Busy, busy, busy

What an odd week it's been. I've been studying (a bit more sporadically) this past week, but I'm definitely out of my normal sleep pattern, and that's been messing me up in all sorts of ways! Things have finally settled down with the reacquisition of my car (don't ask), and no impromptu trips to the repair shop. My ability to study really depends on how well rested I am, and the complexity of the information I'm going to be studying. If it's a review of material I'm already familiar with, I can do those lessons fairly easily. Being able to prove to myself that I remember information, even while I am tired, is actually beneficial for me. It reaffirms the fact that I am learning and can easily recall information. This newest core lesson was a different story, however.

Wow.

What a load of new information this lesson was! I opened it up three nights ago in an attempt to start it and was bombarded with sentences that I did not understand at least 75% of. I knew then and there that I was not going to be able to process all this new information that evening (having just finished the lesson which took me 1 and a half hours, I am secure in my decision!). But being well rested today and able to concentrate, I stuck it through. I've learned a lot of new things and am anxious to learn more about the key points shown to me.

For a bit of an extracurricular activity, I decided to finish a digital painting I started some months ago, a portrait of Ayumi Hamasaki, who I've mentioned a couple of times thus far. While collecting her albums, I happened upon a nice image of her, and I thought that trying to paint it would be some good practice for me. Normally my artistic tendencies are very illustrative and cartoonish. I haven't done a "real" painting in nearly five years, if not longer, since my college days. It took quite some time, but I finished it this week (I'm much better at being creative than studying while tired).

浜崎あゆみ - by Yours Truly

-Brendan

Things I learned today

• asa = morning
• hiru = afternoon
• yuugata = evening
• yoru = night
• asagohan = breakfast (asa  - morning / gohan - meal, lit. morning meal)
• hirugohan = lunch
• yuugohan = dinner

 

• hataraku = to work (as in a job)
• shigoto = job
  
• gakkou = school
• byouin = hospital
• resutoran = restaurant 

 

• okunai = indoors
• soto = outdoors
• itsu = when (itsu hataraite imasuka When do you work?)

 

• shimai = sisters
• kyoudai = brothers/sisters

 

• mae = before
• ato = after 

 

• kochira = this person

Questions on my mind

• What does "kimasu" mean in the following sentence?

juugo wa juuroku no mae ni kimasu

•  I understand the gist of the sentence is "15 comes before 16", but thus far I don't recognize "kimasu", perhaps it means "to come"? I will have to look it up!

Parting practice phrases

•  Kono onna no hito tachi wa okunai de hataraite imasu. このおんなのひとたちはおくないではたらいています。 These women work indoors. 
• Kare wa tamago wo motte imasu ga, tabete imasen. かれはたまごをもっていますが、たべていません。He has an egg, he's not eating it.
• Kare wa shigoto no mae ni koohii wa nomimasu. かれはしごとのまえにコーヒーはのみます。 He drinks coffee before work.