I'm not a pro at it yet, but I'm starting to understand the language more and more! <3 It's so much fun and I just want to keep learning every time I figure out a new phrase or how to use certain words properly... I get that feeling that I've achieved something big and it just feels great! Hopefully if I keep at my studying and observing my surroundings, I'll be able to pick up Japanese fast! So far, I've almost mastered the hiragana symbols and how to use them (I'm still learning new things about it, though), and now I'm slowly easing my way into memorizing katakana.
Also, I've learned a handful of useful and simple phrases recently! I'll list them here (in romanji) with the translations next to the phrases, so anyone who's interested can learn a bit of Japanese, too!
1. Keisatsu o yonde kudasai - please call the police!
2. Isha o yonde kudasai - please call a doctor!
3.Toire wa doko desu ka - Where is the bathroom?
4. Ikura desu ka - How much does this cost?
5. Onaka ga suita - I'm hungry
6. Nanika tabetai desu ka - What do you want to eat?
7. (Insert name of food) ga tabetai desu - I want to eat _______
8. Nanimo tabetakunai desu - I don't want to eat anything
9. Eigo ga wakarimasu ka - Do you understand English
10. O namae wa nan desu ka - What's your name?
I've also learned some "counter words" (words used to specify the amount of certain things). These sites have actually helped me out a lot and has made everything so much less confusing (I was becoming so overwhelmed when trying to figure out the use of them through Rosetta Stone by itself), so check them out! :D
http://japanese.about.com/od/Grammar/a/Counters.htm
http://www.trussel.com/jcount.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word
Annnnd that's about it so far! ^_^; I still have a long way to go, but I'm not going to give up! :) Wish me luck everyone!
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
I Did It!
I finally had made my own background! <3 Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think it turned out really nicely, especially for my first one! ^_^ All those tutorials I've read and watched on youtube seemed to have paid off! ^.^ (I used so many sources, that I can't even remember or list them all, but if you google "how to create your own blog backgrounds", you'll surely find lots of helpful tutorials and videos that will walk you through the process step by step!). It took me awhile to actually understand them, and it also took a lot of playing around with Gimp to figure out how to use the tools and how to layer images, but I did it! Aaah~! The fruits of my labor are sweet indeed~! Now, I need to move onto the next step and see if I can't make my own custom tables... :3 That would be so nice~!
Once I start getting better with creating my own layouts, maybe I should think about posting my own tutorial to (hopefully) help others with making their own personal blog backgrounds, too! One that's simple and easy to understand for people like me who are pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this. I guess that means I better start studying some more!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
It's As Easy As Riding a Bicycle!
This may seem to be a bit unbelievable, especially for a 21 year old, but I have never ever learned to ride a bike. I've tried to learn once when I was around 9 or 10, but never tried to since from being scarred by that one experience. What happened was, my brother tried to teach me by riding down the huge hill by our house, and I was doing pretty well until I turned around and saw he wasn't holding me. Instead of having that "wow!" moment after discovering I was riding the bike on my own, I landed up freaking out and panicking, which then lead to me crashing and then tumbling down the hill and scraping myself up pretty badly. -_-; I pretty much made up my mind right then and there that I would NEVER get near a bike again in my lifetime....
However, today, I had broken that promise I had made to myself. My hubby pretty much pushed me to learn to ride a bike today, so we walked all the way down hill, rented a bike, walked with it to the park, and then began the training. xD Thankfully, I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself (I pretty much do embarrassing things all the time, anyways), because there were quite a few people there, and I'm pretty sure some of them figured out that I didn't know a thing about riding a bike. There were a few people who were sitting on the bench near us for quite some time during my bike lesson and would glance over at us occasionally, but that's about all.
It was a bit frightening for me when I first got on the bike, especially not having a helmet or knee pads (don't follow my example please!). Because of that, we thought it might be less scary for me if I started out on the grass and then move on to the pavement once I felt more comfortable ( I soon figured out that it's a lot more difficult to pedal through the grass than on the sidewalk). Luckily, I didn't fall once (the only injury I sustained was a blister on the inside of my thumb from gripping the handles too tightly). I mainly had trouble with balancing and riding in a straight line (I was riding like a drunk person and swerving all over the place in the beginning), but within a couple of hours, I started to get the hang of it! ^.^ Now, the only thing I can't do very well is making big turns. xD For the most part though, I've got it down. I seriously didn't think I would even make as much progress as I did! :3 I guess my hubby's a good teacher. Lols! It also probably helps a bit that the bike was a good size for me, unlike when I was a kid trying to learn on a bike that was too big for me. :P I also never realized how fun it could be riding a bike. I liked it so much that I'm looking for a bike of my own now! (I've got my eye on a hot pink Hello Kitty one at the moment!).
I feel like I achieved a lot today.^_^ It may seem like a small feat to some, but for me, it was a huge step to take. Honestly, I'm really proud of myself, and I'm thankful to my husband for dragging me out there even though I was reluctant and being stubborn almost the entire time he was trying to teach me. ^^; I guess it's a good thing for me that he's even more stubborn than I am, otherwise, I probably would have never learned. xD
However, today, I had broken that promise I had made to myself. My hubby pretty much pushed me to learn to ride a bike today, so we walked all the way down hill, rented a bike, walked with it to the park, and then began the training. xD Thankfully, I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself (I pretty much do embarrassing things all the time, anyways), because there were quite a few people there, and I'm pretty sure some of them figured out that I didn't know a thing about riding a bike. There were a few people who were sitting on the bench near us for quite some time during my bike lesson and would glance over at us occasionally, but that's about all.
It was a bit frightening for me when I first got on the bike, especially not having a helmet or knee pads (don't follow my example please!). Because of that, we thought it might be less scary for me if I started out on the grass and then move on to the pavement once I felt more comfortable ( I soon figured out that it's a lot more difficult to pedal through the grass than on the sidewalk). Luckily, I didn't fall once (the only injury I sustained was a blister on the inside of my thumb from gripping the handles too tightly). I mainly had trouble with balancing and riding in a straight line (I was riding like a drunk person and swerving all over the place in the beginning), but within a couple of hours, I started to get the hang of it! ^.^ Now, the only thing I can't do very well is making big turns. xD For the most part though, I've got it down. I seriously didn't think I would even make as much progress as I did! :3 I guess my hubby's a good teacher. Lols! It also probably helps a bit that the bike was a good size for me, unlike when I was a kid trying to learn on a bike that was too big for me. :P I also never realized how fun it could be riding a bike. I liked it so much that I'm looking for a bike of my own now! (I've got my eye on a hot pink Hello Kitty one at the moment!).
I feel like I achieved a lot today.^_^ It may seem like a small feat to some, but for me, it was a huge step to take. Honestly, I'm really proud of myself, and I'm thankful to my husband for dragging me out there even though I was reluctant and being stubborn almost the entire time he was trying to teach me. ^^; I guess it's a good thing for me that he's even more stubborn than I am, otherwise, I probably would have never learned. xD
Also, I can now sing this song whenever I go for a bike ride:
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
It's Getting Easier....
Being alone, that is. It's been almost a week since my husband left for Florida, and I've been getting used to being here with no one else around. In a way, I kind of enjoy doing everything at my own pace and only worrying about my own mess to clean up and feeding myself. It's like a little vacation for me! xD Not to say that I don't miss him anymore, because I do, but being able to have time for the things I want to do is great! I really love being able to go out without having to worry about getting back early to start cooking dinner and to be able to greet my husband home from work.
I guess choosing to stay at home turned out to be good for me, in a way. I feel like I've gained some independence. I had never been left alone before, at least not for too long. I've always had someone around that I could depend on if I ever needed something or if I was scared... I found out that that was part of the reason why I was worried about my husband going to Florida without me. I realize now that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and don't need to rely on others so much. I needed to find that out, otherwise, I would probably be depending on others my entire life. What kind of life would that be?
Haha, well, look at me, 20 going on 21 and I'm still maturing! I feel like there's still a long way to go for me. I still feel like I have so much to learn about becoming an independent adult and that I'm still like a kid. Well, I'll just take things one step at a time. I guess people weren't kidding when they getting older is rough. o.o
I guess choosing to stay at home turned out to be good for me, in a way. I feel like I've gained some independence. I had never been left alone before, at least not for too long. I've always had someone around that I could depend on if I ever needed something or if I was scared... I found out that that was part of the reason why I was worried about my husband going to Florida without me. I realize now that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and don't need to rely on others so much. I needed to find that out, otherwise, I would probably be depending on others my entire life. What kind of life would that be?
Haha, well, look at me, 20 going on 21 and I'm still maturing! I feel like there's still a long way to go for me. I still feel like I have so much to learn about becoming an independent adult and that I'm still like a kid. Well, I'll just take things one step at a time. I guess people weren't kidding when they getting older is rough. o.o
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Nooo! Not Needles!!!!
I'm scheduled to get vaccinations next week and I'm freaking out over it. Why am I getting vaccinations? The reason is because I'll be moving to Japan with my husband for 3 years! x3 I have to get the JEV vaccination, which seems to be mandatory. There's no way around it, I can't skip out of it like I did with my flu shot last year... (horrible, I know... I really don't advise people to skip out on their shots). But, I'm so excited and I can't wait to go, so I don't mind having to suck it up for this opportunity. :P It will all be worth it in the end. :3
I've always wanted to go to Japan, as I have family there (not family I'm extremely close to, but family nonetheless) and I just really love learning about different cultures and I have always wanted to travel and see how people from different parts of the world live, but I never thought I would actually get the chance to actually experience something like this. It's like a dream! I've lived in California all my life and have never ventured outside of it. Still, even though I am really happy and feel so lucky to be able to finally travel somewhere and stay there for awhile, part of me can't help but feel nervous.
California has always been my home and has become something like a security blanket to me, and parting from it for so long seems crazy, especially since it also means being so far away from my mother, whom I have a very tight bond with. I've grown so accustomed to my life here. Everything here is familiar to me... It's what I'm used to. It's kind of scary going to a place that I know so little about, which in a way is sad since I should know more about the place where part of my family heritage lies. I've been working hard though to learn more about Japanese customs and etiquette... Speaking of learning, I feel so much pressure to try to learn the Japanese language and to memorize each character in their writing system (well, more like systems, since there are 3 different scripts). I've only managed to memorize a handful of the hiragana symbols so far.... I feel like I'm a child all over again trying to learn the alphabet. @_@ What makes it worse is that we have to leave for Japan in July, so I have only 3 months to learn as much as I can.
I hope that I'm just worrying too much and stressing for nothing. Maybe I don't have to rush myself or push myself so hard. In fact, it may be better for me to take my time. Who knows? Maybe living there will be the best way for me to pick up the language and culture than looking at flash card after flash card and trying to learn random phrases here and there or trying to google everything. I need to remain positive!
I've always wanted to go to Japan, as I have family there (not family I'm extremely close to, but family nonetheless) and I just really love learning about different cultures and I have always wanted to travel and see how people from different parts of the world live, but I never thought I would actually get the chance to actually experience something like this. It's like a dream! I've lived in California all my life and have never ventured outside of it. Still, even though I am really happy and feel so lucky to be able to finally travel somewhere and stay there for awhile, part of me can't help but feel nervous.
California has always been my home and has become something like a security blanket to me, and parting from it for so long seems crazy, especially since it also means being so far away from my mother, whom I have a very tight bond with. I've grown so accustomed to my life here. Everything here is familiar to me... It's what I'm used to. It's kind of scary going to a place that I know so little about, which in a way is sad since I should know more about the place where part of my family heritage lies. I've been working hard though to learn more about Japanese customs and etiquette... Speaking of learning, I feel so much pressure to try to learn the Japanese language and to memorize each character in their writing system (well, more like systems, since there are 3 different scripts). I've only managed to memorize a handful of the hiragana symbols so far.... I feel like I'm a child all over again trying to learn the alphabet. @_@ What makes it worse is that we have to leave for Japan in July, so I have only 3 months to learn as much as I can.
I hope that I'm just worrying too much and stressing for nothing. Maybe I don't have to rush myself or push myself so hard. In fact, it may be better for me to take my time. Who knows? Maybe living there will be the best way for me to pick up the language and culture than looking at flash card after flash card and trying to learn random phrases here and there or trying to google everything. I need to remain positive!
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