百ねんご

みなさんのさくぶん３はとてもいいです！ みなさんがんばて。
Never in a hundred years did I think I'd be in such a great class.  Everyone is so bright and and hard working; more importantly, I can't believe how patient and humble you all were throughout the semester, especially anyone who got stuck with me as a partner!  Another class I had this semester was all general studies students like me and those guys drove me crazy, but you were all very helpful and good-hearted.  Wish you all the best on the final.  Hope to see you next semester.

ウィスコンシンから、

それから　海軍、

日本せいかつまで、

I'll be visiting つまのかぞく　during New Year's IN JAPAN.  This will be my second time visiting there.    Because of this class I'm just as excited to go as last time.  I'll remember you all in my 日本の願い。Maybe I'll keep up on my blog with pictures of the trip.  This semester wasn't easy, and Japanese may not get easy for a while, but it's a great and rewarding challenge for us all.

Compostion 3: 二十年ご

二十年ごわたしとつまはげんきでいます。わたしたちはおおきまちからきましたが、いましずかなせいかつをおくっています。うみのちかくのちさいうちにすんでいますから。だいたいまいにちつまといっしょにおよぎます。ふとんでねます。つまはこどものほんをかきます。そして、わたしはうみのけんきゅうしゃです。いまのせいかつはたのしいです。

カタカナ Analysis

Ever since I was a kid, I always took some feedback when I decided to chew my popsicle rather than suck and lick one into a sticky, soupy mess.  Call me impatient, but I always thought it tasted better when I bit right in.  So when I was introduced to the Japanese popsicle that had to be to be chewed to be appreciated, I couldn't have been happier.  The soda flavored popsicle called Gari-Gari Kun, is named for the onomatopoeic crunch that you hear and feel in you jaw when chewed.  This had been my introduction to the world of Japanese onomatopoeia, most interesting was how different "gari-gari" was from English versions of similar sound.  As far as chewing sounds are English has: crunch, chomp, munch, gnaw; not many more.  Additionally,  English crunch-type onomatopoeias have other uses and applications.  A 'crunch' could come from many things besides chewing, whereas Japanese words are much more unique in a sense.  Because of the unique nature of onomatopoeia, the Japanese writing system utilizes the katakana syllabary for their use in printed materials.

 I had also come across katakana with the word ザトウクジラ, Humpback Whale, in an Alaska tour book for Japanese.  But why had this katakana word (Zato Uku-jira) been used instead of a Japanese kanji spelling such as 座頭鯨?  On the same page, the humpback's brother whale, the Beluga, had been printed in Katakana as well ベルーガ (Berooga).  What's important to know about katakana is that it has several uses and an extensive history.

Katakana was developed during Japan's Heian Period (794-1185 AD).  In this time, katakana had come into use as an alphabet of phonograms, or sound based characters, based on Japanese Kanji (ideograms based on Chinese) characters.  Monks had used the new syllabary as a form of shorthand in the transcribing of sacred texts.  Around the same time the hiragana syllabary had been established for noble women to "express Japanese mentality" in diaries and poems (Nakagawa).  In addition, some musical scores from this time are also written in katakana (mnsu.edu).  Much later, after Japan's Meiji Revolution in 1868, the use of Katakana had been established for functional words and hiragana established as a means to express foreign or "loan" words from the west (Nakagawa). 

World War II, marked another cornerstone in establishing modern Japanese wrinting.  During the war with Japanese nationalism, many previous loanwords had been given Japanese names.  By the war's end,  loanwords had returned and it had been ruled that Katakana would be used for them.  Today, katakana is used for three reasons: onomatopoeia, loan words, and emphasis words.  

Because of its distinct, sweeping strokes and edges, katakana also serves as an emphasis in printed words, much like how Latin based alphabets use italics.  An example of a katakana emphasis would be in company names.  Despite the fact that most business names derive from the family name such as Toyota, or Asahi it is customary to see the name in katakana versus Kanji.  Printed emphasis may be seen in works of art such as poetry or manga, to attach more meaning or emphasis to particular words.

Because of Japan's dynamic history, in particular the 19th and 20th centuries have allowed the opportunity for many changes in the Japanese writing system.  It is interesting and a challenge to trace its history.  Above all, the written language of Japan is vital to the Japanese culture. Despite its origins from China, Japanese stands alone in its style and grace; unique from any other language.

References:

Anonymous.  "Heinan Period (794-1185 AD)."  Minnesota State University eMuseum.  Web.  30 November 2010.

Nakagawa, Hiroshi.  "Web Based Acquisition of Japanese Katakana Variants."  Tokyo University: Powerpoint Presentation.  2005. Web. 30 November 2010.

"Sometimes saying 'yes' or 'no' isn't beautiful"

I came across this on youTube while looking for "inspirado" in our forthcoming コロテル extravaganza.
Don't be fooled by the game show style stage (or the American guy's bad suit), this is actually a pretty deep discussion on Japanese culture and the rest of the world.  I was watching it on my own to begin with, and could tell they were talking about something pretty interesting, like what はいand いいえ really end up meaning and the comparison of Natto to Bleu Cheese.  Eventually it led to a big discussion with my wife, about  the importance of having meaning behind one's sentences and how Japanese politcal debate or CNN "Crossfire"-type shows in Japan don't follow the same routine of choosing sides and bickering the way the west does. Instead there is a "negotiation without speaking" and an emphasis in taking time to formulate one's own decision.
Maybe we いちねんせい won't be able to understand it completely, but anybody with good Japanese skills should check it out!

Katakana Literary Work

This is a little manga I made.  It's a glimpse into the difficult life of a cat.  It reads from top to bottom, left to right.  I realize Japanese manga is from right to left, but I had to adjust it since I had two more frames that couldn't fit.  Sorry for the discrepancy.  I use Katakana for the title and the cat's name, as a sort of comic emphasis, though we do typically write as たぬたぬ.  Her name is Tanu Tanu, because her orange stripe on her  face resembles a Tanuki, the Japanese raccoon dog.

In this short adventure, Tanu is hungry and sees a small mouse near her food dish.  As she readies to attack the mouse, she shuffle her hind legs フリフリ.  Mad at the toy mouse, she bats it away パ、ポーン！ Next, the birds outside chirp at her ピヨピヨピヨ、チーチー.   The birds actually want to be her friend,  but she is too lazy to play so Tanu only hisses at them ヒー to leave her alone.   Finally, she is startled by the big, noisy vacuum　ブウウウウン and hopes "Please, don't suck me in".

Compostion 2: てがみ

山田さん、はじめまして。ナスタコフスキーアンドリューです。ウィスコンシンからきました。いまコロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。日本のせいかつはどうですか。ウィスコンシンのせいかつはしずかでしたが、ニューヨークのせいかつはいそがしいです。あなたのまちはどんなところですか。にせんはちねんにつまと日本へいきました。りょこうはすてきでしたが、日本のちかてつはとてもむずかしいです。日本のたべものをいつもたべます。カレーライスはおいしいです。ろくがつにじゅうさんにちになりたであいましょう。

じゃまたこのなつ、よろしくおねがいします。

ナスタコフスキーアンドリュー。

Katakana Analysis Draft

ガリガリクン：

Gari-Gari Kun is the name of a crunchy Japanese popsicle.  The name "gari-gari" derives from the sound it makes when bitten into.  I've found Japanese onomatopoeia interpretation much more creative than those found in English.  If Gari-Gari Kun had been introduced in an English speaking country the name may be far less inventive.  English has only a few onomatopeia choices for a crunching sound, and each of those are used quite frequently.  For example "crunch" in American snack foods appears in Cap'n Crunch, Crunch n Munch, Nestle Crunch, even health food such as Kashii GoLean Crunch to name only a few.  One would be hard-pressed to find sound words as creative as Japanese in English.

ザトウクジラ："Zatou Kudzira", or humpback whale.  I found this word in a Japanese tour book for Alaska.  It's interesting that some animals' names were strictly 'loanwords' and others had Japanese versions.  For instance humback whale is "zatou kudzira" but Beluga whale is simply "beruga".  It's possible the beluga was discovered much later than humpbacks. Of course, it is likely that the book used katakana for each animal to give a standard appearance in the book, or it may be that humpback whale or most animals written in kanji are not as well known.

Katakana has many different applications; a fairly long history.  My conclusion as to why there exists multiple textbook explanations on the matter is that katakana is over a thousand years old, originally used as a form of shorthand for Buddhist monks to transfer sacred texts.  Since then, it's use has been changed multiple times due to different rulers in Japan, and most recently World War II.  During the war, many modern loanwords were given new Japanese names.  With all the change throughout history there is bound to be a degree of variance in katakana use.

このしゅうまつ

First of all, to who ever voted for my Compostion Recording: どうもありがとうございました!  I needed the confidence boost!

わたしはライティングクラスのレポートをかきます。ブラジルのにっけいじんのレポートです。おもしろいです。

それから、オーシアンオーグラフイをべんきょうします。

どこねますか？

たぬたぬ：わたしのふねでねます。ときどきアンドリューのしゅくだいでもねます。

どこですか！？

きのう：
ごごしちじに　わたしのボールペンはどこですか？　おもしろい。
ごごじゅうじに　わたしのにほんごのノートはどこですか？！　ボールペン　と　にほんごのノートはきょうしつへです！

せんせい、どうもありがとうございました。

わたしはげんきですか？

あんどりゅう：たぬたぬは　いつ　ねますか？
たぬたぬ：あさ、ひる、とばん　ねます。
あんどりゅう：ごぜんにじです。べんきょうします。たぬたぬは　はたらきますか？
たぬたぬ：えーと。いいえ、はたらきません。たいへんですね。

これはだれのコンピューターですか？

たぬたぬ：いいえ。わたしはおばあさんじゃありません！

たぬたぬはだれですか？

たぬたぬはわたしのねこです。なんさい？じゅうさんさいです。みけのねこです。みてください。

Major in blogging?

A few months ago, a girl in my apartment building asked what I was going to major in.  I told her I wanted to major in English.
"Oh! You must be a blogger then?", she asked.
I said, "A blogger? Do people actually go to school to do that?" Wow.
Anyways, this is my first time blogging.  But this blog is here for my Japanese class.  Very exciting stuff!

こんにちは

はじめまして。わたしはあんどりゅうです。ころんびあのだいがくせいです。これはひとつのぶろぐです。おもしろいです。わたしはにじゅはっさいです。をすこんしんからきました。あれはにほんじゃありません。にほんごはおもしろいです。じゃまた。