2021 Japanese blog posts

January

2021-01-28.

Spent yesterday and today finishing Japanese Ammo's video on how to say the date. Misa explains how to ask questions involving months: 何月ですか。 ("Which month?") 何ヶ月ですか。 ("How many months?") Note that 何月 is pronounced なんがつ while 何ヶ月 is pronounced なんかげつ.

Here are examples to show the difference: 何ヶ月日本にいますか。 ("How many months will you be in Japan?" or "How many months have you been in Japan?") 何月に日本にいますか。 ("Which month will you be in Japan?") She doesn't mention what word います is, though... Am I suppsed to already know?

The date format in Japanese is year, month, date. Just how I like it. The video was uploaded on February 22, but she must've filmed it earlier since she says: 今日は例えば２０１９年２月１日です。 ("Today is, for example, February 1, 2019.") The year ２０１９年 is pronounced にせんじゅうきゅうねん. Also, I just found out that Tatoeba, the site where Clozemaster gets its sentences from, is named after the word 例えば (たとえば), meaning "for example".

Here's a simple conversation to see dates in action:

• ハロウィーンはいつですか。 ("When is Halloween?)
• ハロウィーンは１０月３１日です。 ("Halloween is on October 31st.")
• クリスマスは？ ("What about Christmas?")
• クリスマスは１２月２５日です。 ("Christmas is on December 25th.")
• クリスマスイブは？ ("What about Christmas Eve?")
• クリスマスイブは１２月２４日です。 ("Christmas Eve is on December 24th.")

And some more useful questions:

• 誕生日はいつですか。 ("When is your birthday?")
• 今日は何日ですか。 ("What's the date today?")

In that last question, 何日 is pronounced なんにち. Just realized 何 is usually (maybe always?) pronounced なん when it's not by itself. So I guess なに only happens when it's alone?

2021-01-26.

A couple days ago I started watching Japanese Ammo's video on how to say the date. In the first part of the video, Misa goes through the months from January to December. I didn't take any notes since I already wrote them all down in an earlier blog post. Then she goes through how to say "one month", "two months", "three months", etc. Note that the ヶ can also be written as か or カ, but they're all pronounced か.

Instead of "twelve months", you could just say "one year", which would be 一年 (いちねん).

2021-01-25.

Finished the Japanese Ammo episode I started a couple days ago. Vocab: 暇 (ひま), meaning "free" or "not busy". 今週 (こんしゅう), meaning "this week". 公衆 (こうしゅう), meaning "public". きれい, meaning "clean". 臭い (くさい), meaning "stink".

Misa's example sentences using na-adjectives: 明日は暇です。 ("I'm free tomorrow." or "I'm not busy tomorrow.") 今週は暇じゃないです。 ("I'm not free this week." or "I'm busy this week.") 公衆トイレはきれいじゃないです。 ("Public bathrooms aren't clean.")

And her example sentences using i-adjectives: 公衆トイレは臭いです。 ("Public bathrooms stink.") うちのトイレは臭くないです。 ("The bathroom in my house doesn't stink.")

2021-01-23.

Watched the old version of Japanese Ammo episode 5. Noticed this one randomly has more kanji, which I appreciated. The video was uploaded in December 2015, while the previous episode was from July. I guess Misa figured after several months people would've studied some kanji on their own?

Vocab word: 夏 (なつ), meaning "summer". In a sentence: 夏は暑いです。 ("Summer is hot.") Now, negating the adjective: 冬は暑くないです。 ("Winter is not hot.") Interestingly, Misa writes "huyu" instead of "fuyu" for "winter". Good thing I already learned about Japanese pronunciation a while ago, or I probably would've been confused.

She goes over how to say the months of the year in this video. Example sentence: オーストラリアの十二月は寒くないです。 ("December in Australia is not cold.") Made it to the halfway point. Will continue watching later.

2021-01-22.

Watched the old version of Japanese Ammo episode 4. In this one, Misa introduces i-adjectives and na-adjectives. As usual for these old episodes, she doesn't show the kanji. Good I knew some of them already from WaniKani and previous Japanese Ammo episodes.

Examples of i-adjectives: 暑い (あつい), meaning "hot", 寒い (mentioned in an earlier blog post), and 面白い (おもしろい), meaning "interesting". Bonus vocab: お茶 (おちゃ), meaing "tea", and とても, meaning "very". Example sentences using i-adjectives: このお茶はとても暑いです。 ("This tea is very hot.") カナダの冬は寒いです。 ("Winter in Canada is cold.") この映画は面白いです。 ("This movie is interesting.")

Examples of na-adjectives: 好き and 簡単 (かんたん) "easy". Remember not to put な if there's no noun after the adjective. Examples: みさ先生が好きです。 ("I like Misa-sensei.") この漢字は簡単です。 ("This kanji is easy.") And if there is a noun after the adjective, then you have to put the な in between. Examples: 私の好きな本 ("my favorite book"). これは簡単な漢字です。 ("This is an easy kanji.")

There's a funny moment at around 9:14, but I would've totally missed it if it weren't for the comments section.

2021-01-21.

Watched the old version of Japanese Ammo episode 3. Misa explains how to negate nouns using the example sentence "I'm not Misa." Informal: みさじゃない。 Slightly more formal (what you'd use when talking to older classmates): みさじゃないです。 Formal (what you'd use when talking to teachers): みさじゃありません。 Very formal (what you'd use when talking to your boss or a judge, and more commonly used in writing): みさではありません。

Some more examples of noun negation. ハローキティは猫じゃない。 (Informal way to say "Hello Kitty is not a cat.") ウィキペディアは辞書じゃない。 ("Wikipedia is not a dictionary.") Side note, I never realized the name of the Japanese-English dictionary I've been using, Jisho, just means "dictionary". In hindsight, it should've been obvious...

An example conversation: あれはふじ山ですか。 ("Is that Mount Fuji?") いいえ、あれはふじ山じゃありません。でも、山です。 ("No, that is not Mount Fuji. But it is a mountain.") Out of curiosity I looked up whether people use kanji for Mount Fuji, and apparently they do: 富士山. But according to Wikipedia the kanji were chosen only for their pronunciations, without regard for their meanings.

2021-01-20.

Finally finished the Japanese Ammo episode I started a few days ago. What I learned: 友達のあさこ means "my friend Asako" or "Asako, who is my friend", even though it might sound like "my friend's Asako" at first. The 友達 is describing あさこ. In a sentence: 友達のあさこです。 ("This is my friend Asako.")

Sometimes Misa uses amusing example sentences, like: 彼氏のなるとです。 ("This is my boyfriend Naruto.") Vocab word: 彼氏 (かれし), meaning "boyfriend". Makes for a good transition to her next example phrase: 主人公のなると ("the protagonist Naruto"). Vocab word: 主人公 (しゅじんこう). I know 人 and 公 from WaniKani, and 主 looks like the king and drop radicals put together. Jisho says it means "chief"/"master"/"main"/"principal".

Another amusing example: 熊のプーさん, literally meaning "the bear Pooh" or "Pooh the bear", referring to Winnie the Pooh. Misa doesn't actually show the kanji for "bear". She just uses the kana spelling (くま) for some reason, though Jisho doesn't list it as a variant form of 熊. Last vocab word: 動画 (どうが). And last example phrase: 私の動画 ("my video").

2021-01-19.

Continued watching the same Japanese Ammo episode. Vocab word: 天気 (てんき), meaning "weather". So, 今日の天気 is how you say "today's weather".

Another use for の is describing the color of something. Vocab words: 色 (いろ), meaning "color", and 黄色 (きいろ), meaning "yellow". Example sentence: ピカチュウの色は黄色です。 ("Pikachu's color is yellow"). I should look up how to say all the colors.

And another use for の is describing where something is from. Vocab word: 映画 (えいが), meaning "film". So, 日本の映画 means "Japanese film". That is, a film that was made in the country of Japan. Vocab word: 国旗 (こっき), meaning "flag". So, 日本の国旗 would be "Japanese flag". You could use 語 or 人 to make it about the people or language instead of the country itself. So, 日本語の映画 would refer to a Japanese-language film, and 日本人の映画 would refer to a film made by Japanese people. And if you're talking about your Japanese friend, make sure to include 人, like this: 日本人の友達.

The の particle is really versatile. Yet another use for it is for describing the location of something. Vocab word: 机 (つくえ), meaning "desk". So, 机の上 would mean "above the desk" or "on the desk", and 机の下 would mean "below the desk" or "under the desk". Glad that I remembered 上 and 下 from WaniKani. One more vocab word for today: 近く (ちかく), meaning "near". So, スーパーの近く would mean "near the supermarket". Almost done with this video, but will continue later.

2021-01-18.

Continued watching the same Japanese Ammo episode. Misa talks a bit about her pet rats. I like that she adds some of her personal life into the lessons. It's more fun, and you learn more a little more about the culture and language.

The word for "mother" sounds funny, which makes "Mother's Day" sound even funnier: 母の日 (ははのひ).

Vocab word: 誕生日 (たんじょうび), meaning "birthday". Hey, I think that's rendaku happening with 日. I think that happens with the days of the week too? I really should look up how to say the days of the week. Anyway, example sentence: 今日は彼女の誕生日です。 ("Today is my girlfriend's birthday").

Was sad to discover that I don't remember the months and dates very well anymore. Completely forgot ８日 is pronounced ようか. Oh, well. At least I remembered ２月 is pronounced にがつ. Anyway, here's Misa's birthday: 私の誕生日は２月８日です。 ("My birthday is February 8th.")

Coincidentally, I had some numbers up for review on WaniKani. I definitely need to review more. Maybe I should write the date every day in Japanese. Yeah, and learn the stroke order too. Maybe.

2021-01-17.

Continued watching the Japanese Ammo episode I started yesterday. Since this episode is all about the の particle, one of Misa's tangents was on the word for "mushroom", きのこ. (Jisho also shows it as 茸, but says it's usually written using kana alone.) She says the etymology is from 木の子, or "tree's child". She also sang a cute mushroom song. I'll have to look it up later.

Vocab word: 本当に (ほんとうに), meaning "really" or "actually". Example sentence: それは本当にさつきさんの傘ですか。 ("Is that really your umbrella, Satsuki?")

Misa says there are some words that require a の that aren't normally possessive in English. For example, in English we say, "Is this a Nintendo game?" In Japanese that translates to: これはニンテンドーのゲームですか。 (Literally, "Is this Nintendo's game?")

Vocab word: 名前 (なまえ), meaning "name". Example sentence: 犬の名前は何ですか。 ("What is the dog's name?")

Also, sometimes a sentence will require more than one の, and that's fine. The sentence "What is your dog's name, Sean?" would require two: ショーンさんの犬の名前は何ですか。 (formal) ショーンの犬の名前は何？ (informal). Now about halfway done with the video. Will continue later.

2021-01-16.

Finished the Japanese Ammo episode I started yesterday. Learned about how to form questions with "which", just use the が particle with どれ and どの. For example: どれが私のですか。("Which one is mine?") どの傘が私のですか。("Which umbrella is mine?")

Started watching the new version of Japanese Ammo episode 5. One of her tangents in this one is how people use 彼 and 彼女. I remember reading Tae Kim's Guide and being confused that 彼 means both "he" and "boyfriend" and 彼女 means both "she" and "girlfriend". But I didn't really care at the time since that info wasn't necessary to complete the grammar exercises. Anyway, according to Misa, using a person's name or title is preferred over using pronouns, which means 彼 and 彼女 are more often used to mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend". However, stuff translated to Japanese from English would have to use 彼 and 彼女 as pronouns because English uses "he" and "she" so often. Only about five minutes into the video. Will continue later.

2021-01-15.

Been watching the Japanese Ammo episode I started a few days ago, and finally finished it today. What I learned: こちら, そちら, あちら are more formal versions of これ, それ, あれ. They're especially used in businesses by store clerks when speaking to customers. それ can also be used to refer to something mentioned earlier in a conversation, not just objects that are physically present.

Some new nouns: "umbrella" is 傘, pronounced like the Spanish word for "house", which amuses me for some reason. Also, the kanji actually looks like an umbrella. And "medicine" is 薬 (くすり).

In the comments section for that video, there was a thread where people talked about Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian also having words meaning "this one", "that one nearby", and "that one over there". I had to ask myself: Uh, have I been doing Spanish wrong this whole time...

Started watching the new version of Japanese Ammo episode 4. Misa explains something interesting about pronoun usage. Apparently, it can be rude to use あなた (meaning "you") when talking to someone who's name you know. Basically, when addressing someone you know, just use their name. For example, if I'm talking to you, I want to say "your car", and your name is マリア, I would say マリアの車. Use あなた if, for example, you're talking to a stranger, or writing a blog and addressing an anonymous reader. Reached the halfway point of the video. Will continue later.

2021-01-12.

Finished the Japanese Ammo episode I started a couple days ago. Misa explains that while これは何？ is already informal, removing the particle creates an even more informal sentence: これ何？ You could also switch the order of the words to express surprise: 何これ？ Bonus vocab word: パソコン means "computer". It's a shortening of the phrase "personal computer".

Decided to watch the new version of Japanese Ammo episode 3 since it seemed to be covering the same material as the old version of episode 2. Some of the new information: あれ？ is a way to express surprise informally (like "Huh?" in English). The question word that goes along with これ, それ, and あれ is どれ, but only when asking about three or more options. For asking about two options, use どっち instead. Got through the first third of the video. Will continue later.

2021-01-11.

Used Bunpro again. Just noticed I'm already at level 3. Most of the grammar points I read about today were familiar, except for でしょう. The confusing thing is, Bunpro says that でしょう is softer and less direct than ね. Meanwhile, the linked Tae Kim page says: "However, while 「ね」 is used for what the speaker believes to be generally agreeable, 「でしょう」 can be more assertive and opinionated." Am I misunderstanding or is one of them wrong?

2021-01-10.

Been using Bunpro for a few minutes each day. Just noticed the JLPT progress bars yesterday. I wonder what level I'll be by the end of this year.

Finished the Japanese Ammo episode I started earlier. Learned a couple adjectives that both mean "cold". 冷たい (つめたい) refers to things that are cold to the touch and 寒い (さむい) refers to cold weather. For example: この水は冷たいです。 ("This water is cold.") 冬は寒いです。 ("Winter is cold.")

Started watching the new version of Japanese Ammo episode 2. In this one she talks about how to form questions. Here's what I learned: you should use a question mark if asking a question informally, but if asking formally, just use the question marker か at the end. For example: おいしい？ (informal) おいしいですか。 (formal) Another example: これは何？ (informal) これは何ですか。 (formal) Note that 何ですか is pronounced なんですか but 何 by itself is pronounced なに.

2021-01-08.

Watched the old version of Japanese Ammo episode 2. Here's what I learned: 私の can mean "mine" or "my", as in the following sentences: これは私のです。 ("This is mine.") これは私のペンです。 ("This is my pen.") The words これ ("this"), それ ("that", near the listener), and あれ ("that", far away) are basically demonstrative pronouns. But to use them as demonstrative adjectives, you have to change them to この, その, and あの. After 20 minutes of watching and taking notes, I was at the 6-minute mark of the video. Will continue later.

2021-01-05. #96

Noticed that some of the Japanese Ammo episodes have updated versions. The new version of Japanese Ammo episode 1 is from 2019 while the old one is from 2015. Just from the first minute it's obvious how much the quality has improved. Instead of just Misa holding up a small whiteboard, there are color-coded sentences on screen, and the audio is a lot better. Plus, it's over twice as long as the old one.

Decided to watch the whole episode. Some of it's the same information from the old version, but a lot of it is new. A useful section is when she breaks down how to introduce yourself formally: こんにちは。初めまして。みさです。よろしくお願いします。 Which sort of means, "Good morning. Nice to meet you. I'm Misa. I'm looking forward to working with you." She explains that よろしくお願いします is formal, and it's used for when you meet someone for the first time or when you begin working on something with someone, like starting a new project with a coworker. よろしく is informal, and it would be good for casual situations like beginning a new match in team games with your friends. The phrase can be translated as "I'm looking forward to working with you", though that isn't the only possible translation since it can also be used for first meetings. In that case it's like you're saying, "I'm looking forward to building a friendship with you." Also, while that phrase can be used with people you've already met, 初めまして is only used when meeting someone for the first time because 初めて actually means "for the first time".

Used Bunpro again. There were some linked resources that seemed interesting. Will check them out later.

2021-01-04. #95

Restarted and finished the Japanese Ammo video from yesterday. It's a nice, fun lesson. I like that she takes quick detours and explains words and concepts that aren't directly related to the main topic. Makes the lesson more interesting.

WaniKani emailed me a coupon for 20% off several days ago, which meant the monthly payment of $9 would be $7.20 instead. I was already tempted at that point, but just today, they emailed me a coupon for 50% off, making the monthly subscription only $4.50. Sometimes indecision is good... But because I'm ridiculous, I am now being indecisive about if I should get the monthly or the annual subscription. Well, getting the annual one would only save me $9.50, and $4.50 is less scary than $44.50, so I think I'll just do monthly. The coupon expires Feb 28th, which gives me time to focus on Bunpro until my free trial ends Feb 2nd.

2021-01-03. #94

Used Bunpro again. Got to the second grammar point, which was about だった. I was familiar with that conjugation already, but not the other one next to it, でした. Decided to check out the linked resources to find out more. I guess Tae Kim teaches the plain or casual form of speaking, not the polite form.

One of the linked resources was a FluentU post, and after reading that one, I got a little distracted reading about how to learn Japanese through picture books and anime. There was also a post that gave advice on which anime genres would be useful for studying the language. I'm not big on anime, but mostly due to laziness rather than dislike. Maybe I'll try watching some when I'm more advanced.

One of the other linked resources in Bunpro was a Youtube video from Japanese Ammo. But it wasn't the first in the series, so I just decided to go from the beginning and watch Japanese Ammo episode 1. And I'm very glad I did. The teacher, Misa, talks about こんいちは at one point. She says that こんにち is an old way to say "today", which is now pronounced as きょう. Which makes so much fucking sense, because "today" is spelled with kanji that can be pronounced as こん (今, meaning "now") and にち (日, meaning "day"). I felt like an idiot because I should've realized that sooner. In fact, when I first learned from WaniKani that 今日 was pronounced きょう, I complained about it not being こんにち. Had to pause the video to get up to walk around and absorb everything.

2021-01-02. #93

Found out about Bunpro about a week ago from WaniKani Community. I was interested because its website said you can use it with Tae Kim, there's a free plan, and the monthly plan is currently $3. Finally decided to sign up today, and now I have 30 days to test out the premium features. I tried out the Tae Kim path, specifically the very first grammar point about using だ to express state of being. There were so many example sentences and links to other resources for grammar explanations. Very cool.

Read more of Tae Kim's Grammar Guide. Learned some verb basics. If the verb ends in an ある, うる, or おる sound, it's an う-verb. If it ends in an いる or える sound, it's most likely a る-verb. If it doesn't end in a る sound, it's an う-verb. And there are only two exceptions to all of this: する and 来る.

2021-01-01. #92

Worked on Tae Kim's Grammar Guide. Completed the second adjective practice exercise. It went surprisingly well, partly because I'm getting more used to Jisho. Got most of the answers correct. My only two mistakes were ones involving the identifier particle. But after rereading those sentences, I think I actually understand why they need to use が instead of は. Just gotta remember that the topic particle is for introducing a new topic, and the identifier particle is for, well, identifying something.