Monday, Week 2  -  Grammar talk

Grammar is an inevitable part of a language, and at the same time the boring part of a language in my opinion. Last week's focus was nouns and sentence structure, this week we dig a bit deeper into the grammar and more advanced expressions.

The main theme of this weeks chapter (Chapter 2 in Genki) is the "ko, so, a, do" system. It's the Japanese equivalent of this/that, but the difference is that Japanese has a third expression for things without reach. For more details read about it in the grammar section.

Book recommendation
We were recommended a very informative book about Japanese grammar by our teacher, "A reference grammar of Japanese" by Samuel E. Martin. It is a heavy book and hard navigated, but it covers about everything in Japanese grammar.

Tuesday, Week 2  -  Shopping and building vocabulary

After the first week I feel that I've acquired a small but yet useful vocabulary. Just by practicing grammar and writing simple sentences like わたしはがくせいです a couple of times is enough to remember new words. The good thing is that you are practicing grammar and learn to get used to the different word order in Japanese at the same time. I am still miles away from being able to discuss rocket science in Japanese but I know how to ask about the time!

Today I've been expanding my vocabulary by learning all new words in Genki in chapter 2. The theme of chapter 2 is shopping, so here's a list of very basic things you can buy:

Useful phrases
これはいくらですか。 - How much is this?
たかいですね。 - It's expensive

Wednesday, Week 2  -  Irregular numbers

I have always found that counting is one of the trickier parts with foreign languages, because you hear new combinations every time. It takes some time to analyze it in the head before you realize what number it is, and then it's too late already because you've missed what've been said during your thinking time. Then comes irregularities in numbers in some languages, like French. Japanese is unfortunately one of them... It's not much to remember but it is still something that has to be considered. Here are some irregular numbers (marked in bold):

It is just a slightly different spelling. But after thousand comes a unit that means ten thousand. Japanese have a word for that, まん. So にまん means 20,0000. There are no irregular numbers with まん.

Thursday, Week 2  -  Small things matters

Today I've been practicing some hiragana through DreamKana (see "Tips for learning hiragana"). When I write words I try to write it in hiragana and not romaji now which helps a lot to recall the ones you've learnt.

Some observations

•	There is no spacing between characters in sentences. Ex. いまごごごじです (Now the time is 5.00 P.M.)
•	Question marks are usually not used in questions. Instead a question can be marked by a か in the end of the question. Ex. いまなんじですか。 (What time is it?)
•	The punctuation marks are different in Japanese. English Japanese Point . 。 Comma , 、

Friday, Week 2  -  Your name in Japanese

This topic is so typical for people learning a foreign language that is completely different from their own language. Getting a "Japanese" name is usually the first and most natural step in the Japanification process. I can say that the longer you learn a language the more you want to melt into that culture, especially if it's a language you choose to learn based on your interests and not required by the job.

Today at class we got our western names transcribed into Japanese katakana. You wont get a 100% Japanese name this way since the katakana reveals that it's a western word, but it's good for now. Another way to go is to choose a completely new name that is 100% Japanese, but I think it's good to leave that decision for later when you know more about the language and hopefully the meaning of your own name. It's wise to consult a Japanese or someone who knows Japanese well enough to give you a Japanese name, preferably someone you trust! I know people who got some funny names in Chinese because of this.

Actually the same English name may have different versions in Japanese katakana since the pronounciation might not match exactly.

My Japanese name (western words are always written in katakana):

A long list of English names transcribed into Japanese can be found at Takase Studios.

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