Some study habits

I already made a post this week but I figure I should discuss the topic at hand.

When I took Japanese in 8th grade, my teacher came up with some very helpful phrases/ways to memorize some ひらがな and カタカナ. Imagine the cross-like figure in any of the following examples to be a person. The bold parts are the actual pronunciation.

あ: "aa! There's a snake around my leg!"
い: ears
う: "uu! A brick fell on my back!"
え: excercise
さ: sa-fin (surfing... ok, that one's lame)
し: she has long hair
す: Sue is pregnant
き: it looks like a key
く: kuku bird
け: an old guy with a cane
に: looks like a knee
の: no smoking sign
ち: cheerleader
つ: tsunami
て: looks like a table leg
と: "ow, I stubbed my toe"
ひ: "heehee" (laughing)
ふ: Mt. Fuji
り: really long ears

Those are most of the ones I remember for ひらがな. I don't remember as many for カタカナ so I'll hold off on those.

And to practice reading some にほんご, here's another J-pop music video, but with subtitles this time (えいごとにほんご！). The video itself is very weird... but I recognized several words/phrases thanks to the subtitles which felt pretty rewarding in a sense. Song is Lonely in Gorgeous by Tommy February6 (a very unique J-pop artist in my opinion).

JAPN 202 Movie - げんき III

At the end of the spring semester (I'm pretty sure we don't do this in the fall), anyone in a Japanese class works with their peers to make a movie in groups of about five, I think.

Anyway, below is a movie from one of the JAPN 202 classes last spring - げんき III. It follows the かいわ from the text. I believe this movie went way above the requirements (I don't think they have to be 30 minutes). So if you have a little over 30 minutes of free time sometime soon, watch it! I didn't realize how intense the かいわ gets in our book...

Hoo has a lot of exams next week?

This week was pretty smooth for me with the exception of a calc quiz today and, of course, all of the studying for Japanese. I got some time to browse youtube, play Wii, and twiddle my thumbs while blankly staring at the tree right outside my window all in the same week which hardly ever happens. Next week will be just the opposite of that, as I have to prepare to take a quiz or test everyday except Tuesday (which is bad enough since I have a little more than 6 consecutive hours of classes that day). Hooray for libraries. :)

So... time for yet another Japanese music video. Actually, I'm going with two this week. The first one is a slow song, 'Goodbye' by Kaori Natori f/ Nao'ymt. But since the uploader disabled embedding, I'll just link to it.
Kaori Natori

And since I absolutely must have a video on every post, here's another J-Pop video - this one's by AI, the first female signed to Def Jam Japan:
AI - E.O.


がんばって！ (with exams)

Introduction (English version)

So, since I can't say much in Japanese quite yet, I'll make an English intro.

I'm a 2nd year in the e-school majoring in computer science. Here's what my schedule looks like this semester:
JAPN 101 First Year Japanese (4)
APMA 212 Multivariable Calculus (4)
CS 201 Software Development Methods (3)
CS 202 Discrete Math (3)
CS 230 Digital Logic Design (3)
PHYS241W Physics II Lab (1)

My least favorite subject in the entire world is physics. I strongly dislike it with a passion and am so glad I took my final required lecture this past summer, though I still have to deal with a lab this semester on Tuesdays from 12-1:50 in the physics building, inconveniently placed 10 minutes after Japanese is supposed to end but that's my own fault since I try to avoid taking late classes. Therefore, I usually do one of those awkward fast walks out of Cabell and down McCormick every Tuesday after class.

As for why I'm taking Japanese... I like so much about Japan. Examples - the music, the video games (lol), the language (duh), *some* of their food (I was never a big sushi person...). I've tried teaching myself Japanese before though that didn't last long. I figure the best way to learn is through classes.

I was exposed to J-Pop about four or five years ago. Some of my favorite artists are AI, Tommy February6, and most notably Kaori Natori.

Anyway... I should probably go to bed soon so I'm not late to my first class like I was today. I'll end with a video again. Last time I posted a video from a non-Japanese artist so this time I think I'll do the opposite. Here's a video from the Teriyaki Boyz (Heartbreaker), covering a song from Daft Punk (though I forget which one).



おやすみなさい！

Moby

I figure I might carry on this blog after Japanese is over since I'm a computer science major and that's one way to follow the stereotype. Since I can't think of anything else right now, I'll just post a song (in English and French) by Moby, one of my favorite electronic artists.

Slipping Away (Crier La Vie):

Introduction

はじめまして。　テイタム　です。　じゅうきゅうさい　と　にねんせい　です。　せんもん　は　コンピューター　サインス　です。　おとおさん　は　ホンヂューラスじん。　おかあさん　は　イタリアじん (background, not nationality)。　バージニヤのフルバーナカウンチ　から　きました。　どうぞ　よろしく　おねがいします。どうぞ　よろしく　おねがいします。