さくぶん１：友達に旅行先をしょうかいする

こんにちはやまださん。

外の日本へ行きたですか？  フロリダへいくとおもいます。 十年までに行きましたから、フロリダが好きです。毎日ははついですから、春休みにいってもいいです。雨がふりますから、花を見ることができます。フロリダへひこくで旅行します。

八時に起きます。朝ごはんにオランギを食べなければなりません！
昼にヂスネイへいってから、店で買い物を買います。うめがよぎます。プールもよぎます。
晩ごはんに魚を食べなければなりません。

ジョニ

About Communication

To me, communication is more than being able to tell somebody that his/her shoe is untied, or to hurry up because the train is leaving at 2. Certainly the basic, factual conversations are the basis of communication, but I like to think about its higher purposes. In a way, when I am communicating with somebody, I am trying to open a door for him/her into my brain, into my perception of reality; to let my emotions and opinions be make accessible. Or, (and this is much more difficult) I am trying to explain how a third person feels, or trying to open people up to understanding and RESPECTING the opinions of others, even if they disagree with them. Because I was raised to be considerate, sometimes I feel appalled by the way people feel free to completely disregard the effects of what they do or say to other people. Every human being is entitled to have their own divergent opinions and thoughts. Is that so hard to accept?

I like to believe I am a good enough writer. But becoming articulate in a second language is an enormous challenge. I want to be able to express myself in Japanese just as well as I do in English, but sometimes I wonder if that is even possible. I hope one day at least I will be able to write something like what I'm writing here. Speaking is a whole different level for me though, because I always second-guess myself and hesitant because I don't want to botch the pronunciation. Right now I'm just enjoying the experience of learning, and it's so great when I hear people talking and I recognize some of the things they are saying.

Speaking about communication, sometimes there are things you simply can't express, in any language.

These are all different versions of the same song, the top one is the original though.

おんがく

わたしのしゅみはうたうことができて、ほんをよんで、えとはいくをかいて、はします。ギータルをひきたいです。いろいろバンスがすきです: The Cure, My Chemical Romance, The White Stripes, The Cranberries, Garbage, They Might Be Giants, Led Zeppelin, The Decemberists, The Agonist, the Dresden Dolls, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nirvana, the Smiths/Morrissey, Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins, Iron Maiden, the Doors, Thrice, The Used, AFI, Fiona Apple, REM, Bif Naked, mewithoutYou, Regina Spektor, The Killers, Ingrid Michaelson, Anna Nalick, Evanescence, Incubus, The Goo Goo Dolls, Shai Hulud, NY Dolls, Violent Femmes, the B-52's, Patti Smith, Dar Williams, Don McLean, Flogging Molly, The Shins, Tori Amos, Underoath, Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Jett, Rise Against, 30 Seconds to Mars, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, MGMT, Velvet Revolver, Queen, Velvet Underground, Poe, The Rolling Stones, Four Year Strong, Dead Models, Sister Hazel, Mary Ann Farley, Lamb of God, Marylin Manson, Unshin, Guns N Roses, Bullet for My Valentine, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Vienna Tang, From First to Last, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore, Johnny Cash, Plumtree, Saosin, Kanye West, Tool, Death Cab for Cutie, Utada Hikaru, Depeche Mode, Against Me, Sleater-Kinney, Jimi Hendrix, Titus Andronicus, Big D and the Kids Table, Nickelback, Switchfoot, Cyndi Lauper, Sound Garden, No Doubt, the Sex Pistols, NIN, MSI, the Ramones, Metallica, Train, Rammstein, Muse, She Wants Revenge, Relient K, Sinead O'Connor, Killswitch Engage, Black Sabbath, Avenged Sevenfold, The Clash, Alphaville, the Beatles, Three Days Grace, Tears for Fears, Bob Marley, Seether, Bleeding Through, Simple Plan, Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, Green Day, Coheed and Cambria, Shakira, Christopher Blue, Alkaline Trio, The Juliana Theory, La Roux, Motion City Soundtrack, Alicia Keys, Dropkick Murphys, System of a Down, Men Without Hats, ELO, Something Corporate, Eyes Set to Kill, Counting Crows, and more.
クラシックとジャズがすきです。そしてミュージカルもすきです。
ロックがだいすきです。
おんがくはとてもすごいです！

Second Semester

I am happy to be back from the longer winter break and get started with the new semester. My classes are more interesting this year, in addition to Japanese II, I have University Writing, Science of Psychology, Literature Humanities, General Chemistry II, and Chemistry Lab. I'm hoping to get better grades this time around. -_-

Around finals was a pretty rough time for me, my boyfriend and I broke up and he started dating somebody else almost immediately. I'm still coping with it, I guess. It's been over a month now though, so I'm just trying to look forward. I'm hopeful for this fresh start I've been given this semester. I will post again soon, and in Japanese, I promise. ^^

Composition 3: My Life 20 Years from Now

ジョニです。二十年後にせいかつはすてきです。ニューヨークにいます。

ニューヨークのちかくにうちがあります。ちいさいですが、きれいです。にわがあります。

わたしはゆうめいです。レポートとえがじょずです。
えいごと日本ごとスパインごと中国ごとドイツごがわかります。

しゅじんがいます。むそめがひとりとむそこがふたりいます。そして、ねこがいます。

毎朝しんぶんをよみます。いろいろなコンサートへ行きます。
毎年のなつにうみでかぞくとすいえいをします。

カラオケ

カラオケがすいです。でも。。。

I want to do Neon Genesis Evangelion karaoke! Except not with a creepy dude like the guy in this video. =o

Katakana Analysis Final

   キウィグミ is a phase that means Kiwi Gummy. I found it on a snack package from a grocery store. One effect may be to make the snack sound exotic, and to emphasize the main ingredients. I think the purpose is to draw attention to the snack, because the company wants to profit by making their product seem individual.

   ハリーパットー is a loan word that means Harry Potter, a character from a famous book series. The purpose of his name being in katakana is because he is a foreigner, and the book series is also foreign. Potential buyers may be affected by this foreign title and become more interested in the book. Speaking of books, there are many textbooks that try to explain the history and use of katakana. Here there will be an analysis of the four texts on the Japanese writing system that were given in class.

   The first example text explaining katakana said it is usually used "for writing loanwords and foreign names." This text also describes katakana as having mostly straight lines. Our sensei says the straight lines are because katakana was originally used by Buddhist monks, while hiragana is more rounded and feminine because it was used by women. This description of katakana is for the purpose of a short summary and comparison with hiragana and kanji. This explanation of katakana use shows why Harry Potter's name is writing in katakana, because he is from England.
   The next text explains katakana as being used mostly for words borrowed from other languages and words for sounds. This text does not place much importance on katakana at all, instead going into a much more detailed description of hiragana. This is probably because the process of learning Japanese may be more focused on learning Japanese words specifically, so loan words are not as important. However many advertisements, such as キウィグミ feature katakana so it is essential to understand it as well as hiragana and kanji.
   The third excerpt of text emphasizes the phonetic nature of katakana, also saying they are typically used for foreign names and loan words. This is also a very brief mention of katakana mostly used to show the variety of alphabets used in the Japanese writing system.
   The last text is the most in-depth and complete description of katakana out of the four. In addition to the information already mentioned in the other texts, there is a mention of how the katakana system can be used for words the writer wishes to emphasize. The influence in popular culture of the use of loan words is also discussed, which is important because it brings to light how commonly katakana are used, and the large number of katakana words that exist, so many that "entire dictionaries are devoted just to foreign words and to onomatopoeia words." This text definitely gives the most complete explanation of katakana.

   Katakana has the same number of letters as hiragana, but there exist clear differences between them, from their origin to the present day. Use of katakana in advertising and marketing is significant, as well as in anime and manga in the form of onomatopoeia. I am not sure whether the use of katakana will increase or remain the same, but because of it's current popularity I would think that the prevalence of katakana may increase.