Each language has different ways of counting objects. Japanese uses counters. They are similar to English expressions such as "a cup of ~," "a sheet of ~" and so on. There are a variety of counters, often based on the shape of the object. The counters are attached directly to a number. When combining a number with a counter, the pronunciation of the number or the counter might change.
Another thing I want to mention is when grouping objects, Japanese divide them into groups of five and ten unlike six and twelve in the West. For example, sets of Japanese dishes or bowls are sold in units of five. Traditionally, there was no word for dozen, though it has been used because of Western influence.
COUNTERS:
MAI: for flat, thin objects: paper, stamps, dishes, etc.
KO: for broad category of small and compact objects
HAI: for liquid in cups, glasses, bowls, etc.
SATSU: bound objects: books, magazines, etc.
DAI: for vehicles, machines etc.
KAI: for the floor of a building
KEN: for houses, buildings
SOKU: for pairs of footwear: sock, shoes, etc.
TSUU: for letters
Counting people
Here we use the suffix "NIN" but this changes depending on the number before, and 1 and 2 have exceptions again just learn by counting over and over out loud.
1 person: HITORI
2 people: FUTARI
3 people: SAN NIN
4 people: YO NIN
5 people: GO NIN
6 people: ROKU NIN
7 people: SHICHI NIN or NANA NIN
8 people: HACHI NIN
9 people: KYUU NIN
10 people: JUU NIN
How many people: NAN NIN
Please notice that 4 people is “YO NIN”, not “SHI NIN”. Ask your child why we don’t say “SHI NIN.”
Also, we covered more hiragana:
ま /MA/, み/MI/, む/MU/, め/ME/, and も/MO/.
The initial sound here is like that in “my” but with less force behind it.
Halloween Costume Contest Winners and Miss Lay
Friday, November 2, 2007
Counting People and Hiragana ま, み, む, め, も
Friday, October 26, 2007
School system, Hiragana, and more...
This week your child learned how to say university/college, high school, middle school, elementary school, what grade he/she is in, and the differences between schools in US and Japan.
Also we covered hiragana は /ha/, ひ/hi/, ふ/fu/, へ/he/, ほ/ho/, ば/ba/, び/bi/, ぶ/bu/, べ/be/, ぼ/bo/, ぱ/pa/, ぴ/pi/, ぷ/pu/, ぺ/pe/ and ぽ/po/.
The Japanese school year starts in April and consists of three terms, separated by short holidays in spring and winter, and a one month long summer break.
The basic school system in Japan is composed of elementary school (lasting six years), middle school (three years), high school (three years), and university (four years).
Other differences between schools in Japan and US are: school uniform, inside shoes, and teachers move around.
School Uniform:
An uniform is standard among most schools in Japan. Uniforms are more common at the middle school and high school levels than at the elementary. Some private schools now hire top fashion designers to design their uniforms to satisfy the tastes of today’s highly fashion-conscious teens. Generally, however, uniforms tend to remain conservative in style, and are usually black, navy blue, or gray.
These come in several basic varieties: for boys, it is usually the black pants and jacket with gold button down the front and a white shirt inside, or sometimes it is a sort of suit like thing. For girls, it is a dark blue or gray skirt, with either a sailor top or a white shirt and matching vest. These vary in detail from school to school, and so you can tell what school people you meet on the street go to.
Most school students have two sets of school uniforms: a summer uniform and a winter uniform. However, you don't get to decide whether to wear the summer uniform or winter one just by if you are cold or not. All students switch from one uniform to the other on pre-determined days, called “KOROMO-GAE (changing of the clothes), in May or June and October. On that day every student changes uniform on the same day.
Japanese girls wearing thier summer uniforms.
Inside Shoes:
When you enter school building in Japan, you have to change your shoes, just like when you enter a house. You go to your shoe locker, called “GETA BAKO”, and switch your outside sneakers for "UWA BAKI" or "inside shoes", which are bought at school and generally are some form of slip on soft-soled sneaker.
"GETA BAKO" or shoe locker at a school
Teachers move around:
Another major difference between Japanese and American middle /high school is that whereas in USA schools the students change classes, in Japan you stay in one class all day long (or at least most of the day) and instead the teachers move around from class to class. So, you are with the same people all day long. Since students don't change rooms and are in the same classroom all day long, the room is full of stuff owned by the students like bags, and the walls are covered with student-made props and posters for events and such.
Hiragana は/ha/, ひ/hi/, ふ/fu/, へ/he/, ほ/ho/
Though transcribed with an "h", the initial sound here is much weaker than that of the English "h" in word like "hat" or "home.”
ひ /hi/: The "h" before an "i" is pronounced by raising the tongue closer to the hard palate and producing friction, somewhat similar to the German "ch" as in "ich."
ふ /fu/ differs from the English "h" or the "f" of "fox." It is made by bringing both lips together as if blowing hot soup and producing friction. The lips are not rounded, and the teeth do not come in contact with the lips.
Finally, did you have a chance to see Middle School musical, "The Pirates of Penzance" at Gates Performing Arts Center last week? Several students in Japanese class were on the show. They were great and the show was one of the best middle school performances to grace the stage of the GPAC!
If you missed it, this is a photo slide show of the musical. Enjoy!
Friday, October 19, 2007
School subjects, Adjectives, and More Hiragana.
Wow, the first quarter is already behind us. It seems hard to believe how fast we are moving along.
This week and last week, we covered the school subjects and how to describe the subject using an adjective, and how to describe their school teachers using an adjective.
I was very glad to hear that most of the students said "NIHON GO WA OMOSHIROI DESU." (Japanese class is interesting.) or "NIHONGO WA TANOSHII DESU." (Japanese class is fun.)
The adjectives they learned to describe the school subjects are:
OMOSHIROI "interesting"
TANOSHII "fun"
TSUMARANAI "boring"
MUZUKASHII "difficult"
YASASHII "easy"
Most of the students said that "KAGAKU WA MUZUKASHI DESU." (KAGAKU is diffucult.) and "REKISHI WA TSUMARANAI DESU." (REKISHI is boring.) What are "KAGAKU" and "REKISHI"? Ask your child!
Then, I introduced how to describe their teachers using other adjectives, such as KIBISHII (strict), YASASHII (nice/kind), OKASHII (funny), and HEN (weird).
Everyone told me that "SUUGAKU NO SENSEI WA YASASHII DESU." (The math teacher is nice.) Gee, how come not me!
Also, we covered more hiragana:
た /TA/, ち /CHI/, つ /TSU/, て /TE/, と /TO/,
だ /DA/, ぢ /JI/, づ /ZU/, で /DE/, ど /DO/,
な /NA/, に /NI/, ぬ /NU/, ね /NE/ and の /No.
Finally, it was wonderful to share this past Thursday with parents who joined their son/daughter in the class. I appreciate your involvement. If you are interested in sharing your feedback regarding Thursday's visits, I would love to hear about your experience.
Thank you for your continued support!
ARIGATOO GOZAIMASU!
Friday, October 5, 2007
counting from 11 to 100, months of the year, and hiragana さ, し,す,せ & そ
This week, the students learned how to count numbers from 11 to 100, months of the year, and hiragana さ, し, す, せ, and そ.
Counting in Japanese is actually really easy. In order to count up to 99, all you need to know is the Japanese terms for 1 through 10.
one = ichi
two = ni
three = san
four = yon/shi
five = go
six = roku
seven = nana/shichi
eight = hachi
nine = kyu /ku
ten = juu
Above ten, you would say something to the effect of "10 and 2" to stand for "12." Therefore:
11 = "ten (and) one" = "juu ichi"
12 = "ten (and) two" = "juu ni"
13 = "ten (and) three" = "juu san"
14 = "ten (and) four" = "juu shi" or "juu yon"
15 = "ten (and) five" = "juu go"
16 = "ten (and) six" = "juu roku"
17 = "ten (and) seven" = "juu nana" or "juu shichi"
18 = "ten (and) eight" = "juu hachi"
19 = "ten (and) nine" = "juu kyu"
For numbers from 20 through 99, you would say something like "3 tens and 6" to mean "36."
Therefore:
36 = "3 tens and 6" = "san juu roku"
43 = "4 tens and 3" = "yon juu san"
71 = "7 tens and 1" = "nana juu ichi"
99 = "9 tens and 9" = "kyu juu kyu"
In Japanese the months are simply numbered from one to twelve. For example, January is the first month of the year; therefore it is called "ichi-gatsu."
January=====ichi-gatsu
February====ni-gatsu
March======san-gatsu
April=======shi-gatsu
May=======go-gatsu
June=======roku-gatsu
July=======shichi-gatsu
August=====hachi-gatsu
September==ku-gatsu
October====juu-gatsu
November==juuichi-gatsu
December==juuni-gatsu
As you guess, "gatsu" means 'month.' Quite simple, isn't it!
Also, the students learned more hiragana, one of Japanese phonetic characters. This week, we covered hiragana さ/sa/, し/shi/, す/su/, せ/se/, そ, /so/, ざ/za/, じ/ji/, ず/zu/, ぜ/zee/, and ぞ/zo/.
The mark ゛, resembles a quotation mark placed at the top right corner of a hiragana character, (daku-ten in Japanese, colloquially ten-ten "dot dot"), is a diacritic sign used in the Japanese hiragana syllables to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced; thus by adding a dakuten marker ゛, an unvoiced consonant such as s or z is turned into a voiced consonant such as さsa → ざza, しshi → じ ji, す su → ず zu, せ se → ぜ ze, and そ so → ぞ zo.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Friday, September 28, 2007
SUMO
This week, the students learned about sumo.
Sumo is a competitive contact sport where two wrestlers (rikishi) attempt to force one another out of a circular ring (dohyo) or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan and is still very popular there today, being the only country where the sport is practiced professionally. In contemporary history, there has been a significant minority of non-Japanese rikishi, with a few even achieving the top rank of yokozuna (grand champion).
At the top of the sumo wrestlers' hierarchy stands the yokozuna (grand champion). Once a wrestler reached the rank of yokozuna, he cannot lose it anymore. However, he is expected to retire as soon as his results are starting to worsen.
Most elite wrestlers are highly trained athletes and between about 20 to 35 years old. Besides working out, the wrestlers are eating large amounts of food and go to bed right after eating in order to gain mass. The wrestlers are living in special sumo stables where the rules are very strict, especially for beginners.
The students watched a documentary "Sumo East and West.” This is a feature documentary about the cultural changes facing Japan as more and more foreigners enter the ancient Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. I highly recommend this film, if you are interred in sumo. For more information about the documentary, visit its website at http://sumoeastandwest.com/
Question:
Answer:
The two currently active yokozuna are:
Asashoryu, the 68th yokozuna, from Mongolia, promoted January 2003
Hakuho, the 69th yokozuna, also from Mongolia, promoted May 2007
Question:
Answer:
Jesse Kuhaulua was born in Happy Valley, Maui, Hawaii in June 1944. In 1964, at the age of nineteen, Kuhaulua left Hawaii for Tokyo, and became the first American to enter the world of professional Japanese sumo.
In March of 1964, Kuhaulua made his debut under the name of Takamiyama and began what would be a twenty year career. In 1968, Takamiyama was promoted to the Makuuchi division representing the highest level of Japanese sumo. Before his career was over, Takamiyama achieved the rank of sekiwake, the third highest in sumo, and established records for most consecutive tournaments (97) and most consecutive bouts (1425).
The highlight of his career occurred in 1972, when he defeated Champion Ashaikuni to win the Emperor’s cup and become the first foreign-born sumotori to win a championship. Upon his victory, a Japanese ambassador read a congratulatory message from President Richard Nixon, marking the first time that English words were spoken to a Japanese sumo audience.
Takimiyama retired in June 1984 with a record of 689-774, took the elder name Azumazeki Oyakata, and opened his own sumo stable in Tokyo. Among his recruits were fellow Hawaiians Konishiki, and eventual Yokozuna, Akebono. During his career, Takamiyama stood 6’4” tall and weighed 452 pounds.
Question:
Answer:
In July of 1982 Atisanoe made his debut under the name of Konishiki and began what would be a tumultuous, but rewarding 15 year career. Konishiki charged through the junior divisions achieving the juryo rank in under one year and gaining a promotion to the elite makuuchi division in less than two years. Less than three years later, in 1987, Konishiki became the first American ever to achieve the rank of ozeki (champion).Konishiki continued to compete for another decade, but despite winning three championships, was never able to achieve the rank of Yokozuna (Grand Champion).
Konishiki retired in 1997 with one of the best records in sumo history, 733-498. At his peak, Konishiki stood 6’ tall and weighed 626 pounds. His weight and girth earned him many nicknames, including “meat bomb,” and “dump truck.”
A naturalized Japanese citizen, Konishiki continues to live in Japan where he is a pursuing a singing career and is involved in several charities and humanitarian foundations.
Answer:
Chad Rowan was born in Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii in May 1969. In the late 1980’s, Rowan was discovered by a friend of Jesse Kuhaulua. He was initially thought to be too tall and lanky to make a good sumotori, but in 1988, at the age of eighteen, Kuhaulua brought Rowan to Tokyo to begin training.Rowan made his sumo debut under the name Akebono in March 1988. Within two years, Akebono had reached the top makuuchi division. In May 1992, Akebono won his first tournament and was promoted to ozeki – equaling Konishiki as the highest ranked foreign sumotori in history. Akebono went on to win four of the six 1992 tournaments as well as the first tournament of the following year. As a result, In January 1993, after a mere 30 matches, Akebono attained sumo’s highest rank of Yokozuna and became the first foreigner and only the sixty-fourth sumotori in history to achieve the status of grand champion.
Akebono went on to win a total of 11 tournaments in his 13 year career, ranking 7th on the all-time list, and compiling a record of 566-198. Akebono retired from Sumo in 2001. At the time of his retirement, Akebono stood 6’8” tall and weighed 514 pounds.
Question:
Answer:
Penitani made his sumo debut under the name Musashimaru in September 1989. In July 1991 Musashimaru was promoted to the professional level of Juryo. Musashimaru’s career advanced rapidly as he ascended to the top makuuchi division in November of the same year and by the following May had achieved the rank of sanyaku. Two years later, in 1994, Musashimaru became an ozeki. Although Musashimaru went on to set a record for competing in 52 consecutive bashos without a losing record, he was not able to achieve the back to back wins necessary to ascend to the rank of Yokozuna (grand champion) until July 1999. Upon finally accomplishing this feat, Musashimaru became only the second foreign-born Yokozuna and the sixty-seventh grand champion in the history of the sport.Musashimaru has been the consummate champion, suffering only one season with a losing record since his entry into sumo in 1989. His career continues to thrive and he recently won the May basho for his 11th tournament victory, equaling the total previously set by Akebono. As of June of 2002, Musashimaru is in the midst of a major streak, having won three of the last four bashos. Musashimau is 6’3” tall and weighs 509 pounds.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Numbers
This week, we covered numbers.
There are two ways of writing the numbers in Japanese, in Hindu-Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Kanji numerals (一, 二, 三). The Hindu-Arabic numerals are more often used in horizontal writing, and the kanji numerals are more common in vertical writing. Also, some numbers, such as 4, 7, and 9, have multiple names.
一
1.
Pronounced ‘ichi’ (rhymes with ‘peachy’).
一 is written as a single horizontal stroke, like an Arabic one, but on its side.
二
2.
Pronounced ‘ni’ (like ‘knee’).
二 is, you guessed it, 2 ‘one’s – again, on their side.
三
3.
Pronounced ‘san’ (like ‘sun’).
三 ‘one’s – on their side.
四
4.
Pronounced ‘yon’ (more like ‘yong’ actually) or 'shi'.
Getting a little trickier in terms of shape. Ignore the bits inside and just think of it as a four-sided object.
五
5.
Pronounced ‘go’ (a very short sound).
五 is conveniently made up of five lines.
六
6.
Pronounced ‘roku’ (pronouncing it as ‘loku’ is actually closer to native pronunciation).
This is a character you’ll just have to commit to memory!
七
7.
Pronounced ‘nana’ or ‘shichi’ (“shee-chee”).
A badly twisted 7 ?
八
8.
Pronounced ‘hachi'.
Another very simple character. With only two strokes, it is not to be confused with ‘ni’(2).
九
9.
Pronounced ‘kyuu’ (just like the letter Q) or 'ku'.
十
10.
Pronounced ‘juu'.
A simple cross shape: a neat ending to a sequence that began with a horizontal line.
After the students mastered how to say numbers (from 0 to 10) in Japanese, they learned how to say thier own phone numbers in Japanese.
When Japanese people read telephone numbers, they avoid similar sounds and short sound. SHI(4) and SHICHI(7) sound alike. ICHI(1) and SHICHI(7) sound alike. Therefore, they use YON for 4, NANA for 7 and KYUU for 9.
Also, single character numbers are lengthened to distinguish each number more easily (i.e., NI(2) to NII, GO(5) to GOO).
So, 927-6541 is read as KYUU(9) NII(2) NANA(7) ROKU(6) GOO(5) YON(4) ICHI(1).
Ask you child what is his/her phone number in Japanese, s/he should be able to say:
"My phone number is XXX-XXXX." in Japanese!
Speaking of numbers, in the Japanese culture, certain numbers are considered “bad luck” or “good luck,” much like the number 13 is considered bad luck in Western culture.
The “bad luck” numbers in Japanese are 4 (SHI) and 9 (KU).
The number four is considered inauspicious because it is pronounced the same as the word for death (SHI). Therefore, one should not make presents that consist of four pieces. In some hotels and hospitals the room number four is skipped.
Also, 9 is bad luck number in Japanese culture because it is pronounced the same as the word for suffering (KU).
Eight is considered good luck because of the mountain-like shape of the kanji for eight 八. Mountains are regarded with reverence in Japan. Also, the character 八 resembles a fan shape, which is considered lucky because it suggests spreading out, growing and increasing, as in mounting good fortune.
Also, in Japan there are certain things one does not do because they are thought to cause bad luck. A few examples are:
Stick chopsticks into the rice: Do not stick your chopsticks into your food generally, but especially not into rice, because only at funerals, chopsticks are stuck into the rice which is put onto the altar.
Give food from chopstick to chopstick: This is only done with the bones of the cremated body at funerals.
Sleeping towards the North: Do not sleep towards the North because bodies are laid down like that.
Whistle in the night: If you whistle in the night, a ghost will come to you.
Another productive week!
SAYOONARA
PS: Are you going to Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert at London's 02 Arena on November 26?
I wish I could go...
Friday, September 7, 2007
KORE, SORE, ARE & HIRAGANA CONSONANT か、き、く、け、こ
The Japanese word for "this" is KORE, and "is" is DESU. Also, in Japanese, "WA" is placed after whatever is to be marked as the topic. (A topic marker topic marker is a grammatical particle found in not only the Japanese but Korean languages used to mark the topic of a sentence. ) Since Japanese word order is SUBJECT, OBJECT, and VERB order, "This is XXX." would be "KORE WA XXX DESU."
Then, students learned how to form a question from a statement sentence. Making a question in Japanese is quite simple. In Japanese, the word order of a question is the same as for statements, except that KA is attached to the end of sentence. So, "Is this XXX?" would be "KORE WA XXX DESU KA." Easy, right?
Also, students learned how to say "What is this?" in Japanese. "What" is NAN in Japanese, so you just place NAN to OBJECT. Now we have "KORE WA NAN DESU KA." which means "What is this?" Please notice that there is no question mark "?" in Japanese because the sentence-ending particle KA indicates a question.
In addition to KORE "this", students learned SORE "that", and ARE "that one over there."
Like English, KORE "this" refers to something near the speaker, SORE "that" refers to something near the listener, and ARE "that on over there" refers to something distant from both speaker and listener. However, those KORE "this", SORE "that", and ARE "that one over there", cannot be used for people except for people in pictures and photos.
By the way, Japanese /ra/, /ri/, /ru/, /re/, /ro/ sounds are produced so that the initial "r' sounds somewhat like a combination of the English "l" and "r" sounds. Japanese people have difficulty distinguishing English "l" and "r" sounds. Ask your child the story about a Japanese tourist who went to a restaurant in Hawaii, and ordered rice at the restaurant.
Moreover, students more hiragana, one of Japanese phonetic characters. They learned か/ka/, き/ki/, く/ku/, け/ke/, こ/ko/, が/ga/, ぎ/gi/, ぐ/gu/, げ/ge/, and ご/go/.
Please notice the diffiece between か and が, き and ぎ, く and ぐ, け and げ, こ and ご.
゛resembles a quotation mark placed at the top right corner of a hiragana character. The mark ゛(daku-ten in Japanese, colloquially ten-ten "dot dot"), is a diacritic sign used in the Japanese hiragana syllables to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced.
Finally, students will have their second test on Monday, September 10 for Period 3, and Tuesday, September 11 for Period 6.
Have a wonderful weekend!
SAYOONARA
