Day 7 October 30, 2014

Today, we learned how to say today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Kyoo means today. Kinoo means yesterday and ototoi means the day before yesterday. Ashita means tomorrow and asatte means the day after tomorrow. We also learned how to say the days of the week. Sunday would be Nichiyoobi, Monday would be Getsuyoobi, Tuesday would be Kayoobi, Wednsday would be Suiyoobi, Thursday would be Mokuyoobi, Friday would be Kinyoobi, and Saturday would be Doyoobi. Yoobi are the days of the week. Nichi means sun or day, getsu means moon, ka means fire, sui means water, moku means wood or tree, kin means gold, and do means soil or earth. We learned that the past tense of desu is deshita, with ta making the word past tense. As an example for the past tense, one could say, "Kinoo wa Kayoobi deshita." As an example for the present tense, "Kyoo wa Mokuyoobi desu." We learned that "ano ne" means "you know what?" We learned that kore means this, sore means that, and ano means that which is far away. We also learned that dore means which one. We learned the stroke order for ma (ま), mi (み), mu (む), me (め), and mo (も). It was a bit challenging to write some of the hiragana but writing them is fun and I look forward to the next set.

Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

-Time logged: 1.60 hours
-Total time logged: 11.57 hours

Day 6 October 23, 2014

Today, we learned to use "nee" which basically means "isn't it?" For example, I could say, "Genki desu nee?" This means "doing well right?" We also learned that students of an elementary school in Japan are called "kodomo" because they are seen as young children. We also learned that Arnold Schwarzenegger is nicknamed "Shuwa-chan" in Japan. I found this funny because "chan" is an honorific that means cute and it is feminine.We learned the stroke order for ha (は), hi, ( ひ), hu [also known as fu] (ふ), he (へ), ho (ほ), ba (ば), bi (ば), bu (ぶ), be (べ), bo (ぼ), pa (ぱ), pi (ぴ), pu (ぷ), pe (ぺ), and po (ぽ). Learning to write Hiragana is difficult because I have to memorize the stroke order as well as the characters in general. Learning them in order will be essential to forming words later on. I find this challenge fun and interesting. Learning a new language is fun in general! I look forward to being able  to write my own sentences in Hiragana as well as Katakana. Our time learning Hiragana is nearing its end.

Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

As a bonus, here is where I am taking my classes:

\-Time logged: 1.67 hours

-Total time logged: 9.97 hours

Day 5 October 9, 2014

Today, we learned that we can use "mo" to say "also." For example, when one says, "Watashi wa kookoosei desu," another may say, "Watashi mo kookoosei desu." One could also say, "Watashi mo," when speaking casually. We also learned how to say, "Yes, it is so," which is, "Hai, sou desu." We learned how to say how old one is with the term "sai." We learned about the honorific, "-kun." It is only used for boys and is used when speaking casually. It is not used when referring to one's self like all other honorifics. We also learned the stroke order of na (な), ni (に), nu (ぬ), ne (ね), and no (の). We did receive more calligraphy, however, we did not get to learn the stroke order. It was still challenging to memorize all the terms we received before. I look forward to learning more hiragana.

Here are my notes

Here is my work:

\-Time logged: 1.59 hours

-Total time logged: 8.12 hours

Day 4 October 2, 2014

Today, we learned new vocabulary but, mainly, we learned how to use "no" （の）. "No" is basically translated to "of" and is used for ownership or belonging to. For example, we can say, "Watashi no namae wa Justin desu." This would mean "My name is Justin." However, we can also say, "Anata wa Nihongo no sensei." This would mean "You are a teacher of the Japanese language." We incorporated the use of "wa" as well. For example, you could say, "Mearii-san no senkoo (which means "major") wa nihongo desy." We also learned that becoming 20 years old allows you to drink alcohol in Japan. This age is called "hatachi" or "ni-jusshi." The term for fourth year student is also special, it is "yonensei" and not "yonnensei." We learned how to say the names of some countries. the people of those countries, and the language of those countries. The use of "no" was challenging because I am also learning Italian. In Italian, the term "di" has, essentially, the same meaning as "no." However, the syntax of the subject and the noun being owned or belonging to the subject is opposite. This caused me to become confused because I was so used to the syntax in Italian as opposed to the syntax in Japanese. Although, I did get the hang of it and I should be fine now. I'm look forward to the next calligraphy worksheet!

Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

-Justin Tse

-Time logged: 1.67 hours

-Total time logged: 6.53 hours