クリスマスに、日本人は何をしますか

みなさんこんばんは。

クリスマスに、日本人はケンタッキーを食べます。

どうして？？？

ある日、日本に住む外国人の方がケンタッキー青山店で「日本ではターキーが手に入らないので、 ＫＦＣのチキンでクリスマスを祝おう」と来店。これにヒントにクリスマスにはケンタッキーを広くアピールしようと考え１９７４年１２月１日にキャンペーンが開始された. クリスマスはケンタッキー.

綾瀬 はるかさん！！！（すみません。。。）

メリークリスマス!!!

じゃあ、またね!

ホストファミリーに書く手紙

マスクファッションとモバイルの勉強

みなさんこんばんは。

どんどん寒くなってきている。マスクを着けのはどうですか。外国人が日本の奇妙な風習だと感じることのひとつに、街中でマスクをしてる人がとても多いことが挙げられます。病気の予防」だけでなく、ファッション、暖かさ、さらには「他人との会話を避けるためにもマスクを着用すると紹介されていました。最近寒いから、試してみてください。

冬休み前に購入することはどうですか!

しかし、まだ我々皆忙しいですね。それでも動きながらも日本語の勉強の方法がないでしょう。

文法を勉強ためにTae Kim'sはお勧めします。

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alexisblaze.japanese_grammar

単語と会話の練習のためには推薦してあげたいですLearn Japanese

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bravolang.japanese

下にリンクで他のアプリも参考にしてください:

http://www.fluentu.com/japanese/blog/best-apps-for-learning-japanese/

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

EAS 329（Politics of Japan）とガリガリ君の広告

みなさんこんばんわ。

If you are looking for courses (課目/かもく) for next semester (来学期/らいがっき), a course I really would like to recommend is EAS 329（Politics of Japan）. It's a small class that should give a good survey of Japanese politics, history and society. I'll be taking the course, so if you decide to take the class, see you there!

リンク:
https://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/course_details.xml?courseid=010516&term=1174

In other interesting Japan news, I found a recent television ad for ガリガリ君 really funny and wanted share. ガリガリ君 is an iconic Japanese bar ice cream and the company recently made the decision to raise the price from 60 to 70 yen. The advertisement is one endearing apology. Enjoy below:

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

PE Reflection + Revised PE Plan (頑張ります!)

こんばんわ。

It has already been さんかげつ since the start of my 日本語の挑戦. 時間が本当に早いですね。Below are some reflections I have on the progress I've made on my pronunciation and speaking goals and how I hope to get even closer to achieving my goals:

Progress Made on Goals:

Accuracy of Pitch and Intonation

While I believe overall phrase-level intonations have improved, pitch is an area where I still struggle (i.e. the Prosody Listening Exercises) especially at the word-level.

Pace/Speed

Over time, based on my own reflection and on feedback from しばたせんせい, issues with awkward, wrong pauses and rushing are an area where I seem to improved significantly and the speed of my speaking is generally more natural. I still do, however, tend to miss or create pauses when speaking and not confident.

Confidence

The volume at which I speak has definitely improved, which is a good sign in terms of confidence and I believe I've been willing to be confident and stretch the use of my Japanese (i.e. use of new vocab). However, when in actual, non-guided conversation situations, my confidence in speech is still shaky. Before, even when practicing based on examples, I felt very unsure about whether I'm actually saying certain words or phrases I naturally and accurately (i.e. ございます). Now using OJAD and other resources, I don't feel that way as much.

Listening Abilities 

To become a better speaker, I need to be good at picking up on what the correct pronunciation is. I have definitely improved (reflected in my test vs. midterm listening sections) in identifying parts like voiced consonants. However, I believe I'm still to slow in processing what I've listened to.

[Revised] Activities for Improved PE:

Production Practice

• Create a weekly phrase list of じゅ for shadowing (daily listening of example and practice before bed)
• Refer to OJAD for accuracy in tandem with weekly phrase list practice
• Do Nakama-related exercises 
• 
  

Speaking Opportunities

• Practice with Japanese friends over meals (光田さんをしゅんさんありがとございます)
• Continue to attend the Japanese language table weekly
• Attend せんせえ's office hours with more of a focus on conversation and more practice.

Perception and Mimicking Practice

• Keep up with a new anime/ドラマ and re-watch favorites (i.e. 鋼の錬金術師, 人狼, 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件). Become familiar with rhythm and intonation. Choose a scene with common phrase or interesting meaning to shadow. Select for PE exercises.

• Be more committed to listening to a Japanese vocab song per day.

Japanese Vocabulary Songs Playlist

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

ビデオブログ エピソード１: 自己紹介

にほんのおかし

みなさんこんばんわ。

きょう、私はアジアのスーパーに行きます。 スーパーでにほんのおかしを買います。Below are some of the にほんのおかし I bought:

カステラ: A castilla can be a soft, sponge-like snack. My favorite kind are the Nagasaki castilla. However, the スーパー sold castilla are dry and overly sweet and sticky. 

点(てん): 3/5

クレヨンしんちゃんのおかし: A childhood favorite of mine. The crunchiness and chocolate cream are great. I wish they put more of it in the box though.

点(てん): 4/5

もち: Great to chew in terms of the texture and a pleasure to bite into the red bean paste core. Must I say more.

点(てん): 5/5

まっちゃのエリーゼ: The green tea wafers don't taste that must different from ordinary wafers. They are still a good snack to go with a warm drink or to be devoured by the box.

点(てん): 4/5

Pocky: Easy-eating, sweet and highly addictive. That's all I have to say.

点(てん): 5/5

ゼリー: The jellies are shaped in cute and honestly remarkable shapes of foods such as hamburgers. But they also feel really unhealthy and after a couple they can get a little tiring.

点(てん): 3/5

まっちゃのキットカット: I always make sure to buy and bring back packs of my favorite snacks from countries I visit. When visiting the Philippines, its dried mangoes. When visiting China, it's grain puffs. When visiting Japan, it's the green tea KitKat. The crunchy, but not overly heavy, delivery of chocolate and green tea is so very good.

点(てん): 5/5

まっちゃのオレオ: I have never actually come across green tea Oreos before so I had to try them. However, I've also never enjoyed Oreos too much (though the green tea cream did make it less stuffy/dry and more refreshing than usual).

点(てん): 2/5

...if you're interested in snacks like the above (but don't have the time or means to drive to Edison or Fort Lee or Palisades Park)...

...one solution is to sign up to a monthly Japanese snack box delivery service like 

https://www.skoshbox.com/ (which delivers a box of Japanese snacks to your doorstep each month for $10/month)

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

天気(てんき)ときせつ + 言の葉の庭 (anime drama film "The Garden of Words")

It's already fall and winter is actually not too far away. Personally, I feel it's been quite amazing how quickly the past year has gone by. In turn, I thought it would be an apt time to learn about the seasons and also to describe the weather (which has been relaly erratic lately, so its always worth checking and asking about these days).

In Japanese, the seasons (きせつ/季節) are...

はる/春 = Spring

なつ/夏 = Summer

あき/秋 = Fall

ふゆ/冬 = Winter

As for asking about the weather, the following are some useful phrases I've found! 

*You can add とてもinfront of the adjective if you want to say "very"

きょう の てんき よほう は なん です か 

今日 の 天気 予報 は 何 です か 

What’s the weather forecast for today?

てんき は どう ですか 

天気 は どう ですか 

How’s the weather?

きおん は なんど です か 

気温 は 何度 です か 

What’s the temperature?

...and if you want to answer...

あたたかい です 

暖かい です 

It’s warm

さむい です 

寒い です 

It's cold

かぜ が つよい です

風 が 強い です 

It's windy

あつい です 

暑い です 

It's hot

せいてん です 

晴天 です 

It's clear

むし あつい です 

蒸し 暑い です 

It's humid

...and if its raining (as it was today) or snowing...

あめ が ふって います 

雨 が 降って います 

It’s raining

ゆき が ふって います 

雪 が 降って います 

It’s snowing

Speaking of rain, and considering the weather today, an anime movie I watched recently that really matches the atmosphere and mood is 言の葉の庭 ("The Garden of Words"). The film focuses on Takao Akizuki, an aspiring 15-year-old shoemaker, and Yukari Yukino, a mysterious 27-year-old woman he keeps meeting at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden on rainy mornings. While Takao is skipping his morning class to design shoes, Yukino is avoiding work due to personal problems in her professional life. The two continue to cross paths and they increasingly come to effect each other profoundly in different ways. Below is a trailer!

I hope you all found the above helpful and interesting!

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

毎週(まいしゅう) けいかく: 二番目週（にばんめしゅう））

みなさんこんばんわ。

Below is my second "study plan of the week" for improving in PE and Japanese in general. すみません, parts of the study guide are in 韓国語 because it helps me understand more easily as the languages are similar. I will also try to record an extra conversation style PE over the weekend with a 友達:

Week of 12OCT16

Weekly Vocab/Phrases
Fun, interesting = おもしろい
Are Similar/비슷하다 = 似ています

teach = おしえます
Learn Actively (まなびます) vs Learn Passively (ならいます)

かぞくかんけいのたんご (i.e. 岡さん、おとさん、etc.)

My own family

1.	家族	かぞく	kazoku	Family / Family Members
2.	祖父	そふ	sofu	Grandfather
3.	祖母	そぼ	sobo	Grandmother
4.	伯父	おじ	oji	Uncle (Older than Parent)
5.	叔父	おじ	oji	Uncle (Younger than Parent)
6.	伯母	おば	oba	Aunt (Older than Parent)
7.	叔母	おば	oba	Aunt (Younger than Parent)
8.	両親	りょうしん	ryoushin	Parents
9.	父	ちち	chichi	Father
10.	母	はは	haha	Mother
11.	兄弟	きょうだい	kyoudai	Siblings / Brothers
12.	姉妹	しまい	shimai	Sisters
13.	兄	あに	ani	Older Brother
14.	姉	あね	ane	Older Sister
15.	弟	おとうと	otouto	Younger Brother
16.	妹	いもうと	imouto	Younger Sister
17.	夫婦	ふうふ	fuufu	Married Couple / Husband and Wife
18.	主人	しゅじん	shujin	Husband
19.	夫	おっと	otto	Husband
20.	家内	かない	kanai	Wife
21.	妻	つま	tsuma	Wife
22.	従兄弟	いとこ	itoko	Cousin (Male)
23.	従姉妹	いとこ	itoko	Cousin (Female)
24.	子供	こども	kodomo	Children
25.	息子	むすこ	musuko	Son
26.	娘	むすめ	musume	Daughter
27.	甥	おい	oi	Nephew
28.	姪	めい	mei	Niece
29.	孫	まご	mago	Grandchild
30.	義理の兄	ぎりのあに	giri no ani	Brother-in-law (older than you)
31.	義理の弟	ぎりのおとうと	giri no otouto	Brother-in-law (younger than you)
32.	義理の息子	ぎりのむすこ	giri no musuko	Son-in-law
33.	義理の～	ぎりの～	giri no ~	~-in-law

Someone's family

1.	ご家族	ごかぞく	go kazoku	Someone's Family / Family Members
2.	お爺さん	おじいさん	ojii san	Grandfather / Old Man
3.	お婆さん	おばあさん	obaa san	Grandmother / Old Woman
4.	伯父さん	おじさん	oji san	Uncle (Older than Parent)
5.	叔父さん	おじさん	oji san	Uncle (Younger than Parent)
6.	伯母さん	おばさん	oba san	Aunt (Older than Parent)
7.	叔母さん	おばさん	oba san	Aunt (Younger than Parent)
8.	ご両親	ごりょうしん	go ryoushin	Parents
9.	お父さん	おとうさん	otou san	Father
10.	お母さん	おかあさん	okaa san	Mother
11.	ご兄弟	ごきょうだい	go kyoudai	Siblings
12.	お兄さん	おにいさん	onii san	Older Brother
13.	お姉さん	おねえさん	onee san	Older Sister
14.	弟さん	おとうとさん	otouto san	Younger Brother
15.	妹さん	いもうとさん	imouto san	Younger Sister
16.	ご夫婦	ごふうふ	go fuufu	Married Couple / Husband and Wife
17.	ご主人	ごしゅじん	go shujin	Husband
18.	奥さん	おくさん	okusan	Wife
19.	お子さん	おこさん	oko san	Children
20.	息子さん	むすこさん	musuko san	Son
21.	お嬢さん	おじょうさん	ojou san	Daughter
22.	お孫さん	おまごさん	omago san	Grandchild

How do you ask for directions and answer direction questions?

• http://www.dummies.com/languages/japanese/how-to-ask-for-and-understand-directions-in-japanese/
• https://tokyocheapo.com/living/basic-guide-directions-japanese/

Learn Actively vs Learn Passively?

Weekly Particle

ので vs から

• ので = more polite から (a.k.a more formal because)

Weekly Grammar Rule

• How to use AよりB
• Ways to say "and"/connect words in Japanese
• と for nouns
• ...but や is used when there is a variable/unknown length like 
• "キーボードやマウス、それにLANケーブルとかもいるかも"
• (we need) keyboard, mouse and probably LAN cables also.
• ~て is used with the て replacing parts of word that is not root
• avoid the complexity of using the te-form by making independent sentences. You can use それから between the new sentences from split original sentence.
• ～たり is used to connect two verbs and is used in the sense of giving examples
• ～くて is used to connect to adjectives
• ～し is used to connect two adjectives, with exclusive positive or negative senses
•  ～かつ～ = plus ..../not only... /but also ...
• たり＝ 나열하여 서술할 때 쓰는 말： 혹은…, 혹은…; 또는…, 또는…; …고, …고.…거나; …든지.

Music Playlist (memorable song and lines to shadow)

つばさ(Anime Arslan Senki: Fuujin Ranbu Theme)
https://itun.es/us/mnmkdb?i=1126745126

http://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/eir-aoi/tsubasa/

Anime/Film/Drama of the Weekend (memorable words & lines to shadow)

All About My Siblings 若者たち　episode 1

*すみません、I did not find time to watch last week so this is a repeat

Questions of the week?

What are some titles for people besides せんせいと先輩？ (i.e. professor, boss, etc.）

Referring to self

• わたし = I 
• あたし =  female I
• おれ = informal male I
• ぼく = male 'me'
• わたくし = extremely formal I
• わし = what old people call themselves
• じぶん = insistent, expressive, "내 자신은 이렇게, 자기주장 표현할때" I

Referring to others

• ~さま is equal to ~님 (i.e. when someone hands you your purchase at department store they may say "キムサマ here is your 'somthing'")
• ~くん can be used for young boy, for boyfriend or between co-workers, close friends
• ~たん is used by young children as variation of さん.
• っち = young people's colloquial 
• おまえ = you
• あなた = you
• あんた = informal you used by females
• おなた = 당신
• しゃちょう = 사장님/your boss
• [Interesting fact] さん can be added behind name of company that is your client

What is the difference between れい, まる and ゼロ?

• れい = more formal, used for exceptions like temperature
• まる = colloquial
• ゼロ = common use

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

たんご: More Qualifiers for Actions

みなさんこんばんわ。

こんしゅう we learned how to put qualifiers for actions in with さとう先生ととくます先生. The following are the ones we covered:

ぜんぜん - never 

あまり - not very often 

ときどき - tokidoki, sometimes 

よく - often

たいてい - usually

いつも - always

でも。。。

I've found a couple other qualifiers that could be useful to know as well as understand. I hope my understanding of the たんご are correct:

1) 普通(ふつう)は/に = "usually" or "normally."

i.e.

私は普通に車で仕事に行きます。 (わたしはふつうにくるまでしごとにいきます)

"I usually go to work by car."

*普通 is also apparently used at train stations to indicate a regular or local train.

**Apparently there is another way to say "normally" or "usually" is 普段 (ふだん). 

2) 常に(つねに) = "always" or "constantly."

i.e.

火は常に危険だ。(ひはつねにきけんだ）

"Fire is always dangerous."

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

あきとふゆ = ネオさむらいファッション?

みなさんこんばんわ。

此の頃の天候は (このごろのてんこうは) どんどん寒くなってきています (どんどんさむくなっています)。 How about staying warm with some ネオさむらいファッション instead of 詰まらない(つまらない) North Face or Patagonia ジャケット？

Below are some example photos of the products available online I found!!!

...also link to かんれんきじ (article at the bottom also links to website for purchase): 
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/10/10/modern-samurai-coats-from-japan-are-back-for-winter-with-new-colors-fabrics-and-paired-pants/

d=(´▽｀)=b    かっこいいですね    d=(´▽｀)=b

ファッショナブルですね。。。

せんれんとオートクチュールされファッションですね

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

日にちを覚えるがむずかしいですね...

みなさんこんばんわ。

日にちを覚えるがむずかしいですね...

Below is a song that's been helping me through the difficulty and I thought I would share it with みなさん。

役立(やくだ)つことを願(ねが)います。

長崎(ながさき)

みなさんこんばんわ。

私は幼(おさな)い時(とき)からにほん旅行(りょこう)を. 福岡(ふくおか)と東京(とうきょう)と札幌(さっぽろ)と関西(かんさい)を旅行(りょこう )してみました. 今日は長崎を致(しょうかいいた)します。お次(つぎ)は私のお祖父(じい)さんが作ったきねんビデオです。 

ながさき Trip Part 1. (ちゃんぽん noodles, 出島 island and グラバー園 (Madam Butterfly Opera))

ながさき Trip Part 2. (ハウステンボス Canal Tour)

ながさき Trip Part 3. (たんじょび at the 温泉(おんせん))

ながさき Trip Part 4. (Samurai Theme Park)

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

NHK EASY NEWS!

みなさんこんばんわ。

For anyone interested improving their reading/たんご a great resource I've found is the easy news website provided by NHK (also a great opportunity to learn about Japan!). It also has recordings and annotations for all its articles so you can improve your pronunciation as well.

The following is the link:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/index.html

The following is the english translations subreddit if you have a difficult time understanding the article:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NHKEasyNews/

*There is also a tab to the website on the side of this ブログ。

よみます！！！

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!

毎週(まいしゅう) けいかく: 一番目週（いちばんめしゅう

みなさんこんばんわ。

One of my plans for improving in PE and Japanese in general was having a weekly study plan beyond the class curriculum. すみません, parts of the study guide are in 韓国語 because it helps me understand more easily as the languages are similar. So below is my first week plan:

毎週(まいしゅう) けいかく: 一番目週（いちばんめしゅう）

Week of 02OCT16

Weekly Phrases

• あそこ(저기)、ここ(여기)、そこ(거기)、どこ(어디)
• あれ(저거)、ごれ(이거)、それ(그거)、どれ(어떤거)
• どうやって(어떻게?) 
• 新宿までわどうやっていきますか = 신주쿠는 어떻게 가나요?
• いらっしゃいませ = 어서오세요
• Long time no see ＝ 久しぶり (hisashiburi) vs お久しぶりですね (o hisashiburi desu ne)

Weekly Vocab

• トイレ (toire) and 手洗い (tearai)
• 服 (fuku) = Clothes
• どうした？ (doushita?) = What Happened?
• どうして？ (doushite?) = Why?
• 警察 (keisatsu) = Police

Weekly Particles

• は (~은/는)
• 또는 동사 혹은 부사의 뒤에 붙어서 강조의 의미로 사용하기도 합니다. 예
• よくはない （요쿠와나이) 좋지는 않다.
• が(이/가)
•  예] 友達がいます。 (토모다치가이마스) -친구가 있습니다.
• を(을/를
• 예] 日本語（にほんご）を勉強（べんきょう）しました。 (니홍고오 벵쿄 시마시따) 일본어를 공부했습니다.
• の (~의)

EXCEPTIONS

• ～が <~을 잘하다, ~을 못하다>
•  ~ 上手（じょうず）~을 잘하다、だ 죠즈다 ～못하다 下手（へた）~을 못하다
• 일본어 조사 を(을/를)을 사용하고 싶죠?
• 그러나? -> 조사 ’が’
• 따라서, ~が上手(じょうず)だ・～が下手（へた）だ
•   한국어로 ~을 할 수 있다 의 경우! 조사 '을/를'을사용하죠?
• 하지만 일본어에서는 '~을 할 수 있다'를 나타내는 경우에 조사 を가 아닌 が  를 사용합니다
• 따라서,  運転（うんてん）ができる（운텐가데키루) (운전을 할 수 있다).
• ‘가능'을 나타내는 경우에는 무조건 조사 が를 사용합니다.
•  또한 ~을 타나, ~을 만나다 의경우도 조사 を가 아닌 に를 사용합니다!
• 예를들어 ->친구를 만나다를 友達を会う（토모다치 오 아우 ) 라고 하기쉬운데 !! -----> 틀린표현입니다. 따라서, 조가 に를 이용해서 友達に会う（토모다치 니 아우) 라고해야합니다 -----> 올바른 표현입니다>.< <~을 타다> ' ～을 타다 ' 의 경우입니다.
• 한국어로 '~을'이르모 역시 を를 사용하고 싶어지지만, -> ～に乗る（のる)(~을 타다) (니 노루) 와 같이 조사 に를 이용해야 맞는 표현입니다

Weekly Grammar Rule

•  ＿は＿だ　= _는 _이다 (informal ) vs  ＿は＿です　= _는 _입니다 (formal)

Weekly Song (shadow memorable song and lines)

•  薔薇のように咲いて桜のように散って

Anime/Film/Drama of the Weekend (shadow memorable words & lines)

• All About My Siblings 若者たち Episode 1 
• Link: http://www.viki.com/videos/1091694v-all-about-my-siblings-episode-1

Questions of the week?

• How do you treat titles and quote in Japanese?
•  Japanese punctuations in general? 

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!