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When I first started studying Japanese, because my vocabulary wasn’t all that expansive, I coped by over-explaining things. As I didn’t even know there was a word for “afterschool”, let alone the word for it, I would literally say “the time after school”.

While people most likely understood what I was trying to say, I sounded a little bit silly. Don’t be like me! It’s very important to expand your vocabulary.

So, let’s get to learning!

Example Sentences

First, let’s try a simple sentence: “I have plans afterschool. I’m going to McDonalds with Takeshi!”. I feel like McDonalds is a perfect place for an after high school date, after all.

English	Hiragana / Katakana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Afterschool	ほうかご	放課後	Houkago
Plans	よてい	予定	Yotei
McDonalds	マクド	マクド	Makudo
To go	いく	行く	Iku

Now, let’s write it out in romaji!:

“Houkago wa yotei ga arimasu yo. Takeshi to Makudo ni ikimasu.”

Let’s change it to hiragana:

“ほうかご　は　よてい　が　あります　よ。たけし　と　マクド　に　いきます。”

And lastly, let’s add in the kanji:

”放課後　は　予定　が　あります　よ。たけし　と　マクド　に　行きます。”

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What if we want to say… “Do you have time afterschool? Let’s go to the movies!” Another perfect afterschool date spot!

First up, we need a word bank!

English	Hiragana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Afterschool	ほうかご	放課後	Houkago
Time	じかん	時間	Jikan
To exist	ある	ある	Aru
Movies / Movie theatre	えいがかん	映画館	Eigakan
To go	いく	行く	Iku

Now that we know all of the relevant words, let’s put them together in a sentence!

First, in romaji only:

“Houkago wa jikan ga arimasuka. Eigakan ni ikimashou!”

Now using hiragana:

“ほうかご　は　じかん　が　ありますか。えいがかん　に　

いきましょう！”

Now let’s add in the kanji:

”放課後　は　時間　が　ありますか。映画館　に　行きましょう！”

** It may be a bit more natural, depending on the situation, to say “let’s see a movie” -> “映画を見に行きましょう” rather than “Let’s go to the movie theatre”.

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Let’s try one more sentence! What if we want to say… “Please leave your schedule afterschool open! “?

Let’s get the word bank started!

English	Hiragana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Afterschool	ほうかご	放課後	Houkago
Plans / schedule	よてい	予定	Yotei
Open	あける	空ける	Akeru
Please	ください	ください	Kudasai

Alright, let’s make some sentences!

First, using romaji only:

“Houkago wa yotei wo akete kudasai.”

Now using hiragana:

“ほうかご　は　よてい　を　あけて　ください。”

Now let’s add in the kanji:

”放課後　は　予定　を　開けて　ください。”

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And that’s Houkago! Have you ever heard this word before?

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Was my post helpful? I hope you learnt something! If you want to support me so that I can continue to share my love of all things shoujo, you can always buy me a coffee!