CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I had my first Japanese 111 speaking and writing class and....wow....we went through alot. My friend, Mike, whom I am taking it with picked me up (we are carpooling and awitching days) at 7:25 a.m. for our 8:00 a.m. class. We arrive there and of all days, I where my Evangelion Nerve Logo shirt so everyone is like...."I love the shirt man! EVA RULES!!" and that's fine and dandy but it got a bit annoying and I wasnt there for anime but to learn Japanese so I can live there later down the road for a extended period of time possibly doing mission work or something of that nature. So we get in there and our class is to small for the 34 students in the class. And so we're standing and our professor Yuriko-sensei comes in. She's like...5'1, long black hair, fun and hyper....and strong! But more on that later.

And she's like..."Oh we will need a few chairs" and her voice is so accented when I first heard it, I didnt know it was English. So we moved to a new much larger room. We first learned the basic vowels a, i, e, o, u, and the pronociation and hirigana as well which I have down pretty well but my friend doesn't. So we reviewed that and then went into basic introductions saying who we were using "watshi wa ______ desu" and such. Then we had to remember the studnts names and use "kochira wa donata ka?" and then for example "Robert-san". We had a few interupttions such as some people couldnt see the board because a huge t.v. Like a 7 foot fall big screen t.v. and stand blocked thier view so she moved it....this tny slender 5'1 women moving a huge t.v. thing though was on wheels. So some of the guys got up and helped her. We then went through basic greetings formal and informal and other words like "O geki desu ka" and "Ohayo Gozaimasu". From there we went to the Foreign Language lab. I took Spanish last Spring Semester and I bombed it...basically I didnt know what I was doing or the language lab. I think what is really helping me is having my friend Mike there.

We then got a 15 minute break (it bein a 4 hour class) in which my friend I reviewed and we went through the "ka" vowels such as ka, ki, ku, ke, and ko. We also did the hirigana with that and I did well...as oppose to my friend who didnt do well witht he hirigana but exceled at the speaking part of it. I get stuck at remembering the translation of like "Welcome Back" where as the hirigana for "ah" is especially hard for him.

So we came back to my house and reviewed. Overall I enjoyed it.

I know what its like to want to study when everyone wants to good off >_>

sounds like you had a good time there!

yah ive taken japanese101 class. But it was weird. My teacher liked me in that way. I mean i was ok with it because he was a hot little japanese guy but that was my experience with it, other than the normal mixing up my inflections and not paying attention sometimes because i was bored.

~NL~

I am at Bible School.... they don't offer any foreign languafe classes, however there are a few universities near by that have alot of Asians, so I am going to see if I can find a private tutor or something... I really need to learn the language.... because I might be getting a a full time job in Japan next year so it would help...

I was jut living in Japan this summer and it is really hard to get around without knowing JAapnese, and I really couldn't do alot of ministry either.... Stupid language barrier...

I wish you luck on your mission to learn Japanese! lol! >^.^<

good luck. It sounds like fun though *would love to take a japanese class*

Good luck man! Especially with the Kanji. (If you will be taking it).

We will be watching your career with great interest.

HitoKiri, that sounds like sooo much work, i know what learning a new language is! I am taking spanish III now, and let me tell you grammar is a killa! I love lang's though, in Poland i learned quite a bit of Polish^^.

I wish you luck in your journey's through the mire of linguistics!

Dunedan wrote:We will be watching your career with great interest.

Ho-hum

I felt I need to update:

2 classes down and I feel smarter already Our second class spent doing review on our first class as well as various other greetings and such in our text book (omedeto gozaimasu, abunai, ki o tsukete, gambatte kudaisai, itadakimasu, etc). We also learned how to ask what nationality you are as well as Japanese for countries such Nihon (Japan), Doitsu (Germany), Amerika (America), and Chugoku (China). I can't really much from that class period, as in what we did...I remember the material. ^_^;;;;

Last week, third class, was spent learned how to count zero, itchi, ni, san, yon, etc. And then we got to do math lessons as well as say someone's number. We put things in a bag and then asked "kore wa nina desu ka? (i think) and someone would say "Watashi no desu ka" (i think lol). We also had a oral quiz in which very easy. Basically had to say my name "Joe desu" and then where I work or school so "Owens no Joe desu" and then translate "Nice to meet you" and "Please favor me". Then say the greetings for good morning, hello, and good evening. A+ baby.

We were studying and she put in some music and boom...it was anime...Eva, Chobits, Love Hina, Kenshin, Trigun....

So that was cool. I just finished a cram session which invovled me studying the hirigana for a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, si, su, se, so, ta, ti, tsu, te, to, na, ni, nu, ne, no, ha, hi, hu, he, and ho. It was hard but I finally got it!

As well, the japanese club is having a screening of the first Naruto movie so I plan on going back tommorow afternoon.

I've been trying to teach myself it. Tis hard enough alone. :/

Japanese is a bad language to try to learn on your own...


I speak from hours of studying that feels like it was wasted...

[quote="Hitokiri"]I felt I need to update:

2 classes down and I feel smarter already Our second class spent doing review on our first class as well as various other greetings and such in our text book (omedeto gozaimasu, abunai, ki o tsukete, gambatte kudaisai, itadakimasu, etc). We also learned how to ask what nationality you are as well as Japanese for countries such Nihon (Japan), Doitsu (Germany), Amerika (America), and Chugoku (China). I can't really much from that class period, as in what we did...I remember the material. ^_^]
What about ya, yu, yo, wa, (w)o and n?

I'm still learning Japanese but I have made tons of progress just in the last couple of months so I'm kind of proud of myself for my effort and hard work. It is a very hard language to learn but I think all of the oriental languages are hard to learn. I'm learning Japanese because I love the language and because someday I have high beliefs I will live there and preach the Gospel.

sounds like fun. i want to go to Yamasa Institute in Japan one day. But first I'm going to finish all the lessons on YesJapan.com that I use. ganbatte ^O^/

Japanese is a bad language to try to learn on your own...


I speak from hours of studying that feels like it was wasted...

Bleah, yeah... but until I can find a real class, I'll be sticking with it. XP

[quote="AnimeHeretic"]What about ya, yu, yo, wa, (w)o and n? ]

We learned ya, yu, and yo along with ma, mi, mu, me, and mo today. As well we went through some basic colors, had to find our names in Katakana and as well as sing a song with motions

Boy I am not sure if I'll ever be able to learn Japanese...
Such a hard language to learn...-.-;;;

[quote="Eriana"]Boy I am not sure if I'll ever be able to learn Japanese...
Such a hard language to learn...-.-]
Well, I didn't find it hard (except for the kanji) once I saw the logic behind it. Of course, it requires a lot of study and memorization

Yes, kanji, katakana and hirigana have been the hardest for me to master, I can say short sentences in Japanese though so I guess that's a little bit of progress. ^^

I don't know any Japanese.... yet! ^.^;;;

I know enough to say "hello". ^_^;

And quite a few hiragana and katakana, though no kanji... yet. >.>

All I know is, hope I spell this right, doitoimushitai, your welcome.

I think I know:
Hajimeshite - how you greet someone the first time you meet them.
Arigatou - thank you
Sayonara (?) - so long (said when you know you'll see them soon)
Ohayou (?) - good morning
Konnichiwa - good afternoon
Daijoubu - Alright!
Anata - you
Wa - marks a word as the subject
Ka - marks a sentence as a question
Yo - marks a sentence as an exclamation (I think)

And some others I can't recall right now. I also know that their sentence structure is done Subject-Object-Verb compared to our Subject-Verb-Object structure. O_o

Most of what I know I've been learning through Japanese songs. Yeah, I'm wierd... >.<