ウガンダ！

せんしゅう、ウガンダからかえりました。とてもおもしろくて、たのしかったです！


あそこに、いいん(clinic)ではたらきました。でんえん(countryside)です。




まいにち、こどもがきました。いつもあそびたいです！



まいあさ、びょうきの人がおおかったです。



お水はいど(well)からとってくる。




さいしょに(at first)、でんきじゃありませんでした。でも、エンジニアはたいようエネルギー(solar power)作りました！




そして、ウガンダに、にほんのバースがたくさんあります。おもしろいですね！

conditionals?

I sometimes find myself wanting to make conditional statements, but it seems to be pretty complex in Japanese. As far as I know, there are a few versions:

ーえば　(with verbs and い adjectives), as in:
ドーナツは小さければ、二つ買って。 (If the doughnuts are small, buy two)
私は学校に行けば、死にます。 (If I go to school, I will die).

and I think with な-adjectives, it's like this?
火曜日は暇なら、ビールを飲みませんか？ (If tuesday is free, won't you drink beer with me?)

But I'm not sure where these constructions fall in certainty (relative to the English "if" and "when"). If the verb is in the non-past indicative, does it translate more accurately as "if" or "when"? Or is it all a function of context?
For example, what is the difference between: スーパーに行けば、牛乳を買います。 vs. スーパーに行くとき、牛乳を買います。

-ているんですか？

This is another form I've heard a number of times - I have no idea what it means! What's the difference between these?
田中さんはニューヨークに行っているんですか？
田中さんはニューヨークにいきますか？

Nominalizing

I'm interested in learning and getting comfortable using the nominalized forms of verbs, using things like ーこと and ーの. One common form I've come across is for stating whether you've ever done something (I'm not sure if I've got this right)
ロンドンにいきましたか？いいえ、いくことがないです。
Or,　おもしろい人とあうのが好き。(I like meeting interesting people)

I think I've also seen a version using the plain past (instead of the dictionary form): 行ったこと - what does that mean? What is the difference between the two?

If I'm not mistaken, there is also a nominalized form using ーとき ('times'). Like, べんきょうするときにおんがくをききます ("Times when I'm studying, I listen to music").

さとうせんせい、ちがいますか？

Goals for individual/small group study

1. Kanji 漢字
I'd like to learn more kanji. I've got two things main things to help me study: flash cards ("Japanese Kanji Flashcards Vol. 1", White Rabbit Press) and a workbook ("Basic Kanji Book Vol. 1", Bonjinsha). While my goal isn't to be able to reproduce every kanji I learn, I like doing the workbook. I've found that even if I forget exactly how to write a kanji I've studied, having written it before helps me remember it. Especially for distinguishing kanji that share radicals, like 病, 疲, and 痛. Anyhow, I'm getting towards the end of the first volume of my workbook, so I need to find the 2nd volume (it's not on Amazon or B&N). I bought the first one at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, so I'm hoping that the Kinokuniya in NYC will have it too (update: they did have it! よかった！　They have a great 'learn japanese' section on the 2nd floor, so I really recommend it if you want to pick up any study materials).　

Specifics: I'm going to finish volume one, and try to get through the first 8 or so chapters of volume two this semester (~1/week) - each chapter is about 15 kanji, and there are review exercises every few chapters. While I will do all the reproduction exercises, my goal is recognition - writing practice is really just a tool towards that end.

2. Grammar
I'd like to learn some of the more advanced sentence structures, especially all those crazy verb add-ons. I found this site, which seems to summarize a lot of things nicely (although the descriptions of the meanings are a little lacking):

http://www.epochrypha.com/japanese/verbs/verbs.html

I'm not sure exactly what I want to study yet. I've gotten pretty comfortable with て/た forms, and between those, ーます stems, and the dictionary form, it seems like there are lots of interesting options.

Specifics: I'd like to be comfortable with polite and plain forms, for:
- past and non-past
- continuative and progressive (-ています)
- volitional (-おう)
- conditional (-たら)
- provisional (-えば)
- potential (-える)
- alternative (-たり)
- passive (-あれる)

It seems like a lot, but I'm already a somewhat familiar with several of these.

For practice, I'm thinking about a couple things: start out by using patterns in writing (on the blog, in homework, etc), and practice 'thinking' using the pattern. Then, whatever conversational opportunities I can muster - chat club, Japanese friends, small group from class, online chat, etc. Also, I'm going to try to watch more Japanese movies this semester, and try to make note of when I hear patterns that I've learned.

By the way, I have the "Let's Learn Japanese!" series (with Mary Althaus) as .AVI files, which I'd be happy to share.

ですよね。

This is something I heard sometimes, which confused me a little bit: __ ですよね。
The よ makes it emphatic, but the ね makes it 'softer'? I guess I'm not sure where it falls between ＿ですね and ＿ですよ. My sense is that saying ＿ですよ is a little too emphatic if you're trying to be polite (e.g., talking to the professor), and adding that ね is a quick way to express the same sentiment without sounding too forceful. Is that right?

日本にかえりたいですね

こんなつに、わたしはにほんにいきました。さんかげつかんとうきょうにすみました。すごくたのしかったですから、いつかにほんにかえりたいです。

わたしはとうきょうだいがくのラボではたらきました。そして、ほかのだいがくいんせいとともだちになります。ラボのときはたのしくて、おもしろくて、せいさんてき(productive)です。

どうしてかえりたいですか？にほんでは、なんでもはべんりできれいです。にほんじんはいつもしんせつです。そして、にほんぶんかがおもしろいです。にほんりょうりもすきです。ざるそばとやきとりがだいすきです。（さいきん、いえでざるそばをつくりますよ！）。よあそび(nightlife)もたのしかったです。たくさんライブにいきました。にほんのせいかつがすきです。

いまは、がいこくじんのけんきゅうしゃがにほんでほしいですから、にほんがくじゅつしんこうかい（Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)はたくさんしょうがくきん(scholarship)をくれています。だから、だいがくいんのあとでたぶんにほんにかえって、まだけんきゅうします。









ギターとことで「Hey Jude」をひきました！