Archive for the ‘Japanese’ Category

I went to the first Japanese class last Friday. One of the few things that we did was ‘Japanese numbers’. I can count in Japanese but somehow , just like learning any other new language, it takes time to be able to connect visually with what you know. For example when I look at the number 9, in my mind instead of the Japanese ‘kyu’ I’d think of  ‘nine’ and I have to translate it to Japanese ‘kyu’. So it takes a few seconds to realize what it is in Japanese,the number that I’m looking at. It would take a little bit longer to connect visually when I hear the numbers said by native Japanese.

So we had an audio lesson where we have to listen to a couple of Japanese speakers say some numbers (big digits) and we have to write down what we heard. It was tough. So the entire week I have been doing a little Japanese number drill. Everytime I go out and see numbers on car plates, billboards, posters etc, I’d recite the numbers in Japanese as fast as I could. I realize it takes me 0.05 seconds to recognize 6 as ‘roku’, 7 as ‘nana’, 4 as ‘yon’ and 9 as ‘kyu’. The rest of the digits are easier. With this little practice I think I am a little better at saying the numbers quiker when I see them. But I’m still slow at recognizing numbers when I hear them.For the listening problem, I am using Pimsleur Japanese audio lessons to help me a little with that. Not easy, but with practice I’m sure I can go over this ‘bump’ somehow.

So I’ve finally decided to try enrolling myself in a Japanese class.  I am going to visit the school this evening, meet up with a teacher and maybe have to sit for a test to see what my level is. I have to admit that I am nervous. Not only because I haven’t been sitting for exams, for what seems like, decades, I am also not confident enough whether I can remember all that I’ve learnt. Now that is a little drawback about self-studying. I don’t really have a routine and I study when I feel like and I don’t utilise what I’ve learnt afterwards. Hence my decision to look for a language school. I need routine, I need other students to practice with. What ever it is,I really do not want to start back in the beginners’ class.

To go to the school I’d need to do some 15-20 minutes of walking and about 30-45 minutes of bus ride. Well, roughly an hour. That is the nearest school that I’ve found so far.  To tell the truth, I have never done so much of walking  or going on public transportation back in M’sia. I walk more here. So no wonder I can keep my weight low better. Just like taking thermogenic fat burner supplements. But I don’t mind at all.

Above all, I really hope everything will go well today. Not like the first time I went to check the school last Monday.

I just watched one of Ghibli studio’s anime - Only Yesterday. It’s about a Japanese lady reminiscing her childhood days and moving on to the next level of her life in the present. In the anime movie, there are scenese when she and her friend as children had to attend radio exercise sessions in her summer holidays.

This radio exercise accompanied by special music is what the Japanese call, “Radio taiso”. The Japanese been doing it since world war II and practiced by every one - school kids and even office workers. This morning exercise has become part of Japanese culture and perhaps it wouldn’t be too much to say that everyone in Japan would know the exercise ritual by heart. It is said the purpose of this exercise is not only to promote good and healthy lifestyle but also to create unity among classmates and co-workers.

We love Japan because they produce cool animes, good Japanese dramas, horrifying ghost movies, amazing gadgets, and much more. Perhaps we should even try to bring this Japanese tradition into our schools and workplaces. Hey, it may even help get rid of belly fat faster.

It’s about 11.30 pm right now and I am suppose to be in bed by now. But after tossing and turning for about half an hour I got up and here I am.

I was watching some funny Japanese clips on youtube and found this video of how Osaka people would react to gun shot sound or the slashing sound of a katana. Good gosh, they are really “kakkoii” or cool people. Regardless of age they would react as if it were real. LOL. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did.

Anyhow, I am suppose to get myself sleepy but I’m making myself even wide awake after a good laugh. Should be off to bed soon or I’d definitely look like I’m going to turn into a panda with 2 dark circles under my eyes tomorrow.

Following the advice of some people on a supplementary source of learning Japanese, I started to watch Animes and JDorama ( Japanese Dramas). At first I only watched Animes. But these past couple of weeks I’ve been checking out some JDoramas online. Now I really cannot get enough of them.

Currently watching all the 3 series of Gokusen. It’s really hard not to love the series.

Well, that’s not the so good part of it I think considering most of my free time nowadays goes into watching something online. But the good side of it, I’ve learnt new Japanese words and expressions.

Soon I need to get a new external hard drive too considering I’ve exhausted the space on my internal drive with all those Fansubbed JDorama series I’ve downloaded.

Yet, I still can’t get enough of them.

According to a girl on youtube, yes. This is a video of her talking in Japanese.

I’ve been learning Japanese for a some months now, but I don’t understand what she’s talking about. LOL. Reading the information she provided, according to her, she watched Anime for 2.5 years and she can speak Japanese already. Makes me wonder why I’m toiling nearly every single day to stuff my brain with Japanese words that would leave my head within 5 minutes after I close the book? and it’s all over again for me, doing my revisions every other day. Perhaps it is my style that is wrong?

From now on I think I need to make it a point to watch an anime a day to get used to hearing Japanese. Not that I would stop learning through books and other sources, but just a supplementary method. Not to mention all those Japanese music that I should be listening to. If I can read about all sorts of things online from the daily online news, to Danze faucets reviews, to Japanese doll collection reviews, surely I can use the time to watch some animes or Japanese doramas.

I just received about 2 days ago,”Kanji and Kana: A Handbook and Dictionary of the Japanese Writing System” by post which I ordered through Amazon.co.uk last week. So thus began my Kanji training.

Although I’ve tried to learn a little kanji before this, but it is only now that I really sit down and write, write, write, write. Done about 18 of them only thus far. But boy, does my right hand feel tired. In fact I came online to update my blogs just to relax a bit. So far the character with the most strokes I’ve written is “Yo” - with 18 strokes. At this point I do wonder why do they bother writing a tough character with 18 strokes when they can just write ‘yo’ which is much easier. Why memorize 2000 characters when you just need to memorize 26 letters of the alphabet to write just about anything. Well, I suppose it is part of the identity of the language itself. Which makes it unique.

The only problem that I know I may face is forgetting the characters that I’ve learnt when I learn more and more new characters. I suppose that is the time when flashcards would come in handy. I am still thinking about making them myself or just buy them. Flashcards don’t come cheap. But making them are rather time consuming.

Anyhow, to get or not to get flashcards is not an issue that I should concentrate on at the moment. Learning the language and know how to read and write is. Well, good luck to myself and all who are learning this wonderful language.

Good grief I haven’t touched my Japanese study books for a week now. Once you’ve lost the momentum it can be a little difficult to get back the pace. Although the short holiday we had isn’t a luxurious one like living in Las Vegas’s Caesars Palace or Riviera hotel but I already am missing it. Living in the country with basic comfort can be a little difficult. But I felt somewhat relaxed and further we had to work hard cleaning and keeping the house warm with an old stove it was like an adventure for a change. Too bad though that my other half can’t stand the life there, not because of the work, but the allergy attack is worst for him there.

Anyhow, it is really time that I should catch up with my language studies. I don’t want to be forgetting what I’ve learnt so far now, do I??

I just received a copy of ‘Japanese from Zero! 2′ in the mail today. Since I got it today, so no this post is not going to be a review of the book. I even got a copy of ‘Oxford’s beginners dictionary’ as my first Japanese-English dictionary.

There are 5 books in the series so far. However only up to 3 are sold in bookstores. I contacted those people at YesJapan.com regarding Japanese from Zero! 4 and 5. They are only scheduled to come out in 2010 but the materials in the books can be found on their website at YesJapan.com. You have to pay a certain fee to be able to use the lessons on the site. Perhaps I will try it out once I have finished book 3. Let’s see.

So will give book 1 a swift revision and start on the 2nd book.

I’ve been studying Japanese consistently for a few months now. People say, to start something is easy. But to finish what you start takes a lot of discipline.  Studying Japanese all by myself can be a little hard. But they say, if you love doing what you are doing, a little hardship is endurable.

I’ve nearly finished “Japanese from Zero! 1″ and had started to consider ordering the second one now and also a Kanji book. Mustered up a little courage to write a short post in Japanese on Lang-8 website for others to see and correct.

My daugther kept mimicking me while I recite the dates, months and days in Japanese. (I even recite while I’m bathing in the bathtub. :P) Talk about dedication huh. LOL

So far I think George Trombley’s “Japanese from zero!” is good. Although I sometimes feel that it goes a little too slow. Maybe because I’ve already know many things in the book so there’s little challenge there. (I am a beginner who wasn’t so much a beginner) Let’s see the second one.

Maybe Kanji would get me shakin in me pants. LOL Yeah, just the mention on Kanji my heart beats faster. I feel nervous. Unsure whether I can learn them.What ever it is, I’m not quitin’. Yossshhhh…..