Japanese Study: Day 3
Today I was at work, and due to an unexpected late night I didn't manage to get up at 5am. So not the most productive Sunday with regards to Japanese study. However, I managed to get some revision done on the train with the smart.fm iPhone app and I'm liking it even more with each session.
I'd used the iKnow application on the website many times before, completing both the hiragana and katakana sets, but when it came to the vocab/sentences I found it difficult to recall the answers. Maybe after all these failures and frustrations with learning I've finally bent my brain into the right shape for collecting and sorting through the Japanese language, because now I'm finding it a lot easier.
Lunch today was おこのみやき
おいしかった!
I'd ordered Aセット "A-set" meal but they had me on the bill for Bセット which was cheaper. After paying and exiting I realized the error and went back in to give them the rest of the money for my Aセット meal. After trying to think what to say, and mentioning Aセット a few times the girl understood and took my money.
This evening I asked my wife what I should’ve said, and the simplest thing would be to say Bセットじゃなくて、Aセットです. Basically it means "It's not B-set, it's A set". But to just say something "is not" would be somethingじゃない. Like "it's not a bear" would be くまじゃない。
UPDATE: Apparently for adjectives like さむい "cold" it would be さむくない, but for nouns like "bear" it's くまじゃない. But if I said さむいじゃない I would still be understood, but sound a bit weird ^^
- 出る (でる) "go out; leave"
- 使う (つかう) "to use"
- 続く (つづく) "to continue; to go on"
- 国 (くに) "country"
- 未だ (まだ) "yet; more; (often used as 'not yet')"
- お好み焼き (おこのみやき) "savory pancake with various ingredients; delicious ^^"
PhD research scientist
I think that food is a great motivator in learning language. It is amazing how many conversations in life revolve around food so I think that it is a great approach.
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
My life revolves around food ^^
Network & Telecommunications Administrator
http://sorvani.blogspot.com
My wife made おこのみやき the other day. http://sorvani.blogspot.com/2010/01/okonomiyaki.html
I've taken to trying to write down my dinners in kana like you mentioned doing a while back. It is slow going, but it is progress I think.
http://sorvani.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-writing-practice.html
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
Keep it up! I've been writing for a while now and I'm gradually improving. Now I'm much better at recalling what a kana looks like rather than only being able to read it when I see it. It really helps to be able to do both.
Developer
I like your idea of posting notes about japanese language learning every day, they encourage me to continue my study too :)
kyoushi
The thing I hate about janai is, with the wrong tone, it could mean "isn't it?"
Why not try translating? http://animelyrics.com has a lot of untranslated lyrics you can try. Best thing about it is it's short and quick to do, fans will love you for it, and it could come from an anime or artist that you like.
You can try youtube karaoke as well. Nothing like keeping up with the subtitles to make you learn hiragana.
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
Thanks for the advice. I may try translating some YUI or アジカン lyrics, and a bit of karaoke sounds fun :D
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
Hi Funbit and thanks! I'm glad these notes encourage you :)