Learning Japanese- hiragana

So you've learned katakana! Great! Honestly that's pretty amazing. If you were to go to Japan now you could do a pretty good job at ordering from menus and reading labels. But if you're ready to do more then lets move on. Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to learn hiragana. Now don't be frightened! Hiragana is exactly like katakana. Actually, its literally the exact same alphabet with some different symbols. The biggest challenge here is just remembering which symbols belong to katakana and which go with hiragana. Here's the set below:

Hiragana is used for regular Japanese- as in words that aren't foreign in origin. When you're starting to learn kanji the spelling of it will be shown in hirgana and many words are simply written in hiragana. Once again, I recommend using Memrise and the Basic Hiragana 1 and 2 sets. Admittedly this part of the learning process isn't very exciting, but its necessary in order to learn literally anything else. But if you can make it through this part then your set up to just go, go, go afterward!

This is also a good point to make sure you're paying attention to pronunciation as, just like in English, wrong pronunciation can lead to some really messed up switcharoos. If you're practicing with Memrise remembers to have the sounds turned on so you can hear the pronunciation and try to repeat it each time too. Below is a great video about pronunciation from a YouTube channel that has some great videos:

If you plan on learning how to write in Japanese, now would be the time to practice those skills as well. When writing hiragana, katakana, and kanji there is a proper order to each stroke. This might sound intimidating but the same is true of English. If you saw someone writing the lower-case r by starting from the right-hand side. Its not unforgivable or anything but it's definitely weird. For that reason its better to get good habits down now so you're set up for the future. Here's some charts showing the writing directions:

Never seen WI before... ignore that one.

The WO symbol here seems wrong... ignore that. And WI isn't a thing, ignore that too.

And just note that whenever you write the " or ° it is written after the rest of the symbol, like dotting an i. When I was practicing writing I'd just repeat it over and over in my notebook, but if you're lucky enough to be near a Daiso (a Japanese dollar store) then you can probably find notebooks made specifically for practicing this. These special notebooks basically have a large grid on the pages so you have plenty of space to practice and feel it out. Honestly a plain notebook works fine, though.

Alright, good luck on this next stage of memorization. You can do it!

K+K

Hanami Video

I know its been a little while since we went out for hanami but we finally got around to finishing a short video for it. We ended up having such a good time that we didn't remember to film much! But you can get a quick glimpse into our second day of hanami and the area we were at in Ueno park in Tokyo.

In the video you see us start with our walk to the station near our house. Kris recently found a nice walking path that makes a shortcut from our house to the station and, amazingly, this path happens to be lined with sakura trees so we always have a really pleasant walk. You might notice I'm carrying a super heavy tote bag in the video- that was our picnic bag! Its a big thermal bag we bought here at Costco and in it we had some tarps for the ground, some sushi, some drinks, and some cookies.

At Ueno park we were able to find an open spot on the ground to lay out our tarps. Many places have been fields where you can sit but this park had just a very large cement walkway that was sectioned off into tarp-sized spots. You take off your shoes before going on the tarp too. Its Japan. We all brought our own food but also brought cookies and ships to share as a group- it was a pretty amazing lunch. There were all sorts of people and tourist groups walking around. There were some other landmarks to check out nearby too so after our lunch we walked around a bit.

Hanami really is amazing and I cant wait to bring it home and enjoy it with you guys.

K+K

Learning Japanese- extreme beginner

I couple of people have asked how I'm learning Japanese or expressed interest in learning themselves. While I can't stress enough that I basically know NO Japanese, I do know a tiny bit about learning it. I've been an extreme beginner for a while now and I thought I'd share my knowledge with you.

So let's assume you know nothing about Japanese. It can seem daunting to take on this language because of the kanji, right? Well honestly you don't need to worry kanji for a long while. Just shove it out of your mind. How is that OK? Well in Japanese theres actually two alphabets used aside from kanji. Now you're freaked out about learning two whole other alphabets, right? Well don't worry about that either. Honestly, the you only need one alphabet to read a LOT of words in Japanese.

So how is that possible? Well the two alphabets are hiragana and katakana. Hiragana is the standard Japanese alphabet, and its even whats used to write out kanji pronunciations. Katakana is the alphabet thats used to write out words of foreign origin, and a surprising amount of commonly used words in Japan originate from English. If you know Katakana you can read a ton of things, from labels in the store to items on a menu. If you needed to suddenly hop on a plane to Japan and only had that flight to learn Japanese, I'd learn "hello" and katakana. Here's a katakana chart:

As you can see, the alphabet is made up of consonant+vowel sounds. You start from the right side (a,e,i,o,u) and move to the left, top to bottom. You might also notice that the highlighted symbols are copies of other symbols, made by adding " or ­­°. The best way to learn katakana is pure repetition, and the best way to do that is with an app! Memrise is an awesome free app to use when learning a language. It's basically a flash card app that shows you flashcards in perfect intervals to keep up retention. You can get the app on your phone, navigate to Courses, then Japanese. Here you can find a ton of sets of Japanese words or phrases to learn. There are many sets that include sound in the flash card, so you can hear the proper pronunciation. I'd start with Basic Katakana 1- that will teach you the symbols in the chart above that aren't highlighted. Then I'd move on to Basic Katakana 2 which will you teach you the highlighted symbols plus the ones shown below. These additional symbols make unique sounds by combining two symbols, with the second symbol written much smaller.

And now we get to the real difficult part of learning Japanese- or any language, I guess. While the language itself can be challenging, the hardest part is just making yourself practice it. Thats more than half the battle. I frickin live in Japan and knowing Japanese would make my life way more convenient, but I still have a hard time making myself practice. And as soon as you stop practicing you begin to forget things. I didn't study for a month and I fell back a chapter and a half in my Japanese textbook. You really do gotta use it or you'll lose it. So if you just feel like learning a couple Japanese phrases, then feel free to ignore this blog post because its not for you. But if you really would like start learning a new language along with Kris and I, then download Memrise and start practicing your katakana. And do make sure you start trying out the pronunciations- it'll make saying words later way easier.

You know, people think that one of the best ways to learn a language is by total immersion. Thats crap. Immersion alone really won't teach you much if you have no idea what those noises mean. It could take you a long time to unravel a language that way. The real way to learn is by constant practice, supported by actually using what you've learned. The immersion can help encourage you to use the language, but you've got to have it in place first. And I don't even mean whole sentences- if you can string together a couple words thats enough. Most of the time when I understand what someone is saying in Japanese its because I heard 1 or 2 words I recognize and I put that together with context clues. But as I learn more its like driving through a fog and the view around you slowly becomes clearer.

Of course, that all starts with a single step, and that step is frickin katakana. Then, to test your new language skills, read this menu! How many things can you identify?

K+K

A trip to Ikea and the first day back

This weekend was the last of my spring break. I went back to work today, which was kind of a bummer. It's not like work was bad or anything- just not as good as not work, right? This school year I have 3 schools instead of 6, so I'll spend a lot more time at each school. Also, all my schools are within 30 minutes of home, so no more crazy long commutes that wear me out! Two of my schools are from last year so I'm familiar with most of the students and teachers. I will go to my new school next week, so that means I'll be doing a ton of self introductions.

The weather here is finally starting to warm up, though its still been rainy. I can never understand the weather changes that happen here- the day will start sunny and clear then end rainy. A week can start out freezing cold and stormy and, in a matter of days, go up ten degrees and turn out nice. And the weather forecasts are always always off- they're of a general guess than even the forecasts at home were. But today, even after raining, its nice and warm out so we have out livingroom sliding glass door open. Oh- its still quiet for now too, meaning the crickets and cicadas haven't woken up from the cold. In peak bug season, when they're all out at night creaking and screaming, it gets frickin LOUD. So loud that you practically need to yell to have a conversation outside at night. As annoying as that can be, I still kind of miss the cicada noises. They remind me of our first weeks spent in Japan- and of course any anime or Ghibli film set in the summer. I'm a bit excited for their return- though I'm not excited for the humidity that will come at the same time. Last night we were walking to Family Mart and I'm pretty sure we heard the first cicada of the season buzzing away nearby. Won't be long now.

And finally, its April, so everyone knows that means only one thing- Kris' Birthday Month! The monthly celebration of Kris' life has started and, as you've seen, we've celebrated by spending time with friends, drinking under sakura blossoms, and eating some great food. Most recently we went to Ikea to finally get Kris a desk that suits his needs. We tried to find a used desk first but none of them were cheap enough! I'm guessing all the reasonably priced desks get bought up pretty quick around all these schools. So Ikea was the best option for us. We got Kris a desk with a monitor stand and a new chair for his first official b-day gift, and boy does he love it. If you've seen the orange desk he used to have its basically an INSANELY better version of that. We also moved the livingroom around a bit. Instead of couch cushions on the ground (for snuggling under the kotatsu) we have them back on the couch frame in the same corner. The old desk (my new desk!) is right next to Kris'. Our laundry drying rack got pushed to a distant corner, and now the kotatsu is kind of just in the middle of the room, a little bit in the way, but oh well.

For now we'll go back to the daily grind- me getting up early and going to work, Kris sleeping in late but then cooking dinner for us. Luckily Golden Week is coming up soon, so I'll have time off again in only two weeks.

K+K

First Japanese Lesson

Yup, thats right- we started taking Japanese classes!

Recently I met all the other Hachioji ALTs at a work meeting, so my group of friends in this area has grown by a lot. A couple of these people are brand new in Japan and, unlike Kris and I, are being proactive about learning Japanese. A couple people were going to check out a Japanese class and it turned out to be right at our station! Pretty much meant Kris and I had to check it out too.

The class is held every twice a month all year on Wednesday nights from 7-9pm. Its at a community center building very close to our station and- the best part- its FREE. Theres a textbook used in class that we need to buy, for about ¥2800, and that's the only cost to us.

We met a couple friends at our station to grab some dinner then headed to the lesson. About 15-17 people showed up for the class, with 80% of them being Interac ALTs. The teachers split a couple people off into a more advanced class, leaving all the Interac ALTs plus two other English teachers that teach at a local university. We were all on varying levels of extreme beginner, so the teacher started with simple introductions and worked up from there. Our teacher can speak English pretty well but basically teaches in Japanese by using very simple sentences and translating when needed.

Anyways, we got through introductions to talking about where we're from and where our home is, then we talked about our how many people are in our family. Nothing mind blowing, but like I said we're starting from the ground floor. Tomorrow Kris and I are going to look for the textbook. I've already typed up my notes from tonight's class and shared them on my google drive. In fact, if you'd like to learn along with us you can see all my class notes at THIS LINK. Let me know if you're going to be studying Japanese with us!

So with the classes being free and located only 15 minutes away from our home, AND since friends will be involved, it seems like we have no excuses. Since the class is entirely verbal I feel like we're finally getting in the practice we need to improve and utilize the things we've already learned. But I'll keep you updated on how things actually go. Next class is April 27th- Kris' birthday! And until then, here's a taste of what we learned tonight. If you're checking out my class notes maybe you can read it.

はじめまして。ケンドラです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。
おくにはアメリカです。うちはみなみおおさわです。
かぞくはよにんです。ちちとははとあにとわたしです。

When you pop that into Google translate it makes almost no sense because it's horrible grammatically, but hey- thats what we did today. It'll get better!

K+K

Spring in Japan

Well finally things are beginning to bloom here in Japan. The cherry blossoms began to pop open last week so Kris and I went into Tokyo for some hanami fun! Hanami means flower watching, and its the very popular act of hanging out in parks under cherry blossoms and having big picnics.

I like the bright pink blossoms best.

We went to Yoyogi park, which is very close to the Shibuya/Harajuku area of Tokyo. There was a large area of the park with lots of cherry trees spread out and just about every inch of ground was covered with tarps that people were hanging out on. Some people were groups of friends enjoying some food and drinks or even games together, others were work groups all dressed in suits with platters of sushi and cases of beer. Some people brought balls to through, some people were taking lots of pictures, most people were people watching like us. Since we were in the middle of Tokyo there were lots of foreigners and tourists around. And of course there were a couple drunks that had a bit too much and ended up puking in the large trash bins. Classy for 3pm on a weekday. In Japan theres no laws against drinking in public, so during festivals or events like this its very acceptable and common to see people walking around with cans of beer or even bottles of whiskey. Its still socially unacceptable to drink too much and make a fool of yourself though. Video below:

A video posted by Kendrra Thoms (@kendrrat) on Mar 31, 2016 at 11:23pm PDT

We missed the memo about the tarps.

People watching goodness.

It was a bit cold and overcast, but still fairly nice weather. We didn't have the forethought to bring a tarp so we had to sit under a tree in the dirt. Still not unpleasant. Next time I want to go for a proper hanami with a tarp and food and everything. Lets hope the recent rain doesnt wash away all the sakura before we can try again!

My drink- cherry for cherry blossoms.

Kris' drink- one cup for... one Kris.

Before we went to the park we met up for some lunch at a burger place our friends chose: Blacows (click here).  The burgers there start at ¥1300 and go up based on what toppings you pick, but honestly I thought it was worth it. The burger is made with wagyu beef which is apparently delicious as hell. A plain burger comes with the patty, bun, a yakinuku sauce on top and some kind of white sauce on the bottom- maybe a garlic onion thing? I dont know. I just added avocado (¥200) to mine and it was perfect. Kris got one with bacon but, sadly, bacon in Japan is a floppy sad substitution for real bacon. The size of the burger is not quite as monstrous as some premium American burgers can be, but we found it just big enough that we didnt feel too stuffed after. They come with literally a child's handful of fries, but again it was just enough.

After lunch we took a short train ride to the park, grabbed some cheap cans of alcohol, and found our dirt spot under a tree. We spent a couple of hours there until it started to get dark and we got hungry again. For dinner we all headed to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place that was only ¥1500 per person, as long as you got the chicken (not beef) option. We all did that and crammed into a small booth in a restaurant full of loud, probably also drunk, people. They gave us a menu and a little electronic device that looked like a big calculator to order on- just type in the menu number and press send, no talking needed. We got some takoyaki (fried octopus balls, looks like pancake balls) and a bunch of different flavors of chicken: teriyaki, curry and maybe one more... Anyways, everything was delicious and we all had a bunch of good food.

Five people around this little table. Typical Japan.

Eventually it was time to go home so we all got on a train headed back to Shinjuku station where we split up and went our separate ways. I basically slept the whole way home. Once we got home Kris and I watched The Good Dinosaur in bed and then went to sleep early. It really was an awesome day so we're really looking forward to another fun day next Sunday. Everyone in our group agreed that hanami is an awesome tradition and we wished it could be a thing in the US- but we also agreed that Americans would most likely ruin it since they (as a general group) lack self control of any kind. Maybe Kris and I will bring it back just for our friends- who would like to go have a great picnic with us in San Francisco or something the spring after we get back?? Let me know!

Our spot under our tree.

K+K