Composition 3: Letter frm the future

こんにちは！


ヘインです。よんじゅはっさいです。

にせんきゅねんに、ニューヨークにすんでいました、コロンビアだいがくのがくせいでしたから。いま、　ごねんぐらいかぞくとかめとにほんおさんむいにすんでいます。

にせんじゅうさんえん、だいがくをおわりました。しょして、さんむでJET PROGRAMをしました。そこがだいすきでしたから、にほんいすんでいたいでした。そしておっととさんむへきました。ちばけんのさんむのやまのちかくにわたしのうちがあります。

さんむわちいさいまちです。あまりおきくないです。そして、しずかな　まちですが、ここはとてもきれいです。

“おはし”はっこうで、えいごとれきしをおしえます、わたしのせんこうはれきしでしたから。そして、にほんごをべんきょうしましたから。わたしのしごとはとてもたのしいです。がくせいがつくないですが、クラスはとてもにぎゃかです。

ごぜんじゅうじからごごさんじまではたらきます。しゅうまつにやすみがあります。ニューヨークのせいかつはさんむのせいかつよりいそがしいですね。

にほんがだいすきですが、ごねんに、シアト（Seattle）へいきます。そこにもすんでいたいですから。

じゃまた！

日本建築 （日本けんちく＝Japanese Architecture)

にほんごおうちはとても面白い胃ですね。。。

せんりゆう by David san and Hien

xクリクここ！

ヤマカンジ
みねはどちらが
ありますか。

(Kanji Mountain

Where does your peak

lie?)

• The Katakana of this poem depicts ヤマカンジ as a name, not to be confused with mountain and kanji as two separate words.

スコシあり

オオキイよちで

たちました

(Little ant

In a big world

You stand)

• The use of Kanji in this poem was meant to emphasize size difference and extremes. It shows that despite the size of the ant relative to the world, it still stands tall.

 ^__^

ほしのどか

エイエンのなか

あいましょお

(Quiet star
In eternity
We shall meet)

• The use of Katakana in this poem is to depict eternity as a unique structure, as a different entity from both the speaker and the star in the poem, neither of which will last in the grand scheme of things.

シチスリク

くにのほうがく

しりません

(City slicker

Country law

You do not understand)

• The Katakana and Hiragana of this poem compares the city slicker as a thing apart, believing that he is superior when in fact he is just different, and that there are some pieces which at their core are too far apart to overcome. The use of Katakana here, then, is twofold: it is used to mimic the English, and it is used to convey that core difference between the two through the very way the words are written.

かたかなと

カタカナがどう

わかります。

(Katakana and

Hiragana, how do I

understand?)

• The Katakana here is the word Hiragana, and the word Katakana is written in Hiragana, just to show that there are no formal rules in the end of it all, but it is up to the poet to decide.

さくぶん２

 
やまださん、
おげんきですか。ヘインです。メリーランドからきましたが、ニユーヨークにすんでいます。コロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。
コロンビアは小さいですが、とてもきれいです。そして、あまりしずかじゃありません、ニユーヨークはとてもにぎやかですから。
わたしのせんおうはれきしといがくです。そして、わたしのべんきょうはむずかしですが、おもしろいです。コロンビアでわたしのせいかつはいそがしですが、たのしいです。びじゅうつかんとレストランとえいがへいきますがすきです。
にほんおせいかつはどうですか。にほんへしち月ついたちにいきます。わくわくしています。
よろしくおねがいします。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ヘイン、

火よう日、十一月十日

midterms.

カタカナanalysis

In class, we learned the main occasions in which to use katakana:
a) loan words/foreign names,
b) onomatopoeic expressions, and
c) to add emphasis (though I think sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two).

Exhibit A: ローシヨンプル（lotion pool, featured in a Japanese game show)
B and C: ピカチュ!
 
check out all the onomatopoeia.


ピカピカ　"Pika Pika" in Japanese means emitting light or brightness, which I found in a japanese adaptation of アカハナのトナカ (Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer). It is said to be onomatopoeic, but it makes more sense to say it's emphatic?

 チュ "chu" is the onomatopoeic expression for the squeaking of a mouse.

My question is why is Reindeer in Katakana if there is a Japanese word for it?
So I searched and multiple online descriptions of Katakana says that it can also be used for:
--> new Japanese words such as カラオケ
--> Scientific words such as ガン (cancer)
--> Fruit and animals, even though they have Kanji, but the kanji is said to be difficult and therefore replaced
--> Manga and anime when someone/something foreign (non-human) is speaking (i.e. alien/robot)
--> in advertisement, to be hip

IN CONCLUSION: I think the textbook sticks to the basics rather than enumerate everything because katakana usage has expanded due to culture/convenience, etc. Possibly too expansive to enumerate everything?

にほんごで procrastinating.

わたしはくじにべんきょうします。が,いまブログのupdateをしま!

For Thanksgiving, らいげつ、バスでうちへかえります。きょう、バスのきっぷんをかいました。ニユーヨークからうちまでにじゅうﾄﾞﾗです。
Sidenote, I just realized we haveにほんごのテスト the げつようび after break. =(
Oh well, at least I'll have something to do during the ごじかん　バスride back to ニユーヨーク.
------------->

On the subject of home,　きょねん、わたしはともだちとともだちのおかあさんとにほんごのplay をみました。
I don't remember all the details (not that I fully understood it the first time around, but luckily, the web is my savior).

We saw Yukio Ninagawa's Shintoku-Maru featuring Tatsuya Fujiwara (who I suppose is well known). I'm culturally illiterate so the name doesn't mean much to me ...まだ, and I couldn't make out a single word of the whole play (they do a brief summary in English at the beginning), but it was soo cool to watch! The special effects, costumes, set, etc, were great. It had the Spirited Away vibe, except much darker. It's about a young man's attraction to his stepmother .. dark.  I bring it up because I wonder how many years of Japanese I'd have to take to understand even a bit of it. I imagine it'd be a loong time. Suppose I'll start by deciphering what the title means. じゃまた。

 

supamaketto: わたしのいもうとはスーパーへいきました。

I went through my memory card this weekend and found some pictures from my sister's trip to Japan this summer. (She stayed with a host family in ひろしま for six weeks and took something of a ski lift to school everyday because her host family lived up in the mountain region .. sigh. still envious.)

Anyway, here's a picture from her travels that I stumbled across ..

このすいかはいくらですか。

If you can read the label : いちまんはっせんひゅうひゃくえんです。

This genetically-engineered cubed watermelon runs for about 18900 yen or roughly にひゃくじゅうドラ ($210). THAT IS SOME CRAZY.

EDIT: Apparently it was grown in a box as speculated, not genetically engineered.. According to CNN and the "National Watermelon Promotion Board"

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/15/square.watermelon/index.html

 http://www.instructables.com/id/Grow-a-square-watermelon/

^if anyone wants a go at it.

aiiyiyaaaaaai

。。。

descending Hamilton

happy weekend!

until　らいしゅう！

Japanglish

こんばんは！

すいようびです。。。

Which means i'm doing/must do all the Frontiers HW I've been putting off until now.

もくようびをください。

Is that grammatically legal?

So, もくようびをください= Give me Thursday, please? Or do you only use ~o kudasai for tangible objects?

In any case, I'm taking a nap.

Until あした!

edit:

Chindogu of the week-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chindōgu

とむはちいずおたべます。

I would love to learn more about  Japanese culture--history, cuisine, customs, folklore, movies, music, etc--beyond what's been filtered into American culture. No better place to start than by learning to speak it?

I took french in high school, and contemplated spanish and japanese coming into college because I've finally accepted that I speak better franglais than I do french. I ultimately chose japanese because spanish is something I can pick up later in life if I really want to, which I still do, but I'll probably never get a better opportunity to learn japanese (correctly) than I do here at Columbia. After my brief enrollment in an Irish language class (out of pure curiosity.. gaelic .. irish.. english?) because the only section of Japanese I could take was full (panic), a spot openned up and here I am, playing around with my keyboard. えｆｈｓｊふぁ

It's a lot of work; I have a hard time naturally speaking without having to slowly piece together what japanese I know into something hopefully coherent. But, it's so fun and I'm amazed at how much I've learned in the span of eight classes.

It's a party!

Partially because we have (imaginary) soirees and shindigs.

This is why i love Japan. Blows american infomercials out of the water.

And with that, I give you my blog.

どうぞ。