laughter is the best medicine

A late-20s university grad living in the Bay Area with hopes of returning to the world of academia for Japanese or linguistics, or I'll run off to law school.

My obsessive-compulsions include stopping the microwave only when the time remaining is divisible by five and reading the fine print on commercials.

My first sip of tea was out of my baby bottle. I make one of the best cuppas you’ll ever taste.

Posts tagged "日本語"
That is interesting. Maybe it’s a regional preference? My first sensei was Chinese and my second sensei was from Chiba, but they both pushed the disconnected ‘so’ hiragana. Now I’ve got a new item to research. :)

That is interesting. Maybe it’s a regional preference? My first sensei was Chinese and my second sensei was from Chiba, but they both pushed the disconnected ‘so’ hiragana.

Now I’ve got a new item to research. :)

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I really love my ‘Japanese My Way’ (JMW) app. I especially love the kanji writing, kanji builder, and other touch command aspects embedded into the app. My one pet peeve that JMW and other apps commit? The そ/so on the left is what all computer-based Japanese programs expect or display as the appropriate hiragana character; however, the hiragana on the right is what I was taught in Japanese class. You can imagine my annoyance when I’m ‘testing’ on my app and it claims the disconnected/right-side ‘so’ is wrong. Anyway, eventually apps will actually reflect penmanship but in the meantime, I’ll take a grain of salt with my computer-based/automated hiragana.   (I apologize for the poor quality - I’m not an artist of any sort so my layering of the two pictures is quite juvenile.)

I really love my ‘Japanese My Way’ (JMW) app. I especially love the kanji writing, kanji builder, and other touch command aspects embedded into the app.

My one pet peeve that JMW and other apps commit? The そ/so on the left is what all computer-based Japanese programs expect or display as the appropriate hiragana character; however, the hiragana on the right is what I was taught in Japanese class. You can imagine my annoyance when I’m ‘testing’ on my app and it claims the disconnected/right-side ‘so’ is wrong.

Anyway, eventually apps will actually reflect penmanship but in the meantime, I’ll take a grain of salt with my computer-based/automated hiragana.  

(I apologize for the poor quality - I’m not an artist of any sort so my layering of the two pictures is quite juvenile.)

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Fish Market

When is it more appropriate to describe a fish market as 「魚市場」(うおいちば / uoichiba) instead of 「魚屋」(さかなや / sakanaya)? Is 魚市場 for something like Pike’s Place and 魚屋 for a stand-alone shop?

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years delayed

Here are some topics we hardly covered like the ーになる ni naru from my last semester of in-class/formal Japanese that I want to address:

-に する ni suru: to decide on something. Not to be confused with「(verb dictionary form)+する こと に する suru koto ni suru」which is “to decide to do something”.

example:
すし に します。 
sushi ni shimasu。
Sushi [marking what was being decided on] decide on.
I decide on sushi. / I’ll have the sushi. 

スペイン語 を 習うの に しました。
supeigo wo narauno ni shimashita。
Spanish [marking on what was decided on] to learn [の no is being used as a marker to make 習う narau into a noun] decided on. 
I’ve decided to learn Spanish. 
OR
スペイン語 を 習うこと に しました。
supeigo wo naraukoto ni shimashita。
Spanish [marking on what was decided on] to learn [こと koto is being used as a marker to make 習う narau into a noun] decided on. 
I’ve decided to learn Spanish. 

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Eventually I’ll finish the series with:

-て 来る te kuru / -て 行く te iku

い i-adj and な na-adj adverb

Various forms like あ a-form, え e-form (potential; -られる rareru/せる seru), い i-form, お o-form, and う u-form.

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Genki Lesson 13 (audio) →

Listening comprehension for my fellow Japanese language enthusiasts.

The links to the other lessons are at the bottom of the page.

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“sacrifice one for many”

I was fiddling around with this word scramble game [I have to practice my kanji] when I “failed” on the following word:

滅私奉公 / めっしほうこう / messhihoukou / selfless devotion
滅 / め - kanji for ‘destroy’
私 / し - kanji for ‘I/me’
奉 / ほう - kanji for ‘observance/offer’
公 / こう - kanji for ‘public’
(the pronunciations of kanji vary and I only listed what was applicable for this vocab word).

When I looked up the hiragana and the meaning it struck a cord with me… I must be getting old as I’m having deep tumblr thoughts before 10PM.

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japaneselanguagestudentghost: [GRASP THE MEANING OF A SENTENCE - Japanese Language Student Ghost - CAN’T TRANSLATE IT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE]

japaneselanguagestudentghost:

[GRASP THE MEANING OF A SENTENCE - Japanese Language Student Ghost - CAN’T TRANSLATE IT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE]

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omgzach: “harmony” … As in ‘musical harmony’ not peace「平和 / へいわ / heiwa」。

omgzach:

“harmony”

… As in ‘musical harmony’ not peace「平和 / へいわ / heiwa」。

(via elmtree)

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No, 行く (いく /  ゆく / iku / yuku) is “to go” or “to die” as well as “to orgasm” or “to cum”. There is no ‘and go to heaven’ involved. Why am I not just tweeting to the bot/OP? I exceeded the character limit in this explanation. Plus, this tweet reminded me so much of this post that I had to step in. 

No, 行く (いく /  ゆく / iku / yuku) is “to go” or “to die” as well as “to orgasm” or “to cum”. There is no ‘and go to heaven’ involved. Why am I not just tweeting to the bot/OP? I exceeded the character limit in this explanation. Plus, this tweet reminded me so much of this post that I had to step in. 

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iKnow app

My free trial is almost up, but I don’t want to pay $100/12 month subscription.

Does anyone know of a cheaper or free program that utilizes repetition via writing, reading, and auditory learning methods?

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