Week 4: Lessons 1-4

My goodness! Does anyone else feel like they're drowning?

In just a few weeks, we have learned a great deal of Japanese, and honestly, I'm having a hard time keeping things straight.

I am pretty confident with a lot of basic grammar such as:

わたしはGLENDAです。わたしはアメリカじんです。

わたしはだいがくいんのいちねんせいです。

あのかばんはわたしのかばんです。

etc...I feel like I'm pretty good with knowing when to use "の”　vs　”は”　vs　”も”。。。

And basic questions such as:

すみません！とけいのうりばはどこですか？

すみません！なんさいですか？

そのワインはいくらですか？

etc...

Other more complex forms, however, still require me to scramble around in either my memory banks (usually unsuccessful) or in my class notes in order to recall what order they should go in, or whether I am using the correct particle.

For example:

- Questions of what belongs to who:

ex: "Is this Tanaka-san's pencil?"....let's see (えと。。。）このえんぴつは、たなかさんのえんぴつですか？<-- is that right? I always feel like I'm missing an important verb in the second half of the question...

- Dropping the second subject in phrases where the subject is already stated (see above). Somehow, I always feel that I need the second subject in order to orient myself in the sentence.

ex: so the above question could also be stated: そのえんぴつは、たなかさんのですか？<--is that correct??

- When to use これ、それ、and あれ...

Other topics that are giving me trouble:

-Numbers! Please comment if you are having a dickens of a time remembering how to say, write, or structure Japanese numerals! I need to create a support group or something...

- Telling time. Again... those pesky numbers.

Other than that, I am simply trying to stay afloat.

Also, I don't know if this is what was expected out of this "blog entry" homework assignment, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Thanks for reading!

どもありがとございます！

EDIT: I also feel that pretty soon, listening comprehension is going to be a problem for me...holla if you're with me on that.

Why Japanese?

My taking this course has, I feel, been somewhat of a long time coming. I began studying Chinese history many years ago, but have never had the opportunity, or desire (to be honest), to learn Japanese until I came to Columbia. While working for my MA degree, I realized, with startling clarity, how much information and knowledge I was missing by limiting myself to only one Asian language. Until then, I had thought that anything and everything I needed to know about my particular field of study (Bronze Age archaeology and history of China) could be found in Chinese sources, either in Classical Chinese or in Modern Chinese. I quickly realized how wrong I was and am now kind of scrambling to make up lost time and to get as proficient in Japanese (especially reading Japanese) as possible in order to be able to utilize the robust corpus of Japanese scholarship on early China that exists. So far however, Japanese has proven to be much more time-consuming than I had originally anticipated, but hopefully, with more work, it will get to be second nature.

Anyways, time fore more vocab review. こんばんわみなさん！じゃまたあした！

はじめまして！

はじめまして！わたしはGlendaです！どうぞよろしく！
わたしはにじうごさいです。わたしはあめりかじんです。
わたしはころんびやだいがくのだいがくいんのいちねんせいです。
にほんごのくらすはおもしろいです！