My Study of Japanese

誕生日おめでとう きょうはぼくの誕生日だった。 いま、ぼくのじゅうくさいです。 きょうときのうしょうテストをべんきょした。 でも、しかたないですね。。。

マクミランさん Watches: ジョジョの奇妙な冒険: 黄金の 風 During break I was extremely excited to watch the new anime adaptation of the 5th part of the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure series, known in English as "Golden Wind". The series is extremely long running (the series as a whole starting in 1987, and Golden Wind lasting from 1995 to 1999) and is beloved world wide for its eccentric style (see the main cast for this part above) and its "bizarre" fighting system. The story is a shonen adventure, with many intense fights designed for a young teenage boy audience. Every main protagonist for each part is a "Jojo", related to the brave Joestar family and possesses supernatural powers. Even though the series is old, because there are many parts, there were only a few adaptations (mainly OVAs) prior to the recent production by studio David Production. It follows a standard T.V. anime format of a 30-min time slot counting advertisements. Over this past week, I watched episodes...

ぼくのまち こんばんは、みなさん。 アメリカのフロリダシュウのオカラカラキマシタ。 オカラはちいさいまちです。 そして、あまりオカラはゆうめいじゃありません。 でも、オカラはいいです。 ありがとうございます、じゃあまた。

カタカナ The concept of Katakana as a sort of variable alphabet is very interesting, since we  certainly don't have anything really comparative in any Germanic or Latin based languages. Here's some examples of phrases I found: ピエロ : This word means clown, but is a clear example of how Katakana is used for all foreign words, not just English. "Piero" has its origins in French, and is the inspiration for this word. ケロケロ : Here is an example of not so much a word as a sound effect. It is the sound frog's make, basically the Japanese version of "ribbit". This is super interesting to me, as this displays how the limits of a language's sounds lead to creative ways to express a sound that is the same universally for all listeners. ギター : Foreign instruments get the Katakana treatment as well. I think we, as English speakers (among other languages) can understand this by comparing how with certain foreign instruments we still refer to them ...

こんにちは　みなさん。 しゅうまつ、たいていごぜんじゅういちじにおきます、でもきのうごぜんじゅうじごろおきました。 あさごはんをたべませんでも「South Dining Hall」で　じゅうにじごろ。 あとで、としょかんでべんきょうしますとしゅくだいをします。 そして、「Notre Dame」フットボオルガム　いきますでも　きのう　いきませんでした。 あとで、ごぜんにじごろねます。

まいにち　ごぜん　きゅじに　ぼくは　おきます。 あさごはんを　たべます。 がっこうに　いきます。 ぼくは　じゅぎょうがあります、ぼくは　ひれごはんを　たべません。 ごごよじ、としょかんで　ばんきょうします。 ごごじゅいちじ　シャワ　を　あびます、ぼくは　はねます。

　はじめまして。 ぼくはMcMillanです。 あめりかじんです。 いちねんせいです。 せんこうはせいじがくです。 どうぞよろしく。 Phew, writing in Japanese on a computer sure isn't easy, but hopefully I introduced myself okay... As for what I want to introduce, it is a place in Akihabara, Tokyo famous for its huge collection of video game paraphernalia: SUPER POTATO! Don't let the name fool you, this is a Mecca for all things involved with retro gaming from the Nintendo Famicom to Japanese exclusives to a whole floor filled with retro arcade games. While this has always been by number one for visiting in Japan (even if my wallet doesn't agree), I'm interested in Akihabara as a whole for being the center of Japanese Pop Culture, my first reason for becoming interested in the Japanese language.Among visiting Tokyo, I'm hoping learning the Japanese language can aid me in traveling across the whole country to experience its culture. じゃあまた。