Post #7 わたしのしゅうまつ

This weekend (こんしゅまつ）I was in a performance called Seoul'd Out. It's a performance held by KSA (Korean Student Association) every year around mid to late March. It was genuinely a long weekend and week leading up to the performance, but was very rewarding at the end of it all. 
 

わたしのりゅうはじゅうにじはんごろいきます。だから、わたしをねます。あさにスタティスティックス とドイツのしがくのしゅくだいをします。でも、とドイツのしがくすきじゃないをします。(😭 so much to try and catch up on for that class)

Post #6 にほんごのアニメ: ノラガミ

 ひさしぶり! げんきですか。

Over はるやすみ, I took the time to begin rewatching Noragami (ノラガミ). It's an anime that was introduced to me in the Eighth Grade (はちねんせい) by my partner (わたしのかのじょ🥰 ).

This series did introduce me to the deities that exist within Japanese culture, and some of the practices that comes with/from Buddhism. Each of the gods portrayed in the series has a domain in which for they are responsible. 

Even though the series may be entertaining, one of the things that I really liked about it was the tone it took when handling serious topics. The series didn't constantly give off a feel of being a joke or not applicable to our real life. 

I have also found that I learn/notice something new each time that I give this series a watch. It's a series that keeps on giving. 

I wanted to include a series synopsis in case anyone is interested in taking a look at the series.

"A minor god seeking to gain widespread worship teams up with a human girl he saved to gain fame, recognition and at least one shrine dedicated to him." - IMDb

Here are some clips from Crunchyroll's official YouTube Channel: 

This first clip showcases one of the highlights from the first episode. This is one of the many reasons why I fell in love with the series. This clips highlights some of the humor that is featured within the series. 

This second clip is the introduction of my favorite character in the series: Bishamonten (毘び沙しゃ門もん天). She's a representation of the goddess of war and warriors in the series. I don't want to give away too much, but follow her story through the series and she'll quickly become a favorite.

That's it for today's post! I hope you were able to find a new anime recommendation or at least inspired to rewatch an old favorite. I'll see you guys in the next one!

じゃね！

はるやすみ: Recap

 こんにちは、みんな！

Before I head on だいがくのやすみ (university break) or better known as はるやすみ (Spring Break) for this time of year, I wanted to share with you a recap of what I've learned. 

Creating basic sentences:

• [noun] です。
• みずです。(It's water.)
• The purpose of this is to make a statement or an answer a question asking what something is. 

• [subject] の [noun] です。
• わたしのほんです。(My book.)
• の modifies "わたし" from "I" to "my".
• だいがくのやすみ (university break)
• の shows the relationship between "だいがく" (university) and "やすみ" (break) to create the compound "university break".
• The purpose of this is to show possession of something or to modify the noun as a relationship marker.

• [subject] の [noun] も...です。
• ブラウンさんのせんこうもせいじがくです。(Brown-san's major is also political science.)
• The particle "も" attaches to the phrase "ブラウンさんのせんこう" to show similarity between something that was previously stated. 
• This particle also functions in the way a topic particle (は) does.
• The purpose of this, as stated above, is to show similarity between a previous statement. 

• [subject] の [noun] は ... じゃないです。
• わたしのせんこうはびじゅつじゃないです。(My major isn't art.)
• "じゃない" is what makes a statement false.
• An important note being that は is used to show that something is the topic of that sentence.
• The purpose of this is to negate a statement, to say something isn't true.
• Primarily used with Yes/No or True/False questions.

• [subject] は [noun] がだいすきです。
• わたしはアヒルがだいすきです。(I really like ducks.)
• "が" is used to denote the subject of the sentence.
• "だいすき" is used to state when one really likes something.
• "すき" is used to state something one likes.
• The purpose of this sentence is to show what one really likes.

As sentences become more complex and begin to include verb phrases, there's something I found to be useful to remember the order: 

    [topic] は [time] に [location] で [direct object] を [verb] です。

      *For an explanation of these particles, continue reading to the particles section of this           post.

Telling Time (for this section, I'll be using military time in the English Translation):

• [AM/PM] [number] じです。
• ごぜんいちじです。(It's 01:00.)
• ごごいちじです。(It's 13:00.)
• "じ" is the marker for o'clock.
• The purpose of this is to state the time on the dot.

• [AM/PM] [number] じはんです。
• ごぜんいちじはんです。(It's 01:30.)
• ごごいちじはんです。(It's 13:30.)
• "はん" is the marker for 30/half past the hour.
• The purpose of this is to state the time with an inclusion of half past the hour.

• [AM/PM] [number] じはんごろです。
• ごぜんいちじはんごろです。(It's around 01:30.)
• ごごいちじはんごろです。(It's around 13:30.)
• "ごろ" is the marker for an approximate time. This will always come at the end of the time phrase.
• The purpose of this is to make an estimate for the time.

Particles Introduced in Class:

*Something worth mentioning is that English doesn't use particles in the same way that Japanese uses them. It will take time to understand how these are used in relation/comparison to English.

"が": used as a subject marker for the sentence.

"は": used to denote the topic of the sentence.

"じ": used after a time of day and number to denote the "o'clock" in time. 

"も": used to show what is the same between statements.

"と": used to connect nouns to create a noun phrase.

"で": used to show where something is taking place.

"を": used to show the direct object, which is a noun that receives the action of the verb.

"の": used to show possession between a subject and a noun or a relationship between two nouns.

"に" is a bit complex of a particle

• Used for a specific point in time. This can be time of day or day of the week.
• This particle can be conjugated with the particle "と" for both time and day of the week before the particle.
• Used for indicating where something is. Think of it in this context as a destination particle. 

Post #5 にほんごのメディア: アヒル

 こんにちは！

The piece of media that I want to share with everyone today is one of my favorite instagram accounts: Kawaguchi Miki.

This Instagram Account features photos and videos (reels) of several ducks (アヒル) . Even though the audio/sound used for the reels isn't in Japanese, the captions the account owner writes are in Japanese.

Not only does this account feature my favorite animal (アヒルがだいすきです 🥰 ), but it's a great way to continue building on the grammar introduced in class as well as gain a sense for how grammar is used in a more natural sense. 

• For example, I'm able to begin recognizing the "に" particle that's used in the account bio.
• When reading through the account bio, I recognized the usage of the "と"particle and the "がだいすきです" pattern when describing things the account owner likes. 
• I also recognized the "います" ending for verb conjugation.                                               

                                          Account bio of Kawaguchi Miki

I've included some of my favorite screen captures along with their captions from this account: