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Never fast enough…

Never fast enough…

I continue to have really mixed feelings about my progress in Japanese.  In some ways I know that I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was before – I can actually have a coherent – but basic – conversation, and I know quite a few more kanji and jyukugo than ever.  And even more, I’m able to start making connections between kanji and words that I couldn’t previously – actually sounding out jyukugo and being right half the time on how to pronounce them. Which is probably already… Read More »Never fast enough…

Learning English (ESL): Definite vs. Indefinite Articles

My sensei, who has been in this country for somewhere around thirty years, still has difficulties with this topic.  It is as difficult for a foreign speaker as “wa” vs. “ga” is – and she had to ask us once which one was appropriate to use.  So I thought this would be a good thing to post for Japanese speakers who are learning English.  Here goes. It is very simple for a native English speaker to know when to use “a” and “the”, and I honestly think it could be… Read More »Learning English (ESL): Definite vs. Indefinite Articles

Japanese Does Get Easier

So the final grades are in.  I got a 91%.  I would have gotten higher but sensei dinged me on participation.  I’m not sure why, but the difference between 91 and 98 percent is really just ego, to be honest.  So I’ve let it go. Japanese is an interesting language – it has a very, very high initial learning curve.  It’s intimidating as heck and it’s hard to even know where to start – because you have to learn several entirely new writing systems before you can even start doing… Read More »Japanese Does Get Easier

Class is over

Last night I tool the final exam for the Japanese class I’ve been taking for three months.  I learned a lot.  I’m pretty sure I passed with an A (or at the very worst a B).  I feel like I have a better foundation than I did when starting the class. I am not taking Japanese II for the time being. I have felt uncomfortable in a college setting from the very beginning, and there were many reasons for that.  A relatively large percentage of the students there were teenagers,… Read More »Class is over

How did the skit turn out?

Pretty well. The constraints were, we had to use introduction phrases, speak relatively fluently, and make sensei laugh.  So early on, we came up with the idea of a doctor and patient.  My partner was the doctor, and I was the patient.  I had not filled out the forms and she kept asking me questions while I asked for help. The kicker was that the questions got more and more absurd the longer we went on. Towards the end, she asked my cats’ names (Inoki Antonio, Abe Shinzo, Takahashi Minami,… Read More »How did the skit turn out?

Kanji makes it easier?

One of the assignments given to us by sensei was to do a skit where we have to make up and memorize our lines.  I’m finding this very difficult and am rather annoyed by the whole idea. Okay, “rather annoyed” is something of an understatement.  I’m closer to “royally pissed” on the scale, I think. But it is what it is, and I have a partner I can’t let down, so here we go. Anyway, as I’m studying, I have found that one of the biggest obstacles to my memorization… Read More »Kanji makes it easier?

Throwing in the towel?

I just took my second Japanese test at ACC.  And while I think I did okay at it, I’m feeling very discouraged and I’m very close to giving the whole thing up. I am pretty good at remembering kanji, pronunciations, and grammar, but it all falls apart when I need to actually put together coherent sentences.  Perhaps I’m not getting enough practice, perhaps I’m just not good enough.  But I really feel as if I have about hit the limit of how well I’m going to do if I keep… Read More »Throwing in the towel?

Rajiotaiso

So I’ve learned something very interesting about Japanese culture. Every day at around 6 AM, they put exercise music on the radio, and have a prescribed set of exercises everyone in the country does.  Sensei told us that children, even in the summer, go to the park and do the exercises, and get a sticker, which they can redeem at the beginning of school for a prize. So, naturally, sensei had the brilliant idea to have us do the exercises in class. I did not.  I stood up and halfheartedly… Read More »Rajiotaiso

To class or not to class, that is the question

I have decidedly, and solidly, mixed feelings about Japanese class. On the one hand, I have found it of some value.  I was finally able to get my hiragana and katakana very solid, which is something I was missing, I learned things like telling time, and I took away things that were definitely of value to me in my ongoing studies.  In that sense, I don’t really regret it. In another sense, though, I regret it very much.  I’m trying to take these classes while holding down a full time… Read More »To class or not to class, that is the question

私はなぜ日本語を勉強しますか

私は1年から日本語を勉強しました。難しいと面白いでした。九月からクラスで勉強しました。今は難しいです。でもなぜ知りません。 日本語は楽しすけどオースチンであまち日本人ありません。オースチンの日本語は私と日本語を話ません, 多分私はいい日本語を話ませんから。多分日本人忍耐ありません、でも多分私はばかです。 多分止まれ日本語を勉強します。知りません。でも私は恥ずかしい日本語を話ますてばか感じます。多分すぐ知りますなぜ日本語を勉強しっています。でも今は落胆したします