Day 11: December 18, 2014

Today, we reviewed the syntax and use of different particles or subject and topic markers. "O (を)" is a direct subject marker. However, "o (お)" is not used as a direct subject marker. Similarly, "wa (は)" is used as a topic marker and not "wa (わ)." The Hiragana used will be "ha (は)" and would still be pronounced as "wa." "De (で)" is used as a location marker.  "No (の)" is used for indicating  possession.


Examples:
Toshokan de zasshi o yomimasu. (I read a magazine at the library.)
Anata no uchi de zasshi o yomomasu. (I read a magazine at your house.)


We also learned about the particle "ni (に)" which is a direction marker that basically means "to." Although,"e (へ)"  [not "e (え)"] can be used instead of "ni" in this case.
However, "ni" is also a time marker and "e" is not. Thus, some textbooks recommend that "e" be used as a direction marker to avoid confusion.

Examples:
Amerika ni ikimasu.
Amerika e ikimasu.


We noted that some words sound very similar to each other but have different meanings, such as oji-san (uncle), ojii-san (grandfather), and ouji-sama (prince).

We learned how to use tokidoki (sometimes), itsumo (always), zenzen (never), and amari (not very much). Note: Zenzen can also mean absolutely.

Examples:
Itsumo mizu o nomimasu.
Mizu o itsumo nomimasu.

This was the last class of this year, The next session will begin on January 15th. In the meantime, I will be writing an article about exchange student experiences that will be sent to Japan and, for now, here is the work that was given that I will continue doing over the break.

My work so far:

 


My notes:



-Time logged: 2.00 hours
-Total time logged: 18.40 hours

Day 10: December 4, 2014

After returning from a restful Thanksgiving break, here is day 10. Today, we reviewed how to conjugate "u" verbs. For example, we have the plain form of the verb nomu. We can then conjugate this verb to its dictionary form, nomimasu. With this, we can change the verb to its negative form, nomimasen.
We learned that the Japanese nicknamed Arnold Schwarzenegger, Shuwa-chan, to shorten his name.


We learned that "de" is a location marker. We also learned that when writing "o" as a subject marker, in kanji, it is written as "を." Also, writing "wa" as a subject marker is actually written as "ha (は)." We were reminded that the traditional way to write in kanji is top to bottom and right to left. Writing periods in kanji looks like this: "。" Also, there are no gaps in writing kanji. We are able to write whole sentences in kanji now. I am still improving but I am excited to be doing this!

Here are my notes:

Here is my practice work that I have done so far:

-Time logged: 1.52 hours
-Total time logged: 16.40 hours

Day 9 November 13, 2014

Today, we learned some u/ru verbs. They were okiru (to wake up), neru (to sleep), yomu (to read), taberu (to eat), nomu (to drink), miru (to watch), hanasu
(to talk), kiku (to hear), suru (to do), iku (to go), kuru (to come), and kaeru (to return). All these verbs are conjugated in dictionary form. Their base forms are formed by simply removing the ru or u. The dictionary form is informal. However, the present affirmative form is formal and is formed by removing the ru or u and replacing it with masu or the "-i" form and masu after it. However, suru and kuru are irregular. Thus, we have the present affirmative form of suru as shimasu and kuru as kimasu. As for the negative forms of the verbs, it is simply formed by replacing masu with masen. We also learned the stroke order of ra (ら), ri (り), ru (る), re (れ), and ro (ろ). We lerned that the period, in Japanese, is "。" I am excited about learning to write a sentence in Japanese. The most challenging part of this will be writing the kanji. Hopefully we can learn Katakana too! Also, I will be starting to work on a letter/message/article with my fellow exchange students to send to the South San Francisco Rotary Club which will also add to it and then send to Japan, as done annually by the various Rotary Club after a student exchange to constantly improve experiences. Look forward to it!


Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

-Time logged: 1.64 hours
-Total time logged: 14.88 hours

Day 8 November 6, 2014

Today, we learned about kono (この), sono (その), and ano (あの). Kono means this, sono means that, and ano means that but it is something far away. Also, when the noun or subject is mentioned earlier, one does not need to restate it. For example, one might say, "Kono pen wa anata no desu," instead of, "Kono pen was anata no pen desu." Also, when responding to, "Kore wa anata no pen desuka," one might say, "Iie, anata no pen ja nai desu," also one might say, "Iie, anata no ja nai desu,"

 because it is assumed that one is referring to the pen. Further more, we learned that koko (ここ) means here, soko (そこ) means there, and asoko (あそこ) means there but far away. We also learned the stroke order for ya (や), yu (ゆ), and yo (よ). We learned that to write things like kya (きゃ), nyo (にょ), or chu (ちゅ), we add ya, yu, or yo after kanji. It is simply phonetic as a soon realized. For example, kya would be, in romaji, kiya (きや), as shown above. We learned that ya means arrow and  that yu means hot water. We also learned how to write Pikachu (ぴかしゅ). We also noted that chu (ちゅ) means to kiss. We learned that maru means circle and batsu means wrong, symbolized by a O and an X respectively.

Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

-Time logged: 1.67 hours
-Total time logged: 13.24 hours

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

Day 3 September 25, 2014

Today we learned about more basic Hiragana. We learned how to write ta（た）, chi（ち）, tsu（つ）, te（て）, to（と）, da（だ）, ji （ぢ）, zu （づ）, de（で）, do（ど）, sa（さ）, shi（し）, su（す）, se（せ）, so（そ）, za（ざ）, ji（じ）, zu（ず）, ze（ぜ）, and zo（ぞ）. We also combined these along with the ones we learned in last week's class to make words such as sekai（せかい）, which means world. We also learned how to say phone numbers in Japanese after we reviewed how to say the numbers and time in Japanese. We learned basic sentence structure as well with the simple template of "X" wa "Y" and "X" wa nan desu ka, wa meaning is. We also learned to use  "ne," which practically means "right?" What was challenging at the moment was the memorization of the basic Hiragana kanji. It will only get tougher if these are not memorized and it was slightly challenging to write the kanji in an acceptable way, according to my standards. I also received an answer to my question of how does one reply to "gochisousama deshita," which I asked because my host mother replied with something I could not quite grasp. The answer was "osomatsusama deshita," which practically means, "It was nothing." This has been on my mind for the past few months and I am extremely happy to finally receive an answer. I could not figure out how to actually spell it in romaji but I knew how it sounded like. My instructor, Mrs. Satoko (whom I will refer to as Satoko-sensei or Satoko-san, as she has requested the students to do so), declared that she was happy with  how observant I am. She said that she was impressed that I noticed that my host mother had said "osomatsusama deshita" after I said "gochisousama deshita" and she said all the host mothers were surprised and impressed that we, the exchange students, demonstrated proper Japanese etiquette even though we were not taught that by them. This conversation reminded me of the great time I had in Japan. It made me sad yet happy, it was a complicated feeling. Now, the next step is to get the calligraphy memorized and look forward to the next class. I am looking forward to it!

Here are my notes:

Here is my work:

つづく (Tsuzuku = To be continued)

-Justin Tse

-Time logged: 1.67 hours
-Total time logged: 4.86 hours

Day 2: September 18, 2014

Today, we learned how to write basic vowels and other things in hiragana （ひらがな）. We also noted that katakana (ｶﾀｶﾅ) is typically only for foreign words. We were taught the stroke orders for each basic kanji in hiragana and how to spell each in romaji. Hiragana and katakana are types of Japanese calligraphy while romaji his japanese calligraphy in Roman characters.
We combined the kanji to create more complex words. However, these combinations are still fairly basic.  Along with learning of these types of writing, we learned the meanings of the combination of the basic words. It was challenging to write the calligraphy to the best of my ability. However, to me, it was fairly calming and I enjoyed writing. We also began learning how to say the time on a clock in Japanese. Although, I still need to absorb the information I received  beforehand. I was asked by a member of the SSF Rotary Club to compile a message from all of the exchange students and I'm looking forward to doing it. I'm extremely excited to learn more but, for now, here are my notes:

Here is my work:

じゃあね!

-Justin Tse

-Time logged: 1.60 hours
-Total time logged: 3.19 hours

Day 1: September 11, 2014

Although the first post was a bit late (posted on the 19th), I'm glad to say that this blog portion of my Capstone project has officially begun! 始まるよ! Let me explain my Capstone project, I will be learning Japanese from my mentor, Satoko Tsujimoto Piett. She is a professor of the Japanese Language at Laney College. I will be collaborating with my classmates as we learn Japanese together. Although Japanese is a difficult language, I believe I can grasp the concepts and learn the language because of my knack for understanding the syntax of languages. The problems I will face will include the understanding of syntax, the understanding of the stroke order when writing in Japanese, and communicating fluently. Although, I will still need to do more than just understand the language. I will probably be doing volunteer work related to Japanese or Japan in general. I predict that my efforts will one day build strong and friendly relationships with Japan. This is a goal I will strive for. Follow me on this wonderful experience as I complete my Capstone project. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will! Here are my notes from today:

We learned basic phrases in Japanese culture. It was fun and at the end, we advocated for what we wanted to learn.

-Justin Tse

-Time logged for this session: 1.59 hours
-Total time logged: 1.59 hours