Language+&+Experiences

Language: The Japanese have three different types of symbols they use in their writing. Hirigana, Katakana and Kanji. Hirigana:  Is the basic list of symbols and sounds that they used to create their words. You can write anything in this alphabet from the japanese language. Within the alphabet there are five basic sounds (vowels) and 14 of our consonant sounds, and unlike English once you know how to pronounce these sounds you can pretty much sound out anything in Japanese for those sounds never change. sometimes one can combine two sounds to create a new one but the pronunciation does not change.

Katakana: This alphabet has the exact same sounds as the Hirigana and in the exact same order, some of the symbols even look very similar to their Hirigana counterparts. The difference is this alphabet is used to write words that don't belong to them, words from other countries like when writing an american name, this is the alphabet that is used. Katankana is also used to put emphasis on words ie onomatopoeia or for titles. Ie: stores, businesses, or books.

Beginning Kanji : are symbols that are words in themselves. This type of writing was derived from the Chinese. Each symbol has its own combination of sounds and meaning, although one symbol may also have multiple meanings and sometimes even multiple ways of reading or sounding it out. Because of this the Japanese have also made furigana, which is basically small Hirigana or Katakana written on the top of the kanji so that one may sound it out and know which meaning the kanji means in that situation.

Of course to learn all of this would be especially difficult for anyone that is if we did not have a way to put our letters to it so that we would have something to connect to when trying to read it. When one writes out Japanese in english letters it is called Romaji.

So in other words if I wrote out: Konnichiwa = romaji こんにちは = Hirigana コンニチハ= Katakana 挨拶=Kanji

Once you have all of that down then you have to figure out their sentence structure which is basically backwards of ours <span style="color: #02ac08; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 26px; line-height: 39px;">subject-direct object- verb. The verb is always at the end and according to what you are saying the subject and sometimes even the direct object can be omitted and only use the verb. So in other words when the Japanese talk they speak mostly in commands which is why I believe that manners and being polite is such a HUGE thing in japan since if you do not use the proper respect when speaking to someone above you then instead you are commanding them to do something.

<span style="color: #b11616; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">This is Casey! He is a friend of mine from Orlando that recently moved to Japan. This is his third time in japan, and lives with a host family while attending Temple University. He recently acquired a job teaching English at a night school. I was able to set a time we would both be awake and got to ask him a few questions about his experience so far.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a2a98; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">What is it like living in japan? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">1. It's a lot of fun, and it's very different from America.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #582281; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">What is your favorite and least favorite thing about living in japan? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">2. I love the train system and how convenient everything is but I could do without the insane crowds or the constant stares.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Whats the biggest difference about living in japan vs america? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">3. The people are generally friendlier and usually more interested in you and the convenience stores are awesome in Japan.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">How do you like your host family? Do they speak any english or only japanese? if so is it weird not being able to speak english at home? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">4. My host family is wonderful and treats me well, and they're great cooks! They speak only Japanese and honestly the idea of speaking English at home is a little strange now.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">How hard has it been adapting to life with your host family? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">5. It was a little challenging at first, they're older so they have a very different idea of what a student should be doing with spare time (I'll give you a hint, it's studying.)

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">You still go to an american school but do most of the people there speak japanese as well? or do you always speak english to them? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">6. The school is 50% Japanese, and while all of them do speak English, I usually speak Japanese with the underclassmen As their English is still a little off.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Where is it that you teach english? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;"> 7. I teach English in shibuya, one of the big shopping districts in Tokyo at a place called noribig.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">What age group do you teach? what kind of school is it? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">8. I teach anybody, my youngest student is 17 but most of my students are in their 40's. It's a school for peopl who want to learn English outside of their formal education.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Are the japanese as crazy about english as they seem to be in anime? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">9. They do like to say odd off things in English, and lots of things are written in English but honestly I think a lot of them get it so much in school that they kind of hate it.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Why do they want to learn english for the most part? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">10. Usually for travel or work.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Do you like being a teacher? How are your students? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">11. It's a lot of fun when the students are motivated.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">How hard was it for you to learn japanese? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;"> 12. It's not as hard as you would think, it's very structured and easy to follow.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">What would you say is the most difficult thing about the japanese language? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">13. The hardest part is the writing system. 3,000 different characters, most with two readings or even more!

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Whats the most interesting thing youve seen in japan so far? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">14. I saw a man throw his brand new iPad against the street after a fight with his friend. It was pretty odd for Japan.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">Whats been your favorite thing youve done/seen/had happened to you so far? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">15. I love it all do it's hard to say, but visiting the palace was pretty cool. It's absolutely beautiful.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #6a01cb; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">What advice do you have for those that would want to learn japanese and/or travel/live to japan? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00b827; font-family: 'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;">16. Just do it. If you need money, the money is there, if you want to learn there are plenty of teachers. Take the leap, it's worth it.

<span style="color: #b11616; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">And this is his blog he has decided to do for all of us back in America that wish to learn about his trip and about Japan in general. Yes it is called quest for the used panties vending machine.

<span style="color: #b11616; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">This is his first entry and first day in Japan.

media type="youtube" key="b_dxJMXa_6U" height="315" width="420"

http://youtu.be/b_dxJMXa_6U

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