Posts Tagged studying Japanese

February 21, 2006 – Give an octopus

Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on June 17, 2016

Learning a foreign language can be a daunting, intimidating task. I have sympathized with my students who have struggled to learn the many terrible irregularities in the English language, the whole time clinging to a belief that Japanese makes a lot more sense. That is until today’s Japanese lesson.

In my Japanese lesson I learned that “tako wo ageru” can mean both “fly a kite” and “give an octopus”. The difference is easy to spot when reading, but verbally they are the same.

Any language which can confuse these two very different concepts is not for the faint of heart. Seriously.

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November 8, 2005 – Productive not fun

Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on November 8, 2015

Today was actually a very productive day. I got up in the morning and biked 4km to my Japanese lesson. After 90 minutes of language practice I returned home, stopping to get groceries on the way. I showered, ate, biked to work, worked a full shift, returned home and then put in some time cleaning the apartment.

Productive is good, but not necessarily fun.

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October 28, 2005 – Nihongo benkyou shimasho

Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on October 28, 2015

As of today I am officially signed up for Japanese lessons provided by the city of Mishima! My Japanese has improved a lot since I moved here two years ago, but I seriously need to get better.

(2015 Update) If you live in or near Mishima, check out Japanese lessons here.

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November 20, 2004 – Raspy

Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on November 20, 2014

I have a bit of a cold, so my voice was pretty raspy by the end of the day.

I studied Japanese on my break at work. I have been trying my best to study for about an hour each day. There is already some improvement in my language skills. Yay studying!

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November 8, 2004 – Earthquakes and Zombies

Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Movies, Shizuoka, The Penpal on November 8, 2014

DOD

Today I got to spend some time with The Penpal. It looks like Monday might be our regular hangout day. I have the day off, and she stops by after work. We did some Japanese language practice and I learned some words to describe the taste of food.

After The Penpal left, I watched the new Dawn of the Dead with Palmer. I had some concerns about “fast” zombies and the fact that remakes are usually not as good as the original, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was also obviously filmed in Canada. In the background of one of the mall scenes was a KFC restaurant sporting the sign “PFK” which is the French name.

During the movie we felt two earthquakes. Palmer said that our building is modern and well designed. If we can feel a mild earthquake inside, it must be stronger outside. Not sure if that was reassuring at all.

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