In Japanese, once a subject is established, there is no need to bring it up again...
It makes it hard to follow along in conversation for someone who, like me, was raised speaking English where every sentence has a subject and verb...
I thought of this last night when I was watching a Japanese Drama and later again while I was watching a movie.
In the drama, I thought of how something was explained... in English it would be
"He is my pet.
what?
Pet."
It's strange because normally I would say or reply
"He is my pet.
Your what?
My Pet."
I think that not hearing the subject of the sentence will be strange as I get into conversation Japanese... But I hope I can do by best and get the hang of it! Let's do our best together!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Studio Ghibli Craze
I've been on a Studio Ghibli craze lately. I really like Studio Ghibli films anyways, but lately I've been re-watching the ones I've seen and watching some of the ones I haven't seen. I'll give you a list with details.
Princess Mononoke- Watched it when I was in middle school and didn't think much of it. Re watched it a few weeks ago. Amazing story!
Laputa (Castle in the Sky)- I own this one and watch it pretty frequently. ^-^
The Cat Returns- I own this one too and it also gets watched pretty frequently.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind- I own this one as well, but it gets watched less often than the others because it's a bit longer and it's also special to me and I don't want the specialness to wear off...
Spirited Away- Watched this in middle school too and it scared me sooooo much! Don't know why, but I wanted nothing to do with it. 0.o Now I realize that what scared me the most was that she watched her parents turn into pigs right in front of her. I think I'm gonna try re-watching this one sometime soon and hopefully I will like it better.
The Secret World of Arrietty- Loved this one! You can see my post about it here!
Whisper of the Heart- Watched this one tonight because I randomly stumbled on a YouTube video that had the song she sings while he plays the violin. I was curious so I checked it out and ended up watching it. :p
Tales from Earthsea- Watched this a few weeks ago. It was good and creative and awesome, but I couldn't help but feel that the other films were better executed? I dunno. I still liked it. ^-^
My Neighbor Totoro- One of the first ones I ever saw! (Spirited Away I think was the first... bad introduction?) I loved this movie very much and got to watch part of it with a friend at her club about a year ago. Really want to watch it again.
Ponyo- Saw this shortly after it came out and was rather disappointed in it. The ending just fell apart and became a bit cheesy...
Kiki's Delivery Service- Haven't seen this one yet but planning to very soon.
Howl's Moving Castle- Love love love love LOVE this one!!! It is similar to Nausicaä tho in that I only watch it once in a while so it stays special. It means a lot to me because my sister liked it so well and I always watched it with her.
Grave of the Fireflies- One of the saddest movies I have ever watched. I cried so much during it. haven't seen it for years. I kind of want to watch it again even tho it will turn me into a crybaby... 0.o
I know there are a few more films done by Studio Ghibli, but these are the ones I can come up with off the top of my head. There was also one that I can never remember the name of and I can only recall that it was about a girl and a boy and the girl became a pilot into outer space and flew to the far reaches of the universe and pretty much stopped ageing and the guy stayed on Earth and aged as a normal person and it took years for a text message to reach him or her............ I cried in that one too...
Does anyone know what that movie is? I'm pretty sure it was also Studio Ghibli, but I could be wrong...
Well, that's my ramble for now. Thanks for reading!
I'll try to post Japanese things again soon. ^-^
Princess Mononoke- Watched it when I was in middle school and didn't think much of it. Re watched it a few weeks ago. Amazing story!
Laputa (Castle in the Sky)- I own this one and watch it pretty frequently. ^-^
The Cat Returns- I own this one too and it also gets watched pretty frequently.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind- I own this one as well, but it gets watched less often than the others because it's a bit longer and it's also special to me and I don't want the specialness to wear off...
Spirited Away- Watched this in middle school too and it scared me sooooo much! Don't know why, but I wanted nothing to do with it. 0.o Now I realize that what scared me the most was that she watched her parents turn into pigs right in front of her. I think I'm gonna try re-watching this one sometime soon and hopefully I will like it better.
The Secret World of Arrietty- Loved this one! You can see my post about it here!
Whisper of the Heart- Watched this one tonight because I randomly stumbled on a YouTube video that had the song she sings while he plays the violin. I was curious so I checked it out and ended up watching it. :p
Tales from Earthsea- Watched this a few weeks ago. It was good and creative and awesome, but I couldn't help but feel that the other films were better executed? I dunno. I still liked it. ^-^
My Neighbor Totoro- One of the first ones I ever saw! (Spirited Away I think was the first... bad introduction?) I loved this movie very much and got to watch part of it with a friend at her club about a year ago. Really want to watch it again.
Ponyo- Saw this shortly after it came out and was rather disappointed in it. The ending just fell apart and became a bit cheesy...
Kiki's Delivery Service- Haven't seen this one yet but planning to very soon.
Howl's Moving Castle- Love love love love LOVE this one!!! It is similar to Nausicaä tho in that I only watch it once in a while so it stays special. It means a lot to me because my sister liked it so well and I always watched it with her.
Grave of the Fireflies- One of the saddest movies I have ever watched. I cried so much during it. haven't seen it for years. I kind of want to watch it again even tho it will turn me into a crybaby... 0.o
I know there are a few more films done by Studio Ghibli, but these are the ones I can come up with off the top of my head. There was also one that I can never remember the name of and I can only recall that it was about a girl and a boy and the girl became a pilot into outer space and flew to the far reaches of the universe and pretty much stopped ageing and the guy stayed on Earth and aged as a normal person and it took years for a text message to reach him or her............ I cried in that one too...
Does anyone know what that movie is? I'm pretty sure it was also Studio Ghibli, but I could be wrong...
Well, that's my ramble for now. Thanks for reading!
I'll try to post Japanese things again soon. ^-^
日本語の Musings 1
So, "Today is Monday" is 今日は月曜日です (kyou wa getsuyoubi desu)...
Does that make "Today was Monday" 今日は月曜日でした (kyou wa getsuyoubi deshita)?
I think so... but I'm bad with the tenses.
Does that make "Today was Monday" 今日は月曜日でした (kyou wa getsuyoubi deshita)?
I think so... but I'm bad with the tenses.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Motivation
Hey all. This is an English post, frankly, because I just want to get my thoughts out without losing my train of thought.
My question, or really thought, for today is this:
What is your motivation for learning Japanese?
Some people are motivated to learn so that they can watch anime without subtitles or read manga in Japanese... I don't care about those. They're full of slang anyways and you'd offend someone by talking like an anime character.
Some people are motivated to learn because their family is Japanese and they want to be able to have a conversation with their relatives in Japan... That doesn't work for me. My heritage is German, Irish, and American. I don't even know more than maybe two people in Japan and they want to learn English so I try my best to help them when I can.
Some people are motivated to learn because they are moving to Japan or are going to visit Japan and they want to be able to understand what is being said and what they will be surrounded by... I'd like to go to Japan, but even study abroad doesn't look hopeful for me right now so there is no motivation in the "I will be going" section.
Some people are motivated to learn by their interest in a particular thing like, say literature. They may want to be able to read the original Japanese text... I barely read English literature willingly... 0.o
The point I'm trying to make is that I don't know what my motivation for learning Japanese is and I think that is why I am not progressing in my studies.
My request is that in the comments, just leave something about Japan that you have an interest in so that I can look into it and maybe find some motivation to continue with my studies. You don't have to, but I'd really appreciate it if you did.
Thank you for your time in reading this post! I'll try to prepare something with Japanese in it next time. See ya!
My question, or really thought, for today is this:
What is your motivation for learning Japanese?
Some people are motivated to learn so that they can watch anime without subtitles or read manga in Japanese... I don't care about those. They're full of slang anyways and you'd offend someone by talking like an anime character.
Some people are motivated to learn because their family is Japanese and they want to be able to have a conversation with their relatives in Japan... That doesn't work for me. My heritage is German, Irish, and American. I don't even know more than maybe two people in Japan and they want to learn English so I try my best to help them when I can.
Some people are motivated to learn because they are moving to Japan or are going to visit Japan and they want to be able to understand what is being said and what they will be surrounded by... I'd like to go to Japan, but even study abroad doesn't look hopeful for me right now so there is no motivation in the "I will be going" section.
Some people are motivated to learn by their interest in a particular thing like, say literature. They may want to be able to read the original Japanese text... I barely read English literature willingly... 0.o
The point I'm trying to make is that I don't know what my motivation for learning Japanese is and I think that is why I am not progressing in my studies.
My request is that in the comments, just leave something about Japan that you have an interest in so that I can look into it and maybe find some motivation to continue with my studies. You don't have to, but I'd really appreciate it if you did.
Thank you for your time in reading this post! I'll try to prepare something with Japanese in it next time. See ya!
Monday, June 11, 2012
こわい(kowai)
みんなさん、(minna san) do you ever get scared at night when no one else is home? I do.
This probably isn't a good thing right now tho because my parents are on a trip out of town so I'm at home alone.
Even tho I'm an adult now, I still get scared...
こわいですね。(kowai desu ne.)
Anyways! I've kind of been at a stand still for learning vocabulary and kanji lately, so I've come up with an idea to help with both of those aspects of Japanese! You'll have to stay tuned to find out what I've come up with!
Hopefully I can kick this idea off sooner than later.
Thanks for reading! I'll see you again soon! まったね！(matta ne!)
This probably isn't a good thing right now tho because my parents are on a trip out of town so I'm at home alone.
Even tho I'm an adult now, I still get scared...
こわいですね。(kowai desu ne.)
Anyways! I've kind of been at a stand still for learning vocabulary and kanji lately, so I've come up with an idea to help with both of those aspects of Japanese! You'll have to stay tuned to find out what I've come up with!
Hopefully I can kick this idea off sooner than later.
Thanks for reading! I'll see you again soon! まったね！(matta ne!)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
ごめんなさい(gomen nasai)
みんなさん、こんばんは。ジョイです。(minna san, konbanwa. Joy desu.)
第一に。。。あの、みんなさんごめんなさい！(daiichi ni... ano, minna san gomen nasai!)
I'm so very bad at keeping up with posting on my blogs, even tho I have seemingly all the time in the world to study and share what I learn... ごめんな。。。(gomen na...)
Second... Have you heard of "Waku Waku Japanese"? I came across it some time ago and only this week discovered it again. The episodes are very short and cover a few words or concepts or aspects of culture and they can be very useful. An episode is supposed to come out every week and they have 30 episodes as of now (when I'm writing this). I really like the episodes because they are very simple and quick. Also, the comments on the videos can help too. People ask and answer questions in the comments. Here's the link to the playlist for Waku Waku Japanese on youtube! I hope that you can learn from Waku Waku Japanese!
That's all I have for now. Thank you for taking the time to read this post! I really appreciate it! ありがとうございました！(arigatou gozaimashita) まったね！(matta ne)
第一に。。。あの、みんなさんごめんなさい！(daiichi ni... ano, minna san gomen nasai!)
I'm so very bad at keeping up with posting on my blogs, even tho I have seemingly all the time in the world to study and share what I learn... ごめんな。。。(gomen na...)
Second... Have you heard of "Waku Waku Japanese"? I came across it some time ago and only this week discovered it again. The episodes are very short and cover a few words or concepts or aspects of culture and they can be very useful. An episode is supposed to come out every week and they have 30 episodes as of now (when I'm writing this). I really like the episodes because they are very simple and quick. Also, the comments on the videos can help too. People ask and answer questions in the comments. Here's the link to the playlist for Waku Waku Japanese on youtube! I hope that you can learn from Waku Waku Japanese!
That's all I have for now. Thank you for taking the time to read this post! I really appreciate it! ありがとうございました！(arigatou gozaimashita) まったね！(matta ne)
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