Who I am, and where I'm from.

こんにちわ。わたしのなまえはブレンダンです。わたしはあめりかのコネチカツトにすんでいます。 Konnichiwa. Watashi no namae wa Burendan desu. Watashi wa Amerika no Konechikatsuto ni sunde imasu. Hello. My name is Brendan. I live in Connecticut, in America.

It took me quite a long time to get to the point to be able to introduce myself! Additionally, I doubt that I could recite that all from memory just yet. I just finished my core lesson this evening and it covered a LOT of new material. It's quite nice to be graduating from simple vocabulary to a bit more advanced grammar. These core lessons are overviews of what the next handful of exercises will be covering and generally take a half hour to complete. That is, if you're unlike me and just answer the questions and continue, not worrying about the new material covered just yet.

Ah, yes, but I said if you're unlike me! I, however, pick apart every sentence and try to make full meaning of what's presented in front of me every time. There are certain things I will resign myself to not fully understanding until we cover it in a more elaborate fashion. For example, I'm learning the terms for near and far.  Watashi wa hashi no chikaku ni imasu. I am near the bridge (chikaku meaning 'near').  Watashi wa hashi kara tooku ni imasu. I am far from the bridge. And this is where I get slightly stumped, as thus far I've not been introduced to 'kara', although I know it is a suffix sometimes, or as an adjective it can mean empty or vacant (thanks to my dictionary). And considering tooku means 'at a distance', what is it's relation to kara? From the few examples I've seen, kara is always present next to tooku. I know I shouldn't dwell on things such as this so early in a lesson, as I believe it will be covered later. But something in me wants to crack the code as soon as I see it, hehe.

-Brendan

Things I learned today

Places

• Burajiru = Brazil
• Nihon = Japan (even though I already knew this, hehe)
• Itaria = Italy
•  Ejiputo = Egypt
• Furansu = France
• Chuugoku = China
• Rooma = Rome
• Pari = Paris
• Mosukuwa = Moscow 
• Nyuuyooku = New York 
  

Vocabulary

• toori = street
• kouen = park
• hashi = bridge
• machi = town
• kuni = country
• sumu = to live (reside)
• shusshin = birthplace, hometown, where you're from
• kono = this (kono toori = this street)
• chikaku = near
• tooku = far

Questions on my mind

• Just the question posed above. What is the meaning of kara when paired with tooku when someone is describing themselves as far away from something? Why is it not present when someone says they are close to that object? I hope to discover this soon :)

Parting practice phrases

Onnanokotachi wa hashi no ue ni tatte imasu. おんあのこたちははしのうえにたっています。The girls are standing on the bridge.

 Kono kuni no namae wa nihon desu. このくにのなまえは日本です。This country's name is Japan. (yes, I actually learned the Kanji for Japan!)

 Doko no shusshin desuka? Watashi wa Ejiputo no shusshin desu. どこのしゅっしんですか？ わたしはえじぷとのしゅっしんです。Where are you from? I'm from Egypt.

 Doko ni sunde imasuka? Watashi wa Pari ni sunde imasu. どこにすんでいますか？　わたしはぱりにすんでいます。Where do you live? I live in Paris.