Last January, I wrote a post talking about how surreal being within a year of graduation was. This past week was the first of my last semester in University as an undergraduate. While last semester left me in a bit of a dream, this semester is completely different.
I am taking my final courses, and all of them are challenging and demanding- there is no time to daydream about being done. My classes are project-heavy and are requiring more of me than I have at times. It is the culmination of my time at University, and it's only fitting that this semester will test me.
As diamonds can only form under extreme pressure, it is my dearest hope that at the end of this semester and as my undergraduate career closes I will emerge shining radiantly, having overcome the pressures and trials I do not yet see.
Showing posts with label My Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Life. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Two more semesters
Entering my second to last semester at University is surreal. It's so surreal that when I went to pick up the papers to apply for graduation next December, I thought I was in a dream, or that it was some sort of trick my mind was playing on me.
My journey through University has been anything but seamless. In many ways, I feel as though I'm not qualified enough to graduate, like I didn't work hard enough in my classes to learn everything that I could, or like I didn't produce the work expected of me by my professors and my perfectionist self. Entering this semester feels strange to me, like I'm a cat that jumped in the window of a house and hasn't been discovered by the owner yet. I feel like at any moment, someone will come along and tell me that I don't know enough to graduate, or that I haven't worked hard enough. And maybe they'd be right.
Despite all of that, the opportunity to test my wings has been laid before me. The chance to graduate and find my own way in the world is a significant one, and I think that regardless of if I think I am ready or not, I should just dive in and take the chance to sink or swim.
These next two semesters are going to be tough for me, but I will give it my best so that I can soar on my graduation and there after! ^^
My journey through University has been anything but seamless. In many ways, I feel as though I'm not qualified enough to graduate, like I didn't work hard enough in my classes to learn everything that I could, or like I didn't produce the work expected of me by my professors and my perfectionist self. Entering this semester feels strange to me, like I'm a cat that jumped in the window of a house and hasn't been discovered by the owner yet. I feel like at any moment, someone will come along and tell me that I don't know enough to graduate, or that I haven't worked hard enough. And maybe they'd be right.
Despite all of that, the opportunity to test my wings has been laid before me. The chance to graduate and find my own way in the world is a significant one, and I think that regardless of if I think I am ready or not, I should just dive in and take the chance to sink or swim.
These next two semesters are going to be tough for me, but I will give it my best so that I can soar on my graduation and there after! ^^
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Changes
Hello there,
how is life?
So, as I've mentioned previously, time management is not my strongest suit- to be more clear, I could say that with everything I do, I often find that with my extra time I end up resting or relaxing instead of working on my personal projects like language and such. Well, things are kind of changing a bit. I was offered a job in my field of study that will actually free up a lot of my time compared to my current job, so my hope is that with my extra time that is freeing up, I can spend more time on personal projects. (oh my goodness do I have a lot of personal projects. o.o )
One of the things I am going to try to do is update this blog more often. It won't always be language related, but I'd like to get back into that again. So I'll do my best with that, and we shall see what comes of this new venture.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading!
how is life?
So, as I've mentioned previously, time management is not my strongest suit- to be more clear, I could say that with everything I do, I often find that with my extra time I end up resting or relaxing instead of working on my personal projects like language and such. Well, things are kind of changing a bit. I was offered a job in my field of study that will actually free up a lot of my time compared to my current job, so my hope is that with my extra time that is freeing up, I can spend more time on personal projects. (oh my goodness do I have a lot of personal projects. o.o )
One of the things I am going to try to do is update this blog more often. It won't always be language related, but I'd like to get back into that again. So I'll do my best with that, and we shall see what comes of this new venture.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading!
Saturday, August 23, 2014
My controversial two cents.
So, there's this thing going around the internet called the ALS ice bucket challenge.
This seems to be a controversial topic. Let's look at it. :D
So, the challenge is basically intended to raise awareness about a really awful disease called ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal chord and the brain. It essentially renders the body motionless. All in all, the campaign has a good intention.
The controversy comes with, in my opinion, the popularity that the campaign has gained. Let's be honest, watching someone get ice water dumped on their head is kind of funny. But it seems like this challenge has become just an ice bucket ordeal instead of an awareness raising campaign. In most of the videos going up, you're lucky if the person mentions what the campaign is for outsie of "it's the ALS ice bucket challenge", or where you can go to learn more about the disease. They are more excited to get to the part where they can list off their friends who they want to see get soaked in ice water.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing per se. Any and all awareness that is gained from this campaign is infinitely more awareness than there was before about ALS, and any money raised to help fund research for a way to end ALS is more than there was before that donation.
I've seen both sides of this whole thing about the campaign in comments and posts all over the internet. Some people have said that the campaign is a disgraceful stunt (I'm not sure I would go that far), others have said that it is a creative way to bring awareness about a terrible disease. I've also heard that other countries around the world want us noisy Americans to just be quiet and make our donations silently. I kind of lean in the middle of these opinions. I think that the campaign is really creative and makes the best use of social media's ability to spread word like wildfire, and it has spread the word about ALS effectively- the only people I had ever met before this campaign in real life or on the internet who had any clue as to what ALS was were the family I know who is dealing with it. But I think that a lot of people miss the point of it and just make noise and throw ice on themselves and each other for the fun of it, missing the whole point of the campaign and thus causing skepticism of the campaign and it's effectiveness/worth.
OK, my two big issues with this whole mess are-
1. I don't understand why people have to go as far as to actually argue with people and hurt each other's feelings over a virtual campaign that they don't have to take part in if they don't want to. You are in control of you. Plain and simple. If you don't want to do something, that's great; don't do it. No one can make you do something you don't want to do. Likewise, if you want to do something and the opportunity arises, great! Go ahead and do it. Why are people getting so upset at those who are willingly choosing to take part in this campaign.
2. If you're going to do something to raise awareness about a cause, at least find out a little bit about what you are supporting! I'm really glad that ALS is finally getting some publicity, but I don't want it to be something only known about because of baseball greats and ice buckets. I want people to have a more common knowledge of ALS, because it is just as deadly, if not more so, than diseases like cancer. We all have some idea of what cancer is and what it does to the body, why not ALS? It isn't that hard when we have all the information we could ever ask for at our fingertips.
So, in conclusion, I just plain don't understand why people are putting so much energy into cutting down a campaign that is really just intended to help out a field of research that is vastly under-funded, and that could potentially make the lives of those living with ALS so much better. If it's not for you, then don''t worry about it. If it's something you want to take part in, go ahead. All this comes down to personal choice, not "the majority doesn't care so be quiet."
Here is another perspective on the campaign from an ALS family.
And for the curious reader, yes, I did do the ice bucket challenge. And I dedicated it to Kepler Nigh, who I and my family have watched lose strength and mobility in his body to the point where only his eyes can still move. And he continues to keep hope. He is one of my heroes.
This seems to be a controversial topic. Let's look at it. :D
So, the challenge is basically intended to raise awareness about a really awful disease called ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal chord and the brain. It essentially renders the body motionless. All in all, the campaign has a good intention.
The controversy comes with, in my opinion, the popularity that the campaign has gained. Let's be honest, watching someone get ice water dumped on their head is kind of funny. But it seems like this challenge has become just an ice bucket ordeal instead of an awareness raising campaign. In most of the videos going up, you're lucky if the person mentions what the campaign is for outsie of "it's the ALS ice bucket challenge", or where you can go to learn more about the disease. They are more excited to get to the part where they can list off their friends who they want to see get soaked in ice water.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing per se. Any and all awareness that is gained from this campaign is infinitely more awareness than there was before about ALS, and any money raised to help fund research for a way to end ALS is more than there was before that donation.
I've seen both sides of this whole thing about the campaign in comments and posts all over the internet. Some people have said that the campaign is a disgraceful stunt (I'm not sure I would go that far), others have said that it is a creative way to bring awareness about a terrible disease. I've also heard that other countries around the world want us noisy Americans to just be quiet and make our donations silently. I kind of lean in the middle of these opinions. I think that the campaign is really creative and makes the best use of social media's ability to spread word like wildfire, and it has spread the word about ALS effectively- the only people I had ever met before this campaign in real life or on the internet who had any clue as to what ALS was were the family I know who is dealing with it. But I think that a lot of people miss the point of it and just make noise and throw ice on themselves and each other for the fun of it, missing the whole point of the campaign and thus causing skepticism of the campaign and it's effectiveness/worth.
OK, my two big issues with this whole mess are-
1. I don't understand why people have to go as far as to actually argue with people and hurt each other's feelings over a virtual campaign that they don't have to take part in if they don't want to. You are in control of you. Plain and simple. If you don't want to do something, that's great; don't do it. No one can make you do something you don't want to do. Likewise, if you want to do something and the opportunity arises, great! Go ahead and do it. Why are people getting so upset at those who are willingly choosing to take part in this campaign.
2. If you're going to do something to raise awareness about a cause, at least find out a little bit about what you are supporting! I'm really glad that ALS is finally getting some publicity, but I don't want it to be something only known about because of baseball greats and ice buckets. I want people to have a more common knowledge of ALS, because it is just as deadly, if not more so, than diseases like cancer. We all have some idea of what cancer is and what it does to the body, why not ALS? It isn't that hard when we have all the information we could ever ask for at our fingertips.
So, in conclusion, I just plain don't understand why people are putting so much energy into cutting down a campaign that is really just intended to help out a field of research that is vastly under-funded, and that could potentially make the lives of those living with ALS so much better. If it's not for you, then don''t worry about it. If it's something you want to take part in, go ahead. All this comes down to personal choice, not "the majority doesn't care so be quiet."
Here is another perspective on the campaign from an ALS family.
And for the curious reader, yes, I did do the ice bucket challenge. And I dedicated it to Kepler Nigh, who I and my family have watched lose strength and mobility in his body to the point where only his eyes can still move. And he continues to keep hope. He is one of my heroes.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
I'm terrible at this whole blog thing
Many, MANY times now I have said that I want to post more regularly on my blog here about language learning and stuff like that.
Truth is I'm terrible at remembering to get on here and write.
So, I will write on here, but there will be no guarantee on consistency, frequency, length of posts, or anything like that. Because I'm just kind of bad at that.
I guess I can give an update on language learning while I'm here:
Since it's been summer I have had more free time to work on projects. I also seem to have had a lot more projects than I had planned.
My family and I have been remodeling our back porch, my brother has come to visit from out of town, I've had work, I've had art projects and music projects and video projects, and those got pushed into the limelight of my life this summer. Which means that language was pushed out a bit.
The Fall semester is starting again at the end of this month, though, and with the structure of classes comes an easy way to structure my time to fit in everything I want to. I will be in my third semester of German at my University, so I will most certainly have time to work on that. I'd like to find time to review my Japanese as well at some point. I feel like it has been so long since I've reviewed anything and I don't remember a lot of the vocabulary I was working on. Unfortunate.
So, all in all, life happens and we just get back to doing what we do. I can't guarantee posts, but I'll certainly be here.
Until next time, tschüß, meine freunden!
Truth is I'm terrible at remembering to get on here and write.
So, I will write on here, but there will be no guarantee on consistency, frequency, length of posts, or anything like that. Because I'm just kind of bad at that.
I guess I can give an update on language learning while I'm here:
Since it's been summer I have had more free time to work on projects. I also seem to have had a lot more projects than I had planned.
My family and I have been remodeling our back porch, my brother has come to visit from out of town, I've had work, I've had art projects and music projects and video projects, and those got pushed into the limelight of my life this summer. Which means that language was pushed out a bit.
The Fall semester is starting again at the end of this month, though, and with the structure of classes comes an easy way to structure my time to fit in everything I want to. I will be in my third semester of German at my University, so I will most certainly have time to work on that. I'd like to find time to review my Japanese as well at some point. I feel like it has been so long since I've reviewed anything and I don't remember a lot of the vocabulary I was working on. Unfortunate.
So, all in all, life happens and we just get back to doing what we do. I can't guarantee posts, but I'll certainly be here.
Until next time, tschüß, meine freunden!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
German and Kpop!
Hallo, meine Freunden! Wie geht's? (hello my friends! how are you?)
A friend of mine and I are practicing language together, and for now I'm working on German. We're sending messages with audio files attached back and forth (one a week each) so that we can practice speaking out languages of study. ^^ Even though she's learning Korean and I'm currently working on German it works out. We have the audio of us speaking, then we have the written text in language, and then we have the translation. They're really short. ^^; It's a lot of fun, and since I'd like to start posting more again (what with the summer and all) I'd like to at least include some of the text here every week. ^^ So, here is week one!
Deutsch Woche 1:
Hallo! Meine AKMU CD ist gestern gekommen!
Es ist sehr gut! Mein Lieblingslied ist 'Melted', aber es ist traurig. Ich mag auch 'Little Star'. Ich weis nicht der name auf Koreanisch. ^^;
So! Was ist dein Lieblingslied? Magst du AKMU? Was ist deine LieblingsKpopgrouppe?
Hello! My AKMU CD came yesterday!
It's really good! My favorite song is 'Melted', but it's sad. I also like 'Little Star'. I don't know the name in Korean.
So! What is your favorite song? Do you like AKMU? What is your favorite Kpop group?
---------
I know I'm not very good at German yet, and I know I have mistakes there, just bear with me as I get better. As always, if you see a mistake, feel free to let me know! I appreciate it!
So hopefully I'll have these little posts up once a week. ^^ I'm working on a study schedule for 日本語(Japanese) as well, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I'll see you again soon!
Das ist alles, tschüss! じゃね！
A friend of mine and I are practicing language together, and for now I'm working on German. We're sending messages with audio files attached back and forth (one a week each) so that we can practice speaking out languages of study. ^^ Even though she's learning Korean and I'm currently working on German it works out. We have the audio of us speaking, then we have the written text in language, and then we have the translation. They're really short. ^^; It's a lot of fun, and since I'd like to start posting more again (what with the summer and all) I'd like to at least include some of the text here every week. ^^ So, here is week one!
Deutsch Woche 1:
Hallo! Meine AKMU CD ist gestern gekommen!
Es ist sehr gut! Mein Lieblingslied ist 'Melted', aber es ist traurig. Ich mag auch 'Little Star'. Ich weis nicht der name auf Koreanisch. ^^;
So! Was ist dein Lieblingslied? Magst du AKMU? Was ist deine LieblingsKpopgrouppe?
Hello! My AKMU CD came yesterday!
It's really good! My favorite song is 'Melted', but it's sad. I also like 'Little Star'. I don't know the name in Korean.
So! What is your favorite song? Do you like AKMU? What is your favorite Kpop group?
---------
I know I'm not very good at German yet, and I know I have mistakes there, just bear with me as I get better. As always, if you see a mistake, feel free to let me know! I appreciate it!
So hopefully I'll have these little posts up once a week. ^^ I'm working on a study schedule for 日本語(Japanese) as well, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I'll see you again soon!
Das ist alles, tschüss! じゃね！
Thursday, March 13, 2014
久しぶり！(hisashiburi)
Long time no see! ^^; It's been a really long time since I've posted here, I don't really know what to say... But I wanted to give an update on my language learning.
Last fall and this spring I've been taking German classes at my University. I would have loved to have been able to take Japanese, but my school is smaller and doesn't offer it. German is fine though, I'm part German, and learning the language makes me feel a bit more connected to that part of my heritage. I can read fairly well, I just need to use a dictionary for words I don't understand; and I can understand spoken German for the most part, but I have trouble speaking the words and using correct grammar. If I feel like it, I may post German on here occasionally. (Totally depends on how frequently I post, etc.)
My Japanese studies have fallen to the wayside these past months. I got a small job for the winter and they decided to keep me on after the holiday season, so between that and schoolwork, I find that I'm either too tired or too distracted to work on Japanese. I have noticed that I remember a lot of what I had learned previously though, so probably this coming summer I will be able to review a bit and return to Japanese studies.
I'm also looking into some study abroad options, though I'm not quite sure how that will work out. The way my school schedules classes does not lend itself to much leeway, so time will tell what comes of that.
I just wanted to give a bit of an update since it's been a few months. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to write again soon! ^^/
Last fall and this spring I've been taking German classes at my University. I would have loved to have been able to take Japanese, but my school is smaller and doesn't offer it. German is fine though, I'm part German, and learning the language makes me feel a bit more connected to that part of my heritage. I can read fairly well, I just need to use a dictionary for words I don't understand; and I can understand spoken German for the most part, but I have trouble speaking the words and using correct grammar. If I feel like it, I may post German on here occasionally. (Totally depends on how frequently I post, etc.)
My Japanese studies have fallen to the wayside these past months. I got a small job for the winter and they decided to keep me on after the holiday season, so between that and schoolwork, I find that I'm either too tired or too distracted to work on Japanese. I have noticed that I remember a lot of what I had learned previously though, so probably this coming summer I will be able to review a bit and return to Japanese studies.
I'm also looking into some study abroad options, though I'm not quite sure how that will work out. The way my school schedules classes does not lend itself to much leeway, so time will tell what comes of that.
I just wanted to give a bit of an update since it's been a few months. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to write again soon! ^^/
Friday, September 6, 2013
Hey there
Long time no see, huh... wow, it's been over a month now. >///<
I'm sorry that I haven't kept up with the Word of the Day posts... I really enjoyed doing them, and it was practical for my studying over the summer break, but now that school has started for the fall (I'm in my Junior year at University now), I don't know how to keep up with the posts every day.
I'm so grateful, though. This past month, even though I haven't had time to post anything, so many people have viewed my blog. I'm really grateful!!! ありがとうございました！Thank you so much!
I would love to start posting again, and really to start studying seriously again! So please be patient as I work out all the big stuff like school and work... I hope I'll be posting again soon!
Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog! See you soon! じゃね！
I'm sorry that I haven't kept up with the Word of the Day posts... I really enjoyed doing them, and it was practical for my studying over the summer break, but now that school has started for the fall (I'm in my Junior year at University now), I don't know how to keep up with the posts every day.
I'm so grateful, though. This past month, even though I haven't had time to post anything, so many people have viewed my blog. I'm really grateful!!! ありがとうございました！Thank you so much!
I would love to start posting again, and really to start studying seriously again! So please be patient as I work out all the big stuff like school and work... I hope I'll be posting again soon!
Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog! See you soon! じゃね！
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Took me by surprise!
Ok, so, I'm part German. My mom and Oma are fluent in German, My sister took German in high school, I took two years of German in high school... So, yeah. German. I've heard it all my life, I've spoken a bit of it for as long as I can remember, you'd think I can pronounce it.
Well, apparently I can't.
I've worked on Japanese pronunciation since middle school, but I didn't think that mastering Japanese pronunciation (to a degree) would completely throw off my German pronunciation. 0.o It's the "r"s really. In Japanese the "r" sound is a mixture of "l" "r" and "d" whereas in German the "r" is rolled. There are a couple other things that throw me off to.
So my mom and I were reading some books in German today and I tried reading and no matter what I did the words would not come out correctly! 0.o I was so frustrated!
And on top of that, I went to reply to my mom in German but I didn't know how to say what I wanted in German so I used Japanese.
While yes it's a good thing that Japanese is coming so much easier to me than German now, I'm still slightly upset that I've lost some of my German speaking skills...
Speaking of languages other than Japanese, I don't think I've mentioned this before but there are 5 languages that I want to learn to fluency:
Japanese, German, French, Korean, and Italian.
Well, thanks for reading! I'll try to post more Japanese soon! ^-^
Well, apparently I can't.
I've worked on Japanese pronunciation since middle school, but I didn't think that mastering Japanese pronunciation (to a degree) would completely throw off my German pronunciation. 0.o It's the "r"s really. In Japanese the "r" sound is a mixture of "l" "r" and "d" whereas in German the "r" is rolled. There are a couple other things that throw me off to.
So my mom and I were reading some books in German today and I tried reading and no matter what I did the words would not come out correctly! 0.o I was so frustrated!
And on top of that, I went to reply to my mom in German but I didn't know how to say what I wanted in German so I used Japanese.
While yes it's a good thing that Japanese is coming so much easier to me than German now, I'm still slightly upset that I've lost some of my German speaking skills...
Speaking of languages other than Japanese, I don't think I've mentioned this before but there are 5 languages that I want to learn to fluency:
Japanese, German, French, Korean, and Italian.
Well, thanks for reading! I'll try to post more Japanese soon! ^-^
Thursday, October 4, 2012
This is how I feel.
With school work, responsibilities as Vice President of a club, and drama with my friends and myself, Maru-san does a good job of summing up how I feel.
Take a look!
みんなさん、がんばってください！(minna san, ganbatte kudasai!)
Take a look!
みんなさん、がんばってください！(minna san, ganbatte kudasai!)
Friday, September 21, 2012
Slacking off?
So, sometimes no matter what I do I can't study worth anything. I think that's how this week has gone... I just can't seem to study at all no matter what I do! I'll look at Japanese, but I have a hard time reading it because I don't know many Kanji yet, so my eyes tend to skim over what I'm trying to read...
I dunno, it's the same way for my schoolwork too. And it's causing some serious sleep deprivation for me. Not good.
Well, I'll try to do better in the coming week! がんばります！！！(ganbarimasu!)
I dunno, it's the same way for my schoolwork too. And it's causing some serious sleep deprivation for me. Not good.
Well, I'll try to do better in the coming week! がんばります！！！(ganbarimasu!)
Friday, September 14, 2012
つかれた。。。(tsukareta)
みんなさん、きにょうびです！(minna san, kinyoubi desu)
Even though I only have classes three times a week, I'm tired... (つかれた)
So, I'm very glad that today is my last day of school for this week. ^-^ うれしい！！！(ureshii)
Everyone, please do your best at work or school today and always!
今日はきんようびです。(kyou wa kinyoubi desu)
あの、いまは7:25amです。(ano, ima wa 7:25am desu)
早いです！(hayai desu)
D:
あの、みんなさん、ありがとうございます！(ano, minna san, arigatou gozaimasu)
Thank you for reading, as always.
I'll write again soon, hopefully with more Japanese knowledge to share! ^-^
バイバイ！
Even though I only have classes three times a week, I'm tired... (つかれた)
So, I'm very glad that today is my last day of school for this week. ^-^ うれしい！！！(ureshii)
Everyone, please do your best at work or school today and always!
今日はきんようびです。(kyou wa kinyoubi desu)
あの、いまは7:25amです。(ano, ima wa 7:25am desu)
早いです！(hayai desu)
D:
あの、みんなさん、ありがとうございます！(ano, minna san, arigatou gozaimasu)
Thank you for reading, as always.
I'll write again soon, hopefully with more Japanese knowledge to share! ^-^
バイバイ！
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
ほんとうに (hontouni)
みんなさん、こんにちは！(minna san, konnichiwa)
ごめんなさい。。。あの、さいきんは私がめんどくさい。。。(gomen nasai... ano, saikin wa watashi ga mendokusai...)
I know my 日本語(nihongo) is terrible and I probably messed up that sentence really badly; what I mean to say is, everyone, I'm really sorry that I've been so lazy in posting lately. I thought that I would post more during the summer, but I ended up doing other things and forgetting to study even! So I will do my best to start studying seriously again and posting on here regularly.
Thank you for reading all this. ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
Please support me in the future! おうえんしてね！(ouenshite ne)
ごめんなさい。。。あの、さいきんは私がめんどくさい。。。(gomen nasai... ano, saikin wa watashi ga mendokusai...)
I know my 日本語(nihongo) is terrible and I probably messed up that sentence really badly; what I mean to say is, everyone, I'm really sorry that I've been so lazy in posting lately. I thought that I would post more during the summer, but I ended up doing other things and forgetting to study even! So I will do my best to start studying seriously again and posting on here regularly.
Thank you for reading all this. ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
Please support me in the future! おうえんしてね！(ouenshite ne)
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A List of Words Part 1
Last time I wrote, I talked about different ways to learn vocabulary.
Well, I was working on vocabulary myself the other day, and I made a huge list of words that I'm going to look up to help improve my vocab. Some of the words I already know, some I've learned before and don't know fully yet, and some I don't know at all.
Heavy, ceiling, window, music, sound, sing, dance, video, Internet, computer, type, dresser, closet, room, home, house, bookshelf, study school, desk, chair, rain, umbrella, books, read, stuffed animals, pillow, blanket, carpet, rug, paper, pencil, pen, notebook, floor, Bible, box, storage, organize, mail, letter, files, wings, lamp, ruler, measuring tape, fabric, clothes, sewing, cut, pattern, nails, nail polish, glitter, fingernails, finger, hand, front, back, palm, arm, shoulder, elbow, fore arm, chest, stomach, neck, collar bone, chin, cheeks, ears, mouth, teeth, nose, snot (eww...), eyes, eyebrows, forehead, hair, head, face, back, legs, knees, feet, toes, toenails, bottom, sit, stand, walk, jump, run, spin, fall, lay, sleep, make, cook, hold, held, hide, seek, tag, find, look, search, cry, laugh, smile, frown, happy, sad, excited, upset, folder, plastic, truth, lie, socks, tights, skirt, pants, jeans, underwear, shirt, blouse, dress, jacket, cardigan, coat, necklace, bracelet, earrings, stickers, makeup, eat, drink, liquid, solid, gas, air, sky, clouds, weather, leaves, trees, bushes, grass, branches, ground, building, road, grow, mailbox, fence, discover, river, creek, lake, stream, ocean, boat, swim, rope, float, swimming suit, novel, soak, salt, pepper, fruit, vegetables, meat, kids, boy, girl, play, toys, nursery, snack, lesson, color, coloring page, crayon, colored pencil, marker, art, draw, create, absorb, sponge, clean, tidy, kitchen, shelf, stove, microwave, oven, refrigerator, dust, dirty, stuff, storage, table, messy, covered, uncovered, over, under, spoon, fork, knife, plate, bowl, cup, thirsty, hungry, tired, exhausted, pigtails, ponytail, hair (a repeat), braid, cute, cool, accessory, language, speak, learn, new, old, many, few, clip, zip, zipper, close, open, elastic, ruffle, shorts, skort (mix of skirt and shorts. doubt there's a Japanese word for it...), drive, go, explore, leave, come, contain, pin, scissors, snip, write
Told you it was a huge list. Anyways, over the next few posts, I'm going to put the Japanese versions of these words. Maybe it will help some people! I really don't know, but if I can help others, that would be great!
Bye for now!
Just a note, I think it's funny to trace my train of thought with the list. It reminds me of my Psychology class that I took in the first semester of college. ^-^
Well, I was working on vocabulary myself the other day, and I made a huge list of words that I'm going to look up to help improve my vocab. Some of the words I already know, some I've learned before and don't know fully yet, and some I don't know at all.
Heavy, ceiling, window, music, sound, sing, dance, video, Internet, computer, type, dresser, closet, room, home, house, bookshelf, study school, desk, chair, rain, umbrella, books, read, stuffed animals, pillow, blanket, carpet, rug, paper, pencil, pen, notebook, floor, Bible, box, storage, organize, mail, letter, files, wings, lamp, ruler, measuring tape, fabric, clothes, sewing, cut, pattern, nails, nail polish, glitter, fingernails, finger, hand, front, back, palm, arm, shoulder, elbow, fore arm, chest, stomach, neck, collar bone, chin, cheeks, ears, mouth, teeth, nose, snot (eww...), eyes, eyebrows, forehead, hair, head, face, back, legs, knees, feet, toes, toenails, bottom, sit, stand, walk, jump, run, spin, fall, lay, sleep, make, cook, hold, held, hide, seek, tag, find, look, search, cry, laugh, smile, frown, happy, sad, excited, upset, folder, plastic, truth, lie, socks, tights, skirt, pants, jeans, underwear, shirt, blouse, dress, jacket, cardigan, coat, necklace, bracelet, earrings, stickers, makeup, eat, drink, liquid, solid, gas, air, sky, clouds, weather, leaves, trees, bushes, grass, branches, ground, building, road, grow, mailbox, fence, discover, river, creek, lake, stream, ocean, boat, swim, rope, float, swimming suit, novel, soak, salt, pepper, fruit, vegetables, meat, kids, boy, girl, play, toys, nursery, snack, lesson, color, coloring page, crayon, colored pencil, marker, art, draw, create, absorb, sponge, clean, tidy, kitchen, shelf, stove, microwave, oven, refrigerator, dust, dirty, stuff, storage, table, messy, covered, uncovered, over, under, spoon, fork, knife, plate, bowl, cup, thirsty, hungry, tired, exhausted, pigtails, ponytail, hair (a repeat), braid, cute, cool, accessory, language, speak, learn, new, old, many, few, clip, zip, zipper, close, open, elastic, ruffle, shorts, skort (mix of skirt and shorts. doubt there's a Japanese word for it...), drive, go, explore, leave, come, contain, pin, scissors, snip, write
Told you it was a huge list. Anyways, over the next few posts, I'm going to put the Japanese versions of these words. Maybe it will help some people! I really don't know, but if I can help others, that would be great!
Bye for now!
Just a note, I think it's funny to trace my train of thought with the list. It reminds me of my Psychology class that I took in the first semester of college. ^-^
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. ^-^
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)
Friday, May 4, 2012
Catching up. ^-^
みんなさん！こんにちは！！！(minna san! konnichiwa!)
元気ですか？(genki desu ka?)
It's been a while since I posted properly. I hope that I will make more time for 勉強(benkyou) and posting.
Today marks one week of summer break for me! I haven't had school for a week, but I feel so bored... D:
みんなさん、(minna san) I'm entering a singing contest! Unfortunately the song I have to sing isn't in 日本語(nihongo). It's in English. But if I like how my video comes out i may post it here or on one of my other blogs anyways! ^-^
Mmmm... I feel kind of sad lately when I look at 日本語(nihongo)... I guess I just feel frustrated that I haven't been studying as much as I should have been... well, there's only a week until the deadline for the contest so after that I can work extra hard on 日本語の勉強！(nihongo no benkyou)
みんなさん(minna san) thank you for reading! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
I hope I can keep up with this blog in the future! Until next time, じゃね！(jya ne!)
元気ですか？(genki desu ka?)
It's been a while since I posted properly. I hope that I will make more time for 勉強(benkyou) and posting.
Today marks one week of summer break for me! I haven't had school for a week, but I feel so bored... D:
みんなさん、(minna san) I'm entering a singing contest! Unfortunately the song I have to sing isn't in 日本語(nihongo). It's in English. But if I like how my video comes out i may post it here or on one of my other blogs anyways! ^-^
Mmmm... I feel kind of sad lately when I look at 日本語(nihongo)... I guess I just feel frustrated that I haven't been studying as much as I should have been... well, there's only a week until the deadline for the contest so after that I can work extra hard on 日本語の勉強！(nihongo no benkyou)
みんなさん(minna san) thank you for reading! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
I hope I can keep up with this blog in the future! Until next time, じゃね！(jya ne!)
Friday, March 9, 2012
What I've been up to
This is some of what I've been doing to practice 日本語(nihongo) lately. ^-^
Pretty much what I do is when I come across a kanji I don't know, don't quite remember, want to know different pronunciations for, etc. I go to the online Japanese-English Dictionary I talked about in this post, and I look up the kanji and write down all the information on it so I can practice it again later! It's a pretty useful trick, but it killed my blue pen... :/
In other news, I seem to have caught a bit of a cold so everyone please be careful not to get sick! It seems like everyone is...
^-^ see ya!
Pretty much what I do is when I come across a kanji I don't know, don't quite remember, want to know different pronunciations for, etc. I go to the online Japanese-English Dictionary I talked about in this post, and I look up the kanji and write down all the information on it so I can practice it again later! It's a pretty useful trick, but it killed my blue pen... :/
In other news, I seem to have caught a bit of a cold so everyone please be careful not to get sick! It seems like everyone is...
^-^ see ya!
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