Image Courtesy of Wikipedia

クラスメートのなまえ：カイパーさん。
かいわのタイトル：にほんに　ゆめいな　なにが　ありますか？

カイパーさん：おはいよう　ございます。
ぼく： おはいよう　ございます。
カイパーさん：あのう、にほんに　ゆめいな　なにが　ありますか？
ぼく： えと、あきはばらが　あります。そして　とうきょうのデイズニーランドが　あります。
カイパーさん：ああ、そうですか。アムさんは　あきはばらに　いきましたか？
ぼく：いいえ、いきませんでした。でも、ウェブサイトお　みました。
カイパーさん：あきはばらは　どんな　ところが　ありますか？
ぼく： あきはばらは　たくさん　みせが　あります。そして　メイドカフェが　あります。とても　おもしろいですよ。
カイパーさん：そうですか。
ぼく： はい。とうきょうのデイズニーランドも　おもしろいですよ。　そして　りっぱ　です。
 カイパーさん：ああ、そうですか。ありがとうございます。
ぼく：いいえ。

Image courtesy of Japantimes.co.jp

Newbury Park

ぼくは　カリフォニアしゅの　ニュバリパークから　きましたか。ニュバリパークは　きれいです。そして　あたらしです。でも、ニュバリパークは　ゆめい　じゃありませんです。ニュバリパークの　としょかんは　りっぱ　です。

Here's a picture of the inside of the Newbury Park Library

Katakana Adventures!

It's really interesting to see what loan words, or がいらいご (words from other language appropriated by Japanese and written in Katakana) exist in Japanese. It's also funny to see how some of the words have lost or changed their meanings. And finally there are some really funny onomatopoeia using Katakana. After a bit of research, here are, in no particular order, my ten favorite loan words and onomatopoeias.

1. サウスポー: Meaning left-handed. This expression come from baseball, and I can't help but wonder if it caught-on in Japan due to the aforementioned sport's popularity there.

2. チーズ: As in say cheese. You have to wonder how this came around and caught on in Japan.

3. アイス: Who doesn't like ice cream? Well, actually me kinda since I'm lactose intolerant :|

4. バイキング: Ok this one confused me at first, but apparently in Japanese "viking" means an all-you-can eat buffet. Viking are cool and all, but actually I kind of like their definition better...

5. ワンワン: This sounds so completely different from how we think dogs sound. Then again, I guess small dogs do kind of sounds like that, and it's the bigger ones that give the "barks" or the "arfs" that we in American think of. Makes me wonder how big the average Japanese dog is.

6. ゲロゲロ: It's weird how different this is from ribbit. Maybe frogs sound different in Japan?

7. ズーズー: Or in English: Slurp. Kind of funny how the difference in utensils makes slurping necessary for eating noodles in the East and it's considered rude in the West.

8. マジマジ: Why there's an onomatopoeia for staring I don't know, but it make me happy that this exists.

9. アメフト: A nice convenient abbreviation for American football. Still sounds kind of weird to say out loud though.

10. フローズンヨーグルト: Okay ice cream is good, but like I said above I'm lactose intolerant so I like frozen yogurt better.

So there we go, my favorite Katakana words. It's actually kind of crazy how many loan words there are in the Japanese language, and for long these loan words have existed. It also makes me wonder just how many loan words we use every day in English without noticing it...

Arthur Binard Lecture


Last Monday I had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Arthur Binard, a renowned translater and poet from the United States and who has lived in Japan for over half of his life. In his talk, Mr. Binard discussed words, and how they can have the power to change our own perceptions, and those of the people around us. Mr. Binard talked about how he first realized the full gravity of this after a trip to Japan, where he saw first hand remnants from American nuclear bomb attacks on Japan. He spoke powerfully about how words like "atomic" and "mushroom cloud" have real, intrinsic meaning in this day in age because of the events associated with them, and how their use in advertising and other mundane application can and probably are misuses of these words and phrases. The ideas he presented were very interesting, and it is a shame I wasn't able to make it to his poetry reading on Wednesday.

Image courtesy of ndatlanta.com

My Daily Routine

わたしわ　まいにち　ごぜん　はちじはんに　おきます。そして　シヤワーお　あびます。あさごはんお　ぜんぜん　たべません。じゅぎょうに　いきます。じゅうにじごろ　ひるごはんお　たべます。そのあと　べんきょうします。まいばん　バンドのれんしゅお　します。そして　しゅくだいお　します。ごぜん　いちじごろ　ねます。

1. はじめまし。ラムです。にねんせです。せんこうはせいじがくです。アメリカじんです。どうぞよろしく

One Japanese thing I love is an originally Japanese card game known as ラブレター (or Love Letter). Love Letter is a game of bluffing, strategy, deduction, and a bit of luck.

The theme of the game involves a princess, and a number of suitors (represented as the players) who are attempting to win her hand. Every night (round) the suitors attempt to use others in the castle to deliver their love letter to the princess, enlisting the help of lowly soldiers, brave knights, and many others in their pursuit of the princess' hand.


(Courtesy of BoardGameGeek.com)
 
Pictured here are cards from the original set. The game has since been reprinted many times with many different flavor varieties, including but not limited to versions based on the Munchkin card game and the Batman Comic Book Series.
 

This game is a lot of fun for 2-4 players, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone searching for an interesting way to spend a few evenings with friends and/or family.

Sean Lam

Blog Post #1

This, as stated above, is my first blog post about my experience in 1st Year Japanese Language at the University of Notre Dame.

The reason I'm taking Japanese Language actually goes back to experiences in middle school, when over several years I was forced -as part of the curriculum- to sample different language classes as electives. During this time I took brief and introductory courses in Spanish and French. Both classes were, uninspiring to me, to say the least, and when in high school I was forced again to choose a language course, Japanese sprang up to me as an option beyond those other two.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into the class, but what I found was an enthusiastic teacher and an interesting subject. The class content was made up of a college curriculum, and we actualled used an older addition of the Nakama textbook that we are using now. However, the class moved  slowly, covering things at about one-half of the rate intended.

When I finished the curriculum offered at my high school in my junior year, we had covered little more than one year of college-level Japanese. After a year-long break from the language in my senior year, I came to Notre Dame, where I requested to be placed in the 1st Year Japanese Language course. I made this decision because I felt ill-prepared for anything beyond that. However, as per university policy, I was made to take the Japanese placement exam.

The results left me, thankfully enough, placed in first-year Japanese. However, scheduling conflicts that I could not avoid made it impossible for me to fit 1st Year Japanese Language into my schedule. So, here I am now, taking the course my Sophmore year.

Initially, my interest in Japanese stemmed from it's availability as an alternative option, however as I spent more and more time studying the language, I found myself more and more interested and engaged with the culture behind it. Now, here at University of Notre Dame, where a range of language options are presented to me, Japanese is definitely my first choice, and I'm looking forward to a great year in this class.