Voygala - Learning Japanese Blog, Learn Japanese

Famitsu Weekly (#861)

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:56:12 +0000

Example Level: (katakana)

Click on a sample to view full magazine page

Here is an article about the new game console by Nintendo called Revolution. It specifically focuses on the backwards compatability feature which allows everyone to play all games developed by Nintendo for the NES, SNES and N64 for free!

Example 1 -
katakana reads “re bo ryu- shyo n” for Revolution

Example 2 -
katakana reads “o- ru · a ku se su · ge- mi n gu!” for All · Access · Gaming!

Example 3 -
katakana reads “su- pa- ma ri o bu ra za- zu” for Super Mario Brothers

Example 4 -
katakana reads “pu re i su te- shyo n” for Playstation

Temp Server

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:06:32 +0000

The site has currently been moved to a temporary server while I re-build some things. Content will be limited for the next few weeks.

Japanese Street Sign

Sat, 18 Jun 2005 19:50:34 +0000

Example: (katakana and kanji)

Click on the image to view full size

While I was in San Francisco I visited Japantown and snapped a shot of a street sign. Here is a look at the Japanese text.

katakana reads “po su to gai” - meaning Post-gai

In this context -gai is the kanji you see on the sign and means street. Here is JWPce’s definition for this kanji. Click on the image to be taken to Jim Breen’s dictionary giving all of this kanji’s information.

Ready…Set…..

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:58:07 +0000

GO! Today we kick off the opening of the site / the start of learning. There is still a long list of items that need to be addressed (forum, reviews, etc.) butcontent will begin to spring up here daily. Bookmark this page and if you use an RSS reader (like Bloglines or FeedReader) don’t forget to add this site to your feeds.

Stroke Order is Important!

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:22:34 +0000

Things kicked off last night and I dove right into it. I ended up going over some hiragana a few days earlier then planned. One thing you need to make sure you get is the stroke order. This is a must but you may not realize it until later in your studies. Get in the habbit of doing things right it will make things much easier when you begin to learn kanji. Spend the extra time now.

It can be a pain sometimes because Japanese stroke order can different greatly from what westerners are used to. Think of how you write the letters “J” or “T”. Most will write the vertical line first then cross the T or put the hat on the J last. In Japanese the stroke order is usually to put the horizontal crosses and hats on first! A few examples are SU | | and KE | | . Check out WriteJapan for animated stroke order of the hiragana.

Basic Greetings

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:38:02 +0000

As part as the introduction in Genki vol.1 are 2 pages of basic greetings. This is a nice ice-breaker and gives you phrases you can use everyday.

My favorite of course is ( i ta da ki ma su ) which is an expression of gratitude right before eating!

Site Needs New Server

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 16:18:01 +0000

I am sorry to bore everyone with new Site News so often but there is a lot happening. I am happy to report that due to site popularity I will be moving the site to a new location over the
next week or so. You will not notice anything initially and then you will automatically be re-directed to the new location. The only down side is the hosting cost will double. Find ways to help support this site and keep it running.

FYI:

This site is #1 for 45+ searches on Yahoo, All The Web, Alta Vista, and more. We will be up on Google and MSN Search shortly but we are “too new” for them at this time. As you can imagine the amount of traffic hitting the site is crippling us on this shared server so we need our own. I am very happy that there is such a great interest in my site. Please leave a comment and post on the forum (which is coming soon too)!

Yahoo! Example 1
Yahoo! Example 2

AltaVista Example 1
AltaVista Example 2

AllTheWeb Example 1
AllTheWeb Example 2

*** PLEASE BEAR WITH ME DURING THIS SET-UP PHASE ***

Senmon wa nan desu ka?

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:43:44 +0000

I am through the first few pages of chapter 1 in Genki vol. 1. It is starting out in a college setting over in Japan with an exchange student (ryuugakusei) and a native speaking person. The grammar in this section is fairly easy to comprehend and Genki does a great job of mixing in different ways you can use it. Short example:

senmon wa (ha pronounced wa when used as a particle) nan desu ka?
meaning: What is your major (of study)?

Vocab:
Senmon - major (of study)
nan desu ka? - what is it?

Notes:
wa - particle (written ha) that acts a a pointer for the subject.
Your (as in Your major) is usually omitted in Japanese when it is clear who is being spoken about.

How this makes sense:

Senmon wa = As for (your is understood via context) major
nan desu ka? = what is it?

so…

As for your major what is it? = What is your major?

Updated LRNJ Game Coming Soon

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:55:36 +0000

It’s been a long time coming, but an updated version of LRNJ - Learning Japanese should be coming out soon. I am excitied because it is going to include new battle systems, more vocabulary, and the kun and on readings for the Kanji.

Guide To Japanese - Online Learning

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 13:29:50 +0000

Learning Japanese online is a great way to learn however most of the time there are too many resources out there. If you are serious about learning Tae Kim’s Guide To Japanese is the best single resource for grammar and structure around. Tae makes updates frequently and it is ever growing. If I ever get stuck on something I can always turn here for help.