Composition 3: 二十ねんごのわたし

二十ねんごわたしはさんじゅうきゅうさいです。わたしはケミカルエンジニアです。
がいこくへいきたいですからカナダのかいしゃはたらきたいです。わたしのうちはぜんぜんおおきくないです。わたしのうちにわたしのかのじょとわたしのいぬがにひきいます。

わたしのいぬにあそびます。そして、いろいろなところのりょこうへ行きます。そ
して、ものがたくさんかいものします。それはわたしのしゅみです。
一年に二かいわたしのくにでわたしのかぞくにあいます。

Katakana Analysis Final Draft

The word デニムベスト was used in a fashion magazine ad for a denim vest. The use of katakana could be to indicate that the denim vest fashion came from another culture besides Japan in order to distinguish between classic Japanese attire and that from another country. I think katakana has this effect because in modern day Japan one of the common roles that katakana plays is to write words from foreign languages and cultures¹. Katakana can hint that a certain fashion isn’t from Japan because people expect that when katakana is used to describe the features of the clothing (not the name of the clothing company) then it might mean that that type of clothing came from another country.

I chose the word ドゴオッン from the manga Rurouni Kenshin because it is a good example of how katakana is used in a fight scene. I think katakana is used in almost all manga fight scenes because it brings the action to life by imitating the sounds that would be made in real life. Katakana does this better than kanji because it is easier to read, especially for children; and it does it better than hiragana because katakana it is more sleek and sharp (like weapons). Using katakana draws more attention to the page when the characters are plastered all over it because they are appealing to the eyes in their simplicity (lines put together to make characters). I think all of these traits of katakana makes the action more “in your face” when it is used.

References: 1) Yookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese 1st edition McGraw-Hill 1993, page 29 "The Japanese Writing System (2) Katakana" 

Katakana Literary Work

This one is called:

シクネス

ウイルスは
ひどいですが
クレームじゃ
ありませんか。
バクテリア
もらいました。
フルにエア、
フルになか
いますか。
ありますか。

Katakana Analysis Draft

1) The two word that I chose for my katakana analysis are デニムベスト (denim vest) and バイキング (buffet).

The word デニムベスト was used in a fashion magazine ad for a denim vest. The use of katakana for denimubesuto could be to indicate that the denim vest fashion came from another culture besides Japan in order to distinguish between classic Japanese attire and that from another country.

The word  バイキング, pronounced baikingu, is written in katakana but does not come from the English word for buffet. This might be because the idea for buffet was brought to Japan from another culture other than American and so this might be the word for buffet in that country or it might be a word that reminds Japanese speakers of where the idea came from.

2) I think the common purpose between the two word that I picked is to indicate what culture or country a loanword comes from. It seems to be an important aspect in the Japanese language to make note of where an idea or a new invention came from by keeping its original name or a reference to its origin.

3) I think each textbook explains katakana differently because there is no definitive situation where katakana should be used. So textbooks give the most used circumstances to give a general idea of the importance of katakana in the Japanese language.

Racheal Johnson

御早う！

わたし は まいあさ おきます (Thank God for that one..lol)。 しょして、うた を うたう。 わたし は この うた を うたう :

ビデオcourtesy of me! (This is actually my first AMV now that I think about it) kind of choppy..but oh well you get the point

 
Lyrics: (I don't know if they're right or not)

Yeah good morning 

Hitori okidasu umou no shita mata 

atarashii seikatsu ni hariototsu mada 

usuguraku tomoru gaitou ga 

sewashinakute choushin kizamu guideline 

Taikutsu wa ikutsuka no fact itsuka mita kenshiki kako

o furikaeru actor and actress I wouldn't miss it for the world 

Get up get up 

walking sleeping 

keep on moving 

slowly good morning and good sunshine

Shinya kara asa kusunda kyoukaisen 

mata chigau kotae sagasu kotai chikyuu no ue 

aruku shuuki wa ano hakusen no mukou ni aru taiyou 

Tannaimon hannaimon wa naino? 

tte mayotte sagashite itsu no manika asondeta 

hadashide sosh!tara mata yoru ga me ga me 

o samashite Asa kara ban hello! 

Mattaku motte no hoka no yami tokasuka 

kasukani watasu kara hazumi chakuchi tsuki no

Jasmine oyasumi 

Get up get up walking 

Sleeping keep on moving 

Get up get up walking 

Sleeping keep on moving

ばらのはな は あかい です。すみれのはな は あおい です。

わたし は 日本語の詩 を かきます。Hopefully someday I will be able to. Right now, English is the only Language I can write in. But Japanese poetry is so cool. Of course most notable Japanese poems are Haikus, but still, they're pretty good.

This poem is by Kobayashi Issa, apparently it's his death poem:



A bath when you're born,
a bath when you die,
how stupid.

Note the not-haiku-ness of it. I'm pretty sure it sounds better in Japanese.

The Power of あにめ!!!

はじめまして みなさん!!!

わたしは Rachealです。じゅうきゅうさいです。Columbia だいがくのがくせいです。にねんせいです。わたしのblogspotのなまえはRaedesuです。(Because I like the way it sounds). わたしはいちねんせいのにほんごのがくせいです。I decided to join the class because I have been trying to learn Japanese on my own for over five years with little to no success. I have wanted to learn にほんご ever since I was introduced to the wonderful world of anime back in the 9th grade. Anime is Japanese cartoons, which means they are in Japanese. Now don't get me wrong, watching them with subtitles is swell from time to time, but ever now and again I would like to pay attention to the action instead of reading. So that's my story.

どうぞよろしくおねがいします!!!

(Rei1: ああああ...そですか？
Rei2: はい、すきです!)