What’s ギリシャ(girisya) ?

Sentence “~から来ました。(~kara kimashita, I am from~.)” is usually taught at the very beginning and at this point students learn country names such as

アメリカ (amerika) = the U.S.

イギリス (igirisu) = the U.K.

カナダ (kanada) = Canada

中国 (cyuugoku) = China

韓国 (kankoku) = Korea

However when it comes to

ギリシャ (girisya) = Greece

Students cannot find any connection between ギリシャ(girisya) and Greece.

Here is the answer to the question “why Greece is called ギリシャ(girisya) in Japanese?”

In Japanese, the official name of Greece isギリシャ共和国(girisya kyoowakoku) which means Hellenic Republic but it commonly known as ギリシャ(girisya). Greece is originally from Latin “Graecia” and became Grécia in Portuguese language. Then 宣教師(senkyooshi, missionary) brought the word Grécia to Japan in the 16 th century and it has been adopted using similar Japanese pronounciation ギリシャ(girisya).

 

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Kanada kara kimashita. Maiku desu. ( I’m Mike. I’m from Canada.)

After learning all Katakana, you will see that a lot of English words are used in Japan. For example, インフォメーション(infomeesyon, information) is a common word used in Japan, despite the fact that we have a Japanese word 情報 (jyoohoo) which means information.

Especially the young (and politicians :p) prefer to use English words.

However, when you speak Japanese, you should pronounce English words as Japanese pronounce them even though you feel strange to pronounce Mike as Maiku.

If you want to know the direction to get “MacDonald’s”, please ask “Makudonarudo wa dokodesuka?”.

There are the words which my students said that they feel funny or strange along with Makudonarudo.

コンピューター (konpyuutaa) = Computer

スターバックス (sutaabakkusu) = Starbucks

ディー・ブイ・ディー (dii bui dii) = DVD

ブラジル (burajiru) = Brazil

ビジネス (bijinesu) = Business

エンジニア (enjinia) = Engineer

 

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How many Kanjis do we use every day?

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漢字を勉強するのが好きです。
(Kanji wo benkyoo surunoga sukidesu.)
I like studying Kanji.

毎日漢字を勉強します。
( Mainichi Kanji wo benkyoo shimasu.)
I study Kanji every day.
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How many Kanjis do we use every day? For Japanese learners,
Kanji is one of the big challenges and every time I start to teach Kanji,
students asked me “How many Kanjis do I need in order to read a newspaper?”
“How many Kanjis do you use every day?”.

The answer is 2136 if you want to read a newspaper.
There is a rule about how to use Kanji. Since there are tons of Kanji and
if we don’t have any rules, we would need to keep learning Kanji  whole life.

The JOYO Kanji is the regular-use Kanji list by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
Currently 2136 charactors in the list and these consist of:
1) 1006 Kanjis taught in primary school;
2) 1130 additional Kanjis taught in seconday school.

Whenever we use Kanji that are not in the list, we are expected to
provide ふりがな (furinaga, how to read the word)
Here is a link to a Website called Hiragana Megane.
http://www.hiragana.jp/en/
If you enter URL on this site,  ふりがな (furigana) will be provided!
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書き初め(KAKIZOME, new year Japanese calligraphy) Workshop!

This is our third Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) Workshop.

Shodo is the path of writing, a millenial art and discipline that has lasted for years in Japanese culture.
The instructor is Reina Kamei (major in Japanese Calligraphy)

 

What’s KAKIZOME?

– It means the first calligraphy of the year and we usually write a New Year’s resolution.

 

You know ZERO Japanese?

– No worries! We will help you to translate your phrase and teach how to write them.

 

You can take home your work. Free Japanese green tea!

Videos of Shodo

 

Date & Time :  19^th January, 2013  4:00p.m.-6:00p.m.

Fee :  $30 per person  /  $50 for group of 2  *Fee includes materials and Japanese green tea

Venue :  DEVELOP Language Institute  360 Bloor st W. Suite 306 Toronto, ON M5S 1X1

” I am Nancy ” is ” 私はNancyです ” ?

In Japanese, subject such as watashi ( I ), boku ( I, generally young male use ), anata ( you ) are often omitted when the subject is obvious.

So, when you introduce yourself like “ I am~. ”, “ ~desu” is more natural than “ Watashi wa ~ desu”

Let’s take a look some examples!

I am Nancy.             ( 私は )ナンシーです。( Watashi wa ) nanshi desu.

I am a student.          ( 私は )学生です。 ( Watashi wa ) gakusei desu.

I am Canadian.           ( 私は ) カナダ人です。 ( Watashi wa ) kanada jin desu.

Where are you from?      ( あなたは ) どこの出身ですか？( Anata wa ) dokono syusshin desuka?

Do you like music?         ( あなたは )音楽が好きですか？( Anata wa ) ongaku ga sukidesuka?

 

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Let’s eat “Morning”!

These are correct Japanese sentences. Can you guess what Morning is?

モーニング食べない？ (Mooningu tabenai)

Why don’t we eat Morning?

モーニング２つお願いします。(Mooningu futatsu onegaishimasu)

We’ll have two Mornings.

あのレストランのモーニングおいしいよ。 (Ano resutoran no mooningu oishiiyo)

Morning at the restaurant is yummy.

Yes, Morning is used as “breakfast special” in Japan.

And, Nagoya-city is famous for Morning because some coffee shops or restaurants offer breakfast set including bread and egg when we order a drink such as coffee or tea.

This custom started in 1950s.

Let’s have a look Mornings in Nagoya-city.

 

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DEPACHIKA?

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デパ地下 で 食べ物 を 買う。 ( depachika de tabemono wo kau)

I buy food at depachika.

毎日、帰り に デパ地下 に 寄る。（mainichi, kaeri ni depachika ni yoru)

I drop by depachika on the way home every day.

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What’s in the basement of a department store?

デパ地下  (depachika) is a new word which is a combination of “depaato” which means department store

and “chika” which means basement. So, デパ地下 (depachika) means the basement floor of a department store.

However, for Japanese people depachika means more than that.

Let’s take a look some pictures of depachika.

I believe you see what is depachika now.

We litellary can buy food from all over the world here such as Italian, Thai and Chinese etc. and they even have bakery, sweets shops and organic foods etc.

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Let’s learn Japanese with Jack! Part.2

3. Cut along your outline with a sharp knife.

よく切(kireru)れる包丁(hoochoo)を使(tsuka)い、線(sen)に沿(so)って切(ki)ります。

yokukireru hoochoo wo tsukai, sen ni sotte kirimasu.

よく切れる包丁(yokukireru hoochoo) = sharp knife

包丁(hoochoo) = knife

切ります(kirimasu) = cut

4. Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from inside the pumpkin.

大(oo)きいスプーンを使(tsuka)い、かぼちゃの種(tane)やわたをかき出(da)します。

ookii supuun wo tsukai, kabocha no tane ya wata wo kakidashimasu.

大きい(ookii) = big

スプーン(supuun) = spoon

種(tane) = seed

かき出します(kakidashimasu) = scoop out

5. Cut the face. Clear away the rough edges.

顔(kao)を彫(ho)ります。でこぼこしている縁(fuchi)をきれいにします。

kao wo horimasu.  dekoboko shiteiru fuchi wo kireinishimasu.

顔(kao) = face

縁(fuchi) = edge

きれいにします(kiree ni shimasu) = clean

6. Place a candle inside the pumpkin to creat an eerie glow.

不気味(bukimi)な光(hikari)を放(hana)つように、かぼちゃの中(naka)にキャンドルを置(o)きます。

bukimina hikari wo hanatsuyooni, kabocha no naka ni kyandoru wo okimasu.

不気味な(bukimina) = eerie

中(naka) = inside

キャンドル(kyandoru) = candle

置きます (okimasu) = place

Which one do you think the best??

 

 

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Let’s learn Japanese with Jack! Part.1

Happy Halloween, everybody! I made my first jack-o’-lantern with students at my school last Friday.

Let’s take a look at each steps of making lantern and get some expressions in Japanese.

1. Draw eyes, a nose and mouth on the pumpkin using a pen or pencil.

ペンか鉛筆(enpitsu)を使(tsuka)い、かぼちゃに目(me)、鼻(hana)、口(kuchi)を描(ka)きます。

Pen ka enpitsu wo tsukai, kabocha ni me, hana, kuchi wo kakimasu.

鉛筆 (enpitsu) = pencil

使います (tsukaimasu) = use

かぼちゃ (kabocha) = pumpkin

目 (me) = eye

鼻 (hana) = nose

口 (kuchi) = mouth 描きます (kakimasu) = draw

 

2. Draw a circle on top of the pumpkin in preparation for making an opening large enough for your hand to reach  through.

穴(ana)を開(a)ける前(mae)に、かぼちゃの上部(jyoobu)に手(te)が入(hai)るくらいの大(oo)きさの円(en)を描(ka)きます。

Ana wo akeru mae ni, kabocha no jyoobu ni te ga hairu kurai no ookisa no en wo kakimasu. 手(te) = hand 円(en) = circle

 

 

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October 23, 2012 ワンダフルライフ (After Life)

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Life_(film)

Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9sr5wVkik

 

参考 (sankoo) = reference

綿菓子 (watagashi) = cotton candy

平凡な (heebonna) = ordinary

過去 (kako) = past

半袖  (hansode) = short sleeve

選びます (erabimasu) = select

１つだけ (hitotsudake) = only one

大変だね (taihendane) = That’s tough.

鈴 (suzu) = bell

チリンチリン (chirin chirin) = ding ding

汗 (ase) = sweat

お粥 (okayu) = rice porridge