にじゅうねんごのわたし

わたしはミンヒュンです。よんじゅうさいです。わたしのかぞくはよにんです。わたしとつまとこどもがふたりいます。むすめはじゅうさいです。そしてむすこはななさいです。むすめはおんがくがすきですから、かんこくのダンスとアメリカのジャズをならいます。むすこはスポーツがすきです。そしてサッカーがいちばんじょうずです。まいしゅうまつにわたしとむすこはサッカーをします。とてもたのしいです。
わたしはかんこくにいます。にほんのかいしゃのかいしゃいんです。わたしはかんこくごとにほんごとえいごがじょうずですから、インターナショナルビジネスをします。まいにちいろいろなかいしゃにでんわをかけます。しごとはむずかしいですが、おもしろいです。
まいばんわたしのかぞくはいっしょにしょくじします。それからいっしょにこうえんをさんぽします。ときどきえいがをみにビデオをかります。こどもはアメリカのえいががすきです。でも、わたしとつまはかんこくのえいががすきですから、ビデオをふたつかります。まいにちしちじにおきにじゅうにじにねます。

Love & Truth - Yui

One of my favorite Japanese artists

せんりゅう

1.

さけをごほん

ワインをじっぽん

のみましょう

five bottles of sake

ten bottles of wine

let's drink

2.

ビルですか

ビールですか？

あせがズルル

you mean building

you mean beer?

sweat dripping

3.

ちかいです

ふゆのやすみは

しけんも。

it's near

winter break is

exam is also

I have composed three senryuus by myself, and in these works, I have used katakana several times.

The first one I've used is ワイン. This is a loanword derived directly from an English word, wine, and has the same meaning and almost identical pronunciation as the English equivalent.

The second one is ビル, another example of loanword. This word is derived from a word building in English, but it has different pronunciation. Sometimes, loanwords are written in a way that its Japanese pronunciation is different from the original one. I believe this is so in order to facilitate Japanese people to pronounce some of the foreign words that are difficult to pronounce in its original way.

The third one is ビール, meaning beer and another example of loanword. This word has a similar pronunciation as the original one.

The fourth, and last, one is ズルル. This word is an example of usage of onomatopoeia, and is derived from the sound of a liquid dripping down a surface. In my senryuu, I used this word together with a word あせが, meaning sweat. Thus, it reads あせがズルル, and it conveys special effect of the sound of sweat dripping down my face, as I find it hard to differentiate between two words that sound almost the same. By the way, this same word can be found in Korean too.

やまださんにてがみをかきましょう。

やまださん、はじめまして。わたしはコロンビアだいがくのにねんせいです。わたしはコロンビアだいがくでにほんごをべんきょうします。にほんごのべんきょうはおもしろいですが、むずかしいです。コロンビアだいがくはちいさいですが、きれいです。わたしはにほんのたべものがすきですから、にほんへいきます。そして、わたしはにほんごがじょうずじゃありませんから、にほんへいきます。わたしは５がつ２１にちににほんへいきます。よろしくおねがいします。

Katakana Analysis

Two katakana words or expressions that I chose are コンサート (concert) and ディザイン (design).

These two words were written in katakana just as they sound in English, so they are loanwords. There seems to exist two purposes of using katakana in this case. First, by pronouncing them in the same way as in their original language, it has the effect of conveying the exact meanings. Also, by writing them in katakana, instead of hiragana and kanji, it has the effect of making these words easily noticeable as loanwords.

These effects are produced, because katakana are not used as frequently as hiragana or kanji in daily life, so it is easily noticeable. Also, employing the similar pronunciation, these words can be easily understandable to both Japanese and foreigners.

Japanese textbooks have been different in explaining katakana, because exact usage of katakana also seems difficult to define even for Japanese academics.

Why Japanese?

So, I have been procrastinating too much in writing any further posts on my blog, so I will write a blog about the topic that I should have written like a month ago.

So why Japanese??

Living in South Korea for the past 18 years of my life before coming to the States last year as a freshman (I've also lived in Canada for a year when I was like 13), I have been constantly exposed to the Japanese culture in different ways. When I was a little kid, I loved watching Japanese cartoons, Pokemon, and movies; I would buy these Pokemon cards, trade with my friends the ones that I didn't have with the ones that I needed, and play them, even though I now all forgot how to play them. When I grew, my interest moved slightly from young-kid cartoons to music, especially j-pop. I especially liked Nakashima Mika, whose music I first had a chance to listen to because of this Korean singer who sang a translated version of her song. That song was 雪の華, and after that, I listened to some of her other songs, not to mention many other Japanese singers.

Thus, all the point of learning Japanese now in college started purely from my interest in the culture, but I think I can also make use of the language a lot in the future when I grow up and get a job. I mean getting to learn a foreign language is always a good thing. And I know that Japanese classes will always be fun, as Hamada Sensei always says, and I hope to make most out of it.

こんいちわ

こんいちわ。
はじめまして。
わたしはみんひゅんです。
かんこくからきました。
わたしはころんびあだいがくのにねんせいです。
にじゅうさいです。
わたしのせんせいははまださんです。
どうぞよろしく。