Thursday, October 11, 2007

Japanese I'm Learning from My DS

I recently bought a Nintendo DS Lite. It's awesome. I've got a kanji dictionary for it, and also a kanji game.

Things I'm learning:

right-handed = みぎきき
left-handed = ひだりきき
screen = 画面(がめん)
assignment = 課題(かだい)
stroke order? = 書き順(かきじゅん)
learning = 学習(がくしゅう)
drill = ドリル (this katakana is really confusing for us English speakers!)
to check = 確認する(かくにんする)

And that was just in the opening explanation!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Daily Japanese Phrase: 注意


注意を払う


Look for the (once again familiar) translation and the hiragana in the comments.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Daily Japanese Phrase: 発明


必要は発明の母


For the surprisingly-familiar English translation, please see the comments below. Also below is the hiragana.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Correct My Japanese If You Please #1

I left this message on my roommate's voicemail. Can you figure out what's wrong with it? If so, please leave a comment with the correction.

あひた、車が必要じゃありません。Westminsterへいきないから。

妹が8時半でひっこしするになります。早すぎると思います。だから行きません。

今ジョージと遊びます。1時間ぐらいの後で会いましょう。

I will follow this post up with the correct Japanese later, so check back in 12 or so hours for the correction (and the English translation) in the comments.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Daily Japanese Phrase: について


学校で日本語試験についての説明を受けた。


Hiragana and translation are in the comments below.