Learning by association

The first half of today's lessons focused on a more in depth look at certain hiragana, while the second half touched more on the position of things (the cat is under the table, the computer is on the table, etc) while taking a subtle step and adding an additional descriptor to each sentence towards the end.

Since I had taken it upon myself to study hiragana further on my own, I feel very self-assured in my answering of these questions in my computer lessons. I try not to be TOO hasty, because I know there are some symbols I can mix up if I don't take a good enough look. For example, chi and sa are mirror images of each other ( ち and さ), and the symbols for ro and ru are also very similar, save for a minor loop (ろ and る).

From the very get go, I used picture association methods to remember what hiragana stood for. This connection let me recall, with a little thought, what sound I was to say when I saw it. My first hiragana was 'to'　と　pronounced like "toe". I made the (very painful) association that と looks like a toe with it's toenail being bent upwards. Although mildly unpleasant I was able to easily recall what it stood for and now can recite it without the imagery. So it was for most of the hiragana. Thankfully I can manage to picture scenarios for most of them, it's been a great aid.

Tonight was also one of the first nights where I really felt an idea being taught click in my mind. As hard as it is for me to describe the components of a sentence, especially a Japanese one, I find that I just know how something works, what each word represents. While I knew that ue meant 'on top of', and naka meant 'inside' in the contexts of the sentences, it wasn't until tonight that the other words around the noun and the position made complete sense. Onnanoko to obaasan wa daidokoro ni imasu. The girl and grandmother are in the kitchen. ni being the word placing them at the kitchen (daidokoro). And from what I gather, when talking about the position of a single object, 'Neko wa shatsu no ue ni imasu.', the "no" is added, though for what particular reason I have yet to deduce. (I know this revelation contradicts the point of the first half of this paragraph, but I just noticed it while verifying what I wrote two sentences ago! That's the fun part about this whole process :)

-Brendan

Things I learned today

• More about the structure of sentences and the usage of particles in designating the physical position of people and things relative to each other in a situation.
• My grasp of hiragana seems to be remaining fairly firm

Questions on my mind

• As stated earlier, I'm not sure why, when stating the relative position of a single item, whether it be a cat or an apple, 'no' is added. I know 'no' can be possessive, like "Boku no imouto desu." means "My younger sister". What does 'no' designate in "Ringo wa teeburu no ue ni arimasu." (The apple is on the table). If I were to say "The apple and the egg are on the table", would it be "Ringo to tamago wa teeburu ue ni arimasu."? Or would 'no' still belong in there?

Parting practice phrase

Musumesan wa ima ni suwatte imasu. むすめさんわいまにすわっています。The daughter is sitting in the living room.