neilnosekai

ウガンダ！

2007-11-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-11-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

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？

2007-10-27T18:42:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

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。

2007-09-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

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！

Classroom vs. immersion

2007-09-07T23:22:00.000-05:00

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.

野球のしゃれですか？

2007-04-17T23:40:00.000-05:00

So, I think I made a pun.　Two questions: a) does this make sense? b) is this actually amusing to anyone besides myself?

だいすけ　が　だいすき
大輔　　が　大好き

サマーソニック

2007-04-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

とてもたかいです　－　２７５００￥　２日、　１５０００￥　１日。
たぶん。。。

2007-04-09T23:44:00.000-05:00

せんしゅうワシントンへいきましたから、orientationのにほんのりょこういきました。あそこでちょっとはなみをしました。たのしかったですよ！　
１９１２にワシントンはさくらをとうきょうにもらいました。

わたしはとうきょうのゲストハウス(guesthouse)をさがします(to search for)。
上野（うえの）と新宿（しんじゅく）の中野（なかの）がほしいです。

山の手線（やまのて）と丸の内線（まるのうち）と千代田線（ちよだ）がほしいです。とうきょうのちかてつはとてもむずかしいですね！

こんなつわたしはこのブログでしゃしんをはります(to post)。　またね！

やまださんへてがみ

2007-04-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

やまださんへ

はじめまして。二ールです。どぞうよろしくおねがいします。わたしはアメリカのニューヨークからきました。わたしはコロンビアだいがくのだいがくいんせいです。せんこうは神経生物学ですが、がっこうからちょっとにほんごをならいました。にほんでもにんごをべんきょうします。わたしは６がつ１２にちから８がつ２２にちまでにほんですみます。にほんりょうりがすきです。すきなたべものはすしとラーメンととんかつです。やすみでテニスとギターをします。

おせわになります。どうもありがとうございます。

二ール　グレイ

2007-03-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

このコマーシャルがとってもすきです。

a few thoughts on Japanese culture

2007-03-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I find most appealing about Japanese culture is the universal sense of community obligation. The word 'obligation' can have a negative connotation in English, but I mean it in a wholly positive way. In Japan, one just doesn't inconvenience other people. People will carry garbage with them for an hour looking for a trash can, without even considering littering. Phone calls aren't made in places where they will bother anyone else (e.g., on the train). Another example would be wearing a surgical mask when sick, to prevent spreading one's illness.
Likewise, there's a similar sense of obligation when it comes to work and customer service. Even if you don't like your job, you still do your best. Maybe it's also about pride, that the job you do reflects upon you personally, whether you are a cab driver, doctor, or waiter. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but I found it to be a very tangible difference between the US and Japan.
I also think the same reasons help explain why Japan excels at conservation and efficiency. Wasting something, whether it's water, soy sauce, or electricity, is frowned upon; it seems to me that such waste is viewed as selfish, and almost like a theft from the community as a whole.
There's one particular incident that I remember very vividly, in the Tokyo suburbs. A man driving a small Daihatsu truck was pulling out of a parking lot, and accidentally grazed a woman pushing a baby carriage. She was knocked down, but unhurt (the baby carriage was thankfully empty). I have no idea what they were saying to each other, but it could easily have been a nice chat between friends based on the tone of voice and body language. He seemed to be apologizing very politely, as she took down his license plate number, etc (to file a report, or for insurance, I suppose). Had the same events happened in New York, you can imagine what it would have been like.

Of course, this is all based on two weeks in Japan:) I look forward to returning, and learning a bit more.

自己紹介　（じこしょうかい）

2007-02-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

はじめまして！どうぞよろしくおねがいします。　二ールです。　
わたしはコロンビアのだいがくのだいがくいんせいです。　

ニューヨークからきました。　わたしのせんこうは神経生物学（しんけいせいぶつがく-neurobiology）です。　よねんせいです。　ここでhippocampal networksのべんきょうをします。　
とうきょうと日本りょうりがだいすきです。　

おせわになります。

Learning a language is often difficult...

2007-02-12T01:03:00.000-05:00

... but always funny! このまんががおもしろいですね。えいごのせんせいからです： He had his English students write the captions to blanked out comics, and the results are fantastic. I'd like to see (or create!) the reverse -- Japanese students taking a shot at manga captions.

Incidentally, I appreciate the specificity of Japanese on this point -- "Japanese student" is ambiguous, but にほんごのがくせい and にほんじんのがくせい are quite clear (or should the second one be にほんがくせい？）.

rock!

2007-02-08T08:48:00.000-05:00

わたしは日本のCDをかいました。　「サンボマスター」です。　この　おんがくが　すきです。　ことばを　わかりません。 Anyway, I thought it would be a fun little project, for the next few weeks, to try to translate one of this awesome rock band's songs, a little bit at a time. And this way, I can maybe get some correction from my teachers and classmates:)

So, to get started, here's the title:
ふたり　ぼっち　の　せかい
二人ぼっちの世界
"World of just two people"

　　　　　　　　はな　　　　　　　　　　　　　　りょうて　　あ
どこまでも　離れないように　ふたり両手を合わせて
いと　　　　　よわ　ひかり　　ぼく　　　　　　　て　　て
愛しさは　弱い光　　　僕らは　この手で照らそう

This is getting hard! Something like:
"no matter what, in order not to part, we are united
darling, delicate light, let's shine on these hands"

It's difficult to put the pieces together - I think the particles and the verb forms are what are presenting the most difficulty?

節分　（せつぶん）

2007-02-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

I asked the researcher that I will be working for about Setsu-bun, and he told me they did the bean-throwing （まめまき） in the lab! Very interesting. I hope it leads to good data!

nuance

2007-02-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

I think my favorite parts about learning a language, are those moments when you hear, read, think, or say something that you couldn't quite do in your native tongue. When some subtlety or cultural reference is perfectly clear in the 2nd language, but you wouldn't know how to translate it. I remember that happening sometimes when I was studying German, and I get little hints of it now in Japanese. It's sort of like learning music; you drill the notes and scales, but the reward is in the expression, in capturing something subtle.

Score!

2007-02-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

It looks like I'm going to Japan this summer (この　なつ？)! I have "preliminary" acceptance to do research at 東京大学　（とうきょうだいがく）. So, god-willing, I'll be living near Ueno from June until August!

The particle の　confuses me a little bit, as far as the order of the nouns. it seems to correspond to both possesives, adjectives, and prepositional phrases. Like, 'above the desk' is 'tsukue no ue', 'berlin, germany' is 'doitsu no barin', and 'my cat' is 'watashi no neko'. So, a med student is "isha no gakusei" or "gakusei no isha" (or none of the above)?

the pictures are mine - I managed not to be in most of them (what with holding the camera and all). Anyway, this is one a fellow visitor to Tofukuji (near Kyoto) took for me.

ひらがな！

2007-01-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

This sign is from みやじま　(宮島）, a beautiful island is southern Japan, near ひろしま (広島).　 I think it's a fun chance to practice hiragana (not to mention Korean).

With a little help from rikaichan (of course the proper translation is on the sign):

こんなサルにしないよう
such monkey not to do/be

エサはやらないでください
feed not to give please

As far as I can tell "monkey" (saru) and "feed" (esa) are Japanese words, and could be written with Kanji. Why are they written with Katakana? Maybe they're not Kanji so that schoolchildren can read?

Anyway, maybe "konna saru ni shinai yoo!" is up there with "watashi no chichi wa samurai desu!"?;)

Helpful stuff

2007-01-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

So, I started studying Japanese on my own in August (pretty much as soon as I got back from 2 weeks in Japan). I've learned a bit, but my knowledge is very incomplete, and I'm sure I've fallen into some bad habits -- which is why I'm so happy to be taking a class. Anyhow, I've found some useful things for study that I am happy to pass along:

Two podcasts I've found both entertaining and helpful:
JapanesePod101
LearnJapanese

"Remembering the Kana: The Hiragana / The Katakana" James W. Heisig (book). Great mnemonics.
I'm happy to lend this out if anybody wants to borrow it for a while.

Kana-no-Quiz: flashcard software for learning the kana, totally free, Mac, Windows, & Linux. Great for drilling.

Rikaichan - a free add-on for FireFox web browser. It's a dictionary that automatically looks up Japanese words and individual Kanji, simply by holding the mouse cursor over them. Sato-Sensei has it linked from his blog page, but I had to mention it as well because it is such an awesome resource.

Kinokuniya - a Japanese bookstore on 49th street, by Rockefeller center. Books, CDs, DVDs, magazines (er, ざっし）, manga, etc. On the 2nd floor they have a great selection of books and flashcards for learning Japanese.

Add comments or email me with anything you've discovered!

Neil

Japan

2007-01-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

なごやじょう
名古屋城
Nagoya Castle

とうだいじ　　　なら
東大寺　　奈良
Todaiji Temple, Nara

いらっしゃいませ！

2007-01-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

welcome to my 日本語 page! わたしはColumbiaのだいがくいんせいです。わたしのせんこうはneurobiology & behaviorです。　またね！