So I don't take the time for leasure, at least not in a way that is organized enough. Pause for irony. So this is what I am thinking. Keep in mind my goal is to pass the 1kyu Japanese test next year (crazy goals=crazy results). And I wanna play all these videogames that keep piling up. I just recently found out how to use my wii remote for emulated games on my iMac.
8am-3:30pm: Job/JET books
3:30-5:00: Study via net resources
5:00-5:30 eat
5:30-6:30 exercise
7:00-8:00 game
8:00-8:30 read Japanese
8:30-9:00 read English (愛読のため）
9:00-10:00 brain training on the DS, kanji game on the DS, Word list on the DS
10:00- Internet junk
after- go to bed and read till sleep comes
And all kinds of things happen during downtime at the job.
May 15, 2007
May 14, 2007
This month's blog matsuri
Japanese bloggers come together once a month or so to blog about a common theme and share links. This time I was included in the fun, with a tourism theme. See the entries at Deas' blog.
May 12, 2007
May 11, 2007
Radio Show: Practice vs Play
So I do a "radio" show over the announcements at lunch. It's called "「便利な英語表現を使うぜ！」SHOW" (kinda translates to " The 'Use useful English phrases, dammit!' show" without the harshness nor swearing nuances of dammit, but the fun nuance).
Usually, I teach a saying or idiom. I have them repeat keywords and phrases after me (these cues are absent from the script below). This time I decided to teach the correction to a mistake I see all the time. They really liked this show because it was easy to understand and the kamehameha part is funny.
When I do these shows I have kind of a suave radio DJ thing going on. It slips into the youtubes from time to time. Oh, and I say "俺様" a lot. They love that!
Feel free to use it in your class; your students and fellow teachers will appreciate the effort. Making an effort is what it's all about over here. Besides, it will improve your Japanese!
Usually, I teach a saying or idiom. I have them repeat keywords and phrases after me (these cues are absent from the script below). This time I decided to teach the correction to a mistake I see all the time. They really liked this show because it was easy to understand and the kamehameha part is funny.
When I do these shows I have kind of a suave radio DJ thing going on. It slips into the youtubes from time to time. Oh, and I say "俺様" a lot. They love that!
Feel free to use it in your class; your students and fellow teachers will appreciate the effort. Making an effort is what it's all about over here. Besides, it will improve your Japanese!
今日(きょう)のキーワド(きーわど)はpractice.
まず次(つぎ)の文(ぶん)を聞いて(きいて)間違い(まちがい)を見つけよう(みつけよう)
「I play judo」
間違い(まちがい)に気付いた(きづいた)？
柔道(じゅうどう)の場合(ばあい)は「PLAY」という言葉(ことば)が合って(あって)ないよ！
「PLAY」のニュアンス(にゅあんす)は遊びっぽい(あそびっぽい)
またゲームっぽい(げーむっぽい)
一方(いっぽう)で柔道(じゅうどう)は武芸(ぶげい)。つまり元(もと)は戦い(たたかい)のこと。ゲーム(げーむ)の反対。
だから「I play Judo」じゃなくて「I practice Judo」
の方が正しい。
そして「I am a Judo player」も違って(ちがって)、「I am a Judo practitioner」
が 正しい(ただしい)。
「Practice」の意味(いみ)はこの場合(ばあい)には従事(じゅうじ)している。
そして「Practitioner」の意味(いみ)は従事者(じゅうじしゃ)。
すべての武芸(ぶげい)はそのようにして。
たとえば
I practice kendo.
I practice karate.
I practice the kamehameha!
さて覚えたい(おぼえたい)ならMr. B's English Cornerにどんと来い！このスクリプトがはってあるぜ。
May 10, 2007
Most boring ever
But there is a useful tip for my fellow Japan-bound teachers. Bound as in Earth-bound, not coming bound. Stupid language.
May 9, 2007
Connections
Anyone else remember this series? It was a great staple in otherwise really cheesy TLC chanel programing. A smart show. I miss feeling kinda smart; I borrowed Brain Training from the gf and it kicks my butt.
May 7, 2007
Seven reasons why Izakaiyas are horrible places for me to learn Japanese
Ah izakaiya's. The bars where you can eat tasty kara'age. Many people recommend going out and drinking your way to fluency. But I don't find them useuful cause:
1: You have to spend at least thirty minutes explaining the same things each time. Where you're from, what you do, if you have a girlfriend; which leads us to the next couple points.
2: Getting the crude questions about your girlfriend, and then having to explain that Americans don't do crude questions.
3: Getting offers for drinks. I just say I'm driving, since it is a lot easier for them to understand.
4:The sad realization that Japanese people don't do language questions. Part of it is no doubt my lack of fluency, but really, Japanese people just don't think about grammar. Try mentioning the 形容詞 form and watch their eyes glaze over.
Which brings me to my next point...
5: The guys that spend their time at an izakaya are not the brightest group, especially in the inaka. Recently I've run into a guy that could not read the kanji on a bottle (I was trying to confirm the reading of 古酒). Last night, a guy forgot the character for "ハ" and wrote "へ" instead. On a map of America, that he drew around my map, cause he didn't realize I had drawn America. He thought the America shape was my state.
6:They are probably, in their defense, not on their game because they are drunk and in the more intoxicating presence of a gaikokujin. In any case, they aren't gonna be much help; they are to wasted and distracted.
7:The local dialect is horridly thick.
So why do I go to izakayas? For the food! The free food that you are bound to be given doesn't hurt. If you want to learn something, you may be better off talking to the マスタ than the patrons.
1: You have to spend at least thirty minutes explaining the same things each time. Where you're from, what you do, if you have a girlfriend; which leads us to the next couple points.
2: Getting the crude questions about your girlfriend, and then having to explain that Americans don't do crude questions.
3: Getting offers for drinks. I just say I'm driving, since it is a lot easier for them to understand.
4:The sad realization that Japanese people don't do language questions. Part of it is no doubt my lack of fluency, but really, Japanese people just don't think about grammar. Try mentioning the 形容詞 form and watch their eyes glaze over.
Which brings me to my next point...
5: The guys that spend their time at an izakaya are not the brightest group, especially in the inaka. Recently I've run into a guy that could not read the kanji on a bottle (I was trying to confirm the reading of 古酒). Last night, a guy forgot the character for "ハ" and wrote "へ" instead. On a map of America, that he drew around my map, cause he didn't realize I had drawn America. He thought the America shape was my state.
6:They are probably, in their defense, not on their game because they are drunk and in the more intoxicating presence of a gaikokujin. In any case, they aren't gonna be much help; they are to wasted and distracted.
7:The local dialect is horridly thick.
So why do I go to izakayas? For the food! The free food that you are bound to be given doesn't hurt. If you want to learn something, you may be better off talking to the マスタ than the patrons.
Things that never happened are so messed up
Today was body horror day. By which I mean the genre perfected by the likes of David Cronenberg.
First there was the dream. A man being inflated grotesquely, then deflated. It repeated that part many times until I got disgusted enough to wake.
Then I watched the new Doctor Who episode which not only was another body horror thing but also really violated the laws of conservation of mass*.
And then one of my fans sent me a link to this:
So I feel a little messed up with all the body horror in one day.
*Oddly enough time travel and a sonic screwdriver don't violate my suspension of disbelief though.
First there was the dream. A man being inflated grotesquely, then deflated. It repeated that part many times until I got disgusted enough to wake.
Then I watched the new Doctor Who episode which not only was another body horror thing but also really violated the laws of conservation of mass*.
And then one of my fans sent me a link to this:
So I feel a little messed up with all the body horror in one day.
*Oddly enough time travel and a sonic screwdriver don't violate my suspension of disbelief though.
May 4, 2007
This is me and my girlfriend
I did record an actual conversation, but she made me promise to not post it. So it sits in my video ipod. Enjoy this rough approximation...
May 2, 2007
I sometimes wonder
I sometimes wonder.
I think that the moon, in it's gibbous state, colored auburn--what they call a harvest moon-- seems to be ambivilantly and unapologetically both giving ominious and peaceful feelings.
That's nature: danger and beauty wrapped in the same package.
It is dark.
I am lost somewhere in a mikan field in the mountains. With trimmed heges jutting up like monoliths.
Who trims headges around a mikan field?
Maybe the man who lives at that giant country house.
But the man is not there to answer that question.
And he would probably think me odd for being here in the first place.
It is dark.
I am alone.
And I wonder...
I think that the moon, in it's gibbous state, colored auburn--what they call a harvest moon-- seems to be ambivilantly and unapologetically both giving ominious and peaceful feelings.
That's nature: danger and beauty wrapped in the same package.
It is dark.
I am lost somewhere in a mikan field in the mountains. With trimmed heges jutting up like monoliths.
Who trims headges around a mikan field?
Maybe the man who lives at that giant country house.
But the man is not there to answer that question.
And he would probably think me odd for being here in the first place.
It is dark.
I am alone.
And I wonder...
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