わたしの最初の日本語の学期

わたしの最初の日本語の学期は　おわりました。
わたしは　たくさん　日本語を　ならいました。
わたしは　日本語が　とても　すきです。　佐藤先生が　すきです。

The semester seemed to have finished really fast.  I still remember my first day in Sato sensei's class, and how terrified I was listening to him speaking Japanese like a "mad" man.  ;)  For the entire first class, I was so sure that I went to the wrong one and somehow got mixed up with a bunch of advanced students.  lol  It's just so amazing to see how much I have learned.  I can read hiragana and kanakana (somewhat) now!  Hooray!!!

It's a little sad now that the semester is finishing up.  I'm sure others don't think so (especially the undergrads like my brother.  It's his first year in college and he can't wait to come back to New York as soon as his first week was over... -_-").  But for me, having a class to go to everyday and something to study for is a nice change for a while.  Spending all the time in lab can really drive someone crazy...  Besides that, what really makes me sad is that I don't know if I can take Sato sensei's class again next semester.  I am trying to graduate in May, and my research is absolutely NOT going anywhere at this point.  I have been working like a mad man myself these days (pulling 12, 13 hours a day in lab) trying to get some good results.  I'm sure life will only be worse when the new year comes...  So for that reason, I still haven't registered for next semester (and also because I missed the registration period...AGAIN...).  I would be really disappointed if I ended up not taking Japanese next semester.  *sigh*  Why didn't I think about doing this 2 years ago?!!!  ><"

Anyway, like my mother always says, things will work out in the end by themselves.  I'm sure I can somehow work out the magic, have my research results just in time so that I will have time to take Japanese.  (And maybe my magic would work out even better to give me a job too...)  As for now, I guess I will just have to worry about my final first.  The oral exam practice today (or yesterday) was absolutely horrible.  I was wondering if we were driving Sato sensei crazy for the whole time... =P

二十年ごのわたし（作文III）

二十年ごのわたしは　ゆうめいな　けんきゅうしゃです。わたしのうちが　ニューヨークと　中国に　あります。ニューヨークの　ハウスは　大きいです。クイーンズに　あります。

かぞくは　ははと　おっとと　こどもが　ふたり　います。そして　大きい　いぬが　いっぴ　います。わたしは　いぬが　とても　すきですよ。

わたしの　会社は　ニュージャージに　あります。わたしは　毎日　じどうしゃで　はたらきに　いきます。毎年　わたしは　こくさい　かいぎへ　いきます。そして　スピーチを　します。

毎年　かぞくは　りょこうを　します。いろいろな　がいこくへ　いきます。オーストラリアや　ヨーロッパなどへ　いきます。いろいろな　りょうりを　たべます。わたしは　まい　かぞくと　ヂィズニーランドへ　いきたいです。それから　毎年　中国へ　かえります。かぞくに　あいに　いきます。わたしは　こともに　中国語を　おしえます。とても　じゅうようですね。

カタカナ分析 (Katakana Analysis)

First of all, I would like to introduce the two katakana words I choose to analyze.

The first one is a translation line from an interview video of the Harry Potter cast from www.youtube.com.  The line appears at 0:29 second on the top of the screen.  It reads "ドモアリガチ　サヨナラ".

The second katakana word I choose is an onomatopoeia word "ゴロゴロ".  It was introduced to us by Sato sensei in class so I don't have a definite source for this word.

The reason why I choose the first translation katakana is because of its interesting usage in the video.  We all know that there are hiragana words for "Thank You" and "Goodbye".  Those are the very first words we learn in class.  However, the Japanese TV producers deliberately chose to use katakana to translate what is said by the Harry Potter cast instead of using hiragana.  By doing so, it emphasized their foreign accent.  I think maybe in a way, the katakana translation made the video even more appealing to the audiences.  I think this is a perfect example for how flexible katakana can be used in different situations to emphasize different meanings.

The reason why I choose my second katakana word to be an onomatopoeia word is simply because there are just so many such words in Japanese that it is impossible to avoid them.  (According to Sato sensei, Japanese has the second most onomatopoeia words among all languages.)  In class, we were told that ゴロゴロ is often used to describe "laziness" (maybe it sounds like snoring?).  A simple Google Image search of ゴロゴロ will give you images of cats lying around (and beef too?) - very cute and surely gives the meaning of being lazy (not the beef ones of course).  I think that katakana is used for many onomatopoeia words mainly because of its simple stroke shape and therefore creates a direct visual effect.  Even though onomatopoeia can be written in both hiragana and katakana, I think the latter gives a more visual result.  It just simply stands out more!  For onomatopoeia words that need to "transfer" the feelings directly to the readers, katakana seems to be the one to use.  (However, as a side note, I can't help but agree with one of my readers.  ゴロゴロ also sounds like someone drinking a large amount of liquid fast - like chugging a glass of beer.  So in that sense, doesn't onomatopoeia become very confusing sometimes?  Is he drinking beer or is he lying around being lazy?  =P )

There are many different ways to use katakana.  The most common ones are loan words, onomatopoeia and for emphasis (similar to how italic is used in English).  Wikipedia also points out that katakana can sometimes use to write out words that are very difficult in kanji (as often seen in medical terminology).  Many Japanese textbooks (including the handouts that were given to us in class) explain katakana by introducing its history first.  I personally think that it is really important to learn about the history of a language (or anything we learn as a matter of fact) before anything else.  It is especially true for katakana.  For one thing, it was originally developed as a form of shorthand by Buddhist monks to indicate the correct pronunciations of the original Chinese characters.  Therefore, not only its strokes are more simple than hiragana, they are also less "roundish" (as opposed to hiragana, which was originally used only by women).  So you can see, history can tell us how katakana is developed over the years and become how it is today in modern Japanese.  Another interesting point I find is that all katakana explanations include a comparison chart of katakana and their original Chinese characters.  I am not sure how non-Chinese speaking students would see it.  But I personally find that very helpful in the sense that I can see how each katakana "alphabet" is developed (and to my surprise, a lot has changed from the old Chinese characters).  I think many textbooks choose to include this information because there are such strong influences from Chinese that it is impossible to teach Japanese without mentioning its origin.

References:
1. Japanese Katakana (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm)
2. Katakana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#Usage)

作文II

やまださん、おげんきですか。

わたしはチェリーです。コロビアだいがくの　だいがくいんせいです。よねんせいです。わたしのせんこうは Chemical Engineeringです。

わたしのせいかつは　いそがしいです。月曜日から木曜日まで　日本語のクラスへ　いきます。そして　まいにち　はたらきます。日本語はおもしろいですが、むずかしいです。カタカナは　とても　むずかしいです。でも　わたしの先生は　とても　しんせつです。　そして　おもしろいです。わたしは　日本語が　すきです。それから　日本料理が　すきです。わたしのともだちは　日本のレストランで　はたらきますから、わたしは　いつも　おいしい　料理を　たべます。わたしは　日本のテレビが　すきですね。

もう　十一月です。ニューヨークは　さむいです。わたしは　六月に　ひこうきで　日本へ　いきます。いま　スケジュールが　わかりません。

じゃ、よるしく　おねがいします。

チェリー

ヌーヨーカですか、ニューヨークですか？

I noticed that in the Japanese drama show I've been watching, they called New York ヌーヨーカ (instead of ニューヨーク).  I'm not sure if this was because the show was based in old time Japan in a region with different accent (that's my guess), but it is really interesting to see that the same word could be translated differently in katakana.  I think maybe this is the reason why Sato sensei kept emphasizing on listening to our last names in class before he wrote it out for us.  But at the same time, doesn't that make it more difficult for foreign speakers to learn katakana?  Uhm...


Anyway,　龍馬伝は　とても　おもしろいです！　まいにち　わたしは　みます！　I learned so much about Japanese history.  The most important is that I was amazed by how precisely and accurately the directors are trying to present the history.  Comparing to the limited number of Chinese old time dramas I've seen, I think I like Ryomaden much better.

私の俳句

風ビュウ　ビュウ

十二月です

冬になる

暑いです

ゴロゴロします

休みます

龍馬伝

これは　龍馬伝　です。　おもしろいです。

I learned a lot about Japanese history from this show so far. I understand that as a TV show, they must "dramatize" the story line somewhat to attract viewers...which is perfect for me...I can have something interesting to watch and to learn from at the same time. ;) It is also wonderful to know that I understand some of the words they say in their dialogue. Though I highly suspect that their converations use different grammar rules from what we learn in class.

For those who are interested in the history behind Sakamoto Ryoma　坂本龍馬, you can find out more from here: 坂本龍馬.

カタカナ Analysis Draft

Based on my limited knowledge of Japanese, I would have to say that the majority of Kanakana I've come across are loan words.  They are almost everywhere, especially on food packages and logos (the two major category I'm interested in).  Here are the two examples I picked:

ミルクソフトキャンデー "Milk Soft Candy" & ホームページ "Homepage" - both are found on packages for food.

I'm actually having a hard time to conclude why there are so many loan words in Japanese.  I guess the most obvious reason is simplicity - why go through so much trouble to invent new words while we can just simply "translate" the sound into our own?

I was really amazed when Sato sensei told us in class that there are no set rules when using Hiragana and Katakana in Japanese.  My first reaction was - wouldn't that be too chaotic?  So people can just write however they feel like?  For an outsider, it is a little hard to imagine how it is done.  But I'm sure as time goes on and my Japanese knowledge is expanding, this will become clear to me eventually.  =)

As for now, for the purpose of this homework assignment, my analysis is that loan words are slowly adapted into Japanese vocabularies because it was easier than inventing more words.  Of course, such claim definitely needs an expert to confirm...

今週

私の誕生日は今週の火曜日でした。
私は　佐藤先生と日本語のクラスメートに　誕生日のカドを　もらいました。
驚いていました (surprised)。
どうも　ありがとう　ございました、みなさん！

今週は　とても　いそがしい　です。
あしたは　Queensへ　いきます。はたらきます。
そして、土曜日から　月曜日まで　ひこうきで　ボストン(Boston)へ　いきます。

日本語のクラスは　とても　おもしろいですが、むずかしいです。
カタカナは　とても　むずかしいです。
このしゅうまつ　わたしは　とても　べんきょうします！やすみません。

だいがくいんせいのせいかつは　いそがしいですね。
たいへんですね！

1/4 century

きゅうは　わたしの　たんじゅうび　です。いじゅうろくさいです。To do a quick math, I've lived a quarter of a century, yet I think there is still so much for me to learn and to explore.  I have to say, I'm not having the best time of my life these days, and today is so far my worse birthday.  I'm under a lot of pressure these days to look for a job.  I never realized that looking for jobs itself can take so much energy out of you.  I guess this is just part of the process of growing up, even though tried to delay it as much as possible - hence the whole graduate school experience.  But I guess I still can't avoid the inevitable - time passes and kids grow up eventually.  So now here I am - getting another year old and facing the world for the first time on my own.

わたしは　こどもじゃ　ありません。

Life is hard.  Life is unfair.  Life sucks, yet everyone needs to face it.

曾经有一个人告诉我：做人，总是要在命运前低头的；理想这东西，只不过是年少轻浮罢了。

Katakana Homework

One of my five Katakana words for today's homework - picture taken while I transfered at Narita airport =)

甲子園

I guess this is a follow up blog to the one さとうせんせい posted on the class blog page.

The anime Touch was really popular when I was little.  It is the story of a Japanese high school baseball team winning the national championship.  I heard from someone that baseball is like THE sport for high school students in Japan.  Anyway, reading さとうせんせいのブログ just reminded me of this anime.

やきゅうをしましょう！

Mochi

I remember seeing it on TV once.  It's a program introducing "exotic" food around NYC on one of the small cable channels that no one normally pays attention to.  But anyway, the program I happened to watch that day was on Asian crusine, and I remember the hostess was using a giant hammer trying to make fresh mochi.

So here is the restaurant.  It's call EN Japanese Brasserie.  If you search their past event list, they had a special event on New Year's Eve for customers to make fresh mochi.  I am a little disappointed to see that we can't do it everyday.  But hopefully someone will remember about this and try it when the time comes!  =)

(also wondering: do they mean the Lunar New Year?  uhm...)

What winning the Noble Prize means...

Knowing about the nomination was about two weeks ago.  The Time Magazine had a one-line coverage about how the Chinese government was condemning the Noble Foundation about the possible winning of the Noble Peace Prize by the democracy campaigner Liu, Xiaobo 刘晓波.

The final announcement came over this weekend:  Liu won!  The jailed human right activist Liu who is still serving his 11 years of sentencing in the Chinese prison, has won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize!  The news took the entire cover page of the local Chinese newspaper and was all over the internet in no time.  The name Liu, Xiaobo was cited by the Western media countless times within hours.  Yet, when I searched the Chinese website on Saturday night, the closest thing I found related to the Noble Prize was that the Physics Prize was given to a pair of UK scientists.

That was not even the worst (Chinese government is known for its censorship and its media control).  The shocking news came out today: Liu's wife has gone missing since Friday after the winning announcement.  According to the article that I read this morning, she was supposed to go to the prison to visit her husband and deliver the news to him.  However, no one could get in contact with her since Friday night and her cell phone service was disconnected.  Her last known contact with the reporter was over the telephone, and she was apparently "negotiating" with the local police at that time.  Even worse, the government was practicing its silencing policy once again: arresting activists all over Beijing, deleting any news or internet posts that had Liu's name in them...

I wouldn't call myself an activist - I used to say that it's because I understand my own capability so I wouldn't dare the impossible.  However, it is during times like today that I wish I could do more.  People say the North Koreans don't think their lives suck under the Kim dictatorship because they don't know life could be better.  Well, the same goes for China and its people.  If those of us who have seen the better don't educate the people, how could they know the difference?  How could they know they have choices?

So I called home and talked to my mom, despite the fact that our 15 minute conversation was disconnected 3 times.  I'd rather believe that it was because we had a bad connection tonight......

Two and a half weeks later...

After a serious two-minute ocnsidation of what my blog topic should be, I decided to use this opportunity to conclude my two and a half weeks of learning Japanese by practing to recite my activities of the day.  =)

So let's see...

をたしは　けさ　じゅうじに　おきました。
じゅうじ　から　じゅうにじ　まで　surf online-ました。
ごごいちじ　から　さんじ　まで　はたらきました。
さんじい　went to ゆうびんきょく。
よじ　から　ごじはん　まで　べんきょうしました。
ろくじ　から　じゅうじはん　まで　はたらきました　(AGAIN!)。

I have to say, as a graduate student, I do have the best time of my life right now.  I don't have a set working hour.  As long as I get my work done, I can come and go as I want.  I am a night owl.  I like to work at night.  I used to say it's because there's no good TV programs on at night.  But more importantly, there's no one around to bother me.  ;)  Hehe...I still remember those days when I used to stay up all night studying and then go to sleep at 6am after I checked out the morning news.  I don't do that anymore.  No more homeworks to keep me up late!  Hooray~~~  But I still like to enjoy a peaceful quiet night once a while.  What can I say?  I guess the lonely night just fits me better...

ノルウェイの森

I think the first time I've heard about it was on a late night Chinese radio show.  The host shared a passage from a book called "挪威的森林" and I immediately fell in love with it.  That year, I was 12.

As time passed by, I forgot all about it...


Until several years ago, after finishing reading a book given by my brother that I realized it was the very same book that I loved more than a decade ago.  I know maybe this doesn't seem to be so important or significant to you.  But I think it means something...  Exactly what?  I can't tell.  It's only the feeling I get that counts.

So here is my favorite passage from the book for sharing...for those who have read the book to remember...for those who haven't read the book to discover...


"...It seemed to work at first. I tried hard to forget, but there remained inside me a vague knot-of-air kind of thing. And as time went by, the knot began to take on a clear and simple form, a form that I am able to put into words, like this:

Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life.

Translate into words, it's a cliche, but at the time I felt it not as words but as that knot of air inside me. Death exists - in a paperweight, in four red and white balls on a billiard table - and we go on living and breathing it into our lungs like fine dust.

Until that time, I had understood death as something entirely separate from and independent of life. The hand of death is bound to take us, I had felt, but until the day it reaches out for us, it leaves us alone. This had seemed to me the simple, logical truth. Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there.

The night Kizuki died, however, I lost the ability to see death (and life) in such simple terms. Death was not the opposite of life. It was already here, within my being, it had always been here, and no struggle would permit me to forget that...

I lived through the following spring...with that kind knot of air in my chest, but I struggled all the while against becoming serious. Becoming serious was not the same thing as approaching truth, I sensed, however vaguely. But death was a fact, a serious fact, no matter how you looked at it. stuck inside this suffocating contradiction, I went on endlessly spinning in circles...In the midst of life, everything revolved around death."

ノルウェイの森 by 村上春樹

一休さん!!!

今天早上做功课的时候突然想起了“一休”。小的时候就是看着他长大的。于是便到Youtube上找到了opening。没想到我竟然能看得懂底下的日文字幕！すきすきすきすき...  哈哈！！！=D

Self Introduction

There isn't really much I can say about myself.  I am a fourth year graduate student at Columbia engineering school.  I am from China.  I like to read.  Oh yeah, and I always want to have a dog.  =)

I guess I can elaborate on my Chinese heritage a little bit more.  I came to the States when I was 16 - just in time for high school and the theatrical lives of the American teenagers.  But don't worry, I missed all of that since I was living with my Chinese grandma.  She's actually from Taiwan.  But trust me, she knew every bit of Chinese tradition you can imagine, and she made sure that it was well followed in our house.  Don't get me wrong.  It wasn't anything abusive or horrifying.  In fact, I actually appreciate for all the things she taught me and had me do.  They helped me grow and showed me who I actually am (of course, that's another topic for later discussion...).

Sensei said that we can write the blog in our native language if we want to.  I actually had a little hard time deciding what I should do - write the blog in English or Chinese.  My Chinese isn't bad.  I can read, listen or speak in Chinese fluently.  After all, it is my native language.  But writing is a whole totally different story.  After spending a good part of my life here, I am starting to lose my Chinese writing skills (not to mention that it was not that good to start with =\ ).  Of course, I can blame the wonderful Bill Gates for inventing Microsoft so that people like me don't have to actually know how to write any more.  I can just type and the characters will just magically appear on the computer screen for your pleasure to read.  But once a while, when I am having one of those self-realization moments, I can't help but feeling guilty that I am losing part of my culture.

Oh well, it seems that I am starting to have one of those moments right now.  I guess I'd better stop right here.  Otherwise I might have to question myself how come I am not taking a Chinese class this semester...

わたし の さいしょ の blog！

This is my first blog entry.
kore wa watashi no saisho no blog entry desu.
これ　は　わたし　の　さいしょ　の　blog entry です。

I am from China.
watashi wa Chugoku kara kimashita.
わたし　わ　ちゅうごく　から　きました。

I am a 4th year graduate student at Columbia University.
watashi wa Koronbia daigakuin no yonensei desu.
わたし　は　ころんびあ　だいがく　の　よねんせい　の　がくせい　です。

Thank you very much.
Arigato gozaimasu.
ありがとう　ございます。