Composition 3 (final)

今　わたしは　じゅうきゅうさいです。二十ねんご　さんじゅうきゅうさいです　わたしは　ニューヨークで　はたらきたいです。　ここに　とても　おもしろいしごとが　たくさん　ありますから。こくさいせいじを　べんきょうしますから、UNで　はたらきたいです。

そして　きれいな　アパートが　ほしいです。マンハッタンのアパートは　きれいですが、とても　たかいです。ブルックリンのアパートはマンハッタンのアパートよりやすいです。でもここのアパートはあまりひろくないです。ニューヨークのちかてつは　べんりですから　自動車がありません。

それから　けっこんしたいですが、こどもがほしくないです。しゅじんと　りょこうがしたいです。日本やヨーロッパや中国などへ　いきたいです。あそこへ　ゆうめいなまちをたくさんみに　いきたいです。

Literary Work (final)

Short story: visiting home

山田さんは会社員です。そして　じむしょで　はたらきました。じむしょは　グランドセントラルえきの　ちかくに　あります。山田さんは　いつも　いそがしいですから、かぞくに　あいません。あまりげんきじゃありませんでしたから、はやく　かえりました。うちへ　かえりました。山田さんのまちは　ニューヨークのロングアイランドです。ニューヨークからロングアイランドまで　あまり　とおくないです。あまりにぎやかじゃありません。山田さんは　あそこに　たくさん年　いましたが　あまりすきじゃありません。とても　ボーリングですよ。でんしゃで　二じかん　ぐらい　かかります。

山田さんは　うちで　おかあさんに　あいました。いぬも　うちに　いました。しろいいぬです。そして　とても　ちいさいです。”ワンワン！”　かわいいですね。

山田さんは　もう　げんきじゃ　ありませんでしたから　ウーロンちゃを　のみました。あついラーメンも　たべました。”ムシャムシャ！”　とてもおいしかったですよ。

それから　ちょっと　げんきでした。
きっさてんへ　おかあさんと　いきました。コーヒーを一杯　のみあした。うちは　あまり　にぎやかじゃありませんが、とても　たのしかったですよ。
次の日　ニューヨークへいきました。まいにち　とても　いそがしいですよ。イライラでした！そして　山田さんは　さびしいです。今　うちがすきですよ。これから　かぞくに　あいます。

カタカナ Analysis (final)

ラーメン　- ramen (from a Japanese food package)
トラ  - tiger (from a website on Japanese animal names)
ライオン - lion (from a Japanese advertisement for the movie "The Lion King")
イマ (from a Japanese street advertisement)
These words written in Katakana particularly stood out to me because they seem to serve some other purpose besides just borrowing words from English. The word for "ramen" was borrowed from the Chinese word for ramen, but it is unusual to me especially because it is written in katakana so frequently when there is a kanji character for it. This word was probably borrowed and written in Katakana because ramen is has become so popular in places outside of Japan and China that "ramen" has become very common in the English language. Writing "ramen" in Katakana was probably popularized as ramen has lost its uniqueness to China. In this way, ラメン shows how Katakana can be used to write Chinese words that aren't really considered to be exclusively Chinese words anymore.
I found it unusual that the word for "tiger" was written as トラ instead of in Kanji or Hiragana even though it is a Japanese word. It was probably written in Katakana for the sake of consistency as most other animal and plant names are written in Katakana because they are more often borrowed from English. This brings me to the word for lion, which was written in Katakana, but was borrowed from English instead of just writing Japanese in Katakana. This is in keeping with the common usage of Katakana for biological/scientific names as words such as "lion" did not originate in Japan, given that they are not indigenous to the country. Thus it makes sense to use Katakana for these types of words. Although, Katakana is used for animal names, Kanji is also used. This is probably because some animals  such as the bird (鳥) are more common in Japanese culture.
I found that the word for "now" was written in Katakana on a Japanese street sign. This is probably for the sake of emphasis in order to draw attention to the sign or advertisement. It makes sense to use Katakana because it has the effect of standing out from Hiragana or Kanji due to its more simplistic writing form. It also seems to be more informal than the more traditional writing systems. For this reason, I can see why the Japanese word for "now" was written in Katakana instead of Hiragana especially when the sign reading "イマ！" is in the midst of many other signs written in Japanese. Furthermore, Katakana is more flexible than Hiragana or Kanji because it covers a larger range of sounds such as "fa, fi, fe, fo" or "va, vi, vu, ve, vo." Because it is a phonetic writing system it is able to accomodate for these sounds which are not common to the original Japanese language. Thus, it is very convenient to use for other purposes such as loanwords, or emphasis in order to mark words that are not common to Japanese.

Each textbook is different in explaining Katakana because there are many uses to the writing system beyond what most people commonly use it for. I think that sometimes Katakana is used more liberally than Hiragana and Kanji, thus allowing us to interpret the reason behind the usage (such as the words I just mentioned above). Katakana seems to be more flexible in its purposes, so it is unlikely that each textbook will come up with a unanimous way of approaching the writing system. Also, the textbook's explanation of Katakana also seems to depend on when it was written. For example, the textbook our class uses spells many vocabulary words such as "テーブル” instead of the Japanese word for table (表) which other textbooks may use. This shows how some English words are being more popularized, especially in the modern age with better global communication. Just as later editions of dictionaries tend to include more modern/slang phrases in formal definitions, I find that more recent textbooks are adding more usages of Katakana as the language evolves and new usages become more popularized. There are many different uses of Katakana, so as someone new to Japanese, I would familiarize myself with the various uses so that I know the appropriate situations in which Katakana is generally used.

Japanese places in NYC: Minamoto Kitchoan

日本のスイーツが　ほしいですか。Then you should go to Minamoto Kitchoan! この　パンやは　とても　いいです。あまり　おおきくないですが　とても　かわいいですよ。あまいたべものが　おおいです。せんしゅうの金曜日にMinamoto Kitchoan へ　いきました。ロックフェラーセンターのちかくにあります。コロンビアからここまで　ちかてつで　さんじゅっぷんぐらい　かかります。

餅を (mochi) ふたつと　桃ぜりいを(peach jelly)　ひとつ　かいました。とてもおいしかったですよ。
Minamoto Kitchoanが　すきですが　とても　たかいです。

Short story: visiting home

せんしゅうの金よ日に　じむしょで　はたらきました。じむしょは　グランドセントラルえきの　ちかくに　あります。あまりげんきじゃありませんでしたから、はやく　かえりました。うちへ　かえりました。わたしのまちは　ニューヨークのロングアイランドです。ニューヨークからロングアイランドまで　あまり　とおくないです。でんしゃで　二じかん　ぐらい　かかります。

うちで　ははに　あいましたが　ちちに　あいませんでした。とても　いそがしかったです。 わたしのいぬも　うちに　いました。しろいいぬです。そして　とても　ちいさいです。”ワンワン！”　かわいいですね。

わたしは　げんきじゃ　ありませんでしたから　ウーロンちゃを　のみました。わたしは　あついラーメンも　たべました。”ムシャムシャ！”　とてもおいしかったですよ。

それから　ちょっと　げんきでした。
きっさてんへ　ははと　いきました。コーヒーを一杯　のみあした。やすみは　とても　たのしかったですよ。
次のの日コロンビアだいがくへいきました。それから　たくさん　しゅくだいおしました。わたしはイライラでした！

Composition 2

やまださん。おげんきですか。わたしは　リサ　タンです。らいねんのなつは　ありがとう　ごさいます。にほんのせいかつは　どうですか。わたしのまちは　ニューヨークのロングアイランドです。あまりおおきいまちじゃ　ありません。コロンビアだいがくのにねんせいです。わたしのせんこうは　こくさいせいじです。にほんのぶんかが　とてもすきですからにほんごをべんきょうします。

コロンビアだいがくは　とてもふるいだいがくです。そして　ゆうめいなだいがくです。だいがくのせいかつは　たいへんですよが　おもしろいです。

ろくがつ　にじゅうろくにちに　ひとりで　ひこうきでにほんへいきます。いっしょにおおさかで　おはなみを　しませんか。らいしゅう　やまださんに　でんわを　かけます。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

ー　リサ　タン

Katakana Analysis Draft

ラーメン　- ramen (from a Japanese food package)
トラ  - tiger (from a website on Japanese animal names)
ライオン - lion (from a Japanese advertisement for the movie "The Lion King")
イマ (from a Japanese street advertisement)
These words written in Katakana particularly stood out to me because they seem to serve some other purpose besides just borrowing words from English. The word for "ramen" was borrowed from the Chinese word for ramen, but it is unusual to me especially because it is written in katakana so frequently when there is a kanji character for it. This word was probably borrowed and written in Katakana because ramen is has become so popular in places outside of Japan and China that "ramen" has become very common in the English language. Writing "ramen" in Katakana was probably popularized as ramen has lost its uniqueness to China. In this way, ラメン shows how Katakana can be used to write Chinese words that aren't really considered to be exclusively Chinese words anymore.
I found it unusual that the word for "tiger" was written as トラ instead of in Kanji or Hiragana even though it is a Japanese word. It was probably written in Katakana for the sake of consistency as most other animal and plant names are written in Katakana because they are more often borrowed from English. This brings me to the word for lion, which was written in Katakana, but was borrowed from English instead of just writing Japanese in Katakana. This is in keeping with the common usage of Katakana for biological/scientific names as words such as "lion" did not originate in Japan, given that they are not indigenous to the country. Thus it makes sense to use Katakana for these types of words.
I found that the word for "now" was written in Katakana on a Japanese street sign. This is probably for the sake of emphasis in order to draw attention to the sign or advertisement. It makes sense to use Katakana because it has the effect of standing out from Hiragana or Kanji due to its more simplistic writing form. It also seems to be more informal than the more traditional writing systems. For this reason, I can see why the Japanese word for "now" was written in Katakana instead of Hiragana especially when the sign reading "イマ！" is in the midst of many other signs written in Japanese.

Each textbook is different in explaining Katakana because there are many uses to the writing system beyond what most people commonly use it for. I think that sometimes Katakana is used more liberally than Hiragana and Kanji, thus allowing us to interpret the reason behind the usage (such as the words I just mentioned above). Katakana seems to be more flexible in its purposes, so it is unlikely that each textbook will come up with a unanimous way of approaching the writing system. Also, the textbook's explanation of Katakana also seems to depend on when it was written. Just as later editions of dictionaries tend to include more modern/slang phrases in formal definitions, I find that more recent textbooks are adding more usages of Katakana as the language evolves and new usages become more popularized.

にほんのえいが

せんしゅうのどよびに　にほんのえいがをみました。えいがのなまえは "Nobody Knows" です。It was a story about four children who are abandoned by their mother in とうきょう。このえいがは　しんみりですよ。ひとりで　これを　みました。
にほんごのなまえは　“だれもしらない。”　I noticed that we just learned the grammar patterns that were in the title: the use of the particle: も after the interrogative だれ in order to indicate "nobody."
 これは　えいがのしゃしん。


















きのう　わたしは　"The Picture Bride" のえいがをも　みました。これもにほんのえいがです。ともだちと　これをみました。It was about a young girl named Riyo. りよさんは　にほんじんです。ひとりで　ふねで　アメリカのハワイへ　いきました。There were no English subtitles but I was able to understand a bit of what they were saying. Riyo comes to America to marry a sugarcane farmer in Hawaii, but has only seen a picture of him beforehand. He fools her by sending a picture of himself when he was much younger. In the scene when she first meets him she asks if that is really him in the picture. She doesn't believe that it's him and asks if he is a friend of the man in the picture: ともだちなんですか。
Much to her disappointment he says: いいえ。わたしはきむらまつじです。
I was also able to make out our newly learned vocabulary word for photograph: しゃしん
にごんごのえいがを　すきですよ！

My progress with にほんご thus far...

こんにちは！
I thought that it might be useful to write down a brief summary of what we have learned in class so far. I think that blogging about the material and writing my own sentences helps me distill the concepts in my mind.
So far we have learned more about asking questions such as:
- きょうしつはどこですか。(Where is the classroom?)
- くつのうりばはなんじからなんじやすみますか。(From what time to what time is the shoe store closed?)
- やまださんはなんようびはたらきますか。(What days does Mr. Yamada work?)

For me the most difficult things to learn these past few weeks have been learning numbers (especially prices) because I always forget the exceptions such as:
- さんびゃく (300)
- さんぜん　(3000)
- ろっぴゃく(600)
- はっぴゃく(800)
- はっせん (8000)

All the new grammar patterns and vocab we have learned at this point is enough to use to describe my daily schedule:
けさごぜんじゅじにおきました。
こんばん　ななじはんにからごぜんにじはんまでべんきょします。
まいばん　ごぜんさんじにねます。
どうよびにMetropolitanのびじゅうつかんへいきます。

すごいです！！

Why I chose to study Japanese...

I chose to study Japanese because I find the culture very interesting and I would like to travel or study abroad in Japan someday. I also wanted to learn Japanese because it is very similar to Korean which I am familiar with because I am half Korean. I am excited to learn how to carry on a basic conversation in Japanese as well as write in Kanji. I found that memorizing the grammar patterns was the most difficult part of the first two weeks.

わたしは どなた ですか。

わたしは　Lisa　です。
Columbia だいがく　の　だいがくせ　です。
にねんせです。じゅきゅさいです。
Long Island からきました。わたしは　かんこくじん　です。わたしもちゅごくじンです。
どぞよろしく。