Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So...here's to what's next?

Alright,

Let's get started shall we. Last time we talked we learned about the K consonants, next is S.

What we've learned before starting the lesson:

ーーーーーーーーかあ
　ー　ーーーーーきい
　ーーーーーーーくう
　ー　ーーーーーけえ
ーーーーーーーーこお
ー

Lesson:

Ok, さ. (Sa) Think of a making the symbol sound like the word saw, as in, Leo saw a bird. Next し, (Shi) it sounds like the word she in regards to referencing a gender. Then there's す(Su). Think of the name Sue. せ (Se) can be pronounced to the likeness of the first two letters of sell. Just cut it off short before the l's. Finally, theres そ. (So) This is closesly pronounced to the english so, just remember that and you should be alright. (Remember, I have links to audio pronounciations for all the hirigana we've learned, just click on the hirigana and you'll be taken to a site that will play the file for you.)

So now our chart looks like this.

ーーーーーーーさかあ
　ー　ーーーーしきい
　ーーーーーーすくう
　ー　ーーーーせけえ
ーーーーーーーそこお
ー


Look at that eh, we're getting there.

JWoTD:
Kanji: 繕う
Hiragana: つくろう
Romaji: tsukurou
Definition: To repair; to mend; to patch; to trim; to keep up; to save.
Site: Click here for more information on the JWoTD


Thanks for your time and hope to read what you have to say.



じゃまた。


デボン

Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko...Yo!

Hey,

Today we're going to be going over the first column of consonants and vowels. These groupings of symbols are associated to the sounds that they make and when we combine these sounds, we form words, which hopefully form meaning.

か or ka sounds like your imitating a crow. "Caw! Caw!" Or maybe an Eastern based US accent saying car? :P

き or ki sounds like key. Yea, um, that's pretty much it for that one.

くor ku sounds like cool, without the l. It can also be likened to that annoying bird. Coo! Coo!

け or ke kinda sounds like 'kay and 'eh combined.

こor ko. Think hot coco. :)

What we've learned up to now.


ーーーーーーーーかあ
　ー　ーーーーーきい
　ーーーーーーーくう
　ー　ーーーーーけえ
ーーーーーーーーこお
ー

When we're all done the table above will be filled out completely. Nice work guys and gals!

JWoTD:
Kanji: N/A
Hiragana: つかる
Romaji: tsukaru
Definition: To be soaked in; to steeped in; to be submersed in.
Site: Click here for more information on the JWoTD

I added the word's definition to the JWoTD format. Also, look at the hiragana. Do you see a familiar symbol? :D


じゃまた。


デボン

Turning the Pages: A,E,I,O,U, style.

Alrighty, lets get started!

Ok, I hope you all took a minute to go over to thejapanesepage.com and look at some of the hiragana lessons. If not, no biggie, I probably wouldn't have and ended up doing the same thing your doing right now...staring at the text wondering how he's possibly going to get us to understand Japanese if we haven't learned the basic structure. So I'll write it down here to show you what I mean as well as enforce it for those that did visit the site. What I'm about to share with you all is so groundbreaking and revolutionary, it's gonna take the world by storm.The vowel A and the symbol A are paired, but there really is no symbolic connection between the two. Yet that is what languages are based on; symbols and sounds. In Japanese the vowel we would relate to A is actually written like this, あ (It is also written as ア but that's katakana and we'll work on that later). This vowel is pronounced like the a in father. Get more information and help on pronouncing this vowel here.

Next is the vowel, い. This vowel sounds like the ea in eat. The third vowel is う, and it sort of sounds like the u in dude but is pronounced with a staccato and is cut short. The fourth is え. This vowel is pronounced like the e in met. Like almost all the other vowels it follows the same soft staccato pronunciation. Lastly is お, spoken like oh.


So, in summary we learned about the Japanese vowels あ、い、う、え、お and what they sound like. But we never learned about these symbols 、。, these are the basic punctuation; 、is used as a comma and 。 could be likened to a period. Visit Wikipedia if you wish to learn more about Japanese punctuation (And yes, when used with discretion, like so many things that should be in life, Wikipedia is a fine resource).

English/Japanese vowels:
A/あ
I/い
U/う
E/え
O/お

(Yes I know most people sound out vowels in the A, E, I, O, U, order but for simplicity and correlation I did it this way.)

JWoTD:
Kanji:抱く
Hiragana:だく
Romaji:Daku
Click here for more information on the JWoTD

Next update I'll probably go over the K consonant formation.

じゃまた。

デボン

First Few Days

Hi, Devon here.

So I came up with a plan for this blog. What I plan to do is practice writing in Japanese and sort of keep a journal of my learning process with a hopeful end result of writing in all Japanese. What I'm going to do so that you can all understand is introduce words here daily and only use the words we all know. These words will not be under the JWoTD but will be considered as remembered words. Now the first step; before we learn how to write words we need to know how they're formed. This is where http://www.thejapanesepage.com comes in. If you could click here you'll be taken to a page where you'll be introduced to Hiragana, one of the three character scripts used in Japan. That site is an excellent resource. Take your time over there and check back here in a couple of days or so. We'll be able to start learning together!

JWoTD:
Hiragana:たくわえる
Romaji:Takuwaeru
Click here for more information on the JWoTD

じゃまた。

デボン

Resources

Hi, Devon here.

Today I wanted to share some of my favorite Japanese resources online. The first one is http://www.thejapanesepage.com. They (TJP) are an incredible wealth of information on the Japanese culture. Another is http://www.snowjapan.com. It's a blog/site with info on snowboarding in Japan. :D Another site that's useful for learning about the language and culture is genkienglish.net. Another resource like TJP but with a slightly different approach and not quite as "homey." It's a great site but you only visit a couple of times then move on, TJP is my "base of operations." Another is japanese.about.com. Again a lot of information but not very commune based. http://www.tamarillo.net.au/hiragana/learn_hiragana_game.html is a great hiragana based flash game. Another resource I recommend isn't a website but it is useful. Look up DreamKana, (http://dreamkana.dreambreed.qarchive.org/) it's an excellent flashcard program that's freeware.

Resources:
http://www.thejapanesepage.com
http://www.snowjapan.com
genkienglish.net
japanese.about.com
http://www.tamarillo.net.au/hiragana/learn_hiragana_game.html
http://dreamkana.dreambreed.qarchive.org

An audio media resource I'm using right now is the Pimsler learning system. It's worked really well. It's just really expensive and only teaches you how to speak, I'm having to learn how to write through other means. Another resource is http://www.learn-japanese-kanji-hiragana-katakana.com. This Ebook costs about $77 and I can't vouch for it. But they do have some basic courses on how to write basic Japanese.

Japanese Word of The Day (JWoTD):
Kanji: 背負う
Hiragana:せおう
Romaji: Seou
Click here for more information on the JWoTD

じゃまた。

デボン
(Devon or translated to DeBoN)

Baby Steps

Hi, my name's Devon.

You may have read my other blog over at Embers of The Mind. Basically I made a new blog to keep track of my language learning process and how I can help others achieve the same goal. My goal is to be able to communicate on a basic level with people in Japan when it comes time to move there next year, provided my scholarship is accepted. If not, it's always usefull to know a new language; and I know a little bit of several. I hope this is the first of many entries and look forward to see you tomarrow.

じゃまた。
(Ja Mata is an informal form of see you later)

Devon