tourism, telecommunications, transport and construction and recovery in the agriculture, one of the most important sec-tors for Kenya's GDP. 3. 3. MOST IMPORTANT SECTORS AND PRODUCTS As mentioned before, one of the most important sectors in Kenya’s economy is the agricul-tural sector, forestry and fishing accounted for 24% of the total GDP, 18% of the wage em-ployment and 50% revenue from exports. Especially the tea production and export are likely to increase because of prosperous weath-er forecasts; the coffee industry has stagnated and is not likely to increase in the near future.The most profitable sector in Kenya is the service sector with t ourism dominating that sec-tor. About 63% of all GDP is generated by tourism. Most tourists come from Germany and the Uniting Kingdom; they are attracted to the coastal beaches and the big game reserves. The tourism sector had a downfall because of negative attention in the media and the unsafe environment. The government is currently addressing the security problems within Kenya by introducing a tourism police and by launching marketing campaigns in key tourist origin markets.The most important sectors are: consumer goods (mobile, batteries and textile), agriculture, oil, aluminum, steel, cement and tourism. 3. 4. INFLATION RATE Inflation in consumer prices in % The inflation rate in 2011 was 14%. As we can see on the chart the inflation rate fluctuates a lot which means it will have a negative effect on the analysis on the risk. The Kenyan inflation rate has been on an average of 12,6%, from 2006 until 2012. The ultimate high was 31,5% in May 2012 and 3,2% in October 2011. On the following chart we can see the inflation rate more specified in recent times.Even in the last months there has been a lot of fluctuation in the inflation rate. The main reasons for the fluctuations are droughts and uncertainty in the import and export prices. 3. 5. THE GROWTH OF THE POPULATION The current total population is 43,013,341 (July 2012). In this chart we can see that the population always has had a steady growth. 3. 6. DOMESTIC INFRASTRUCTURE Kenya has an extensive road network of 152887 kilometers but most of the roads are in bad state unfortunately. For example of the total of 63. 800 ilometers of high way only 8,868 are paved. There is currently a project designed for creating links between all major and minor roads and to rehabilitate 20. 000 kilometer of roads in the urban centers. Kenya has a state owned railway corporation which is managing the single track railway station. It runs from Mombasa through Nairobi to the Ugandan border. Certain institutes are investing in the railway corporation to make it viable. The government is working on making the railway a private owned company. Either way, the Kenyan railway station is in a bad state.Kenya has a port located in Mombasa; it has a freight throughput of about 8. 1 million tons. Kenya has an airport that recently has changed from a state owned company to a public/private company. This has been successful since Kenya now is the key gateway to Africa Communications Overall Kenya has a well-established communication system More than 90% of the population has access to GSM signals. Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation provides international direct dialing and subscriber trunk dialing, mobile telephones, telex, facsimile, data communication and related services.Substantial investment for the expansion of these facilities is under way and various internet providers have made their entry into Kenya. 4. CRITERIA RELATED TO FOREIGN ECONOMY Economic Cooperation, Regional Integration & Trade T he East African Community (EAC) countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burun-di – transformed into a fully ? edged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010. They adopted a common external tari? (CET) with three bands: 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (? nished goods). Tari? of up to 100% are appli-cable to products that are deemed to be sensitive to member states. These include maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. Members will continue to collect customs receipts separately until a revenue sharing mechanism can be agreed. Furthermore, the EAC Common Market Protocol came into force on 1 July 2010, potentially allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a com-bined population of some 135 million people. Given the large amount of legislation that needs to be amended in all countries to comply with the protocol, the transition is expected to proceed slowly.Kenya has alr eady taken signi? cant steps to domesticate and embrace the provisions of the protocol. A task force charged with reviewing national laws and aligning them with the Common Market Protocol has completed its report. Areas that need harmonization include investment, tax, labor, education, standards, competition, transport, communications and ? nancial services. The report was forwarded to the attorney general who was expected to prepare a miscellaneous amendment bill to be tabled in parliament. Non-tari? barriers (e. g. road blocks, varying quality standards, the ine? ient functioning of the port of Mombasa and other red tape) continue to impede the free trade in goods and add to the costs of doing business. The replacement of paper-based customs administration practices with an electronic inter-face system, Simba, is a strong step towards enhancing competitiveness and trade facilita-tion. With the bringing into operation of Simba customs checks are subjected to computer-ized scanning and fewer physical checks are undertaken. The programme has enabled im-porters and exporters to lodge their documentation on line.In 2012, the Simba upgrade is expected to increase automation of goods clearance across all Kenyan border crossings. 4. 1. IMPORT 2011 While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise imports in 99’, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 billion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over 400%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the econ-omy rebounded in 2010.Import Products The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manufactured goods, chemi-cals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil, machinery an d transport equipment, and manufactured goods. Oil imports accounted for 24. 2% of the total import. International oil prices increased from USD 74. 8 per barrel in June 2010 to USD 112. 15 per barrel in June 2011. Imports of machinery and transport equipment accounted for 28. 9% of total imports, and increased from USD 3 212 million to USD 3 942 million.This was due to the ongoing infra-structure development. Imports of manufactured items, mainly intermediate goods, accounted for 14. 8% of the im-port bill and increased from USD 1. 625 million to USD 2. 021 million while chemicals ac-counted for 13. 5%. Major Import Partners Kenya’s major import partners for merchandise are (2011): 1United Arab Emirates13. 0% 2China12. 1% 3India11. 6% 4South Africa5. 8% 5United Kingdom4. 6% 4. 2. EXPORT 2011 Kenya had received 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99’, while they could increase their receiving for ex-ports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar.This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. Export Products The agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, although only 15 percent of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed, and only 7 or 8 per-cent can be classified as first-class land.It is the mainstay of Kenya's economy, contributing over one third of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:Tea, coffee, horticultural products, pyrethrum, pineapples, sisal, tobacco and cotton. TOP 1 – TEA Kenya is one of world`s top producers and exporters of high quality tea and coffee. Value of the produce was boosted by the average auction price TOP 2 – HORTICULTURE The robust flower industry in Kenya sees flower exports ac-counting up to 35% of all Europe’s flower imports. The good performance recorded in the horticultural sub-sector was due to improved external demand.OTHER EXPORTS:Beside this also iron, steel, petroleum products, cement, arti-cles of plastics, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, and leather are exported Textile is Kenya’s leading manufactured export. Soda ash (used in glassmaking) is Kenya’s most valuable min-eral export and is quarried at Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley. SERVICES: Transport, tourism and telecommunications services are the top three service exports in the country. Kenya’s services sector, which contributes about 63 percent of GDP, is dominated by tourism. TOURISM: In 2011 tourism experienced signi? cant gains with earnings rising by 32. %. The United King-dom continued to be the country’s main departure point for tourists with 203. 290 arrivals. Tourism is the second most important source of foreign exchange. To maximize on this growth trend, the Government is working together with the private sector in carrying out marketing as well as in strengthening linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy. Major Export Partners The market for Kenyan exports has been transformed over the years due to changing policy environment, regional integration and other initiatives providing market access to 12 key trading blocks.The initiatives include the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Cotonou ACP/EU Partnership Agreement, and the AGOA initiative, among others. COMESA is Kenya’s key export market, absorbing about 35% of total exports. The European Union market is the second most important, absorbing about 30% of total exports. Kenya’s major export partners for merchandise are (2011): 1COMESA (e. g. Uganda, Tanzania etc. )35. 0% 2European Union30. 0% 3United States5. 6% 4Pakistan4,2% 5United Arab Emirates4,1%Ke nya's relations with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures. ? 4. 3. THE IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country. The negative balance of trade occurs because the country's exports are vulnerable to both international prices and the weather conditions. Since independence, Kenya has enjoyed close international relations, particularly with the western countries. It is also a member of several regional trade blocs, such as the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and the EAC (East African Community).These blocs are key components of Kenya’s trade volumes. The 2011 Kenya’s trade performance was mainly affected by rise of oil prices globally which led to increase in the import bill and the depreciation of the Kenya shilling, while exports remained stagnant. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, now sta nds at above 10% of GDP – one of the highest in the world! Today, Kenya’s main exports don’t even earn enough to pay for its oil imports, 4. 4. KENYAN CURRENCY The recent history of Kenyan currencyOn 14 September 1966, the Kenyan shilling (KES) replaced the East African shilling at par, although it was not demonetized until 1969. The Central Bank of Kenya issued notes in de-nominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shillings. Locals in Kenya call the Kenyan shilling also â€Å"Bob†. The Kenyan Shilling: Development of the Kenyan shilling Overview of the development of the Kenyan shilling (blue) compared to the US Dollar (red) between 2002 and 2012. Exchange rate in October 2012: EUR / KES 1 Euro = ca. 110,38 Kenya shilling 100 Kenya shilling = ca. 0,91 Euro EUR / USD 1 Euro = ca. 1,29 US Dollar 100 Kenya shilling = ca. ,18 US Dollar 4. 5. KENYAN MONETARY POLICY The year 2011 was tumultuous for the monetary authorities in Kenya with high inflation rates and a h eavily depreciated currency. The month–on-month inflation rate averaged 12. 9% from January to October and peaked at 19. 7% in November 2011 against a target of 5%. The high rate of inflation was mainly driven by a rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices and transport charges. The food and non-alcoholic beverages index rose by 26. 2% compared with October 2010 while the transport index rose by 26. 22%. The rise in transport index reflected the sharp rise in fuel prices.According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the euro-area currency crisis also had a desta-bilizing effect on the price level. Inflation is expected to drop to single digits in the next two years thanks to improved production of food and stability of fuel prices. In 2011 the Kenyan shilling depreciated (=im Wert gefallen) by a margin of 25. 2% against the US dollar (USD), dropping from an average of KES 81. 11 per USD 1 in January 2011 to KES 101. 51 in October 2011. It depreciated against the euro (EU R) from an average of KES 108. 29 per EUR 1 in January to KES 139. 07 in October 2011.To arrest the fall of the Kenyan shilling, the monetary policy committee (MPC) progressively increased the central bank rate (CBR) from a low of 6% in January 2011 to a high of 18% by December 2011. The inflationary pressure experienced in 2011 and the depreciation of the Kenyan shilling can directly be traced back to the Central Bank of Kenya policy adopted in 2010, when it cut the central bank rate from 7% in January to 6% in December. This was meant to revive lend-ing and stimulate the economy through increased consumption. The policy was highly suc-cessful as evidenced by the 5. 6% growth attained in 2010.However increased consumption pushed up consumer prices and put pressure on the Kenyan shilling as it heightened demand for imports, which rose from USD 11,283 million in year 2009/10 to USD 13,659 million in year 2010/11. Furthermore, in year 2010/11, domestic credit increased by KES 254. 4 b illion (23. 4%) against a target of KES 205. 9 billion (18. 9%). The excess credit growth reflected a stronger domestic demand than previously estimated. 4. 6. KENYAN’S DEBT SITUATION Kenya’s external debt (or foreign debt) External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country.This is not to be confused with actual government debts. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. List of countries by external debt (End of 2011): External debt. (in USD)per capita% of GDP 1 United States14,710,000,000,00050,266103 2 United Kingdom9,836,000,000,000156,126390 3 France5,633,000,000,00074,619182 4 Germany5,624,000,000,00057,755142 5 Japan2,719,000,000,00019,14845 Italy2,684,000,000,00036,841108 7 Netherlands2,655,489,600,000226 ,503344 8 Spain2,570,000,000,00018,26084 16 Austria 883,500,000,00090,128200 92 Kenya 7,935,000,00020025 The debt service ratio The debt service ratio is the ratio of debt service payments (principal + interest) of a country to that country’s export earnings. A country's international finances are healthier when this ratio is low. The ratio is between 0 and 20% for most countries. For example, if a country has export revenue of ? 100bn and pays ? 15bn interest payments on its external debt, then its debt service ratio is 15%.A rising debt service ratio is often the sign of an imminent economic crisis. Debt service ra-tios may rise because of: †¢A fall in exports †¢Lower price of commodities which are main exports of a country. †¢Higher Borrowing †¢Higher interest rates increasing cost of debt repayments †¢Devaluation increasing cost of external repayments. 5. CONCLUSION All in all Africa has a big potential for exports and investments as there are sti ll big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area followed by South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. . Letter of credit, creditworthiness check,†¦ see list at end of paper) Following there is an overview of the key advantages and disadvantages for exporting to or investing in Kenya: +- Stable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political riskBUT: increasing political stability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new con-stitution Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT: High efforts to bring the problem under control: since 2010 ?Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publicly named perpetra-tors of violence (=Gewalttater) Membership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Easter n African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for absorption of economic devel-opmentBUT: High efforts to catch up on infrastructure English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? olitical and economic stronghold in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and levies (=Abgaben) Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power Kenya plays a major role in the Eastern African economy. Mombasa is the most important seaport in Eastern Africa and Nairobi is the economic and political stronghold in this area. One big plus for exports to or investments in Kenya is that the country has a quite stable economy. Even there were some setbacks in the p ast (e. . violence during the last elections in 2008, global financial crisis) the outlook for Kenya’s economy and GDP is quite favourable for the future. Due to the expansionary of fiscal measures and by structural business reforms driven by the IMF the economy of Kenya will further improve in the past few years. Addi-tionally the recovery of agricultural production and investment in infrastructures will also contribute to the dynamism of the economy. These are quite good prerequisites for potential exporters and investors. Even if Kenya’s investment prospects are quite attractive they had been marred by political risk for a long time.Violence during the election in 2008 frightened away many potential investors. The turning point for Kenya was the peaceful referendum in 2010 where a new country’s constitution was decided (? separation of powers). The peacefulness around the referendum had a huge positive impact on the country. Following this event Standard and Poors increased the credit rating to level B+ which brings Kenya closer to a score that foreign investors regard as an all-clear signal. Nevertheless exporters and investors need to be careful about the political situation in Kenya as new elections will take place in March 2013.The electoral campaign carries significant risks of a resurgence of the violent confrontations within the ethnic groups in Kenya. Our opinion is that Kenya has a huge potential for exporters and investors. It has a solid eco-nomic basis and political stability is already improving, so we would export to or invest in Kenya. Our recommendation prior to do export or investment is the following Exporters/Investors†¦ †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya carefully It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya.Creditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business w ith a customer/partner the first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never receive his money. A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfa-miliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ should not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners.Therefore it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austrian exporter would admit corruption the export insurance will not be valid anymore. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down. 6. SUMMARY MILESTONE HISTORYThe independent Republic of Kenya was founded in December 1963. JOMO KENYATTA was the first president (until 1978). Kenyatta's long presidency provided the co untry with stability. GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES †¢580. 000 km2 †¢42 million inhabitants †¢Capital City: Nairobi Language: English, SwahiliThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator with the Indian Ocean to its south-east. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya has a land area of 580. 000 km2 (7 times bigger than Austria) and a population of about 43 million residents. It is to stress out that 75% of the population is younger than 30 years. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. English is the language of choice when doing business in Kenya and is also used in Kenyan schools.Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is the national language of Kenya. It is a unifying African language spoken by nearly 100 percent of the Kenyan population. CLIMATIC CONDITIONSKenya has a warm and humid climate along its coastline on the Indian Ocean, which chan ges to wildlife-rich savannah grasslands moving in-land towards the capital. Nairobi has a cool climate that gets colder ap-proaching Mount Kenya (5. 166m), which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. 1. OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTRY 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2002 transitional election 2007 accusation of electoral ma-nipulation resulted in violent riots in KenyaAugust 2010: peaceful referen-dum in passing a new constitution Kenya has seen significant political changes in the last decade. The his-toric 2002 transitional election, in which the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) defeated the long-ruling Kenya African National Union, created a major political shift and inspired optimism among citizens about the future of their country as a multiparty democracy. Kenyans went to polls in large numbers for the December 2007 general elections, but the elections turned violent after accusations of electoral manipulation. More than 1. 00 Kenyans died and more than 600. 000 were displaced. Peace was r estored following the signing and enactment of the National Accord and the creation of the Grand Coalition Government (GCG), a power-sharing deal ending a political stalemate between President Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity and Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement. The National Accord also set out an ambitious reform agenda including a review of the country’s constitution. In August 2010, a largely fair and peaceful referendum resulted in pass-ing a new constitution.The new constitution was a landmark NEW ELECTIONS IN 2013 risk of new post-electoral vio-lence and rumorsachievement for the GCG as it enforces broad changes to the govern-ance framework, including: a new devolved system of government; reduced presidential powers, a reformed electoral process, more defined separation of powers between the three branches of government; land reform; and an expanded bill of rights. Government institutions, civil society, political parties and citizens face an am bitious and challenging period as they enact the reforms dictated by the new constitution.Kenya’s political dynamics also are likely to be influenced by the outcome of the International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings in which six prominent Kenyans are accused of involvement in the 2008 post-election violence. It is not yet clear whether the charges will be upheld by the ICC. Kenyan leaders are under increasing pressure to continue rebuilding their country and to avoid a repeat of the 2008 post-election crisis as the country heads into general elections in 2013. 3. KENYA’S DOMESTIC ECONOMY DOMESTIC ECONOMY The economy experienced moderate growth in 2011 but is expected to rise modestly in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The year 2011 witnessed drastic currency depreciation and rapid inflation, both of which are ex-pected to stabilize in 2012 and 2013. Youth unemployment constitutes 70% of total unemployment. In 2011 Kenya’s economy recorded â€Å"checked† gro wth, primarily driven by financial intermediation, tourism, construction and agricultural sectors. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first nine months was estimated at 4. 2%, down from 4. 9% in the same period in 2010. Overall, growth in 2011 was curtailed by an unstable macroeconomic environment characterized by rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation and high energy costs.The country also experienced limited rainfall in the first half of 2011, which affected aggregate food production. In January 2011, the Kenyan government was forced to ask the IMF for support to counter the mounting financing pressures caused by a widening current account deficit. Certain other structural constraints, such as widespread corruption and poor infrastructure, also continued to undermine Kenya’s growth potential. 4. KENYA & FOREIGN ECONOMY IMPORT While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise im-ports in 99’, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 bill ion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over 400%.The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. IMPORT PRODUCTS The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manu-factured goods, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil (International oil prices increased) IMPORT PARTNERS1. United Arab Emirates -> 13. % 2. China -> 12,1% 3. India -> 11. 6% 4. South Africa -> 5,8% 5. United Kingdom 4,6% EXPORT Kenya had received 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99’, while they could in-crease their receivement for exports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar. This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 w as due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010.EXPORT PRODUCTSThe agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, alt-hough only 15 percent of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed. Tourism currently is Kenya’s third largest foreign-exchange earner after tea and horticulture (flowers) EXPORT PARTNERSCOMESA (East-South Africa) -> 35. % European Union ->30% United States -> 5,6% Pakistan -> 4,2% United Arab Emirates -> 4,1% IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country.The negative balance of trade occurs because the country's exports are vulnerable to both interna-tional prices and the weather conditions. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, n ow stands at above 10% of GDP – one of the highest in the world! Today, Kenya’s main exports do not even earn enough to pay for its oil imports. ECONOMIC COOPERATION, REGIONAL INTEGRATION & TRADE COMMON EXTERNAL TAFFIFF VISION STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITYThe East African Community (EAC) countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi – transformed into a fully-fledged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010 allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a combined population of some 135 million people. The next phase of the integration will see the bloc enter into a Monetary Union and ultimately become a Political Federation of the East African States. They adopted a common external tariff (CET) with three bands: 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (finished goods).Tariffs of up to 100% are applicable to products that are deemed to be sensitive to member states. These includ e maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. The Vision of EAC is a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa; and the Mission is to widen and deepen Economic, Political, Social and Culture integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments. EAC has a combined population of more than 135 million people, land area of 1. 2 million square kilometres and a combined Gross Domestic Product of $74. 5 billion. This bears great strategic and geopolitical sig-nificance and prospects of a renewed and reinvigorated East African Community 5. CONCLUSION POTENTIAL OF KENYAAll in all Africa has a big potential for exports and investments as there are still big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area after South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. g. Letter of credit, creditwort hiness check,†¦) ADVANTAGESRISKSStable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political riskBUT: increasing political instability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new constitution Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT: High efforts to bring the problem un-der control: since 2010 ? Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publicly named perpetrators of violence (=Gewalttater) ADVANTAGESRISKSMembership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Eastern African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for absorption of economic devel-opmentBUT: High efforts to catch up on infrastruc-ture English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? political and economic stronghold in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and levies (=Abgaben)Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power OUR RECCOMENDATIONS Exporters/Investors†¦ †¦ need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya carefully It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya. Cre-ditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. †¦insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business with a customer/partner the first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never receive his money.A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfamiliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. †¦ s hould not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners. Therefore it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austrian exporter would admit corruption the export insur-ance will not be valid anymore. †¦ need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down.

Japanese Readings

Japanese I, 3rd Edition Notes on Japanese Culture and Communication The objective of Pimsleur's Japanese I, Third Edition is to introduce you to the language and culture of Japan primarily through your ears, and only secondarily through your eyes. This approach is based upon the fact that more than 95 percent of our lives is spent in listening and talking, and less than 5 percent in reading and writing. The most effective and productive way to begin acquiring these necessary communication skills is by actually working with the â€Å"language in use,† as demonstrated by native speakers of the language being learned.Efficiency is greatly increased when what you learn first are the most-frequently-used structures and daily life vocabulary, so that you practice with the practical tools you require every day. This carefully selected â€Å"core-language† allows the tutor to keep you focused entirely on essential language. This is self-motivating because you will begin to use it immediately and successfully. Language and culture are so closely intertwined that learning them separately can make you literally â€Å"culturally-deprived,† that is, unable to produce appropriate and meaningful language.For this reason you must carefully notice the different ways the Japanese â€Å"act† in the various situations you will experience as you proceed through the units of this course. Being sensitive to â€Å"who is doing what to whom, and why,† is what you have learned to do almost unconsciously in your native tongue – you will attain this same sense of â€Å"awareness† as you gain proficiency in your new language. This implicit instruction will come from the lessons, as you learn to identify the intonation and melody of the speakers.This Booklet will provide additional explicit instruction to further confirm what you have learned. The Notes have also been recorded on the last CD? cassette. Acquiring the culture, â€Å"the map of the territory,† is like acquiring the terminology of a subject: it enables you to operate as a fellow member in that society. Your success in working with native speakers of Japanese will depend to some extent upon how sensitive you become to the accumulated heritage that is Japanese. Unit 1 umimasen In this unit, you have learned sumimasen for â€Å"Excuse me. † You will find yourself using and hearing this expression quite often in your interactions with the Japanese. sumimasen is used for several purposes. It is often used to express the speaker's sincere and polite attitude toward others. However, Japanese people use this expression to convey not only â€Å"Excuse me,† but also â€Å"I'm sorry,† and even â€Å"Thank you. † You will hear them say sumimasen to attract someone's attention when initiating a conversation, as was demonstrated in the Unit.You might also hear this expression from someone who mistakenly steps on your foot in a crowded t rain and wishes to apologize. It is a very useful expression in a wide range of social contexts. Word Order You noticed in this unit that the Japanese word order is very different from what you are accustomed to in English. Such words as masu, masen, and masu ka – which determine whether the speaker is making a statement, negating or asking something – come at the end of a sentence. You need to, therefore, listen to the speaker all the way through to the end of the sentence to find out the speaker's intention.This may be confusing to you at first, but as you become skillful, you will be able to use this sentence structure to your advantage, as you can carefully sense the listener's feeling while you speak. You can then decide on the overall tone of your message by modifying the ending accordingly. Unit 2 Expressions of Modesty and Deference in Japanese Communication In this unit you heard a person expressing modesty when receiving a compliment from another person on hi s ability to speak Japanese.When someone compliments the Japanese on good work, nice clothes, a beautiful house, a wonderful dinner, etc. , it is customary for them to downplay their abilities, possessions, etc. While negating a compliment may be considered a sign of lack of confidence or even insincerity in some cultures, the Japanese frequently use it as an expression of modesty and deference in daily communication. As a case in point, consider this conversation: â€Å"That was a wonderful meal! You are a great cook, suzuki san. † â€Å"Oh, no. I only followed a recipe. Anybody can cook. † â€Å"I certainly can't.Could you teach me? † â€Å"Can I teach? Oh, no. You cook far better than I can. I'm the one who needs to take lessons from you. Suzuki may be seen as too modest by American standards, but this is socially acceptable behavior in Japan. This humility is only seen as avoiding appearing to be arrogant or conceited. ~ ne In this unit you also heard ne at the end of sentences, as in nihongo ga wakarimasu ne. It is roughly equivalent to the English â€Å"isn't it? † â€Å"aren't you? † â€Å"don't you? † etc. The use of ne shows that the speaker expects the listener to agree with him or her.You will hear this used frequently in Japanese; in fact, some people may end virtually every sentence with ne. Living in a more collectivistic society than the U. S. , the Japanese value being aligned with and maintaining harmonious relationships with others. The frequent use of ne illustrates their desire to avoid creating any potential for conflict or disagreement with one another. Unit 3 Omission of Subjects Japanese speakers often rely on the listener's ability to understand their real intention from what appears to be subtle and evasive verbal and nonverbal signals.Being able to leave some things unsaid so that the other can read between the lines is an important skill in Japanese communication. A person who explains thin gs in great detail is considered legalistic and is often frowned upon. The frequent omission of subjects is one example of this ambiguous and seemingly incomplete form of Japanese communication. This style of speech may frustrate foreign learners of Japanese at first. but after a while it will become natural. The Japanese language has several words for â€Å"you. † The one to use depends upon the speaker's relationship with the person being spoken to.Among these are the common anata, which was introduced in this unit, the informal anta, the formal kimi (often used by a superior to address his or her junior), and omae, used only by male speakers. However, you will often hear people address one another without using any of these, simply leaving â€Å"you† to be understood. Domo domo is used to emphasize your politeness, as in domo arigato gozaimasu. It is used for a variety of purposes: to indicate â€Å"indeed† and â€Å"very much† as in this unit, to show the speaker's suspicious feeling as in domo okashii, â€Å"I have a doubt about it,† or to mean â€Å"by any means. Japanese speakers are very fond of using domo in many contexts. Although in formal, â€Å"correct† speech, domo should be followed by a word that it modifies, Japanese speakers often use it alone. You will often hear them say domo, domo when they greet each other. Unit 4 Questions Phrased with a Negative When speaking to Japanese speakers and phrasing a question with a negative such as â€Å"Aren't you tired? † or â€Å"Isn't it hot today? † you will find that they will sometimes reverse â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no. † For example, when asked â€Å"Aren't you Japanese? they will answer â€Å"No,† meaning â€Å"I am Japanese. † Since being able to read another person's implications and behaving accordingly is an important social skill in Japan, when asked â€Å"Aren't you Japanese? † mane Japanese people will assume that you must be thinking he or she is not Japanese. In response to this assumption, they will deny, by saying â€Å"No. † meaning, â€Å"No, you are wrong, I am indeed Japanese. † That is why, in the conversation the person said iie, yoku hanasemasu (â€Å"No, you can speak well†) in response to demo, mada jozu ja arimasen (â€Å"But I can't speak well yet†).In this unit, you heard the names of two places in Tokyo: Ueno and Shinjuku. These are both very busy districts, since they are the hubs of major railroad and subway lines, serving millions of people every day who travel to, from, and around the Tokyo metropolitan area. There are numerous national and private railroad companies and some fifteen subway lines in Tokyo, and they are still being further developed. The complex subway lines make it quite challenging for international travelers, and sometimes the local residents as well, to figure out the best way to travel to their destinations.You may sometimes get an uncertain response or no response at all when you ask passers-by in downtown Tokyo for directions. The public transportation system in Japan is generally well developed, but in order to take full advantage of it, you need to first memorize the names of major- cities and towns that will help orient you to the right directions and the best method of transportation. Unit 5 Language of Social Levels, Age, Position, and Deference The complex rules governing status in Japan play an important role in the expressions used in various social situations.In this unit, you have learned how to ask a person whether he or she wants to eat or drink: tabemasu ka? and nomimasu ka? These expressions are used when there is no need for the speaker to show deference, that is, between friends, family members, and colleagues. If. however, a native Japanese speaker is in a lower position than the hearer, he or she must carefully choose the most appropriate level of politeness. O tabe ni nari masu ka? is more polite than tabemasu ka? and o meshiagari ni nari masu ka? is far more polite.A great variety of expressions are available. depending on the degree of courtesy needed. As a non-native speaker of Japanese, however, you are seldom, if ever, expected to be able to use these expressions, but you will hear them used, so it is good to be aware of them. nanika In this unit you heard nanika, a very commonly used word and a convenient expression. It is equivalent to â€Å"something† in English. You can use it for a variety of purposes: seeking a person's opinion, stating yours, and making your statement evasive.It can be followed by an adjective and an infinitive: for example, nanika tsumetai nomimono (something cold to drink). Or it can be used alone as in the expression you heard in this unit; hai nanika? (Yes, something you wish to ask'? ) You will hear many native Japanese speakers pronounce it nanka which is informal and casual, often used between friends an d people of an equal status. Unit 6 Particles When speaking English with non-native speakers, you can usually guess their fluency by their familiarity with idiomatic expressions.For example, when someone says, â€Å"John is engaged with Beth† instead of â€Å"engaged to† you can guess that the person is not a native speaker of English. The same is true of the Japanese language. There are many one-syllable words or particles that you need to be able to use properly in order to convey your ideas accurately to the listener. wa, ga, de, ni, mo, ka, no, and to are some examples of these particles. wa is often used to indicate that the preceding words are the main topic of a sentence: for example, watashi wa nihonjin desu. ga is often used the same way, as in, nihongo ga jozu desu. e indicates a place, as in anata no tokoro de. ni is equivalent to the English â€Å"at† when accompanied by a word indicating time, as in ni ji ni, â€Å"at two o'clock. † mo is â⠂¬Å"also,† as in anata mo – â€Å"you too. † ka is put at the end of a sentence to make it a question. no is possessive, as in anata no nihongo (your Japanese). to is approximately equivalent to â€Å"with† in English, as in anato to tabetai desu – â€Å"(1) want to eat with you. † Though they may he confusing at times, learning to use these particles properly will greatly contribute to your fluency in Japanese. Unit 7Cognates and â€Å"Borrowed English Loan Words† No language is free from words borrowed from other languages, and Japanese is no exception. Many English words have been adopted in Japanese, although the Japanese often pronounce them so differently that English speakers can hardly recognize that they were originally English. resutoran and biiru illustrate this point. You need to pronounce these and other words with English origins as the Japanese do, so that you can make yourself understood. Often, the Japanese have change d not only the pronunciation, but also the form and meanings of these originally English words.Japanese speakers often prefer to shorten or abbreviate loan words: for example, waapuro for â€Å"word processor,† pasokon for â€Å"personal computer,† and terebi for â€Å"television. † There are as well some English words used in Japanese whose meanings have changed to a greater or lesser extent. For example, there are many apartment complexes that are called â€Å"mansions† in Japan, usually referring to condominiums. You may find a pair of socks marked â€Å"free size,† which really means â€Å"one size fits all. † In a restaurant, you may be served mikkusu sando, or â€Å"mixed sandwiches. â€Å"Mixed† in this context means â€Å"assorted,† and you will find various kinds of sandwiches on one plate. Unit 8 Addressing People You may have noticed in the units that the Japanese people use family names to address each other. The u se of first names is usually limited to family members and close friends. The polite san is added to a family name and this can be used to address virtually anyone: male and female, young and old, strangers and acquaintances alike. Occasionally it may be attached to one's first name.Japanese rarely address one another without attaching some kind of title to the end of the person's name, and san is by far the most common. If they feel close to you, they may call you, for instance, â€Å"Mary san,† or â€Å"Dave san,† equivalent to â€Å"Miss Mary† or â€Å"Mr. Dave,† as a sign of friendly courtesy. When referring to yourself, however. you would never use san. This is a polite title, used only when referring to others. Counting Things You have learned ni for the number â€Å"two† in this unit. By the time you complete the course, you will have learned many more numbers.You will find counting in Japanese is easy, no matter how large the number may be. You will need to know large numbers, as 1,000, 20,000, 100,000 and maybe more. The value of one American dollar has fluctuated between 80 and 140 yen in the last ten years, and thus prices will usually appear as large numbers. For example, it costs 700 to 1,000 yen to buy lunch, 330 yen to buy a bottle of beer, 600 yen to take a cab for the first mile, and 2,000 to 3,000 yen to take a bus from the New Tokyo International Airport to downtown Tokyo.Another important thing to remember when counting things in Japanese is that there are a wide variety of words used as â€Å"counters† that must accompany the numbers. The â€Å"counter† you use will vary, depending largely on the shape of the material you are counting. In this unit, for example, you have learned ni hon for â€Å"two bottles. † hon is the â€Å"counter† for long things, such as bottles, trees, poles, pencils, hair, etc. â€Å"One bottle,† however, is not ichi hon, but ippon. â€Å"Three bottles† is san bon, and â€Å"six bottles† is roppon.Although the pronunciation of hon may appear to change without any logical consistency, it has simply been adjusted for easier pronunciation. Several other â€Å"counters† you may find useful are mai, used for flat material such as paper, cloth, and plates, and dai, used for many kinds of machinery including computers, cars, and heavy industrial equipment. ken is used to count houses and shops. People are counted as nin, though one person and two persons are exceptions and counted as hitori and futari, respectively. Starting with three people you can say san nin, yo nin, go nin, etc. Unit 9 Meals of a DayJapanese does not have unique names for each meal such as â€Å"breakfast,† â€Å"lunch,† and â€Å"dinner. † The word gohan is used for every meal preceded by asa or â€Å"morning† for breakfast, hiru or â€Å"day† for lunch, and yoru ? yuu or â€Å"evening† for dinne r. Gohan alone means rice, so it is used to refer to a meal or rice, depending upon the context. You will find that many Japanese people these days do not eat rice with every meal. They often have coffee and toast with butter, margarine, and various kinds of jelly for breakfast, while the traditional Japanese style breakfast consists of a bowl of rice, fish, eggs, sea weed, and miso (soy bean paste) soup.For lunch noodles made from buckwheat (soba), and flour (udon) or spaghetti are popular. Many American fast food chains are also popular, especially among young people. The Japanese dinner consists of rice, fish, meat, and vegetables. As is commonly known, the Japanese consume more fish than average Americans. Circumlocution In this unit, you heard a man and a woman trying to agree on the time to meet for a drink, and making alternative suggestions. This provides useful practice.In reality, however, you will find the Japanese people to be much more subtle when they must express a ne gative response. Concerned with saving face, the Japanese resort to a variety of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies, and avoid directly saying â€Å"no† whenever they can. One common way to turn down a proposal is to remain silent. When you do not receive an immediate response to an offer, then the chances are that the person does not want to accept it, but at the same time does not want to offend you or make you feel had. A long delay in responding may be another form of refusal.In Japan, unless you are speaking with someone you know very well and a mutual trust exists, you will rarely hear a straight answer given to a difficult question, especially when that answer involves some kind of refusal. How do you reach that level? It will take some time, but if you are sensitive to another culture quite different from yours, and have a positive attitude toward adapting to it, you will be able to acquire the communication skills necessary to establish, maintain, and deve lop trusting relationships with the local people. Unit 10Levels of Politeness The Japanese language has complex rules concerning the levels of politeness and deference necessary in different social situations. Throughout the course, you have learned how to speak on the â€Å"polite† level appropriate in virtually any situation you are likely to encounter in Japan. As you listen to conversations between Japanese friends, you may hear more informal expressions. For example, instead of asking nan ji desu ka? for â€Å"What time is it? † they might simply ask, nan ji? â€Å"What time? † Another example is wakatta for â€Å"understood† rather than wakarimashita.The Japanese language has many ways for the speakers to differentiate between formal and informal expressions in daily conversations. When you visit Japan and listen to a conversation between two friends, you may be discouraged at first as you find many unfamiliar expressions exchanged, but this happens when you learn any foreign language. The expressions that you have learned in this course will serve as a strong basis for understanding the Japanese people, and given that basis, you will be able to develop your listening comprehension as well as the ability to select the appropriate words for each different situation.The level of politeness used throughout the course is suitable in conversation with any Japanese speaker. Unit 11 chotto†¦ In this unit you heard Ms. Tanaka say ichi ji wa chotto†¦ and konban wa chotto†¦ in response to suggestions to have lunch at one o'clock and to have dinner tonight. chotto means â€Å"a little† and therefore these responses can only be translated as â€Å"One o'clock is a little,† and â€Å"Tonight is a little,† respectively. Even though the expressions may be regarded as unfinished in English, Japanese speakers often use chotto when they wish to indicate their hesitation, refusal, and confusion.Japanese in gen eral are tentative and indirect in their communication, and the word chotto is very convenient in helping them express their modesty. Even when a proposal submitted by a subordinate needs substantial improvement, for example, the superior may say â€Å"mo chotto† (a little more), indicating that the subordinate needs to work on it before the proposal can be accepted. When you hear this word, be aware that it can cover various degrees, and it may not literally mean just â€Å"a little. † masen ka? When inviting a person to do something, you have a range of forms in English to express various degrees of politeness.The Japanese show their deference toward the listener by changing how they end a sentence. In this unit you learned how you can invite a person to have lunch and dinner with you. You could directly ask the person whether he or she will have lunch with you by saying, watashi to hirugohan o tabemasu ka? For native Japanese speakers, however, this expression, lite rally translated as â€Å"Do you have lunch with me? † is far too direct and even offensive and would not be used in actual conversations. The â€Å"request† is more than likely to be turned down. Asking the same question in a negative form, watashi to hirugohan o tabemasen ka? onsiderably softens the tone, and it will probably make the listener feel more comfortable either accepting or declining the offer. This is equivalent to â€Å"Why don't you †¦? † and â€Å"Won't you †¦? † in English. Unit 12 Yen: Japanese Currency The yen is the unit of Japanese currency, and its value against the U. S. dollar has appreciated in the last few decades. Until the early 1970's the exchange rate was fixed at one US dollar to 360 yen, but it has been fluctuating and one US dollar is now worth about 120 to 140 yen. Although in writing it is symbolized as â€Å"yen,† its pronunciation is more like en.There are four notes: 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, 2,000 yen, and 1,000 yen that are of different sizes and colors. The 2,000 yen notes were issued in commemoration of the year 2000 but they have not been circulated very widely. Also there are six kinds of coins: 500 yen, 100 yen, 50 yen, 10 yen, 5 yen, and l yen. While Americans in general carry little cash and use credit cards and checks instead, the Japanese tend to pay cash when they go shopping. You will find many kinds of vending machines that sell a wide range of things, from soft drinks to train tickets. Some of he machines accept 10,000 yen notes and give change in both paper money and coins. Using a Telephone in Japan Communicating on the phone in a foreign country is always a challenge. You now know that â€Å"hello† is moshi moshi in Japanese, literally meaning â€Å"I speak, I speak. † You can say moshi moshi both when you answer the phone and make a call to someone. It has been used ever since the telephone was introduced in Japan. It costs 10 yen to make a local c all. You will seldom see people in Japan using coins when they use public telephones. Instead they use pre-paid telephone cards that can be purchased from vending machines.The pre-paid cards cost either 500 yen or 1,000 yen, worth 50 and 100 local calls, respectively, and they can be used for any local, as well as long distance and overseas calls. A great majority of the Japanese people own cellular phones today, which has largely replaced the need for public phones altogether. Many Japanese use their mobile phones as a primary means of communication to send and receive e-mails, check the weather, make plane reservations, purchase tickets, etc. , since a great amount of information is made available through mobile phone network systems.You will notice many Japanese busy talking on their individual phones, checking e-mail on small display screens, and punching in information on hand-held Palm Pilots ®. Unit 13 Counting in Japanese Knowing how to count is important in order to funct ion properly in any language. You must be able to count so that you can understand the prices of goods you want to buy, services that you wish to use, make plane reservations, and so on. Now that you have learned to count from one to ten and started to work on numbers above ten, the rest will be quite easy.Just as long as you know the first ten numbers, you can make any number up to 99, simply by combining them. In this unit you have learned 14, 15, and 16. They were simply made up of ten and four, ten and five, ten and six, respectively. You can continue to count in the same way up to 19. Then 20 is a combination of two and ten, that is, ni ju. You may guess that the same rule is applied to every number after 20. 21 is ni ju ichi, or â€Å"two ten one. † Though you will only be introduced to a few new numbers in any unit, when you understand the rule you will be eady for large numbers, and you will indeed encounter them on your initial entry to Japan. Good-bye sayonara has b ecome widely known as â€Å"goodbye forever† through the movies, TV dramas, and other media. It may indeed imply in some contexts that the person using this expression has no intention of seeing the other person ever again. It can, however, be readily used to say â€Å"good-bye† when you will be seeing the person in the near future. jaa mata is an expression equivalent to â€Å"See you. † It is a fairly informal way of ending a conversation, and of expressing your intention to see the person again. aa, atode, literally meaning â€Å"then later,† implies to Japanese speakers that the speaker is expecting to see the other person again on the same day, whereas English speakers may not when they say, â€Å"See you later. † You may want to be careful of this difference. Unit 14 takusan, sukoshi There is no clear and explicit difference between singular and plural forms of nouns in Japanese. In English, most words need an â€Å"s† or â€Å"esâ₠¬  at the end to indicate plurals, but most Japanese words do not change. Whether the nouns are countable or uncountable, you can use takusan for â€Å"a lot of† and sukoshi for â€Å"a little† or â€Å"a few. For example, â€Å"one beer† is biiru ippon, â€Å"two beers† is biiru nihon, and `'many beers† is biiru takusan. â€Å"I have a lot of money† is watashi wa okane o takusan motte imasu, and â€Å"I have a little money† is watashi wa okane o sukoshi motte imasu. The word sukoshi has a variety of functions in daily conversations. It not only stands alone to mean a small quantity, but you can also say watashi wa nihongo o sukoshi hanashimasu, meaning â€Å"I speak a little Japanese,† sukoshi hoshii desu, â€Å"I want a little,† or even, sukoshi ososugimas, â€Å"It's a little too late. Drinks Japanese, just like Americans and Europeans, enjoy drinking when they dine. Many business meetings are followed by or even co nducted during dinners and drinking parties. In these social occasions, people establish personal relationships with one another as they discuss more casually their individual feelings. Beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink, but most alcoholic drinks such as wine, whiskey, bourbon, brandy, gin, vodka, and rum are also available. Japanese sake, made from rice, is also popular, and it is served either cold or warm.Shochu, or distilled liquor made from a variety of grains such as wheat, rice, and sometimes potatoes, is also a popular drink among Japanese. If you do not care for an alcoholic drink, you can of course ask for any soft drink you are used to. In addition to most soft drinks available in America and Europe, cold oolong tea (Chinese tea) is served in most places. In general, hot Japanese green tea is served free of charge in most restaurants. Unit 15 itte kimasu The conversation in this unit began with a lady saying itte kimasu. It literally means, â€Å"I am going † or â€Å"I am leaving. When Japanese go somewhere, they usually say it to those they are leaving behind. In response, the person who is staying usually says itte rasshai, literally meaning, â€Å"Please go. † Of course they use this expression to wish the person a good trip. When people come home they say tadaima, or â€Å"I've just come home,† to which others respond by saying okaerinasai, meaning, â€Å"Welcome back. † These sets of greetings are exchanged when people go in and out of the house and are very common among the Japanese; you are sure to hear them when staying in a Japanese home.As a short-term visitor from a foreign country you are not expected to say these greetings, but if you do, your efforts will surely be appreciated. Unit 16 desu ga In this unit you learned that in order to make hoshii desu, â€Å"I want,† more polite, you can say hoshii n desu ga, â€Å"I would like. † The last particle, ga, means â€Å"but† an d when added at the end of a request, it helps the speaker express his or her reservation. The person who ends a request with ga indicates that â€Å"While I wish it could be done, I would understand even if it cannot be done. This is just another instance that demonstrates the Japanese value on modesty. It is also a sign of their desire to depend upon others' benevolence, which is known as amae. One's ability to depend on others as well as respond to others' call for dependence is an important social ability. You will also hear desu kedo, essentially the same as and even more polite than desu ga. Unit 17 kyo wa nani o shimasu ka? You learned earlier that wa is used for emphasis or comparison. In Unit 14 and the present unit you have practiced using several words that indicate time, such as today and this evening, followed by wa.Here, this means â€Å"as for. † You will also notice that in Japanese the words or phrases that indicate time are usually placed in the beginning o f a sentence, unlike in English where these words are normally at the end. You may notice when a Japanese person speaks to you in English, she or he may habitually begin a sentence with time, such as, â€Å"Yesterday, I went to see my friend. † â€Å"Today, what would you like to do? † When you speak Japanese, it is often desirable to begin a sentence with a word or phrase indicating time. Unit 18 shujin, goshujin ? anai, okusan When Japanese people introduce their spouses, they do not introduce them by their names. While English-speaking people will introduce their spouses, saying, â€Å"This is my wife, Mary† or â€Å"This is my husband, Bill,† when Mr. Sato introduces his wife to you, he will say simply kanai desu, or kore wa watashi no kanai (tsuma) desu, â€Å"This is my wife. † When Mrs. Sato wants to introduce her husband to you, she will probably say shujin desu, or kore wa watashi no shujin (otto) desu, â€Å"This is my husband. † Y ou may be surprised when you find the meanings of kanai and shujin. anai literally means â€Å"inside the house,† and shujin means â€Å"master. † Since kanai and shujin refer to one's spouse in a modest manner, you will never use them for another person's spouse. For â€Å"your husband† you simply add go for politeness to shujin, and say goshujin, or anata no goshujin. â€Å"Your wife† is anata no okusan, or simply, okusan. Here we have a different word, okusan, which means â€Å"a person deep inside (the house). † Coming from the North American culture where equality between the two sexes is a serious concern, you may be astonished to see that Japanese women are still treated as a minority or a weaker sex.Role differentiation with regard to sex is more distinct in Japan than in the United States. The society is changing, however, influenced by the global concern for racial, sexual, and religious equality and is importing and incorporating some ne w policies. You will find many men now referring to their wives as tsuma, and women to their husbands as otto, much more neutral terms than kanai and shujin. Interestingly, however, there is no word to replace okusan when referring to your conversational partner's wife.The original meanings of these terms however, are being lost, and they are only titles that people continue to use without any derogatory connotation. Unit 19 hajimemashite ? dozo yoroshiku When you meet someone for the first time, you greet that person by saying, â€Å"How do you do? † â€Å"Pleased to meet you,† or something similar. Many Japanese people say hajimemashite, or dozo yoroshiku. Literally, hajimemashite means â€Å"(I am meeting you) for the first time,† and it has come to be used as an initial greeting remark. dozo yoroshiku is a more implicit expression with a wide latitude of ossible interpretations, depending on the context, the nature of the relationship that is about to develo p, etc. It literally means â€Å"Please be good to me† and it symbolizes the value that many Japanese people place on mutual dependency known as amae. Just as with many other expressions used as social lubricants such as, â€Å"Let's get together sometime,† â€Å"Drop in when you are in the neighborhood,† the real function of dozo yoroshiku is to make the initial encounter between people go smoothly. Unit 20 hitori, futari, san nin When you count a number of people in Japanese, you use regular numbers except for â€Å"one† and â€Å"two. As you've learned, â€Å"one† is ichi, â€Å"two† is ni, and the word that shows you are counting people is nin. The Japanese perceive that it would be awkward to say ichi nin, and ni nin, so they use an old way of counting instead. â€Å"One person† is hitori, â€Å"two persons,† futari. The rest is easy and regular: san nin, yo nin, go nin, roku nin, shichi nin, and so on. Also notice that w hen you want to say â€Å"eleven persons† and â€Å"twelve persons,† you say ju ichi nin and ju ni nin instead of ju hitori and ju futari. otoko no ko, onna no ko You have learned otoko no ko and onna no ko for a boy and a girl.Notice that in Japanese there are no special words such as â€Å"boys† and â€Å"girls. † Rather, you say literally, â€Å"a male child,† and a â€Å"female child. † You can use these words for all ages from newborn babies to children in high school and sometimes even in college. An important cultural difference you may notice if you spend some time living in Japan is that Japanese children are generally more dependent on their parents than their U. S. counterparts are, and that they frequently appear to be less mature. Parental support for children is usually continued through, and often beyond, college.You would not find it awkward, therefore, to call a twenty-two-year-old male college graduate otoko no ko. You may often hear Japanese refer to their children as ookii otoko no ko, chiisai onnna no ko, etc. They literally mean â€Å"a big boy† and â€Å"a small girl,† respectively, and the Japanese may be actually talking about the size of their children, or they may be calling a grown-up boy ookii otoko no ko and a very young girl chiisai onna no ko. The context will determine the meaning. In this unit you heard â€Å"watashitachi wa otoko no ko ga hoshii n desu ga† for â€Å"We would like a boy. Japanese, like many other Asians, are more particular about the sex of their children than people in many Western countries. While it has become legally accepted for a married couple to use two separate last names, both the husband's and the wife's, it is still predominantly the husband's last name that is kept. Family business has been traditionally handed down to the oldest male child in the family. Many parents, therefore, would like to have at least one boy when they have chil dren. Unit 21 otearai, toire Just as you can find many words in English that indicate a lavatory, you will come across a variety of expressions in Japanese.In this unit you have learned two of them: otearai and toire. otearai literally means â€Å"a place to wash hands† and is equivalent to â€Å"washroom† or â€Å"bathroom† in English. toire is an imported version of â€Å"toilet,† and it is very commonly used. Japanese also use keshoushitu, roughly equivalent to â€Å"powder room. † The most direct and straight expression of benjo, equivalent to lavatory, is rarely used in daily conversations. An interesting discovery you may make in a Japanese home is that the toilet and the bath are in separate rooms, unlike in the U. S. where you most often find both in one room.In Japan, a toilet and a bath are regarded as facilities that perform very different functions. a, so desu ka? â€Å"Ah so† is an expression stereotypically associated with Japa nese in many old U. S. films, and it is commonly known to Americans as an utterance that Japanese make frequently. While the Japanese may not use it as often as it is depicted in the films, it is indeed an appropriate expression to show your surprise at an unexpected finding or to confirm the response to your inquiry. Remember to make it into a polite form by adding desu ka at the end when you say it to a person to whom you need to show respect. Ah, so† without desu ka is perfectly appropriate between friends. Unit 22 kodomo, kodomo san In the conversation the woman asked, nan nin kodomo san ga imasu ka? and the man said, futari kodomo ga imasu. When you talk about someone else's family members, you show your respect by adding san at the end. The san is equivalent to Mr. , Mrs. , and Miss. When you talk about your own family members, on the other hand, you never use san. This is an example of Japanese humanrelationship-centered communication, and it serves to maintain smooth a nd harmonious personal ties in Japanese society.The Japanese manner of expressing politeness is complicated by their notion of modesty. They show their deference to others by not only symbolically heightening the other's status, but also by lowering their own. You may often hear the Japanese speak ill of their own family members. A mother may say, for example, â€Å"My son is dumb, and he's doing so poorly in school. Your son seems really smart and you have nothing to worry about. I am embarrassed. † The other person will, of course, respond by saying something like, â€Å"Please stop joking.My son only spends a lot of time in his room, pretending to study so hard. But I have no idea what he is doing. Maybe he's listening to his stereo, or reading comic books. † The two mothers clearly do not mean what they say to each other. While such an interaction may appear to be overly condescending and insincere to people from the U. S. culture, it is an important aspect of soci al interaction in Japan. You, as a non-native speaker, are not expected to play the complex social game, but an awareness will contribute greatly to your comfort in and appreciation of the culture.Unit 23 Weights and Measures You have learned to ask for some gas for your car and also to talk about distance. Whenever you travel to a foreign country, you are likely to come across different perceptions of weights, distances, heights, volumes, etc. If you are visiting Japan for a short period of time as a tourist, these differences may not affect you very much, but if you are to stay there for an extensive period of time, engaging in business as well as social conversations, you will find some knowledge concerning the Japanese system quite useful.Even when the Japanese speak to you in English, they will still use the system to which they are accustomed. Here are some examples to show you how the U. S. weights translate to their Japanese counterparts. One foot is about 30 centimeters, an d an inch is about 2. 5 centimeters. If you are 6 feet tall, then you are 180 centimeters tall, and if you are 5 feet 6 inches, then you are about 165 centimeters. One pound is about 0. 45 kilograms, which means that if you weigh 100 pounds, that is about 45 kilograms, and 150 pounds translates into 67. 5 kilograms.When you visit a grocery store, you will find various things priced by 100 grams. A steak, for instance, may be 600 yen for 100 grams, which is roughly equivalent to $22 to $27 per pound, depending on the exchange rate. One gallon of gas, another expensive item in Japan, is roughly equal to 3. 8 liters. One liter ranges from 90 yen to 110 yen depending on the kind and place where you get it, and it translates into $2. 70 to $3. 35 per gallon. Finally, the road signs that tell you the distance to your destination and also the traffic signs indicating speed limits are all in kilometers.One mile is approximately 1. 6 kilometers, and thus 40 kilometers per hour, which is a co mmon city speed limit, is 25 miles per hour. Again, as a foreign visitor you may not need to know all of these, but if you can get used to them, it will facilitate your daily activities. Unit 24 Getting Around in Japan The high price of gas in Japan has been mentioned. If you drive while in Japan, it could be quite challenging for you, as well as it is for local residents. The Japanese must go to a special driving school to obtain a driver's license and the average fee is over $2,000.The number of skills that are necessary to get around in crowded cities accounts for the high fee. You should apply for an international driver's license prior to your departure for Japan. You must remember that the Japanese drive on the left side of the road, as the British do. Because of the limited space, parking is a problem in big cities and it is also quite expensive, so you may want to think twice before driving in Japan. Public transportation, on the other hand, is well developed and very conven ient for both local trips and long distance traveling.You may enjoy a Shinkansen bullet train ride across the country from Aomori, the northern tip of Honshu (the largest island) all the way through Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, to Fukuoka, the largest city on the island of Kyushu, the southernmost major island. Air traffic has been developed quite extensively, and as a result air fares have become reasonable in recent years. The major airports are located in Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. Unit 25 Oo kei As you have learned, the Japanese have borrowed many words from English: gasorin for â€Å"gasoline,† depaato for a â€Å"department store,† etc.O. K. has become a universally recognized expression, and it is no exception in Japan. You will hear many Japanese use oo kei to indicate that everything is all right, or to ask you whether something is all right with you. You will also notice that they may accompany the verbal utterance of oo kei with a n onverbal sign, index finger bent to touch the thumb to form a â€Å"zero. † That same sign is also used to indicate money in Japan. Store Hours In the conversation in this unit, the man said that the department store may be closed because it is late.While he may have said it so the lady would not go shopping, it is important to know when the Japanese department stores are open as they do not always keep the same store hours as those in the U. S. They usually open at 10:00 AM and close around 6:30 PM on regular business days, including weekends. Unlike some stores in the U. S. , many Japanese department stores and small shops are open on Sundays. In fact, the stores are most crowded on Sundays. Each department store, however, has designated one weekday as a day off, usually Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.You will find the Japanese stores extremely crowded with people during two main giftgiving seasons every year: mid to late July and December. During these seasons, most store s stay open till 8:00 or 9:00 PM. Unit 26 ni, san In this unit you learned ni, san nichi for â€Å"a few days. † The ni, san, literally meaning â€Å"two (or) three,† can be used in combination with many other words: ni, san nin (â€Å"a few people†), biiru ni, san bon (â€Å"a few beers†), and ni, san shukan (â€Å"a few weeks†). We have repeatedly stressed ambiguity and indirectness as features of Japanese communication, and ni, san is just another example.Even when the speaker knows precisely how many people he or she is talking about, the expression ni, san nin may be used. Although the expression literally indicates only two or three as possibilities, four or even five are not completely excluded. To respond to the question, â€Å"How many beers did you have last night? † a Japanese person may say ni, san bon, while he might, in fact, have had five or six. The range of possibilities included in ni, san is wider than that of â€Å"a few . † Taxis in Japan You have learned another English word that is commonly used in Japanese: takushii.Taxis are readily available in most cities, and even in fairly small towns. You can flag one down on the street or phone for a pick-up. Most taxis, both company-owned and privately-operated, are connected by radio. They are clean, safe, and convenient. The fares vary, depending on the city you are in. They are slightly more expensive in large cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka than in smaller places such as Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. You do not need to tip the driver, but simply pay the fare displayed on the machine by the driver's seat.An interesting discovery you will make is that the rear passenger door opens and closes automatically. Just as long as you can clearly tell the driver where you wish to go, or show a map and point to your destination, you will get there safely and rapidly by taxi. Unit 27 hyaku Now that you have learned hyaku, one hundred, you can g o all the way up to 999 by simply combining the numbers you already know. One hundred is hyaku, so one hundred five is hyaku go. One hundred ten is hyaku ju. You can guess that two hundred is made up of ni for â€Å"two† and hyaku for a hundred: ni hyaku.The rest is easy except that the pronunciation of hyaku varies slightly depending on what number it follows. Three hundred is san byaku, six hundred is roppyaku, and eight hundred is happyaku. It is quite easy to count in Japanese, and it is also important that you know how to say large numbers, as they are frequently used in daily interchange. Unit 28 jaa In any spoken language you can find interjections which are used frequently, but which have no specific meanings. Some examples in English are â€Å"well, ah, uh, um. † jaa is a good Japanese example.It can be used in a variety of situations and gives the speaker a chance to think carefully about what he or she is about to say, to take a turn to speak, etc. In the pr esent unit, it was introduced as being equivalent to â€Å"well then. † You can use it when you wish to say â€Å"See you later† to a friend. You can also say jaa when you ask a series of questions. For example. â€Å"biiru o nomimasu ka? † â€Å"iie, nomimasen. † â€Å"jaa, osake o nomimasu ka? † How naturally you use these interjections may be a good indicator of your mastery of the language you are learning.Unit 29 masu, mashita, masen As stated before, Japanese word order is quite different from English. In English, the general meaning of a sentence is made clear early in the sentence. You can figure out whether something is happening now, will happen in the future, has already happened, or did not happen at all, by listening to the first part of a sentence. The Japanese language, on the other hand, places the important words toward the end of a sentence. The difference among masu, mashita, and masen is very small, and they come in the very end of a sentence.Such an attribute of the Japanese language may require your extra attention, and you need to be careful not to jump to conclusions until you hear the entire sentence. Unit 30 Continuing Success Throughout Japanese I, Third Edition you have learned many essential elements of the Japanese language. Practicing what you have learned in the thirty units will assure you successful initial encounters with the Japanese people. We hope you will keep up with your daily practice and further build upon your vocabulary.One additional aspect of competency that you will find useful and important is your sensitivity to cross-cultural differences in values, thought patterns, space and time orientations, mannerisms, etc. You can also continue to build on your communication skills by proceeding on to Japanese II. Introduction to Reading Japanese When you visit a foreign country such as Japan, where the language sounds very different, and the appearance of the written language does not e ven remotely resemble what you are used to, you may naturally find yourself somewhat intimidated.Just imagining the difficulty you may face in learning how to read and write can be discouraging. Mastering reading and writing Japanese is indeed an extremely long and complex process, and even many native speakers have not completed the learning process. In this course you are learning spoken Japanese. While a knowledge of the orthographic form of Japanese will be useful when visiting Japan, it is not necessary to acquire speech. In the following notes, however, some basic and important knowledge of written Japanese will be introduced.Once you understand the essentials that underlie written Japanese, you will find that reading in the language is much easier and less intimidating than you may have anticipated. Kanji, the Chinese Characters Kanji is the â€Å"pictorial† writing the Japanese borrowed from the Chinese. Each Kanji character represents an object or idea, and in writte n Japanese these objects and ideas combine in various ways to form new words and phrases. The pronunciation of each character varies depending on the context, and some Kanji have up to four or five different ways to be pronounced.One is required to be able to recognize and understand some 3,000 Kanji characters to achieve functional literacy in the Japanese language. It won't be necessary, however, to be able to pronounce the Kanji characters, and you will certainly not need 3,000, but it will be rather convenient to get the general meaning of a basic core of some 50 characters which you will see in such public places as airports, train stations. on street signs, and on restaurant menus. As an example of Kanji, we will introduce you here to a few that are typical of the pictorial Kanji characters.To get you started with reading Japanese, here is the character for â€Å"up† or â€Å"on. † Notice that it looks as if the whole character points upward: This character point ing down means â€Å"down† or ‘†under. † When put together, these two characters form a Japanese word, meaning up and down. The word is used to indicate not only the physical upward and downward directions, but also a social relationship with a status difference. Here is another character, which means a â€Å"tree. Can you see how the image of a tree was transformed into the Kanji character? And here is the character for a â€Å"mountain. † Many characters are made up of two or more parts: hen (or the left-hand radical) and tsukuri (or the right-hand radical). The Kanji for â€Å"tree† can serve as a hen, and it may be used to form such words? characters as â€Å"woods,† or a â€Å"forest. † woods forest Here is a more complex character combining three parts: mountain, up, and down. Put together as one word, â€Å"mountain,† â€Å"up,† and â€Å"down† mean a â€Å"mountain pass† or a â€Å"peak. †Å"When you can recognize some 50 basic Japanese Kanji characters, the rest will be fairly easy, as you will probably be able to guess what a new character may mean just by looking at it and identifying the component parts. The first step is to get rid of your anxiety about reading Japanese: take the time to become familiar with the fundamental patterns used to make up the Japanese Kanji characters. Katakana and Hiragana The Kanji system adopted from Chinese is the basic Japanese written system, but whereas the Chinese language uses only pictorial characters, Japanese uses two other types of writing systems in addition to Kanji.They are Katakana and Hiragana. These are two different sets of â€Å"letters† representing Japanese sounds. Each letter represents either a vowel sound or a consonant plus a vowel, for example, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, etc. The Japanese Hiragana and Katakana are both lined up in the same way. The vowels go: a, i, u, e, o. The consonants k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w are placed before the vowels. You can memorize the order of Hiragana and Katakana in much the same way you memorized how the alphabet goes from A to Z. There are 46 Hiragana and Katakana symbols, as shown on the chart on the next page.Each block contains the transliterated phonetic representation of the character, followed by the Hiragana and then by the Katakana (in parentheses). Katakana is the writing system used for Japanese ? English cognates, i. e. , for words adopted from English into Japanese. You will find it particularly useful to learn Katakana, as you may need to read and write your name from time to time. Foreign and new words are spelled using Katakana, so you will see words such as â€Å"restaurant,† â€Å"hotel,† â€Å"golf,† â€Å"gasoline,† and many others in Katakana. Here is what they look like in combination: estaurant hotel golf gasoline Hiragana is the writing system comprised of letters used to represent grammatical endings a nd features that Chinese does not have. Unlike Kanji, in which a symbol represents a concept or an idea, in both the Hiragana and Katakana systems of Japanese, there is a connection between the symbol on the paper and the spoken word, and each letter is pronounced in only one way regardless of the context. Before Japanese children learn how to write the complex Kanji characters, they learn how to write Hiragana and they use it for every word.To illustrate, yama or â€Å"mountain† can be written in three different ways, in Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana. However, since it is not a foreign word, it would rarely, if ever, be written in Katakana. mountain Kanji mountain Katakana mountain Hiragana While it is possible to use the phonetic Hiragana and Katakana scripts to represent almost any Japanese word, it is usually considered more appropriate to use the Kanji characters whenever possible, using the phonetic scripts only to represent foreign words (Katakana) or features unique to Japanese (Hiragana).Books and Signs Most westerners are accustomed to reading books starting from the front and reading each line left to right, starting from the top of the page. In books and traditional writing, however, Japanese is written in columns, top to bottom starting on the right side of a page. The books appear to open â€Å"backwards† to English speakers, as the â€Å"front† of a Japanese book is the â€Å"back† of an English text. However, in signs, menus, and books in which some English words are used, such as academic papers, Japanese is now often written from left to right. Visitors to Japan are fortunate in that