読書の練習 - Reading Practice

In class the otherday, we practiced reading by going through a few children's books and graded readers. I've read all of the level 0 and level 1 graded readers for japanese, so I've noticed a few recurring characters. I'm going to talk about りょうさん.

りょうさんはおまわりです。りょうさんはとてもやさしくて、つよくて、りっぱな人です。女(women)と男(men)と子供(children),りょうさんはたくさんの人をたすけます(helps)。ワニ(alligator)をたたかて(fought)、 どろぼサンタクロース(thieving santa)をたいほして(arrested)、ねこをきゅうしゅつしました(rescued)。りょうさんはほんとにいちばんおまわりですよ！

Picture of the Day

Bento Goals

先週末

先週末はひまでよかったです。金曜日は私のたんじょうび（birthday)でした、そしてドームダンスがあってともだちといっしょにいきました。とてもたのしくてにぎやかでした。ダンスのあとねました。土曜日と日曜日にしゅくだいおしてあそびました。:l

To make up for my lack of interesting things to say... Here's some anime stuff

Not my work... Consider yourself educated.

 

先週末はいそがしかったですよ！

こんにちはみんなさん！
おとといにたくさんこと（things)をしました。私はごぜんじゅうじにおきて、おばあさんとかいものしました。ドームダンスのドレスをかいました。くろくてりっぱでよかったですよ！りょうにかえって、せんたくをして、そうじをしました。ごごはちじからごぜんよじまでしゅくだいをしまして、ごぜんよじはんにねました。あしたごぜんはちじはんにおきて、いちにちじゅ（all day)しゅくだいをしました。

Comic of the day:

Life Goals

not my work

秋休み

こんいちはみんあさん！
わたしのあきやすみはとてもよかったです。キャンパスにいました、でもりょうにゆっくりしました。まいにちがくしょくでたべました。たべものはよくありませんでした。ネットフリックスでたくさんドラマをみました。そしてゲームおしました。月曜日にともだちにあいました。ユピモールでかいものをしました。しゅくだいおしませんでした。つまらないですね？わたしはたのしました（I enjoyed it)。

Meme of the day:

I have yet to attempt this myself.

せんしゅうまつ

こんいちは！
わたしはびょうきでしたから(so)フットボールゲームをみませんでした。ざんえんですね？ビデオゲームをしあした、そしてしゅくだいをしました。

Corrections from last week:

わたしのへやはとてもすごいですよ。すきです。へやはひろいですそしてあかるいです。でもあまりあたらしくありません。まどのまえにテレビがありますそしてテレビの下にわたしのウィーユがあります。本屋がありません、でもつくえがあります。

The comic of the week is back ya'll!

Acclimation

こんにちはみんなさん！
わたしのへやはとてもすごいですよ。つきです。へやはひろいですそしてあかるいです。でもあまりあたらしくありません。テレビがありますそしてわたしのウィーユがあります。本屋がありません、でもつくえがあります。

My Hometown!

こんいちは！
わたしはテキサスしゅうのヒューストンからきました。ヒューストンはとても大きいですそしてふるいです。ダウンタウンはあぶないですよ。でも、ヒュウストンはかわくありません。

I can' think of anything else to say about Houston... So yeah. Guess I'm done this time around.

 Comic of the Week:

During a Test

 

(not my work)

イースターやすみ

こんばんはみんなさん！
うちにかえりみたくなかった(didn't want to return)からイースタやすみにどこもにいきませんでした（didn't go anywhere)。　カレンとアスターとウェーとわたしはさくらまつりのポスターをつくりました(made)。せんしゅうのきんじょうびとどじょうびにわたしはビデオゲームした(played video games)。ひとりで(alone)マスアフェクとをしたでもともだちとわｔしはスーパースマッシュブラザをした。こんしゅうのげつじょうびにべんきょうしました。

Comic of the Week:

Cute Puns!

Spring Break Report!

こんばんわみなさん！
うちにかりました。　テキサスしゅのヒュウストンからきました。　まいにちあめがありましたでもせんしゅうはたのしいです。　うちでゆっくりしましたそしてともだちにあいました。　ははとショッピングをしました。　ともだちとシンダレーラおみました。　

That's pretty much all that happened for my spring break. It was very uneventful in the best way possible.

Comic of the Week

にいさん

 

(not my work)

まいにち

My Daily Routine:

わたしはまいあさごぜんはちじはんごろおきます。　ときどきあさごはんをたべます。 ぜんぜんコーヒーをのみます。　 まいにちじゅぎょうがあります。　りょうでしゅくだいをたべます。　たいていヘスバーグのとしょかんでべんきょしません。まいばんごごごじごろばんごはんおたべますそしてまいばんシャワーをあびます。　

Well that's it! Due to studying for both intro biology and organic chemistry tests, I'm officially too tired and busy to do all that stuff I normally do every blog post. No comic this week (much tears, so sorrow, wow). To make up for it, here's a HILARIOUS compilation of japanese Fanta commercials. Enjoy!

 

Katakana Post

こんばんわみなさん！

So for this week we were supposed to look up katakana expressions and report our experience. I had a hard time getting inspiration for this assignment at first, but while surfing YouTube I got inspiration. I searched the interwebs for the Japanese versions of beloved Disney movies! Because katakana is used for borrowed words, I figured there would be quite a few interesting translations of big name titles. Sure enough there were. So, I compiled a list of my favorites. I also kept surfing through YouTube and found a bunch of well known songs in Japanese that I compiled into a playlist you're no doubt hearing right now. Enjoy!

Lion King - ライオンキング

This one was a direct, phonetic translation.

Aladdin - アラジン

 

This translation is little different. It reads A-ra-ji-n. 

Tangled - ラプンシェル

In Japan, Tangled was actually "Rapunshel." That one took me a while to figure out.

Frozen - アナと雪の女王 (ana to yuki no joo)

Finally, in Japan, Frozen was "Ana and the Snow Queen."

Pretty neat huh? I thought it was way past cool to see how some of my favorite childhood classics translate to a different culture. 

Bi-Weekly Report

Class: So far so good! I feel like we're all really starting to come together as a class which is awesome! :)

Culture: For all those who missed the Costume Party, shame on you! It was really fun! People were super creative with their costumes, and eating mochi for the first time was... I dunno. Enlightening? Other than that, I haven't been doing too much regarding Japanese culture. Still just watching anime. ;)

Language: Katakan... Why u so hard? Ugh. For whatever reason I have a harder time writing katakana in comparison to hiragana. Whatever. All good things to those who... Practice a lot... I guess.

Comic of the Week:

Homework's Revenge

(not my own work *sad face*)

 

じこしょかい！

はじめましてみなさん！

わたしはワイモンです。どぞおよろしく。　いちねんせいです。　せんこおわせいぶつがくです。　
テキサスのヒュストンからきました。　わたしはにほんじんじゃありません。

Thus ends my Japanese introduction. I know we haven't learned Katakana yet, so here are some translations:

•  ワイモン = Wa-i-mo-n
• テキサス = Te-ki-sa-su (Texas)
• ヒュストン = Hyu-su-to-n (Houston)

So, now I'm supposed to talk about something I like from Japan... I tried really hard to think of something non-Anime or pop culture related... And failed. So rather than rant about the many animes I have watched, I decided to focus on something else that I really like. Vocaloids.

"What are Vocaloids ワイモンさん?" So glad you asked.

Vocaloids are synthetic singers, so to speak. So, imagine Kanye West autotune, but with not obnoxious narcissist behind the mike. They are an entirely computer based singer software. Some of their songs are super cool, and many of them have their own fanbase. In fact, Miku Hatsune (by far the most well known Vocaloid) actually performed at multiple live performances in places like Tokyo (duh), Los Angeles, and New York!

Closing Song at New York Performance

(Haha, that one guy at 0:10)

Vocaloids really interest me because the tech just blew my mind when Miku first came out. I'm also an EDM fan, so their voices really fit the type of music I like. However, I also really like that fact that there are not only a lot of Vocaloids out there with their own unique sounds and personalities (yes, the fanbases gave them personalities) but also a wide variety of artwork based on them. A lot of people even make fan-based Vocaloids.

So... Many

I'll add a Vocaloid playlist so you guys can hear some of the songs. Hope you like it!


Before I close out I have two short things to post. My typical Japanese experience spiel and a fun facts section I told a fellow classmate I'd post. (*cough cough* はなさん *cough cough*) So let's get to it!

Class:
Same old same old. I feel I speak for all our section when I say that I regret that loss of 0.7 points on the しょおてすと. Or was it 0.3? Anyway, class has been great for me. I don't have much to add to what I've said before. What about you guys? What do you think of class?

Culture:
That wonderful, glorious moment when hard work pays off. I was listening to iNSaNiTY sung by Teto Kasane (a Vocaloid song) and at one point she says "Sanity てなんですか。" And I nearly explode out of my seat crying "I KNOW WHAT SHE SAID! OMIGAWD!"　It was such a fulfilling moment. What does this have to do with culture?　Well, I'm starting to actually recognize the language in some of my pass times. I'm also activel attempting to read random hiragana characters I see around the place. I don't know what anything means yet, but it's a start right?

Language:
In general, hiragana practice goes well. I have problems with long vowels and voiced consonants in dictation practice, but I think that will come in time. I also need to work on reading speed and proficiency... I suck at that.

FUN FACTS!

• I've lived in the same house my entire life, and before coming to Notre Dame I'd never been farther from home than Alabama (I have family there).
• I knit... Yay?
• I used to avidly make jewelry when I was about 12.
• I've played viola, which is like an alto violin, for 8-ish years.
• When I was sad in high school I used to think about photosynthesis to cheer me up... I think that fact is more weird than fun.
• God, what else is fun about me.... Uh, I speak Spanish... Sorta

I will try harder to post next Sunday and make this a weekly thing regardless of our assignments.  Tell me how I'm doing, and good luck to us all on the ひらがな test!

Comic of the Week:

I Will Survive

My Second Post With A Super Creative Title

Hello again on this loverly Sunday evening! I honestly don't have much to report about Japanese class this semester. Everything is pretty standrad procedure right now, but I can say that I'm loving the class already. ふせせんせい and はなぶさせんせい　are　so　nice!　I　don't　know　about　everyone　else.　but　I　really　enjoy　our　teachers personalities. Anyhow, I think what I will do on this blog on a weekly basis is just give a rundown of how I've immersed myself in Japanese over the week. I anticipate that most of my posts in the early days will be about about 40% class 40% anime and 20% raving about how I suck at Japanese, hehe. I'll try to make this post short.

Class:
Like I said, I'm loving it. Normally I despise any homework I have, but Japanese homework is actually very relaxing and enjoyable for me. Recently, when I get fed up with my calculus homework, I immediately pick up my Japanese workbook. So yeah. That's nice. I've also officially begun my crusade to forcibly make friends in class by being aggressively nice and inquisitive. We'll see how that goes (pretty well so far). Finally, our first test is coming up, and I feel pretty chill about it.

Culture:
So far I've only been watching anime. Sorry folks, no actual culture yet. Anyhow, I watched Spirited Away for the first time on Thursday and LOVED IT TO PIECES! OMG IT WAS SO GOOD. Just for the record, I felt that the three rolling green head guys deserved names, so now they are ほい , ぽい, and ぼい. Just a little fun fact. Also for the record, I knew from the time Haku first appeared on screen that he was bae. The entire time I was all like "Haku is bae. He is SO bae." And then he turned into a dragon... So yeah. That was amazing. Oh, and spoiler alert.
I've also dropped Jojo's Bizarre Adventure in order to rewatch Shingeki no Kyojin for the upteenth time. Because you guys totally care about what anime I'm watching right?

Language:
Glides... What are glides? I. Can't. Even....


Anyway that's all for now folks... I tried (and failed) to keep this a short post. Let me know how I did. I always have issues posting on social sites because I can never bring myself to think that people care about the minute details of my life, so tell me what was interesting and what was boring. じゃまた！

Comic of the Week:

It's Only Been Two Weeks!

Poll of the Week:

こんにちは - My first hello!

Hello everyone!

I'm very excited to finally start learning Japanese in a formal setting! I'll admit that I'm one of the Japanese students that became interested in the culture through anime and manga. I've watched various shows with English subtitles for years, so there are random words and phrases that I know, but overall I have no command of the language and I wanted to change that. However, I do want to say that I'm not just in this class so I can watch the "raw" episodes of whatever hit show is up and coming on the internet. I actually would love to learn more about Japanese culture. I feel like there's an entire world I'm missing out on that Japanese pop culture (or what Americans see of it) doesn't convey properly.

Ultimately, my reason for being is this course is just for the joy of learning a new language and culture. This class is the only class I am enrolled in that I don't have to take to graduate. I've fulfilled my language credit with Spanish, and I decided that this would be my "just 'cuz" course. I.e. some people might ask me, "Why are you taking Japanese?" And my answer would be "just 'cuz." It's been a long time since I took a course just for the experience of gaining knowledge. In some ways, being required to take a course sucks the fun out of learning the material. So for me, Japanese is my reprieve. It's something I'm doing just for the sake of doing it. Something I'm learning just for the sake of learning. And for that reason alone, I am beyond excited for this course. I only hope I can get my pronunciations right! Hehe.

Until next time!

Comic of the Week:

"Overconfidence"