明日 (ashita - yesterday), TextFugu had a cyber 月曜日 (getsuyoubi - Monday) sale and the forever membership was 33% off!! This means I finally obtained my FOREVER membership to TextFugu for only $80 instead of the usual $120. Yessssssss!! Now I'm not limited to the free content only (which I still have plenty left of) and will get all updates forever. Really excited about this!!! Couldn't pass it up. :D
Work has been steadily kicking my butt, considering my last post was like 2 weeks ago. :/ Have still been doing the Drag n Drop ひらがな exercise daily and so far my best time is 1:06. So trying to stay in it slightly even though I haven't had a really good study session in awhile.
Anyway, touching base and happy to now have TextFugu in all it's complete glory at my disposal.
Japan or bust and またね!!
11.15.2011
ひらがな: Reading, Writing and Memorizing
I really breezed through a nice little chunk of TextFugu today and got a chance to see that I'm really quite comfortable with ひらがな. Even more so that I previously thought. Woo! It feels really nice.
To review, I started the real meat and potatoes of ひらがな in terms of TextFugu 今日 (kyou - today)! Koichi-san first mentions that a variety of resources will be utilized to teach the reading, writing and memorization. These include both TextFugu and outside (free) resources. (All the ones I saw today were awesome!)
You first are introduced to three common 日本語 words - sushi, sake and karate. With these examples, Koichi-san illustrates that reading and writing ひらがな is really pretty easy once you know the 仮名. He points back to the ひらがな chart to show for example that sushi is made up of su and shi or すし. It's really as simple as that. Koichi-san also mentions the common Western pronunciation of these three words and points back to all the pronunciation practice preceding this point so they will be pronounced correctly.
How to Study ひらがな
First 10 Hiragana: あいうえお、かきくけこ
From there, you are introduced to the first resource - Anki. This is a flash card program that utilizes card decks created by Koichi-san. Practiced the first 10 仮名 using Anki. (The vowels and the K-line.)
Next up was this really cool resource called Drag n' Drop Hiragana and again initially just got the first 10 仮名 in place correctly.
Lastly was the first 10 Hiragana practice worksheet (TextFugu) that quizzed first to write the correct Romaji counterparts given the 仮名 provided and then to do the verse - write the 仮名 for the Romaji provided.
Hiragana 11-20: さしすせそ、たちつてと
First was the start of another TextFugu worksheet, the Personal Kana Sheet. Initially put the first 10 ひらがな into place, then immediately added the next 10 which are the S and T lines.
Next was more Anki for the S and T lines.
Next was the site RealKana which I've used and visited before via ToFugu. It's really cool how you can add the different styles here to quiz yourself on recognizing multiple written styles of ひらあな (as well as カタカナ but that's for another time.) Anyway, quizzed only on first 20 仮名 this time around.
Lastly was the First 20 Hiragana Practice worksheet. (TextFugu)
Hiragana 21-30: なにぬねの、はひふへほ
First added the next 10 仮名 (N and H-lines) to the Personal Kana Sheet.
Anki for these 10.
First 30 Hiragana Practice worksheet. (TextFugu)
RealKana again for all 30 (V through H-lines)
I feel like I made a nice amount of progress today refreshing what I already knew. I was really surprised with my speed on the various worksheets. I also kept doing all 46 ひらがな on the Drag n' Drop site and the best time I've gotten so far for all of them is 1:15!!!!!!!
It was a great day for my 日本語 journey!! I'm feeling so jazzed about it, especially after 今日!
I'm overdue for bedtime again...
またね!!
To review, I started the real meat and potatoes of ひらがな in terms of TextFugu 今日 (kyou - today)! Koichi-san first mentions that a variety of resources will be utilized to teach the reading, writing and memorization. These include both TextFugu and outside (free) resources. (All the ones I saw today were awesome!)
You first are introduced to three common 日本語 words - sushi, sake and karate. With these examples, Koichi-san illustrates that reading and writing ひらがな is really pretty easy once you know the 仮名. He points back to the ひらがな chart to show for example that sushi is made up of su and shi or すし. It's really as simple as that. Koichi-san also mentions the common Western pronunciation of these three words and points back to all the pronunciation practice preceding this point so they will be pronounced correctly.
How to Study ひらがな
First 10 Hiragana: あいうえお、かきくけこ
From there, you are introduced to the first resource - Anki. This is a flash card program that utilizes card decks created by Koichi-san. Practiced the first 10 仮名 using Anki. (The vowels and the K-line.)
Next up was this really cool resource called Drag n' Drop Hiragana and again initially just got the first 10 仮名 in place correctly.
Lastly was the first 10 Hiragana practice worksheet (TextFugu) that quizzed first to write the correct Romaji counterparts given the 仮名 provided and then to do the verse - write the 仮名 for the Romaji provided.
Hiragana 11-20: さしすせそ、たちつてと
First was the start of another TextFugu worksheet, the Personal Kana Sheet. Initially put the first 10 ひらがな into place, then immediately added the next 10 which are the S and T lines.
Next was more Anki for the S and T lines.
Next was the site RealKana which I've used and visited before via ToFugu. It's really cool how you can add the different styles here to quiz yourself on recognizing multiple written styles of ひらあな (as well as カタカナ but that's for another time.) Anyway, quizzed only on first 20 仮名 this time around.
Lastly was the First 20 Hiragana Practice worksheet. (TextFugu)
Hiragana 21-30: なにぬねの、はひふへほ
First added the next 10 仮名 (N and H-lines) to the Personal Kana Sheet.
Anki for these 10.
First 30 Hiragana Practice worksheet. (TextFugu)
RealKana again for all 30 (V through H-lines)
I feel like I made a nice amount of progress today refreshing what I already knew. I was really surprised with my speed on the various worksheets. I also kept doing all 46 ひらがな on the Drag n' Drop site and the best time I've gotten so far for all of them is 1:15!!!!!!!
It was a great day for my 日本語 journey!! I'm feeling so jazzed about it, especially after 今日!
I'm overdue for bedtime again...
またね!!
11.14.2011
Combination ひらがな
Combo ひらがな are technically two separate 仮名 but they are quite common and considered one sound.
These have two parts, naturally.
The first is a 仮名 from the 'i' row. (ie き, し, ち, に, み, り, etc) + one of the 仮名 from the Y-line - や, ゆ or よ. The 仮名 from the Y-line appears smaller than it's preceding 'i' row 仮名, to indicate that they are attached to one another.
A couple of examples are:
きゃ - kya, じゃ - jya, にゅ - nyu, みょ - myo, りゃ - rya, りゅ - ryu and りょ - ryo
I practiced the combination ひらがな using the linked video.
Koichi-san advises that with the completion of this section about combination ひらがな, the pronunciation of all the ひらがな has been covered for the most part. This will definitely make reading and writing easier!
I have a decent handle on reading and writing already but never bad to get some refresher on the pronunciation of things. Always nice when you sound more natural and less like a gaijin. ;)
I need to get on to bed but looks like the next part of TextFugu is practice actually reading ひらがな. I really look forward to this. Again, I have a great basis with ひらがな already but my weakness right now is the time it takes me to first convert the symbols to the sounds then if I don't know the word, the additional time it takes me to look it up. Especially during my vacations to California, while shopping at Mitsuwa Marketplace, I found ample opportunities to read product packaging but sometimes it would take me so long to convert what I was reading that sometimes I'd just flip the product over to read the 英語 on the back. Not what I want to have happen!
I'm looking for opportunities to get faster with my ひらがな reading.
**Random observation/brain pick: Another obstacle I often have when trying to read 日本語 product packaging is when a line of text suddenly changes from ひらがな to 漢字. I know very few 漢字 so far so sometimes it made the ひらがな I was able to read up until reaching it virtually useless.
Hoping to change that sooner than later!
またね!
These have two parts, naturally.
The first is a 仮名 from the 'i' row. (ie き, し, ち, に, み, り, etc) + one of the 仮名 from the Y-line - や, ゆ or よ. The 仮名 from the Y-line appears smaller than it's preceding 'i' row 仮名, to indicate that they are attached to one another.
A couple of examples are:
きゃ - kya, じゃ - jya, にゅ - nyu, みょ - myo, りゃ - rya, りゅ - ryu and りょ - ryo
I practiced the combination ひらがな using the linked video.
Koichi-san advises that with the completion of this section about combination ひらがな, the pronunciation of all the ひらがな has been covered for the most part. This will definitely make reading and writing easier!
I have a decent handle on reading and writing already but never bad to get some refresher on the pronunciation of things. Always nice when you sound more natural and less like a gaijin. ;)
I need to get on to bed but looks like the next part of TextFugu is practice actually reading ひらがな. I really look forward to this. Again, I have a great basis with ひらがな already but my weakness right now is the time it takes me to first convert the symbols to the sounds then if I don't know the word, the additional time it takes me to look it up. Especially during my vacations to California, while shopping at Mitsuwa Marketplace, I found ample opportunities to read product packaging but sometimes it would take me so long to convert what I was reading that sometimes I'd just flip the product over to read the 英語 on the back. Not what I want to have happen!
I'm looking for opportunities to get faster with my ひらがな reading.
**Random observation/brain pick: Another obstacle I often have when trying to read 日本語 product packaging is when a line of text suddenly changes from ひらがな to 漢字. I know very few 漢字 so far so sometimes it made the ひらがな I was able to read up until reaching it virtually useless.
Hoping to change that sooner than later!
またね!
11.11.2011
Dakuten!
Woo! I made it back 今夜 (kon'ya - tonight!) I almost put it off but I pressed on and here I am. :)
今夜, I studied dakuten. Dakuten are either the sideways quotation marks or circles added to certain ひらがな lines to expand the 46 symbols and create even more sounds.
Dakuten only apply to the K, S, T, and H lines of ひらがな. The H line is special in that both types of dakuten can be applied. If a 仮名 in the H-line has the sideways quotes it turns from an H sound to a B sound. On the flip side, if a 仮名 in the H-line has the circle it turns from an H sound to a P sound.
As far as the K, S and T lines, only the sideways quotation dakuten is used. This changes the sounds to G, Z and D respectively.
The 'magical pattern' is still followed as before but there are a few exceptions to the pronunciation. They are:
In the S-line, し becomes じ - pronounced ji.
In the T-line, ち becomes ぢ - pronounced dzi and つ becomes づ - pronounced dzu.**
**Koichi-san says the ぢ and づ 仮名 are rarely used, but still a good idea to know how to pronounce them in the event that you come across them.
I watched the videos for the dakuten lines 三 times each and then played the T-line ones a few more times to try and get that dzi and dzu pronunciation down. I learned most of this already with My Japanese Coach on the DS, however I don't remember there being stress on the fact that these two were really a D+Z sound. Probably not covered due to their rare usage but yea.
That's about it for tonight. I just keep rattling through the lines over and over out loud. Practice makes perfect. ;)
またね!
今夜, I studied dakuten. Dakuten are either the sideways quotation marks or circles added to certain ひらがな lines to expand the 46 symbols and create even more sounds.
Dakuten only apply to the K, S, T, and H lines of ひらがな. The H line is special in that both types of dakuten can be applied. If a 仮名 in the H-line has the sideways quotes it turns from an H sound to a B sound. On the flip side, if a 仮名 in the H-line has the circle it turns from an H sound to a P sound.
As far as the K, S and T lines, only the sideways quotation dakuten is used. This changes the sounds to G, Z and D respectively.
The 'magical pattern' is still followed as before but there are a few exceptions to the pronunciation. They are:
In the S-line, し becomes じ - pronounced ji.
In the T-line, ち becomes ぢ - pronounced dzi and つ becomes づ - pronounced dzu.**
**Koichi-san says the ぢ and づ 仮名 are rarely used, but still a good idea to know how to pronounce them in the event that you come across them.
I watched the videos for the dakuten lines 三 times each and then played the T-line ones a few more times to try and get that dzi and dzu pronunciation down. I learned most of this already with My Japanese Coach on the DS, however I don't remember there being stress on the fact that these two were really a D+Z sound. Probably not covered due to their rare usage but yea.
That's about it for tonight. I just keep rattling through the lines over and over out loud. Practice makes perfect. ;)
またね!
11.09.2011
Damn it's been a long time!
Yea, so... When I said 'tomorrow night' in my last post on 十月 (juugatsu - October) fifth, my intentions were definitely not to post again until 十一月 (juuichigatsu - November) ninth!!
I have been so busy with work and by the time I get home and get my 犬 (inu - dog) taken care of and whatever else I have to do, I just haven't had a lot of motivation to sit down here in the study cubby and get to work. Brain strain, I say. Seems like I'm mentally exhausted and just veg in front of the TV.
Well, I received news last 金曜日 (kin'youbi - Friday) that my company has been sold and now we have new ownership. Depending on what it takes to get things stabilized again (we haven't been profitable in awhile), who knows whether I'll still have a job in the coming weeks. o_O Pretty scary stuff.
However, I've been working hard this year to get my spirituality in order and be on better terms with my Creator. With that being said, I'm trying hard to put my worry and concern in His hands and make the best of the situation. I know He will not bring me to something I can't get through and that is that.
All of that considered, I realized the other day that there is really a hidden (so to speak) opportunity here for me to get back on track with 日本語. This language could really take me somewhere if I can become fluent. Not just for pleasure but in terms of my career.
New motivation if you will. ^_^
So here I am.
Tonight, I went back over all the ひりがな pronunciation again, concentrating specifically on the R-line and the very subtle (at least to me) differences between す and つ.
Feels really great to be back here. Gotta try not to let the brain strain/mental exhaustion beat me down to the extent that it's another month before I'm back here again.
Anyway, until next time...
またね!!
I have been so busy with work and by the time I get home and get my 犬 (inu - dog) taken care of and whatever else I have to do, I just haven't had a lot of motivation to sit down here in the study cubby and get to work. Brain strain, I say. Seems like I'm mentally exhausted and just veg in front of the TV.
Well, I received news last 金曜日 (kin'youbi - Friday) that my company has been sold and now we have new ownership. Depending on what it takes to get things stabilized again (we haven't been profitable in awhile), who knows whether I'll still have a job in the coming weeks. o_O Pretty scary stuff.
However, I've been working hard this year to get my spirituality in order and be on better terms with my Creator. With that being said, I'm trying hard to put my worry and concern in His hands and make the best of the situation. I know He will not bring me to something I can't get through and that is that.
All of that considered, I realized the other day that there is really a hidden (so to speak) opportunity here for me to get back on track with 日本語. This language could really take me somewhere if I can become fluent. Not just for pleasure but in terms of my career.
New motivation if you will. ^_^
So here I am.
Tonight, I went back over all the ひりがな pronunciation again, concentrating specifically on the R-line and the very subtle (at least to me) differences between す and つ.
Feels really great to be back here. Gotta try not to let the brain strain/mental exhaustion beat me down to the extent that it's another month before I'm back here again.
Anyway, until next time...
またね!!
10.05.2011
For the record...
For the record, I did study tonight. Per Koichi-san's directions, I went back over the exceptions noted last night before moving forward with TextFugu. Afterward, it was all actual practice of ひらがな pronunciation. I watched several videos covering a few of the ひらがな lines at least 3 times a piece as instructed. Not too much to note tonight... I have a pretty good understanding of ひらがな and it's hard to take notes when you're focusing on making sure the sound of the 仮名 are correct.
Tomorrow night will be at least partially more of the same.
またね!!
Tomorrow night will be at least partially more of the same.
またね!!
10.03.2011
Japanese alphabets - Part 二.二
ひらがな Exceptions to the pattern
Picking up where I left off last night, there are a few exceptions in ひらがな pronunciation that don't *exactly* fit the magical pattern.
They are:
し (shi): Second かな in the S-line. Pronounced like 'she'
ち (chi): Second かな in the T-line. Pronounced like the 'chee' in 'cheese'
つ (tsu): Third かな in the T-line. Pronounced 'tsoo' (TextFugu mentions there will be more on this pronunciation going forward because it is virtually unlike anything in 英語)
ふ (fu/hu): Third かな in the H-line. Can apparently be pronounced fu or hu, most of the time will be fu (TextFugu mentions that when just reading off the ひらがな chart, it's best to pronounce as 'hu' and there will be notation going forward as to which way something should be pronounced)
The entire Y-line starting with や (ya): The exception exists here because 二 かな are missing - there is no yi or ye
The entire R-line starting with ら (ra): Not really an exception but column that is most problematic in terms of pronunciation. (This will be covered in more detail later according to TextFugu)
The entire W-line starting with わ (wa): Like the Y-line, there are missing かな in this column. There are only 二, わ (wa) and を (wo). を is *ONLY* used as a particle. Also, the 'w' sound is not pronounced so when using を and sounds almost like just simply お.
ん (n): Only single-consonant かな in ひらがな. Sounds like nnnnn, like the 'n' in 'man.' Easy to pronounce but an exception since it doesn't really fit the magical pattern
Those are the exceptions. I definitely learned a few new things or possibly a refresher on things I hadn't remembered. Either way beneficial.
Until next time...
またね!
Picking up where I left off last night, there are a few exceptions in ひらがな pronunciation that don't *exactly* fit the magical pattern.
They are:
し (shi): Second かな in the S-line. Pronounced like 'she'
ち (chi): Second かな in the T-line. Pronounced like the 'chee' in 'cheese'
つ (tsu): Third かな in the T-line. Pronounced 'tsoo' (TextFugu mentions there will be more on this pronunciation going forward because it is virtually unlike anything in 英語)
ふ (fu/hu): Third かな in the H-line. Can apparently be pronounced fu or hu, most of the time will be fu (TextFugu mentions that when just reading off the ひらがな chart, it's best to pronounce as 'hu' and there will be notation going forward as to which way something should be pronounced)
The entire Y-line starting with や (ya): The exception exists here because 二 かな are missing - there is no yi or ye
The entire R-line starting with ら (ra): Not really an exception but column that is most problematic in terms of pronunciation. (This will be covered in more detail later according to TextFugu)
The entire W-line starting with わ (wa): Like the Y-line, there are missing かな in this column. There are only 二, わ (wa) and を (wo). を is *ONLY* used as a particle. Also, the 'w' sound is not pronounced so when using を and sounds almost like just simply お.
ん (n): Only single-consonant かな in ひらがな. Sounds like nnnnn, like the 'n' in 'man.' Easy to pronounce but an exception since it doesn't really fit the magical pattern
Those are the exceptions. I definitely learned a few new things or possibly a refresher on things I hadn't remembered. Either way beneficial.
Until next time...
またね!
10.02.2011
Japanese Alphabets - Part 二.1
ひらがな Continuing the Pattern
Picking up where I left off, oh so long ago, ひらがな has that magical pattern effect where you learn the pronunciation of the vowels and then the rest of the characters are cake.
Most ひらがな characters (all of them except the vowels and 'n') consist of 二 components:
consonant - k, g, s, z, t, d, n, h, b, p, m, y, r or w in most cases; and
vowel - the 五 (go - five) 仮名 learned previously.
To copy directly from TextFugu regarding the magical pattern and the K-line of ひらがな:
か → ka → This is just K + あ (a), therefore it has a “kah” sound.
き → ki → This is just K + い (i), therefore is identical to the word “key” in English
く → ku → This is just K + う (u), therefore has a “koo” sound, like “kublai khan” or cool.
け → ke → This is just K + え (e), therefore has a “keh” sound, like “kettle”
こ → ko → This is just K + お (o), therefore has a “koh” sound like comb.
If you look at this TextFugu Hiragana Chart, you'll see that the pattern continues pretty consistently for the most part. There are some *minor* exceptions to note which I will cover in Part 二.2, hopefully tomorrow.
I already know ひらがな quite solidly but I think it's important to document this stuff for my benefit down the line or maybe someone else's if anyone ever reads this. Trying to go through the different lessons on TextFugu with a fine tooth comb a bit.
Well, my 30 minutes is about up but in closing I'm going to throw out a few vocab words just to sort of test myself from the adjectives I've learned in My Japanese Coach lately.
あつい - hot, うつくしい - beautiful, よい - good, いたい - painful,
つよい - strong, さむい - cold, よわい - weak, みにくい - ugly
Wooo!!! I'm actually getting these committed to memory. Always happy when that happens!
またね!!
Picking up where I left off, oh so long ago, ひらがな has that magical pattern effect where you learn the pronunciation of the vowels and then the rest of the characters are cake.
Most ひらがな characters (all of them except the vowels and 'n') consist of 二 components:
consonant - k, g, s, z, t, d, n, h, b, p, m, y, r or w in most cases; and
vowel - the 五 (go - five) 仮名 learned previously.
To copy directly from TextFugu regarding the magical pattern and the K-line of ひらがな:
か → ka → This is just K + あ (a), therefore it has a “kah” sound.
き → ki → This is just K + い (i), therefore is identical to the word “key” in English
く → ku → This is just K + う (u), therefore has a “koo” sound, like “kublai khan” or cool.
け → ke → This is just K + え (e), therefore has a “keh” sound, like “kettle”
こ → ko → This is just K + お (o), therefore has a “koh” sound like comb.
If you look at this TextFugu Hiragana Chart, you'll see that the pattern continues pretty consistently for the most part. There are some *minor* exceptions to note which I will cover in Part 二.2, hopefully tomorrow.
I already know ひらがな quite solidly but I think it's important to document this stuff for my benefit down the line or maybe someone else's if anyone ever reads this. Trying to go through the different lessons on TextFugu with a fine tooth comb a bit.
Well, my 30 minutes is about up but in closing I'm going to throw out a few vocab words just to sort of test myself from the adjectives I've learned in My Japanese Coach lately.
あつい - hot, うつくしい - beautiful, よい - good, いたい - painful,
つよい - strong, さむい - cold, よわい - weak, みにくい - ugly
Wooo!!! I'm actually getting these committed to memory. Always happy when that happens!
またね!!
Work and Vacation
Well, it's been a long time since I've sat down here in my study cubby. :/
Things have gotten pretty intense with my job like I had previously predicted. The good news is that I got to take a much needed vacation and stuff has sort of mellowed out for the moment with work. Calm before the storm, if you will. All the prior stress was just a false alarm (?!?) sort of.
Anyway, for my vacation I went to Torrance, California with my boyfriend. It was our "As Close as We Can Get to Japan Right Now Tour." Most things we did were tied to 日本 in some way. Mostly eating, checking out Little Tokyo in downtown LA, eating and shopping. Did I mention that we ate? All of our meals except for one were Japanese or of Japanese concept. :)
It was a blast and it really has re-inspired me on this 日本語 journey. I've been back for about a week and although I haven't been here in the cubby, I've been using My Japanese Coach on the DS a lot, as well as some of the book Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day. Going to really try and keep up posting here and using the free chapters of TextFugu as much as I can despite the brain strain I'm going to be facing again at work. I really want this!
Here goes nothing!
Anyway, for my vacation I went to Torrance, California with my boyfriend. It was our "As Close as We Can Get to Japan Right Now Tour." Most things we did were tied to 日本 in some way. Mostly eating, checking out Little Tokyo in downtown LA, eating and shopping. Did I mention that we ate? All of our meals except for one were Japanese or of Japanese concept. :)
It was a blast and it really has re-inspired me on this 日本語 journey. I've been back for about a week and although I haven't been here in the cubby, I've been using My Japanese Coach on the DS a lot, as well as some of the book Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day. Going to really try and keep up posting here and using the free chapters of TextFugu as much as I can despite the brain strain I'm going to be facing again at work. I really want this!
Here goes nothing!
8.23.2011
Japanese Alphabets - Part 二
ひらがな Pronunciation
There is a magical pattern to learning ひらがな pronunciation. Basically by learning the pronunciation of 5 仮名, (kana - 'character' in ひらがな 'alphabet') you will be able to pronounce most other things too.
Those 仮名 are the vowel sounds. They are also organized in a different order than were learned in 英語 (English language) and that is important. The order in 日本語 is A, I, U, E, O.
**Random observation/brain pick: I just made a little connection! :)
I noticed when comparing the kanji for 日本語 and 英語, the last 漢字 is the same. I initially interpreted that it would mean language, (I guess it still does in a way when using them in the traditional non-formal sense like Japanese and English) but low and behold the 漢字 for "language" itself is not the same. :/ Another let down is that with 日本語, the initial two 漢字 are plain and simply Japan (日本 - Nihon), but if you try to look up say England, the 漢字 still don't match up with 英語. Grrr.**
Oh 漢字, you are going to kick my ass. I just hope you don't scare me away like most other scholars. Did you know there is a 90% failure rate in learning 日本語?**
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. So you've got the five 仮名, the vowels. A, I, U, E, O or more accurately あ, い, う, え and お.
They are pronounced as follows:
あ - "ah" like in "car"
い - "i" like in "key"
う - "u" like in "moo"
え - "eh" like in "edge"
お - "oh" like in "joe"
I know these fairly well considering time spent elsewhere with 日本語 but will spend some time practicing since that's where I'm at with TextFugu right now. Anyway, I'm going to try to spend at least 30 minutes a day here in my cubby working on my study(ies). Ha! I spent too much time on my blog post tonight so I didn't make it very far but fortunately for me, that's kind of the point. It's going to be an interesting journey. :)
That's all for tonight folks.
またね!!
There is a magical pattern to learning ひらがな pronunciation. Basically by learning the pronunciation of 5 仮名, (kana - 'character' in ひらがな 'alphabet') you will be able to pronounce most other things too.
Those 仮名 are the vowel sounds. They are also organized in a different order than were learned in 英語 (English language) and that is important. The order in 日本語 is A, I, U, E, O.
**Random observation/brain pick: I just made a little connection! :)
I noticed when comparing the kanji for 日本語 and 英語, the last 漢字 is the same. I initially interpreted that it would mean language, (I guess it still does in a way when using them in the traditional non-formal sense like Japanese and English) but low and behold the 漢字 for "language" itself is not the same. :/ Another let down is that with 日本語, the initial two 漢字 are plain and simply Japan (日本 - Nihon), but if you try to look up say England, the 漢字 still don't match up with 英語. Grrr.**
Oh 漢字, you are going to kick my ass. I just hope you don't scare me away like most other scholars. Did you know there is a 90% failure rate in learning 日本語?**
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. So you've got the five 仮名, the vowels. A, I, U, E, O or more accurately あ, い, う, え and お.
They are pronounced as follows:
あ - "ah" like in "car"
い - "i" like in "key"
う - "u" like in "moo"
え - "eh" like in "edge"
お - "oh" like in "joe"
I know these fairly well considering time spent elsewhere with 日本語 but will spend some time practicing since that's where I'm at with TextFugu right now. Anyway, I'm going to try to spend at least 30 minutes a day here in my cubby working on my study(ies). Ha! I spent too much time on my blog post tonight so I didn't make it very far but fortunately for me, that's kind of the point. It's going to be an interesting journey. :)
That's all for tonight folks.
またね!!
8.22.2011
Japanese Alphabets! (Four of them!) - Part One
Revisiting the Japanese Alphabets (syllabifies) lesson in Season 一 (ichi - one), 今晩 (konban - tonight.)
There are four 'alphabets.' They are ひらがな (hiragana), カタカナ (katakana), 漢字 (kanji) and romaji. Although he doesn't endorse spending a lot of time with it, I wanted to paste in this little blip from Koichi @ TextFugu about Romaji:
Fun Fact: You can break “Romaji” into two pieces. “Roma” (ローマ) is “Rome” in Japanese. “Ji” (字) means “character” or “letter.” Combine the two, and you get ローマ字, which literally means “Rome Characters.” Makes a lot of sense, right?
**Random observation/brain pick: It always feels funny to me when I'm trying to learn any subject and the introductory stuff are things I already know. Throws me off a little. I've tried a few different approaches with 日本語 so far, but I think that's OK considering that it's easily the hardest thing I've ever tried to learn. So anyway, feeling a little funny because I learned ひらがな (hiragana) by memory and My Japanese Coach on the Nintendo DS at an earlier point in my 日本語 studies. A little bit of カタカナ too but not so good with those. Ah well, don't see how it could hurt me too much. ;)**
In summary:
ひらがな - used for difficult 漢字, words with no 漢字, particles, suffixes and verb & adjective inflections
カタカナ - used foreign words, scientific words, onomatopoeia, emphasis and food
漢字 - most all vocabulary: nouns, adjectives and verbs; makes up a VERY large part of 日本語 written language
romaji - 日本語 written with Roman characters
I feel great about slowly but surely getting back in here. My brain is crowded but I occasionally write out the ひらがな chart still to make sure I remember it and I do pretty well for the most part. Really want to stick with this thing to the end and make my dreams come true. Sometimes it seems like I'll never get there and sometimes I don't even feel motivated to change that but I try to remind myself that this computer and language log are just sitting here waiting for me. Ready for moar!!!
Helpful tip from Koichi: Making tasks "actionable" - Components of a good to do list
1) Actionable tasks - don't be general; things you can actually act upon to get you closer to your goal
2) Short Term - Plan for the short term and make adjustments from there. Think about what you can do today!
3) Do Two, Maybe Three IMPORTANT things daily
I think I'm about spent for tonight. Hope to pick this back up 明日 (ashita - tomorrow)!!!!
またね!!
There are four 'alphabets.' They are ひらがな (hiragana), カタカナ (katakana), 漢字 (kanji) and romaji. Although he doesn't endorse spending a lot of time with it, I wanted to paste in this little blip from Koichi @ TextFugu about Romaji:
Fun Fact: You can break “Romaji” into two pieces. “Roma” (ローマ) is “Rome” in Japanese. “Ji” (字) means “character” or “letter.” Combine the two, and you get ローマ字, which literally means “Rome Characters.” Makes a lot of sense, right?
**Random observation/brain pick: It always feels funny to me when I'm trying to learn any subject and the introductory stuff are things I already know. Throws me off a little. I've tried a few different approaches with 日本語 so far, but I think that's OK considering that it's easily the hardest thing I've ever tried to learn. So anyway, feeling a little funny because I learned ひらがな (hiragana) by memory and My Japanese Coach on the Nintendo DS at an earlier point in my 日本語 studies. A little bit of カタカナ too but not so good with those. Ah well, don't see how it could hurt me too much. ;)**
In summary:
ひらがな - used for difficult 漢字, words with no 漢字, particles, suffixes and verb & adjective inflections
カタカナ - used foreign words, scientific words, onomatopoeia, emphasis and food
漢字 - most all vocabulary: nouns, adjectives and verbs; makes up a VERY large part of 日本語 written language
romaji - 日本語 written with Roman characters
I feel great about slowly but surely getting back in here. My brain is crowded but I occasionally write out the ひらがな chart still to make sure I remember it and I do pretty well for the most part. Really want to stick with this thing to the end and make my dreams come true. Sometimes it seems like I'll never get there and sometimes I don't even feel motivated to change that but I try to remind myself that this computer and language log are just sitting here waiting for me. Ready for moar!!!
Helpful tip from Koichi: Making tasks "actionable" - Components of a good to do list
1) Actionable tasks - don't be general; things you can actually act upon to get you closer to your goal
2) Short Term - Plan for the short term and make adjustments from there. Think about what you can do today!
3) Do Two, Maybe Three IMPORTANT things daily
I think I'm about spent for tonight. Hope to pick this back up 明日 (ashita - tomorrow)!!!!
またね!!
8.14.2011
First things first
Hmm. Last time I posted was on a Sunday too. Maybe I can make this a regular thing. Sure beats making plans that end up falling through! Anyway. Getting back to textfugu! I completed Season 1 Chapter 1 awhile back but I wasn't really committed yet and knew it would be awhile so revisiting tonight.
First off, I learned (though can't really recognize plainly yet) the kanji for forward (like opposite of backward) and it is 前 (mae). To me it looks like it's capped by a 侍 (samurai) helmet then underneath on the left hand side is I believe maybe whole or in part the kanji for 'gate' and what looks like 'ri' on the right. Pretty interesting. On the contrast, backward is 後ろ (ushiro? - confusing considering the back and forward buttons only show one kanji each - like it instead says ushi but the kanji for that one is different. Hmmm.)
There are some great quotes mixed in this chapter. I'm going to share a few of them but first I just must say that I really like how textfugu is written so far. Koichi-san is funny and it's written SPECIFICALLY FOR the self-learner. I couldn't think any higher of the preparatory/precaution steps he has you take before getting started. They feel like they will ultimately help you succeed. I feel like Koichi-san genuinely wants to help people learn 日本語 and that's a new feeling considering all the other ways I've employed so far to help me learn the language. Did you know that 90% of all self-learners quit 日本語 studies in the first two weeks?? All the more reason you start off with precautions.
Here's that first quote. Maybe at some point down the line in my studies I will try to convert these to real 日本語!! “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” – Sven Goran Eriksson
Question 1: Why are you learning Japanese?
Well, I'm learning 日本語 because I want to live and work in 日本 someday! Anyway I can and the sooner the better!!
Question 2: What excuses could hold me back from studying 日本語?
Time (don't have enough of it now)
No one to study with
$$ (hopefully this will become less and less of an issue as I move 前)
Can I put it to use right away?
Afraid I won't finish or reach my goal
Not very good at it so far
Task 1: Decide on your '日本語' study space.'
I'm writing from here now! This is my exclusive Japanese study cubby. I call it a cubby because it's a built-in desk in between my bedroom and dining room. I never used it for anything before designating it for my textfugu learnings. I've got my netbook, a monitor, my 日本語 dictionary and some tofugu printouts on the walls. I'll try to post a picture sometime.
Task 2: Tell someone you talk to often that you're studying 日本語
Task 3: Tell the world you're studying 日本語
Well, I guess that's about it for now. Stay tuned for moar!
またね!!
P.S. Moar quotes from Chapter 一 (ichi)
“The greatest amount of wasted time is the time not getting started.” - Dawson Trotman
“No one ever excused his way to success.” – Dave Del Dotto
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – Stephen Kaggwa
First off, I learned (though can't really recognize plainly yet) the kanji for forward (like opposite of backward) and it is 前 (mae). To me it looks like it's capped by a 侍 (samurai) helmet then underneath on the left hand side is I believe maybe whole or in part the kanji for 'gate' and what looks like 'ri' on the right. Pretty interesting. On the contrast, backward is 後ろ (ushiro? - confusing considering the back and forward buttons only show one kanji each - like it instead says ushi but the kanji for that one is different. Hmmm.)
There are some great quotes mixed in this chapter. I'm going to share a few of them but first I just must say that I really like how textfugu is written so far. Koichi-san is funny and it's written SPECIFICALLY FOR the self-learner. I couldn't think any higher of the preparatory/precaution steps he has you take before getting started. They feel like they will ultimately help you succeed. I feel like Koichi-san genuinely wants to help people learn 日本語 and that's a new feeling considering all the other ways I've employed so far to help me learn the language. Did you know that 90% of all self-learners quit 日本語 studies in the first two weeks?? All the more reason you start off with precautions.
Here's that first quote. Maybe at some point down the line in my studies I will try to convert these to real 日本語!! “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” – Sven Goran Eriksson
Question 1: Why are you learning Japanese?
Well, I'm learning 日本語 because I want to live and work in 日本 someday! Anyway I can and the sooner the better!!
Question 2: What excuses could hold me back from studying 日本語?
Time (don't have enough of it now)
No one to study with
$$ (hopefully this will become less and less of an issue as I move 前)
Can I put it to use right away?
Afraid I won't finish or reach my goal
Not very good at it so far
Task 1: Decide on your '日本語' study space.'
I'm writing from here now! This is my exclusive Japanese study cubby. I call it a cubby because it's a built-in desk in between my bedroom and dining room. I never used it for anything before designating it for my textfugu learnings. I've got my netbook, a monitor, my 日本語 dictionary and some tofugu printouts on the walls. I'll try to post a picture sometime.
Task 2: Tell someone you talk to often that you're studying 日本語
Task 3: Tell the world you're studying 日本語
Well, I guess that's about it for now. Stay tuned for moar!
またね!!
P.S. Moar quotes from Chapter 一 (ichi)
“The greatest amount of wasted time is the time not getting started.” - Dawson Trotman
“No one ever excused his way to success.” – Dave Del Dotto
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – Stephen Kaggwa
8.07.2011
Pretty much ready!
I got the last few things I needed all set up in my new 'Japanese Study Cubby!' I'm writing from here now! Very cool! I know this is going to be really hard but I really want to do this and I've been putting it off for too long. This endeavor can really only bring me closer to my 夢(yume:dream), so I feel like I need to get serious. I'm not getting any younger over here. Who knows? Since I know I'm probably DECADES away from actually being able to move, I hope in the short(er) term, that I could use Japanese to supplement my income. This won't happen overnight of course but neither will 日本 according to the very vague plan that I have. LOL. You've got to start somewhere however so here I am. I am ready to get serious and see what kind of damage I can do.
P.S. I'm probably going to try to write most anything I can using Japanese Words that I know now. Hopefully this will progressively help me out.
P.P.S. I am probably insane for starting this now because my job is about to be changing and getting very complicated so I'm definitely headed for brainstrain 7000. Woo!
Oh yes, またね!!!! (Mata ne)
(*^_^*)
P.S. I'm probably going to try to write most anything I can using Japanese Words that I know now. Hopefully this will progressively help me out.
P.P.S. I am probably insane for starting this now because my job is about to be changing and getting very complicated so I'm definitely headed for brainstrain 7000. Woo!
Oh yes, またね!!!! (Mata ne)
(*^_^*)
6.21.2011
I'm back... and ready to really invest some time on my にほんご studies!
Yea so, I'm going to start using this blog for my Japanese learning (b)log. I already had it, it was already about me loving Japan and I haven't posted in forever so hai! I've got some preparation to do before I'll start posting regularly (since I've never really done that, ha!) but I've got a new
火事 (fire) under my ass to step my game up and really make a more serious effort to learn this language. Big ups to Koichi with tofugu/textfugu and Michael Hudson for being a great cheerleader. (*^_^*)
火事 (fire) under my ass to step my game up and really make a more serious effort to learn this language. Big ups to Koichi with tofugu/textfugu and Michael Hudson for being a great cheerleader. (*^_^*)
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