こにちば！
I feel as if I've been slacking slightly in the real post department, so I figure that I might as well sit down and make a real post.
I was so incredibly excited to get into にほんごいちねんせい that I actually didn't mind the fact that I'd only signed up for a total of 11 credits before the end of my second semester. I'd been interested in Japanese since Middle school, though my parents wanted me to take Spanish. I hated Spanish, and I had no interest in it. It helps a lot when you get stuck with the worst teacher your first year, of course. When I went into High school, I was excited because they had a Japanese program. That they abolished by the time that I got there... I wasn't happy, and had to continue Spanish. I vowed to never take Spanish again after High school, with such vehemence that I actually refused to take a language my first semester because I couldn't get into にほんごいちねんせい. Sometimes, I'm probably a little too hard-headed.
にほんごいちねんせい has proved itself to be a great challenge, but it's one that I want to meet head-on! I spent far too much time studying the first day after class in comparison with my other classes, and still spend far more time on にほんごいちねんせい than any of my other classes. I mean, I spend my lunches with my にほんごいちねんせい classmates discussing Japanese and being crazy, I spend time working in groups outside of class, ASCIT lab practice, reading, writing, actual class time. A lot of people think that I'm downright insane to invest so much time into anything - but it's something that I want to do, even if I'm not the best at it.
The hardest thing that I've encountered so far this year in にほんごいちねんせい has been カタカナ。 It's hard to learn a second writing style just after ひらがな、and it's strange to say that I've learned two alphabets (essentially) in a hand-full of weeks. But I am getting more comfortable with it. It isn't as pretty as ひらがな、but I can do fun things like say ポースト。 That makes everything worthwhile, honest. ^.~=
I think what's been the most rewarding thing about にほんごいちねんせい so far is being able to pick up some things from some of the Japanese manga I have. Not that they aren't memorized for meaning as they stand, but to actually be able to read panels and understand them without having to reference a dictionary or a translation source is absolutely amazing. I can't wait to learn more so that I can read more on my own. My personal goal is to translate one of the original doujinshis that I don't have an English translation for. I'll probably still have to reference a dictionary to an extent, but not for grammar hopefully! (after all, is youkai in hiragana, katana, or kanji?)
じゃあ、また！
カッパ out! ^.~=
A Kappa Explanation
I'm sure by now some people are confused as to the images I've chosen and the video clip below. The clip below, in case you can't read the rather blurred kanji, is from the anime Gensomaden Saiyuki by Kazuya Minekura. The opening isn't as full of pretty fluorishes and whatnot like the actual episodes are.
Why am I explaining this, you may ask. Well, it all has to do with the kappa nickname that I tend to use - in case you didn't figure the kappa part out by now from the signature on the left. Kappa was the term incorrectly assigned to the Saiyuki character in the original Journey to the West series, Sha Gojyo. Gojyo was a sand demon in the original Buddhist myth about a Sanzo priest traveling to India to meet the Buddha. A kappa, however, is a water demon whose favorite food is cucmbers and who carry water dishes on their heads. This is not Minekura's Gojyo, either.
Still lost? That's good - I'm not there yet. In Kazuya Minekura's version, which is far more of an action and personal discovery piece where the four main characters (five if you count Hakuryuu the dragon who can turn into a Jeep) are trying to prevent Gyumaoh, the Demon King, from being reborn, than a religious treatise (though there are a lot of philosophical aspects and debates buried within it), Sha Gojyo is actually half kappa. You can tell he's not human or demon from his red hair and red eyes. I bet now you know who he is in the clip below.
I got the nickname Kappa from Minekura-san's Gensomaden Saiyuki series, prescribed by a group of friends that seems to perpetuate it regardless of who I'm around - it's actually migrated with me past highschool. Gojyo's personality has some rugged edges, though he's really a big brother type beyond that. He's also the fair bit of a romantic, once you get past the playboy aspect. While there are plenty of differences between myself and Gojyo (mainly the whole he's a guy and I'm not aspect), the name persists.
So, longer than anyone cares, this is your kappa signing off.
Why am I explaining this, you may ask. Well, it all has to do with the kappa nickname that I tend to use - in case you didn't figure the kappa part out by now from the signature on the left. Kappa was the term incorrectly assigned to the Saiyuki character in the original Journey to the West series, Sha Gojyo. Gojyo was a sand demon in the original Buddhist myth about a Sanzo priest traveling to India to meet the Buddha. A kappa, however, is a water demon whose favorite food is cucmbers and who carry water dishes on their heads. This is not Minekura's Gojyo, either.
Still lost? That's good - I'm not there yet. In Kazuya Minekura's version, which is far more of an action and personal discovery piece where the four main characters (five if you count Hakuryuu the dragon who can turn into a Jeep) are trying to prevent Gyumaoh, the Demon King, from being reborn, than a religious treatise (though there are a lot of philosophical aspects and debates buried within it), Sha Gojyo is actually half kappa. You can tell he's not human or demon from his red hair and red eyes. I bet now you know who he is in the clip below.
I got the nickname Kappa from Minekura-san's Gensomaden Saiyuki series, prescribed by a group of friends that seems to perpetuate it regardless of who I'm around - it's actually migrated with me past highschool. Gojyo's personality has some rugged edges, though he's really a big brother type beyond that. He's also the fair bit of a romantic, once you get past the playboy aspect. While there are plenty of differences between myself and Gojyo (mainly the whole he's a guy and I'm not aspect), the name persists.
So, longer than anyone cares, this is your kappa signing off.
4 件のコメント:
I had a pretty similar experience in middle school as well. According the high school course list, there was a Japanese program but the prerequisite was 2 years of another foreign language. I thought that was dumb especially since learning a romance language would not help learning Japanese at all and also since English is not my first language. I definitely did not lack exposure to many different languages since I heard at least 3 different languages in my house each day. Anyways, I signed up for French since I didn't want to do Spanish like everyone else and also because some friends were in it. To make things short, I hated it. After 2 years of it, I signed up for Japanese only to be called to the counselor's office and told that there was no Japanese program at all. Why then would you spend money to print that the school offered it then? Regrettably, I was forced to do another year of French in order to fulfill my language requirement.
On the subject of manga, we can now read them albeit not understand them. Furigana can be extremely helpful. Since I have Kodansha's Furigana Dictionary, I can easily look up almost any word. As for Doujin, that reminds that I should finish the one I was working on before when I have time. As for youkai (as in a type "demon"), it is in kanji as 妖怪.
Three languages! Now that's impressive right there. What two besides, I assume, English?
Well... about as far as I can get in understanding right now, besides simple phrases, are the wonderful カタカナ background noises! ザアアザアア is my favorite, I think. (Yes, torrential rain、or is that mystical wind? uh-oh... big difference)
妖怪, huh? That's very useful to know indeed! Thank you! And to think, it looks like a man opening the door to a house, or temple, or... something. Maybe I need to go back to lying down? Xp
The other 2 are Tagalog and Illocano, both of which are Filipino languages. Tagalog is the official national language while Illocano is a regional dialect. Actually, Illocano is very different so its more of an entirely different language. I understand Illocano very well but not so for Tagalog although I know a few phrases and such from TV.
Again - wow! Even not being fluent in one of them (two if you count that you're learning にほんご) still makes it pretty impressive!
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