Mwa ha ha halloween!

The rain pours down so heavily here on my little rock. I wonder why today of all days it decided to dampen everything? Oh well, I love it and so do the slugs so it's all fine and dandy!

Vocabulary (General):
Shigoto-work/employment

Itsu-When/how soon?

Doko-What place/where?

Nomimasu-drink

Nomimasuka-You drink?

Shimasu ka-You do?

Instead of putting a question mark at the end of their sentences, the Japanese say “ka”.

Vocabulary (Times of the day):

Asa-morning

Hiru-afternoon

Yuugata-evening

Yoru-night

Templates:

Doko de hataraite imasuka - Where do you work?

Watashi wa ______ hataraite imasu - I work at a/in the ______.

Itsu hataraite imasuka - When do you work?

Watashi wa ______  hataraite imasu - I work in the _______.

Vocabulary (People):

Keisatsukan-Police man or woman

Sensei-Teacher

Shougakusei-Student

Isha-Doctor

Oishasan-Doctor (Polite)

“O” is an honor prefix and “San” is an honor suffix.

Vocabulary (Places):

Kouen-Park

Gakkou-classroom

Byouin-doctors office

Resutoran-restaurant

Soto-outside

Okunai-inside

Example:
Watashiwa gakkou de hataraite imasu - I work in a classroom.

 

Vocabulary (Meals):

Yuugata-dinner

Hirugohan-lunch

Asagohan-breakfast

Tabemasu-to eat

Gohan-means both, meal and cooked rice

Templates (Meals):

Itsu _________ o tabemasu ka - When did you eat ___________?

Watashi wa shigoto no mae ni _________ o tabemasu- I ate __________ before work.

Itsu _________ o tabemasu ka - When did you eat __________?

Watashi wa shigoto no ato ni _________ o tabemasu - I ate _______ after work.

Examples (Meals):

Itsu asagohan o tabemasu ka - When did you eat breakfast?

Watashi wa shigoto no mae ni asagohan o tabemasu- I ate breakfast before work.

Itsu yuugohan o tabemasu ka - When did you eat dinner?

Watashi wa shigoto no ato ni yuugohan o tabemasu - I ate dinner after work.

More Examples:

Kazoku wa soto de asagohan o tabete imasu - The family eats breakfast outside.

Itsu koohii o nomimasu ka-When did you drink your coffee?

Watashi wa asa koohii on nomimase-I drank my coffee in the morning.

Doko de koohii o nomimasu ka-Where did you drink your coffee?

Watashi wa kafe de koohii o nomimasu-I drank my coffee in a café.

Okay so there you have it! I fed you a steady vocabulary and grammar lesson of meals and even seemingly unedible items! Hopefuly you are satisfied for the time being and I'll remember to feed you sometime again--maybe.

Oh and do you know what November the fifth waw? Guy Fawkes day! And just for the record I think he and the gunpowder plot were amazing--until it fell to pieces and he was hung along with several comrades, but that's not the point!

So Voila!

Brooke.

It's so foggy that I can't see the road... NUMBERS!

I appear to have a missing water bottle problem. The worst part though is that it doesn't even belong to me--I was borrowing it! Hopefully I can find it soon. I still need to catch up to be able to put stuff in these so my apologize on the delay, trust me, I don't want to be behind!
I found the water bottle! Don't worry; it is safe and cared for in the comfort of my kitchen. I don't like being tired and that's exactly what I am right now but when a job is unfinished it needs to be completed... and now seems to be the elusive "eventually" I've been speaking about for the last month. Of course it's at eleven o'clock at night, why get a healthy amount of sleep? No one seems to anyway these days.

Some numbers that I have already shown in entries previous have more than one name. Why do they have more than one name you ask? Well that's because each pronunciation is used in specific situations! Sometimes they go easy on you and either way is acceptable.

Rei or zero-zero
Shi or yon-four
Nana or shichi-seven
Kyuu or ku-nine

Vocabulary (Numbers):

Juu-ichi-11

Juu-ni-12

Juu-san-13

Juu-yon-14

Juu-go-15

Juu-roku-16

Juu-nana-17

Juu-hachi-18

Juu-kyuu-19

Notice how numbers from 11-19 are formed by putting the correct number after "ten" or "juu". Example:
14 is juu plus yon which makes is juuyon.

Vocabulary (Numbers):

Ni-juu-20

San-juu-30

Yon-juu-40

Go-juu-50

Roku-juu-60

Nana-juu-70

Hachi-juu-80

Kyuu-juu-90

There is a similarity in process here as there is in numbers 11-19 but instead of placing the correct numbers after, we are looking for the ones that go before juu.

Example:

70 is Nana plus juu or seven tens.

Vocabulary (Numbers):

Hyaku-100

Nihyaku-200

Sanbyaku-300

Yonhyaku-400

Gohyaku-500

Roppyaku-600

Nanahyaku-700

Happyaku-800

Kyuuhyaku-900

See how most of the hundreds are the base number plus a hundred with the exceptions of 300, 600 and 800. So this basic principal holds firm.

Example:

400 is yon plus hyaku or four hundreds.

Vocabulary (Even more numbers):

Sen-thousand

Man-ten thousand

Juu-man-Hundred thousand

Hyaku-man-Million

Sen-man-ten million

Oku-hundred million

It's kind of fun that they have "man" in their numbers, even if it's not translated to our version of man. I wonder if there's a Sen-woman or a juu-woman?

Templates:

___(number)___wa ___(lower number)___ no ato ni kimasu: _____ is after _____

___(number)____ wa ____(higher number)____ no mae ni kimasu: _____ is in front of _____

Nansai desu ka - How old are you?

Watashi wa ___(age)__sai desu - I am ___(age)____.

Examples:

Juugo(15) wa juuyon(14) no ato ni kimasu-Fifteen is after fourteen. (14, 15)

Juukyuu(19) wa nijuu(20) no mae ni kimasu-Ninteen is in front of twenty. (19, 20)

Remember that mae is translated to "front"

Ato ni refers to a specific point in time like at the end of an event--or in this case, sentence.

Or, a different way of putting it;
Mae ni - before something
Ato ni/Ato de - Ato ni: specific point in time after at event, Ato de: refers to a point after an event in general (These are interchangeable most of the time.)

Sai is added to a number when refering to age so when I say I am "kyuuhyaku-rokujuu-yonsai" that means I am "nine-hundered-sixty-four years old".

Hey, you never know; it is the internet after all!

Brooke.

Procrastina.... Where are you?

Apparently this month has 5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.... something that only happens every 823 years. There's your fun fact for the next 823 years folks! So this week has been devoted to me catching up with the work I have had six weeks to finish... well, it's almost done now. Procrastination is one of the most common... er, I'll have to come back to you on that.
Here's something fun and useful, let's talk about where things are. Okay well I can already tell that this is going to be a pretty one-sided conversation but I'll take what I can get! First I'll show you some country names which have been translated from English to Japanese.

Vocabulary (Countries):
Kanada-Canada
Rooma- Rome
Pari- Paris
Mosukuwa- Moscow
Nyuuyooku- New York
Furansu- France
Amerika- United States of America
Chuugoku- China
Roshia- Russia
Ejiputo- Egypt
Nihon- Japan
Burajiru- Brazil
Itaria-Italy

Imasu and Arimasu both mean "to exist", the only difference is that imasu is specific to animate things, such as people and animals, where as arimasu is specific to inanimate objects like houses, kunai, Greenland, robotic arms or magical wands.
Template for asking where a place or inanimate object is:
______ wa doko ni arimasu ka. (Where is _______?)
Template for asking where animite objects are located:
______ wa doko ni imasu ka. (Where is ________?)

Jin-Person (Added on at the end of the country you are from)
Kuni-country

More templates:
So as you may have seen already, doko is translated roughly to "where" and doko ni is translated to "at what location" which is similar to koko ni which is "at this location". Here's a cool causal saying you can use:
Doko e - Where to?

Doko ni sunde imasu ka - Where do you live?
Watashi wa ______ ni sunde imasu - I live in ______/I am living in _______
Doko no kuni no kata desu ka - What country are you from?(Slightly formal)
Watashi wa _______ jin desu - I am a(n) _________ person.
In the blanks, place the country you are from and there you go!

Example:
Doko no kuni no kata desu ka. (What country are you from?)
Watashi wa Kanada jin desu. (I am a Canadian person.)
Watashiwa no pan wa doko ni arimasu ka. (Where is my bread?)
Koko ni arimasu. (It's over here.)
 Vocabulary (Places):
Shita-under/bottom
Ue-on/top/above
Naka-inside/middle
Soto-outisde
Mae-front
Ushiro-back/behind
Yoko-along side/next to
Aida-between/interval
Mukou-beyond
Tonari-next door/neighboring
Hidari gawa-left side
Migi gawa-right side

Basic words to "left" and "right" side:
Migi-right
Hidari-left
Then followed by gawa makes ____ side.

Examples:
Inu wa doko ni imasu ka. (Where is the dog?)

Koko ni imasu. (It's over here.)
Soto ni imasu. (It's outside.)
Naka ni imasu. (It's inside.)
Kuruma no shita imasu. (It's under the car.)
Kuruma no ue imasu. (It's on the car.)
Kuruma no ushiro imasu. (It's behind the car.)

I wish if someone asked "Brooke-san wa doko ni imasu ka." I could reply "Brooke-san wa beddo ni imasu." but, alas, I still have stuff to do with an unfortunate amount of energy to back me up. Oyasuminasai! (I wish...)
Brooke.

Okay... It's been a month now....

Wow, so here we go it's been roughly a month since the beginning of this course and right now all I can think about is how much my finger hurts. Ow. It's funny because halfway through writing a sarcastic comment about you having to strain your brain to remember clothing from a blog ago I realized that I sapced out and forgot--completely--to put clothing in last week! Unfortunately for me that means that I have to do it now but it will help you to know what the heck I'm talking about if I have the proper translations here for you (after all, that is the point of this blog!).
Man, have I been scatterbrained lately! As much as I would like to think that it's just a phase that everyone goes through in their youth, sometimes I can't help but to wonder if the time I cracked my skull on the cement floor I might have gotten drain bamage.

Colours:
Purple = murasaki
Pink = pinku
Brown = chairo
Grey = haiiro
Orange = orenji

Hair colours:
Red hair = akage
Brown hair = chairo
Blond hair = kinpatsu
Grey hair = hakuhatsu
Black hair = kuroi
Template for hair colour referrals:  _________ no kami wa _______ desu.
Examples: Watashi no kami wa akage desu. (I have red hair.)
Karera no kami wa chairo desu. (They have brown hair.)

Hungry/Thirsty:
Hungry = suite
Template for "is hungry": _______ wa onaka ga suite imasu.
Thirsty = kawaite
Template for "is thirsty": _______ wa nodo ga kawaite imasu.

How you feel:
Sick = byouki
Template for "is sick": _________ wa byouki desu.
Tired = tsukarete
Template for "is tired": _________ wa tsukarete imasu.
Template for "is not tired": _________ wa tsukarete imasen.

Temperature:
Cold = samui
Hot = atsui
Template for "is hot/cold": _________ wa ________ desu.
Example: Onnanoko wa atsui desu. (The girl is hot.)
Otoko no hito wa samui desu. (The man is cold.)

Clothes:
Sweater = seeta
Jeans = jiinzu
Belt = beruto
Suit = suutsu
Socks = kutsushita
Necktie = nekutai


Height:
Short = hikui
Tall = takai

Short/Tall people wearing suits!:
Okay so I wanted to give examples of how to put height into sentences and this is what I've got.
Female: Se no _________    _________ wa ____ no _____ o kite imasu.
Example: Se no takai onnano hito wa kuroi no suutsu o kite imasu. (The tall woman is wearing a black suit.)
Male: Se no _________    _________ wa ____    _____ o kite imasu.
Example: Se no hikui otoko no hito wa kuroi suutsu o kite imasu. (The short man is wearing a black suit.)


Greetings/leavings for home:
I'm home = Tadaima
Welcome home = Okaerinasai
I'm leaving = Ittekimasu

How are you?:
In a greeting you might start out with konnichiwa or konbanwa--depending on the time of day--then move into the question of How are you?
It might play out like this:
"Konnichiwa, ogenki desu ka?" (Good afternoon, how are you?)
"Ogenki desu." (I'm fine.)
Or...
"Watashi wa guai ga warui desu." (I feel sick.)

Wow, editing sucks--especially when you are inspired to do it at twelve thirty at night! Well, it's like one o'clock now and some clothing translations are in here so I am satisfied. I am thinking of moving the Japanese words back before the English ones (Like how I had them in the first entry) so I may or may not remember to do that next week. Who knows, I may or may not even remember to do it the week after that as well!
I'm trying to think of something I've always wanted to end a paragraph but the spiders have returned to spinning webs around the stationary gears in my mind. Er, dearth....
Brooke.

Week Three Of a number too large to fit in this text box

Wow, I feel like I haven't slept in weeks--wait a second! I haven't! Funny how that happens. Okay so here we are in week three. Not much has happened in the sense that I am still trying to learn the language through Rosetta Stone and find a headset that doesn't reject my voice (You don't know how many awkward silences have followed me blurting out Japanese phrases in the middle of the day.). At least the headset problem isn't something that is solely mine, in fact the other three people I know taking this course all empathize. One of these days I will be struck by a bolt of tech-savvy lightening and everything will make sense.

Family:
Daughter = musumesan
Son = musukosan
Mother = okaasan
Father = otousan

People:
Girls = onnanoktachi
Boys = otokonoko
Men = otoko no hitotachi
Women = onna no hito
They = karera
Girls = kanojotachi
Friend = tomodachi

Numbers:
Zero = zero
One = ichi
Two = ni
Three = san
Four = yon
Five = go
Six = roku
Seven = shichi
Eight = hachi
Nine = kyuu
Ten = juu
Eleven = juuichi
Twelve = juuni

"How old are you?"
I will give you the template to this question but the only downer is that so far the ages to reply with are a little limited because I am only in unit two of the program but here we go!

Template:
Where the blank is is where kare or kanojo would be placed.
_______ wa nansai desuka.

Reply:
In this blank the number of choice would be placed.

________ desu.



Possible answers (Limited, yes I know.) :

Okay so as you can see the numbers here are different here than up there in writings previous but there's nothing I can really do about it. The numbers change yet again for other things but we'll just give you this example to start with.
One = issai
Two = nisai
Three = sansai
Four = yonsai
So here's the trick; they added sai to the end of the original number. Guess what five would be? Yeah, there you gosai (Bad joke...)!
Of course, it can never be quite that simple so there are some that are changed a little more than logic can help us newbies with.
Seven = nanasai
Eight = hassai

Examples:
Kanojo wa nansai desuka.
Yonsai desu.

Kare wa nansai desuka.
Hassai desu.


Okay I hope you can digest this week's lesson and I'll talk to you again in another seven days!
Bye for now!

KORE WA DESU KA!?

Oh here it is--Thursday! Oh to greet it is another fabulous entry of my exploration through the Japanese language. This week seemed to be more focused around the home so if you're looking for a theme, that would be it. Again, I am learning the language through the program Rosetta Stone as a grade eleven course. Without further ado, I present entry number two.

Housing and appliances:
Apartment = apaato
House = ie
Door = doa
Window = mado
Television = terebi
Radio = rajio
Computer = konpyuuta (applies to all forms)
Desk top computer = desukutoppu Konpyuuta
Laptop = nooto pasokon
Bed = shinshitsu
Toilet = toire
Sink = nagashi
Living room = ima
Kitchen = daidokoro
Bathroom = basuruumu
Dining room = daininguruumu




Family:
Family = kazuko
Grandfather = ojiisan
Grandmother = obaasan

Other:
Hug, embrace = daite
Kiss = kisushite

Fitting together sentences:
Imasu is used when talking about living things.
Arimasu is used when referring about nonliving things (Inanimate objects)
On top, above = ue
Under = shita
Inside = naka
Tamplate:
____ wa ___ no ___ ni arimasu/imasu.
Examples:
-Rajio wa teeburu no ue ni arimasu. (The radio is on top of the table.)
-Neko wa bouru no naka ni imasu. (The cat is inside of the bowl. [Just so you know, I don't understand why the cat is in a bowl either.])

Okay, so last week I provided you with the translations for big and small and no way to use them in a proper sentence so I'll help you though that now.
Template:
Kono ___ wa ___ desu.
Examples:
-Kono toire wa ookii desu (The toilet is big.)
-Kono doa wa chiisai desu.(The door is small.)

Okay that's is for this week, over and out!

My first week with Rosetta Stone

So here it is, Thursday, the day which I have become fond of by implying the end of the school week. Though the language of Japanese has never been taught to me it appears to be going moderately well in the sense that I haven't gone crazy... yet. I had tried teaching myself a small amount prior to this class but... well I'm starting to get it now. One thing that might prove to be a pain is the concept of particles (see http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/verbparticles for details)--which, by the way, don't exist in the English language--but I am sure that with more time I will understand it.
This week has provided me with a fair amount of things to add to my vocabulary list of somewhere near zero--in fact I have been able to incorporate them into my regular English sentences quite abruptly.
Colours:
-ao = blue
-aka = red
-kiiro = yellow
-kuro = black
-midori = green
-shiro = white
People (Gender):
-onnanoko = girl
-otokonoko = boy
-otoko no hito = man
 -onna no hito = woman
-kare = him
-kanojo = her
-anata = you (Non specific)
Greetings:
-ohayo gozaimasu = good morning
-konnichiwa = good afternoon
-konbanwa = good evening
-sayounara = so long
-sayonara = goodbye
Foods:
-tamago = egg
-ringo = apple
-pan = bread
Animals:
-inu = dog
-neko = cat
-uma = horse
-sakana = fish
Sizes:
-ookii = big, large
-chiisai = small, little

Forming different sentences:
If you were to say "This is red" in Japanese it would be translated like so,
-Sore wa akai desu
When referring to more than one object it is
-Sorera wa akai desu

What is this?
-Kore wa nan desu ka
Answer
-Sore wa ____  desu
Example: Sore wa neko desu (It's a cat)

Okay, wow, looking at it now it looks like I might have learned something this week after all. Great! I can't wait to see what turns up next week same time (well, hopefully not at 11:00 pm again...), same place. Thanks (domo in Japanese) for reading, bye for now!