I am Mie, teach Japanese at a Japanese language school in Tokyo. My Blog is mainly about Japanese grammars and what's happening in Japan, cultures, news .... a bit of everything! Hope you enjoy it!
My name is Mie, I teach Japanese in Tokyo. This blog is for someone who is interested in the Japanese Language, culture and everyday life. Hope it helps you :-)
Today is the last day of this year. 2010 starts from tomorrow. To promote “Visit Japan 2010”, the authority is putting on a “Live Japan!” campaign till the end of January. You may have a chance to win airplane tickets to Japan with sending a greeting card from the site. Why don’t you try it? Best wishes for another wonderful year! Daily Yomiuri
～として ： as ～ １月末(がつまつ)まで ： by the end of January 日本への航空券(こうくうけん) ： airplane tickets to Japan 是非(ぜひ) ： by all means 応募(おうぼ)する ： to apply ～てみてください ： please try 当(あ)たる ： to hit, to win ～ように ： is used when one wish something
Susan Boyle, Scottish diva, arrived at Narita yesterday. It is her first visit to Japan. She will sing as a guest singer in a NHK TV program called “Kohaku Utagassen” which is aired on the New Year’s Eve every year. I am not found of it personally but I am very much looking forward to her singing. There is only one day left in this year, 2009. How was the year for you?
歌姫(うたひめ)： ディーヴァ(diva) 成田(なりた)： Narita International Airport 到着(とうちゃく)した： arrived at 初来日(はつらいにち)： first visit to Japan テレビ番組(ばんぐみ)： TV program おおみそか： new year’s eve 放映(ほうえい)される： will be airing NHK： Nippon Hoso Kyokai = The Japanese public broadcasting corporation 紅白(こうはく)歌合戦(うたがっせん)： an annual music show on New Year’s Eve produced by NHK ゲスト出演(しゅつえん)： guest staring 歌声(うたごえ)： voice, singing 披露(ひろう)する： thrown down, exhibit 個人的(こじんてき)に： personally あまり好(す)きではない： あまり＋V/Adj negative = not really 楽(たの)しみにしている： I have been looking forward to
I went to see and visit my friend in Australia for a week. We went to many places, walked on the beach, spent Christmas at their houses… I enjoy it so much. Australia is really a big country! If you drive in Japan with an Australian sense of driving, you would fall into the ocean! (laugh) They drive for 1000km as it is normal. I thought gasoline is relatively high for motorized society.
(around A$110/1 litter) When I got into crowded trains yesterday and felt “I am back to Japan”. I am Japanese, aren't I?
１週間(しゅうかん)： one week 友達(ともだち)の所(ところ)： my friend’s place 遊(あそ)びに行(い)ってきた： have come and seen him/her あちこち： here and there 散歩(さんぽ)する： stroll, walk around, クリスマスを過(す)ごす： spent Christmas ～たり～たり： express some things what you do/did as example, implies others actions 運転(うんてん)感覚(かんかく)： sense of drive やっぱり： as I thought, as I expected AたらB： if you do A then B happens ～てしまう： express one’s regret or dissatisfaction 普通(ふつう)に： not to think it is difficult or special 車社会(くるましゃかい)： motorized society Aの割(わり)にB： it is relatively B considering A 混(こ)んだ 電車(でんしゃ)： crowded train
Colonel Sanders doll at Kentucky Fried Chicken becomes Santa Claus around Christmas season in Japan. KFC came from the US but I heard that there is no Colonel Sanders dolls there. American students are very surprised when they see it. KFC fried chicken is very popular for Christmas dinner in Japan instead of turkey. KFC is from the US and turkey is from Europe. They are both well blended in Japan. Strange country…
Do you like sweets? Then, how about this cell phone for you? NTT Docomo released a new design cell phone (SH04B) which is a collaboration model with an accessory brand “Q-pot.” on December 9th. Hmmm….. I want to get one too.
Some days ago, my student and I found out “説得(せっとく)する” does not mean "convince/persuade” which is a translation in a Japanese-English dictionary.
For example, if someone said he would not go to a party and ｢彼を説得する｣ is “try hard to tell him to go to the party giving him reasons or consequences” but it does not say to make him change his thoughts to go, i.e. we still do not know if he would go or not.
In my lesson, my advanced level student was not sure making an example sentence using ｢説得する｣ and I didn’t understand why because in the textbook its English meaning was given. But we talked about the both 「説得する」 and “convince” then finally we came across there is a big difference between them as above. It sure is confusing and difficult.
There is one more interesting topic related to the word “convince”. In English they say “He is convincing”. “Convincing” is an adjective which expresses about him how he is like, similar to “he is tall” or “he is kind”, for example.
On the contrary there is no adjective in Japanese expresses “convincing”. 「説得力のあるNoun」is used instead. 「彼は説得力のある人だ」is used for “He is convincing” in Japanese which literal meaning is “He has a power to convince.”
JLPT has finished, finally you can drink good beer. I heard from our students that popular beers among non-Japanese are Yebisu and Asahi Super Dry. Super Dry contains 5% alcohol which is higher than other old beer, tastes refreshing. Its share keeps growing since it started to sell in 1987 and exceeded 50%. Its taste fit for adults becomes popular as well in the UK, the sales volumes increased 30 times compare to the first year that was begun to sell. Also pubs that sell Super Dry became 500, which is 50 times to 2004. MSN News
おいしく： おいしい(adjective) → おいしく(adverb) 外国人(がいこくじん)に人気(にんき)がある日本(にほん)のビール： popular Japanese people among non-Japanese ( noun modification) 今(いま)まで日本にあったビールと比(くら)べて： to compare to the beer that has been before アルコールが5％と高(たか)く： 高い(adjective) → 高く(adjective connective) さっぱり： refreshing flavors that do not linger unpleasantly 販売(はんばい)が始(はじ)まってから： since it started to go on sale 伸(の)び続(つづ)ける： continuing to grow 50％を超(こ)えた： exceeded 50% ～を扱(あつか)う： deal in ～ 大人(おとな)の味(あじ)： tastes for adults 人気(にんき)になる： becomes popular 現地(げんち)： the place (in the UK in this context) 発売(はつばい)： release 当時(とうじ)： at that point, at that time 販売量(はんばいりょう)： volume of sales
It’s now 10am here in Tokyo. JLPT has started. I got a little nervous too. I wonder how they are doing? I had a 4 kyu level student first time for this JLPT. I have been teaching 2 kyu or 1 kyu level, I thought 4 kyu was easy. But actually it was very difficult. There are many basic particles problems and most of the vocabularies are difficult as well which are not to be able to master within a couple of month test preparation course. There are many students who are at advanced level make 4 kyu level particle mistakes. Language study is little by little, step by step.
ドキドキ： be nervous 今回(こんかい)： this time 初(はじ)めて： first time 実(じつ)は： as a matter of face, actually 基本的(きほんてき)な： basically 助詞(じょし)： pariticles 問題(もんだい)： problems, questions 語彙(ごい)： vocabulary 覚(おぼ)えられないような問題： problems that cannot memorize 少(すこ)しずつ： little by little ステップバイステップ： step by step
It’s been a long time since the last entry. I have been busy before JLPT (I had some extra lessons) and also the end/first week of a month, I didn’t have time to write this Blog. Gomennasai. There are only two days before JLPT! Take extra care of yourself and try your best! Gambatte kudasai!
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