I’m so happy that Japan uses as many English loan words as it does. Memorizing vocabulary is horrible, but it’s a lot less stressful given that a lot of the words are the same between our languages. Banana, Toilet, Laptop, Neck tie ~ バナナ、トイレ、ラップトップ、ネクタイ… definitely easier than it could be. Amazingly, it also seems that I’m able to get a lot of reinforcement of vocabulary as I work my way through the three main sources I’ve been using to teach myself. So I’ll hear “lunch” one day in Pimsleur, and then read it in Human Japanese a couple of days later. Or I’ll learn “orange” in Human Japanese, and then again in Influent the next day. It feels like a great system!
Influent
After doing some random words to try and remember what I’ve already covered in this game, I went on to cover 50 more words tonight. This makes 200 nouns so far in Influent, and I appear to be retaining roughly 70% of what I’ve covered so far. Anything marked with a * has already been covered in Human Japanese.
| パイ | pie | オーブンあみ | oven rack |
| オーブン | oven | ダイヤル | dial |
| コンロ | stove | スプーン | spoon |
| そうさパネル | control panel | やかん | kettle |
| なべ | pot | フライパン | frying pan |
| バーナー | burner | ヘラ | spatula |
| あぶら | cooking oil | しお | salt |
| ミキサー | blender | さとう | sugar |
| こむぎこ | flour | トースター | toaster |
| カウンター | counter | しゃくせんき | dish washer |
| レンジフード | range hood | ボウル | bowl |
| さら | plate | ざる | strainer |
| ピッチャー | pitcher | でんしレンジ | microwave |
| つうきこう | vent | ペーパータオル | paper towel |
| パン | bread * | おぼん | serving tray |
| パイナップル | pineapple | バナナ | banana |
| オリンジ | orange * | もも | peach |
| りんご | apple * | パスタ | pasta |
| ジャー | jar | マフイン | muffin |
| サンドイッチ | sandwich | テイーカップ | tea cup |
| ジャガイモ | potato * | たまねぎ | onion * |
| すいはんき | rice cooker | トマトソース | tomato sauce |
| トウモロコシ | corn | カボチャ | pumpkin |
| ソースパン | sauce pan | ラップ | cling wrap |
| めんぼう | rolling pin | ナイフ | knife |
Human Japanese Ch:18
This lesson is on demonstratives… as in “this” or “that”. In Japanese, demonstratives follow a KSAD pattern, meaning that the different words start with k,s,a, or d, and then have a common ending.
| これ | this |
| それ | that |
| あれ | that over there |
| どれ | which? |
English is able to use “that” to describe things that may be either within earshot, or things which might be very far away. IE: that apple, or that mountain. But Japanese makes a distinction. If it’s within earshot you would use それ while things that are further away would be あれ.
それわしんぶんです – this is a newspaper
あれはりんごです – that, over there, is an apple
それはいぬです – this is a dog
これははなですか – this is a flower?
どれですか – which is this?
えんぴつはどれですか – which is the pencil? … or more like “as for the pencil, which one is it?”
One thing to be aware of is that these are all nouns. You can say “this is a cat” but not “this cat” using these words. To use adjectives instead of nouns we need a different set of words:
| この | this _ |
| その | that _ |
| あの | that _, over there |
| どの | which _? |
Notice the use of the KSAD pattern.
このひとはせんせいです。 – as for this person, it is a teacher.
そのせんせいはカナダじんです。 – as for that teacher, it is a Canadian.
あのやまがすきです。 – I like that mountain.
どのみせがすきですか。 – Which shop do you like?
These words always attach to a noun, they are never used as a noun.
Notice the use of その when referring to the teacher above. Normally, you would refer to things that are not next to you using あの, however when context is known, it’s ok to use その. Meaning that if you were to say “Who was that teacher?” When you’ve left the classroom… the context allows you to know who is being referenced, and thus you can use その. If on the other hand, you were to say “look at that teacher!” out of the blue, with no context… then you would say あの.
The following has been used already in the Pimsleur lessons:
| ここ | here |
| そこ | there |
| あそこ | over there |
| どこ | where? |
Pay attention to the そ in あそこ.
ここはアメリカです。 – This is America.
どこですか。 – Where is it?
レストランはどこですか。 – Where is the restaurant?
| こんな | this kind of __ |
| そんあ | that kind of __ |
| あんな | that over there kind of __ |
| どんな | which kind of __? |
Kind of, or sort of, or type… is also an adjective. It must be attached to a noun:
そんなりんごがすきです。 – I like that kind of apple.
まりこさんはどんなひとですか。 – Which kind of person in Mariko-san?
こんなにちようびが。 – I like this kind of Sunday.
And the last set for this chapter means “way”
| こちら | this way |
| そちら | that way |
| あちら | that way, over there |
| どちら | which way? |
These are commonly used when getting directions, or showing how something works.
おてあらいはこちらです。 – The bathroom is this way.
どちらですか。 – which way is it?
レストランはどちらですか。 – which way is the restaurant.
Pimsleur 1-15
One of these days I’m going to go to sleep before midnight. I swear it will happen.
Did more Pimsleur at the gym! I need to find some time to read more over here about the grammar, but here are the new words for the day:
Vocabulary
たべられます – I can eat
たべられません – I cannot eat
かえます – I can buy (not to be confused with かいます which means I am going to buy)
かえません – I cannot buy
ぜんぜん – not at all
すこし – a little
たくさん – a lot
と – and (in addition)
で – with
あります – exists/is
あげます – give (is this the common word? I can see it defined here, but “give” isn’t the easiest definition to find in dictionaries….)
わたしに – for me?
あなたに – for you
いってきます – I’m leaving
Phrases
すこしもっています。 – I have a little
じゅうごドルあげます。 – I’ll give you fifteen dollars.
なにかかえますか。 – can you by something?
ぜんぜんありません。 – there isn’t anything
二と二でいくらですか。 – two and two is how much?
わたしとひるごはんおたべませんか。 – won’t you have dinner with me? ((ruh roh…. this is a pretty simple sentence… and it’s already got Google Translate completely confused…
No wonder I’ve been warned against trying to play a Japanese video game so early into my education… attempting to look phrases up online is going to end up producing some pretty nasty translations…
SLEEP TIME