Practice, practice, practice

I've been diligently keeping up with my studies. My lack of posts has mainly been due to my screwy sleeping schedule as of late. Normally I'm a night-owl, I like to draw into the wee hours of the night. That's also the time my studying has been falling into as well. And usually, even if I study earlier in the day (like today), I'll write these entries at night. My schedule has been having me hit the hay pretty early lately, so I'm a little behind on updating this journal here. I don't think anyone is keeping track of it but me though, so it's okay.

Anyways, I've just wrapped up my current lesson plan, which the core lesson I last posted about covered. It was an interesting span and I still find myself picking up more on the intricacies of the Japanese language. It's rather amazing how hardwired ones brain becomes when it learns it's owner's native language, so much so that it really struggles to adapt to the structure of a completely different one. Some Japanese friends tell me I should have an easy time learning Japanese because it's a simple language, and there are only a few characters to learn (not including Kanji of course), while they find English can be difficult. I, naturally, feel exactly the opposite. But it has caused me amazement to think of how special a child's brain is to really grasp the complexity of language and make such deep associations that will last their lifetime. It's times like this I wish I could do a selective temporary memory wipe, learn a new language as a "child" and regain my old memory on top of it!

I've dedicated the last handful of days to committing 29 katakana characters to memory, including the ones in my last post. One of the things that throws me off the most, when I see them used in other forms of print, are the different fonts. I suppose the differences equate to serifs on roman-lettered fonts. You might think one little dash is an integral part of the form the character, whereas it may really be a "brushstroke", which while important to the traditional form of the kana, can be left out on a more modern font. My method of associating a picture with a character to keep it fresh in memory definitely helps, but is sometimes trumped by this font difference. I'll overcome this hurdle in time!

-Brendan

Things I learned today

• I'm much better at understanding what I'm hearing than I am at replying in a simple sentence on the spot
• byouki = sick/ill
• tsukarete = tired/exhausted

Questions on my mind

• Why, when stating the color of a suit, is the structure slightly different for black and grey? Kuroi suutsu = black suit / Haiiro no suutsu = grey suit. Why is the no necessary for haiiro and not kuroi?

Parting practice phrase

Watashi wa se ga takai desu. わたしはせがたかいです。 I'm tall.