Japanese Lessons
I am sort of a language freak. Every time I hear someone speaking in another language, I start thinking, "How hard would it be to learn that language?". I had one such moment about three and a half years ago. I decided I wanted to learn Japanese, initially so I could play all those Japan-only games that never got to the US. I've had my moments of cramming and my moments of forgetting it, but after this much time I have really come to like the language. It is a beautiful language with lots of drawings (Kanji), which is really fun for artist-wannabes such as myself. I had the opportunity to go to Japan about two years ago and had one of the best experiences of my life.
So in preparation for my next visit, I have decided to start taking Japanese classes with a tutor. When reading, I am basically a very advanced beginner, but when trying to actually have a conversation I forget every grammar rule I know. So now I'm trying to work mostly on my conversation skills and also on getting better at reading (especially Kanji). My wife is also taking classes with the same tutor, so that makes it all the more fun.
Hopefully next time I go to Japan, I will be able to not only ask questions, but this time to actually understand the answers. I leave you with a short essay I had to write as homework for the last lesson. (Don't trust Google Translate's translation, by the way).
二週間å‰?ã?”ã‚?ã€?アイãƒãƒ³ãƒžãƒ³ã?®æ˜ 画を見ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚凄ã?„æ˜ ç”»ã? ã?¨æ€?ã?„ã?¾ã?™ã€‚主人公ã?¯å§‹ã‚?ã?«ã?¨ã?¦ã‚‚利己的ã?ªäººã?§ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚後ã?§ã€?悪ã?„人ã?¯ä¸»äººå…¬ã?®ä½œã?£ã?Ÿæ¦å™¨ã‚’使ã?£ã?¦ã?„ã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚ã? ã?‹ã‚‰ä¸»äººå…¬ã?¯ã‚¢ã‚¤ãƒãƒ³ãƒžãƒ³ã?«æˆ?ã‚Šã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚ã??ã?—ã?¦ã€?æ¦å™¨ã‚’ç ´ã‚Šã?¾ã?—ã?Ÿã€‚
Comments
I love learn japanese language from book, and I like song first love from utada hikaru, do you like ? Basically, I learn from book and internet. I hope, you can go to Japan, not just dream
Posted by: busby seo challenge | June 11, 2008 12:56 AM
that is the same reason I learned Japanese, to play the games that never make it to North America (or to import rpg's www.lordyuanshu.com, and play the games much quicker).
Posted by: ken walker | June 11, 2008 3:00 AM
Well, between Google and Yahoo's translations I think I can more or less make most of what you were trying to say. You should've posted the translation en vez de hacernos pasar trabajo...
Posted by: Lidia Noemà | June 11, 2008 8:24 PM
It's just not as fun to give the translation. Bwahaha!
Posted by: Fernando | June 11, 2008 10:14 PM
whoa, all that's an essay. Japanese must really be top notch with all the characters. Well learning japanese is no easy feat, but at least its good you know Spanish. It's easier for a Spanish user to learn Japanese than English.
Posted by: RuneArcN8 | June 15, 2008 7:49 AM
That's admirable that you want to learn Japanese; its certainly a challenge. I know from my experience learning Chinese that its like learning 2 languages, English to Romanization (pronunciation), then Romanization to characters; it feels like twice the work of learning Spanish.
If you want more opportunities to practice Japanese outside of your tutoring sessions, I recommend www.italki.com. You can find language partners and talk with them directly on the site. Its also a great way to meet people before your next trip to Japan.
Good luck!
Posted by: Toffler | June 24, 2008 3:42 AM
i love japan
Posted by: ikalangita | July 31, 2008 5:06 PM
I like your attitude -Pertinent Japanese discussions going on thanks for the information please see these
Sake Talkie
or
Japanetics
for a switch see Japanese Joy
Posted by: brett | October 15, 2008 6:07 PM
Japanese seems like such a tough language to learn...Nice to see people putting in such an honest effort towards it.
Posted by: SEO Mumbai | October 25, 2008 1:55 AM
That was a great post. How do you say "Thank you" in Japanese?
Posted by: Comcast Deals In | February 12, 2009 12:06 PM
"Thank You" in Japanese is "Arigatou".
Posted by: Fernando | February 12, 2009 12:09 PM
ahh, arigato!
Posted by: Comcast Deals | February 13, 2009 4:02 PM