New Strategy

I've decided on a new approach to this Japanese business.

I am going to study everything in Romaji. I already recognize Hiragana and Katakana on sight. I cannot pronounce Kanji, but I more or less know their meanings (less more than more, but I never read Dragon Ball Taiwan version in vain OK).

The strategy goes:

(1) Get all the grammar. Why "uchi" instead of "aida"? Why "ga" instead of "wa"? What exactly does "mo" mean when it's not "also"? What is the problem with "nagara", "shika" and "zenzen"?

(2) Build up a formidable Romaji vocabulary. It doesn't matter that I don't know what "nikutai kankei" looks like in Kanji, as long as I know that it means "sexual relationship".

(3) Finally ... after many years of studying ... match the Romaji vocabulary to Kanji characters. This will take some time, but hopefully some of the Kanji would've gone in via osmosis during (1) and (2).

Why this strategy? Several reasons:

(1) This way, I can start watching anime / Japanese dramas and movies sooner. I can learn to listen sooner without having to spend time working out the kinks of Kanji. In other words, I sacrifice written literacy for listening comprehension.

(2) Once I am able to listen and understand Japanese, I will be very encouraged. I will feel like I have achieved much when actually I have made only mediocre progress. I will then start to watch more dramas and study more voraciously.

(3) Studying the listening aspect will help with the speaking aspect. This is practical as when I do go to Japan, or when I bump into Japanese people, I am not going to start writing notes to them. I will be speaking. Spoken fluency will encourage morale even further.

(4) I already know how to read Chinese (subject to caveat above). I will not be completely lost reading Japanese - some Kanji, all Hiragana, all Katakana.

(5) I don't exactly see myself writing much Japanese. In order of priority, I value the various aspects of the language in the following order:

1. Listening
2. Reading (this is the sacrifice - for now)
3. Speaking
4. Writing

Let's hope all this goes somewhere.

SENTENCE FOR TODAY:

Wakai aida ni hon o dekiru dake takusan yominasai.

Young while (specific) book o as possible many read (command).

Note the position of "takusan": accordingly, "as soon as possible" translates to "dekiru dake hayaku".

GTZ #2 Beta Version

またGTZの時間だ。今回は僕の教科書(kyoukasho)からの授業。

考えろ：あなたの国は、社会で働(hatara)く女性(josei)が多いですか？働く女性、女性が働く環境(kankyou)について何かイメージはありますか？

今日はここまでだ。あまり習えない授業だけど、今度はもっと詳しい授業を教える。

Quick Question for Qualifieds

How on earth are adjectives placed in Japanese? Consider the following sentences (adjectives emboldened):

Atarashii shushou wa, haiku wa jozu desu ga, seiji wa mama desu.
(New Prime Minister wa, haiku wa good desu but, politics wa so-so desu.)

Tani-san wa atama ga ii ga, Yokota-san mo ii desu.
(Tani-san wa head ga good and, Yokota-san also good desu.) *"Head ga good" = intelligent.

Watashi no ie kara suupaa wa chikai-ndesu ga, eki wa tooinedesu.
(Watashi no house from supermarket wa near desu but, train station wa far desu.)

Sugoku jyoozu VERSUS Jyoozu sugimasu ("very skilled" versus "too skilled"; not so much adjectives as intensifiers, but I am also wondering why they are treated differently)

Why are some adjectives placed before the noun, and others placed after the fact?

Tetsude kudasai!

Gift of the Naru

Naru
An amazing word that means all of the following: go, become, result in, work out to, constitute, follow.

Example sentences:

Konogoro hiru wa atatakaindesu ga, yoru wa samuku narimashita.
(Recently day wa warm but, night wa cold became.)

Senjitsu onegai shita koto desu ga, dou narimashita desho ka.
(Few days ago requested thing hor, how became hmmmnn?)

You will note a new style of translation. This is in-keeping with my new "become the language" zeitgeist. Bits that are untranslatable will remain untranslated; and simple bits that do not need translation will remain untranslated. Also, word order will be kept in Japanese-style order. Singlish (like "hor" above) will be employed when appropriate.

"Naru", when written in another way, also means: sound, crash, ring, toll.

Narubeku: As ... as possible
Naruhodo: I see, indeed

Useful additions, those two.

どうも♪

ヒヨコです
わたしはthegreatszeに誘われ,このブログの一員になった
って言っても、aboutの中で私の名前はないじゃん　(○´･ω･｡)．．．

あっ、自己紹介はまだしていないよねぇ
日本で留学している台湾人です
三年も居てて、これからは多分二年弱かなぁ
英語はあんまり良くないから、日本語で書かせていただきます



いきなりですが　
“konnichiwa”

って言う言葉はみんな知っているよねぇ
さて、正しいものはどっちかなぁ　*(￣ー￣)


　
①こんにちは　

②こんにちわ



答えは①の“こんにちは”です

実は　コンニチハ　という言葉は漢字に書くと 　“今日は”　で、
“こんにちはどう過ごしていただきましたか”の略だよ♪

従って、　コンバンハ→今晩は　も同じく　　
“こんばんはどう過ごしていただきましたか”の略です

勉強になったよねぇ★
日本語は面白いぜ(≧∇≦*)

また今度なぁφ(｡･ω･｡ )ﾉｼ

24 Hours of Japanese Lessons in 1 Blog Post: Elementary One

Make new friends, but keep the old.

Group 1 Verbs:
kakaru kaku kiku oyogu hanasu iu au matsu kaeru yaru yobu yomu nomu shinu aru toru kau shiru wakaru

Conjugate the last syllable according to the six forms. Exceptions:
kaku becomes kaite,
kiku becomes kiite,
oyogu becomes oyoide and
hanasu becomes hanashite.

Group 2 Verbs:
Damn a lot of verbs, all ending in -ru.

Conjugate away the last syllable. Nai masu ru reba yoo te.

Irregular Verbs:

Ko ki ku ku ko ki, shi shi su su shi shi. Kite and shite. Enough said.

Iku and iru both conjugate to itte. Context.

Ii and Na Adjectives

Kireii is an exception. It is na.

For negative forms, i turns into ku. Muzukashikunai. Or else, shizuka janaindesu.

Vocabulary

Sugu immediately!
Hako box!
Tana shelf!
Hendusne that's strange!
Pan bread!
Yoku a lot!
Sukoshi a little!
Ryooshin parents!
Kaban bag!
Gakki musical instrument!
Soji cleaning!
Hikooki plane!
Tsukue desk!
Takusan sugiru too many!

Questions

Donnogurai? About how much?
Donnogoro? About how much (time / quantity)?
Dou? How about?
Douyatte? How?
Dare ikutsu doko ikura nani kara made dakara blahblah.

Directions

Migi hidari ue shita naka soto.

The Japanese "If"

It seems like the Japanese are big fans of synonyms!

Dattara
Ano hito ga ikun dattara, watashi wa ikanai.
(If he's going, I'm not going. NB: Cannot find "dattara" in dictionary, it must be a conjugation, but of what?)

Nara
Anata ga so iu nara, natto o tabete mimasu.
(If you say so, I'll try some beans. NB: Tabete mimasu? Eat and drink?? EDIT Mel Tan: tabetemimasu means 'try to eat' or more literallly, 'eat and see')

EDIT zu31g:
like cause and effect
for example
gakkou ni ittara, jyugyou ga ukerareru
if u go to school, you can take classes
tara has to imply cause and effect
me: i see
nara is not
nara is more like "if this is abt XXX"
something like that
kono mise to iu nara, ramen ga oishisou datta
me: wicked
i will put this up
if you're talking abt this shop, i heard that the ramen is delicious

Moshimo ... naraba
Moshimo hoka ni jouhou ga hitsuyo naraba ...
(If you need any other information ...)

Kadouka
Kare ga sansei suru kadouka wakaranai.
(I don't know if he will agree.)

EDIT Mel Tan:
'kadouka' should be read as XX-ka, douka, XXX
'ka' basically makes a statement into a question
so 'sansei suru ka, douka, wakaranai'
literally means "agree?, how?, don't know"

Tasuke hitsuyo to suru ...


***

Additional stuff from Mel Tan:

koto in some cases also denotes experience
like when we say nihon e ittakoto ga aru.... basically what we're doing is making iku, a verb into a noun (i.e. the experience of going)

iku (dictionary form) --> itta (past tense) --> itta koto ('nounification')

Sleepy Sentences

Before bed, I read a few sentences.

Dare ga ichiban hayaku kimashitaka.
(Who came first?)

Doushite kanojo ga anna tsumaranai hon o yonde iru no ka, fushigi desu.
(It is beyond me why she's reading a boring book like that.)

Haha ga Nihon ni kuru mae ni, kono heya o kirei ni soji shinakereba naranai.
(Before my mother comes to Japan, I have to make this room nice and clean. "-nakereba naranai" = must, how economical of the Japanese.)

Isshukan de watashi ga yomu hon wa yonsatsu desu.
(In one week, I read four books.)

Ame wa futte iru ga, yuki wa mada futte imasen.
(It's raining, but it's not snowing yet.)

To ga akimashita.
(The door opened.)

Goshokai shimasu.
(Let me do the introductions.)

Gochiso o tsukutta.
(I prepared a spread.)

From the above ... I attempt to translate the first sentence of this entry.

Neru mae ni, ikutsu ka (no?) bun o yomimasu.

Oyasuminasai.
(Good night.)

Or ... what?

The word "or" doesn't seem to exist in Japanese.

Babelfish gives me または (mataha? sounds Indian). I almost never see anyone using this though.

A quick check through my various textbooks yields the following example:

Sushi to tenpura to dochira ga suki desuka.
(Which do you like better, sushi or tempura?)

My brick-and-mortar dictionary tells me the correct form is "bata ka soretomo magarin ka" (butter or margarine).

Then it proceeds to confuse me with an example sentence:

Kare wa miru koto mo kiku koto mo dekinai. (He cant't see or hear.)

And someone tells me "or else!" is "samonaito taihen dayo".

Help me, samonaito I am going to go crazy.

More Words From MSN and Gmail Chat

taisetsu: important
jyuyou: important (China-style)
takusan: a lot
shyumi: hobby
zan nen datta (deshita): it's a pity

jisho: dictionary

mada owatta: still haven't finished
saki ni: just now, earlier
sei: reason, fault

Spacings denote different topics.

So many people I know (at least 1 direct link) speak *good* Japanese: JJ (JLPT3), YJ (living in Tokyo with Japanese-speaking girlfriend), Juejing (5 years in Osaka), Dom (3rd language), Olivia (takes notes for business meetings with Japanese folks in Japanese), Xiuhui (3rd language), Mel Tan (4th language, between Malay and sign), Jek Kiat (7 years in Tokyo, nanpa expert, reads and invests in accordance with Japanese stock market guides)...

There is no excuse, no excuse at all.

tanki: impatience

More Difficult for Caucasians?

Jesus, we should be so ashamed.

Some housekeeping matters: I think we will do away with labels for posts, because not everyone is going to apply them consistently. So just write what you want, and don't bother with the labelling.

Also, not all of us can read/write hiragana/katakana (depending on where you're writing from, your computer's settings etc). So Romaji translations would always be nice!

Some stuff I learnt from Emily (the girl above):

Toki ni = when(ever)
Tokidoki = from time to time
Kyuuketsuki = vampire (very practical)
Aisu shika tabenai desu = I only eat ice cream
Sugu (ni) = immediately
Keshiki = scenery

Time to call Bunka for test results! Ima, kekka ga shiteru kara, denwa wo suru tsumori.

Update: Ukaru desuyo! :) 88/100, maa-maa ne.

New sentence: "Senshuu, shya cho-u to isshoni, beijing e itta, ima re-porto wo kaiteimasu." Last week, with boss, went to Beijing, now writing report.

GTZ #1

僕(boku)はthegreatszeと約束(yakusoku)しましたから、これを書いていま。

彼はこの質問(shitsumon)がありました-僕先のpostについて、potential formの説明(setsumei)はなんでした。いま僕もっと詳(kuwa)しく説明します。

最後に、potential formについて、group one　の動詞(doushi)はただplus ruじゃありません。Plus ru の前に、動詞は"けform"に変えられなければなりません。例(tato)えば、いくはいけに変(ka)えて、のむはのめに変えます。

Potential form はできるの動詞です。歩(aru)ける＝can walk. root form は歩く(to walk). To change to potential form from a Group I verb (yomu, kaku, iku), you have to change it to the けstem before you add the る。よむー＞よめる、かくー＞かける、いくー＞いける. It's not as simple as adding a られる like a Group II verb (taberu,miru,okiru). That was the point. I'm not sure if the terminology (Group I, Group II verb, root form, ke stem) I used was accurate, but I'm sure you'll get the point.

Back to Bunka

Sat for my placement test into Elementary 2 today. It's been a year, and I actually found the paper ... somewhat taxing. I shall know the results by three PM tomorrow. (あした、結果に知りなさいです。) Fingers crossed.

Tired tonight from tweaking the banners on the site. つかれたagain. Off to bed now. Trying to remember some new words I learnt from a CD ... brain is mush. Goodnight.

introduction

hajimemashite. watashiwa yusuke desu. dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu...

gomen nasai. ima netaidesu. ashita wa kakimasu...

oyasuminasai!

YJです

I am YJ.

As of the time of writing, i am sitting in my small IK room of around 9 tatami mats, in a place which used to be the heart of Edo. Now, it is a place where locals loathe all foreigners - if they are not white and especially of Asian decent. I have finished sipping my glass of sake. The lingering smell of my Mild Seven 6's floats in my small room.

I am in Tokyo, a place where thegreatsze dreams almost everyday. I am in a land of dreams to many, yet to one who is here it might just be another paradise lost. Japan, though shiny on the surface hides an undercurrent that is in a politically correct term "conservative". In another word it would have to be "fucked up".

The world of Japan is fucked up. I use this term in an ambivalent way. I do not love Japan, yet i do not hate it. I long to get away from it, but important things in the world keep me from leaving it. I hope that I would be able, among the chorus of praise for all things Nippon, present a different but real life image to what is this unfathomable land of the rising sun.

またね

はじめまして

僕(boku)の名前(namae)はZu31Gです。ぼくの日本語を上手(jouzu)になるために、このサイトを参加(sanka)します。これからお願(nega)いします。

今は友人(yujin)thegreatszeのミッスをちょっと直(nao)します。

第一、"今夜"はkonyaと言います。imayoruじゃありません。
第二、not at all　はぜんぜん。せんせんじゃありません。
最後に、potential formについて、group one　の動詞(doushi)はただplus ruじゃありません。Plus ru の前に、動詞は"けform"に変えられなければなりません。例(tato)えば、いくはいけに変(ka)えて、のむはのめに変えます。

今度、僕の望(nozo)むはここで文章(bunshou)とか歌(uta)の歌詞(kashi)とかを批判的(hihanteki)検討(kentou)します(note: XXX wo hihanteki wo kentousuru = analyze XXX)。

日本の夢を見ること Nihon no yume o miru koto

今夜疲れたですよ。
Imayoru tsukareta desuyo.

Spent 45 minutes talking to my father's sister's husband today (what is that - uncle-in-law?). For ten years, his company had sent him to Japan for three months a year to handle international dealings. He was given private lessons (by Bunka, no less) prior to his first trip, and he says he passed JLPT-2 before going over.

Tonight, however, he failed to understand "どこで会社ですか？"

I do not want to become like him. I do not blame him - I am sure that he did not feel the goose pimples I felt as he was relating stories of Japanese corporate staidness. I am certain that he did not see, in his mind's eye, the idiosyncracies of every little side-street in Shinjuku as he told me about the increasing use by many 女の子 of "わからない" in place of "わかりません". Japan was not his のぞみ, and still is not. It is mine, and only mine to fulfill.

I was agonizing for the longest time over the best title for this blog. I'd considered 情事Japan and 熟考Japan just for the alliteration, but in the end they didn't quite capture what I wanted to say. Plain and simple, I dream of Japan every day. You might think you have my full attention, but really, there's a part of me - always - still in that 静かなひびの階段. And I don't think I'll ever fully ascend it - nor get off it altogether.

Which is pleasing.

Today's vocabulary edification:

Later　あとで
Day after tomorrow 明後日　(asatte)
Sometimes たまに
Next time 今度　(kondo)

A little / a few 少し (sukoshi)
A lot よく
Very すごく　とても
Nothing 何も　(+ negative verb form)
Not at all せんせん　(+ negative verb form)

And for grammar:

"Ru/Rareru" form
The potential form of verbs. Basically, add "ru" to the 4th word of the conjugation line for Group 1 verbs. Add "rareru" to the stem word of Group 2 verbs. So いくbecomes いける, and 食べる becomes 食べられる. Now you have "I can go" instead of "go", and also "I can eat" instead of "eat".

Important: The potential form of the verb becomes a completely different verb from the original it was conjugated from! So いける is recognized as a separate Group 2 verb (all "ru/rareru" verb forms are considered Group 2 verbs). It also conjugates into the six forms (いけない、いけます、いける、いければ、いけよう、いけて). Keep it together, son. Keep it together.

じゃ、またね！