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.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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?
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！
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！
Friday, September 7, 2007
Classroom vs. immersion
Having recently returned to classroom study of Japanese, I've been thinking about the differences in what/how I'm learning, compared with my time in Tokyo. Over the summer, I had almost no formal instruction in spoken Japanese - there was a professor at Tokyo Uni that gave me very valuable lessons in beginning to really study Kanji, but we didn't really spend any time on speaking or grammar. So, my 'education' was mainly in trying to communicate with Japanese people.
One problem is, of course, that people will not usually correct you when you make a mistake. It's only natural, and I do it to ESL persons all the time, because if the meaning is understood, it's only going to slow the conversation down to stop and explain why it should be said differently.
Another problem, I guess more significant in Japanese than most languages, is learning to distinguish the different levels of polite vs impolite, slang, etc. For example, I went for a few days referring to things as ちょうやばい before someone pointed out that this was roughly equivalent to "fucking awesome", or at least made me sound like a Shibuya teenager. Whoops. In general, I tried to do my best to appropriately use regular and polite verb forms, but it was very easy to fall into the habit of dropping です and particles from simple sentences (i.e., これがすきよ）, which I guess is pretty informal.
Another observation was that people who I felt comfortable enough to practice Japanese with (i.e., that I didn't mind making mistakes in front of) were also people with whom conversation was informal. Consequently, I had much more practice with informal Japanese, except for polite stock phrases (おさきにしつれいします was key!).
So, all-in-all, I'm glad to be back in the classroom. Ideally, I'd be doing both - a little bit of class everyday, and immersion the rest of the time - but that's not an option at the moment.
One problem is, of course, that people will not usually correct you when you make a mistake. It's only natural, and I do it to ESL persons all the time, because if the meaning is understood, it's only going to slow the conversation down to stop and explain why it should be said differently.
Another problem, I guess more significant in Japanese than most languages, is learning to distinguish the different levels of polite vs impolite, slang, etc. For example, I went for a few days referring to things as ちょうやばい before someone pointed out that this was roughly equivalent to "fucking awesome", or at least made me sound like a Shibuya teenager. Whoops. In general, I tried to do my best to appropriately use regular and polite verb forms, but it was very easy to fall into the habit of dropping です and particles from simple sentences (i.e., これがすきよ）, which I guess is pretty informal.
Another observation was that people who I felt comfortable enough to practice Japanese with (i.e., that I didn't mind making mistakes in front of) were also people with whom conversation was informal. Consequently, I had much more practice with informal Japanese, except for polite stock phrases (おさきにしつれいします was key!).
So, all-in-all, I'm glad to be back in the classroom. Ideally, I'd be doing both - a little bit of class everyday, and immersion the rest of the time - but that's not an option at the moment.
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