Composition 3 Final (Me, 20 Years from Now)

こんいちは！わたしはケリーです。二十ねんごにわたしは三十八っさいです。アメリカにいますからニューヨクをはたらきます。ゆうめいないしゃですが、とてもむずかしいです。まいにち、わたしははたらきます。それからしゅうまつにかぞくとあそびます。二十ねんごにハンサムでしんせつなおとこのひとをけっこんします。おおきいうちがあります、そしてとてもきれいです。毎年のなつりょこうをしますからたのしいです。でもわたしはいそがしいですが、ときどきひまです。そして、わたしのせいがつがとてもすです！

Katakana Analysis Final

• Choose at least 2 katakana words/expressions that you found and think about what kinds of effects / purposes there may be in these words/expressions writing in katakana instead of hiragana or kanji.

Two katakana words that I found particularly interesting were スタバる and ドラえもん. スタバる means "to go to Starbucks", and is a fusion of both katakana and hiragana. Since it was pronounced as "sutabaro", I was curious as to why there was a specific verb to describe going to Starbucks, and why the phrase was a mix of the two Japanese alphabets. My reasoning for this is that Starbucks is popular in Japan, so this phrase can help shorten it, thus essentially converting verb into a slang phrase. トヨタ is the katakana word for "Toyota". What I thought was intriguing about the katakana use was why "Toyota", a Japanese word, was not written in hiragana. When I learned that brands usually write their names in katakana to emphasize their company name, it made more sense to me and I was able to see a trend in other brands' names written in katakana as well. 

• Also, think why there are such effects/purposes.

Writing words in katakana does make the phrase stand out from the rest of the text, as intended. It is understandable as to why foreign words are converted into katakana, because using borrowed words in the hiragana form would cause confusion due to similar-sounding words. They function in a similar manner as do bolding and italics in English, allowing for emphasis and simplicity. Also, younger generations are more likely to write in Katakana than older generations, mainly because Katakana borrows many slang words from English, which gives it a less formal appearance than does Hiragana and Kanji.

• Think about why each textbook is different in explaining katakana, and why the textbooks explained katakana in the manners that they did. 

My "Minna no Nihongo" book did an adequate job in explaining what katakana is and why is it used in the Japanese language. Each textbook explains the concept of katakana differently because more of a specific type of katakana (loan words, onomatopoeia, emphasis, etc.) However, my textbook did not go over in much detail as to what katakana was besides their uses in writing. This is probably because that there is not a definite explanation to explaining katakana, since they can be utilized in a myriad of methods.
Regarding the history of Katakana, this writing system was developed by Buddhist monks in order to simplify writing, which was originally mostly written in kanji/Chinese characters. 

にほんへいきました〜Part II

きょうとへ行きました。とうきょうからしんかせんでいきました。でも、きょとうはー日だけいきました。きょとうはとてもきれいです。

しんかんせんのなかにあらしです！

きょうとのゆうめいじしゃです。

おんなのひとはかさにうえじてんしゃをします。おもしろいですね？！

とてもきれいはなです。

きょうとの金閣寺（Golden Pavillionーきんかくじ）はみました。

そして、きょとうのたべものはとてもおいしいです！きょうとはとてもおもしろいです。

Katakana Literary Work

Composition 2 "Letter to Host Family"

やまださんへ、

こんいちは！はじめまして。ケリー・リューです。コロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。コロンビアとてもきれいです。そしてゆうめいです。せいかつはたのしいなが、とてもいそがしいです。にほんごがすこしわかりますが、ちゅうごくごだいたいわかります。そしてにほんごのクラスがだいすきです。テニスがすきです。わたしはにほりょうりがとてもすきです。アニメとにほんごのえいががたいすきです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします！

ケリー・リュー

Katakana Analysis Draft

• Choose at least 2 katakana words/expressions that you found and think about what kinds of effects / purposes there may be in these words/expressions writing in katakana instead of hiragana or kanji.

Two katakana words that I found particularly interesting were スタバる and ドラえもん. スタバる means "to go to Starbucks", and is a fusion of both katakana and hiragana. Since it was pronounced as "sutabaro", I was curious as to why there was a specific verb to describe going to Starbucks, and why the phrase was a mix of the two Japanese alphabets. My reasoning for this is that Starbucks is popular in Japan, so this phrase can help shorten it, thus essentially converting verb into a slang phrase. トヨタ is the katakana word for "Toyota". What I thought was intriguing about the katakana use was why "Toyota", a Japanese word, was not written in hiragana. When I learned that brands usually write their names in katakana to emphasize their company name, it made more sense to me and I was able to see a trend in other brands' names written in katakana as well.

• Also, think why there are such effects/purposes.

Writing words in katakana does make the phrase stand out from the rest of the text, as intended. It is understandable as to why foreign words are converted into katakana, because using borrowed words in the hiragana form would cause confusion due to similar-sounding words. 

• Think about why each textbook is different in explaining katakana, and why the textbooks explained katakana in the manners that they did. 

My "Minna no Nihongo" book did an adequate job in explaining what katakana is and why is it used in the Japanese language. Each textbook explains the concept of katakana differently because more of a specific type of katakana (loan words, onomatopoeia, emphasis, etc.) However, my textbook did not go over in much detail as to what katakana was besides their uses in writing.

にほんへいきました〜Part I

きょねんはちがつ、かぞくとひこうきでときょときょうとへいきました。 あの、わたしのにほんのしゃしんです。

ときょさです！

ときょのTowerです。
Apartment was right next to it

Outside my window

しぶやです~

しんじゅくです。

Pokemonのみせです！すごい。

すしのレストランです。

たまごとうどんです。

うどんとでんぷらです。

たまごとらめんです。
まいにち、わたしはにほんのごはんたべました。
おおいしです！

しんかんせんできょうとへいきました。

きょとのGolden Pavillion

These are only some of my photos from Japan. I will post more next time. それまで！

にほんごのクラス

Japanese class is going well so far. I understand much more vocabulary than when I first started. Now I can tell time, ask about items in department stores, and talk about what I did on each day of the week. Some aspects of Japanese is actually easier for me to understand because pronunciation of words are similar to Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. While I am not experienced in Chinese, much of Japanese Kanji is simple to understand. Hopefully that will give me an advantage when learning and I will not struggle with the Kanji. We have dabbled a bit in Katakana, but have not formally learned that alphabet yet. I have already learned many of the characters, so it will just be a refresher for when we do learn it. 


The Japanese midterm is next week; I will be reviewing what I have learned in these four weeks and keeping my fingers crossed that I do well!


さよなら！

Hello!

My name is Kelly, and I am a freshman at Columbia University. One of the classes I am most excited about taking is Japanese I, as I have always wanted to study this language. After travelling to Tokyo and Kyoto last summer, my interest in Japan strengthened. The culture, history, food, fashion, and technology of Japan...they have all intrigued me for years.


As of now, I am currently in my second week of classes at Columbia, and enjoying everything about the school. The experience of living in New York through a rich campus life is very exciting. Japanese isn't too challenging right now, but the fast pace of the class motivates me to keep up. Learning the vocabulary can be tricky, as well as learning the kanji in the future. I hope to learn conversational Japanese so I can communicate with native speakers, and also learn how to read and write Japanese. I look forward to what this class has to offer!

こんにちわ！

わたしは Kelly (ケリ)です。アメリカからきました。Columbiaのだいかくせです、いちにえんせです。１８さいです。このblogわたしです。どぞよれしく！