Composition 3 Final

にじゅうねんごのわたし。わたしは　ゆめをみます。ヴィナスプロジェクトではたらきます。ヨーロッパへかえります。イタリアのフィレンツェにいます。イタリアはとてもいいですからイタリアにいたいです。かぞくはよにんです。つまとこどもがふたりいます。そして　いぬがいます。わたしのいぬのなまえは　ちひろです。ときどき　にほんへにほんじんのともだちにあいにいきます。わたしたちのうちは　おおきいですがとてもべんりですよ。うちは　まちのそとです。サッカーのきょうぎじょうのとなりにあります。にちようびに　きょうぎじょうへサッカーをみにいきます。しごとは　あまりいそがしくないですがとてもおもしろいです。わたしのせいかつがとてもすきです。

カタカナ Final

The very origins of the Katakana alphabet is fascinating just to say a little. Since I have great devotion to the Buddha and his teaching as I practice Vipassana Meditation it makes me happy to know that the system of the Katakana alphabet was invented by Buddhist scholars in the 9th century. The Katakana symbols are derivatives of the Chinese Kanji. As the monks had trouble keeping up with the writing of the Chinese Kanji they started to write just a part of each symbol, hence derivatives of Kanji.

It is widely thought throughout the world that the Katakana characters are used just as a marker for foreign words. It is very well true that Katakana is used when writing loan words from English and also from other languages. In fact, I was sort of disappointed when I realized that I had to write my own name in Katakana ヤコブ and not being able to use Hiragana or Kanji. This disappointment quickly disappeared once I understood that Katakana characters are now an integrated piece of the Japanese language system on other levels as well.

Katakana is often used when one wants to emphasize something in ones writing even if it is not a non-Japanese word. If there is something in particular that you want the reader to pay attention to then it is not at all uncommon for newspapers and magazines to use Katakana for Japanese words. I picked up a couple of free magazines at Sunrise Mart (a Japanese grocery store) near Astor Place and I found words such as キレー (きれい) and ヤスイ (やすい). These words are not foreign words but regular Japanese words that could easily be written with Hiragana and Kanji, but in these advertisements, the writer chose the more unexpected way of writing these words. It clearly stands out dropping these words spelled out in Katakana unexpectedly and it's a great business idea.

This brings me to the next point. When I was talking to a Japanese friend that I have from my time in Italy, he said that this is one of the reasons why Japanese companies spell their names in Katakana. ホンダ, and ミツビシ are easier on the eye and easier detected by the consumer in the ocean of advertisements than if it were to be written in Hiragana or Kanji. He explained to me that this is a marketing strategy. It should be added as well that the company in question also wants to keep an international label and therefore the natural choice is Katakana.

Another field where Katakana appears frequently is in science. As a mathematics major I have the opportunity to study a language that is not subject to interpretation and that means the same all over the world. This is exactly one of the important points when applying Katakana to sciences. It makes sense to use Katakana for diseases and other scientific just because they are very difficult to write and read in Kanji. An example is ガン (cancer) sometimes an even more anglified version shows up, カンサー. Another term in the medical field in which Katakana is used is ヒフカ (dermatology). I mean, which one do you prefer, ヒフカ or 皮膚科? I get a headache just by looking at the second one :)

I think this catches the essence of Katakana. I have learned to appreciate them more by studying them and understanding them.

Literary work final

 みず、やま、かぜ、かき

　　　　　　　わたしたちのちきゅうは

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　いま　ちしな　キャンサー　があります





 

                  てんきは　よかったです

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ウオーリがいに　ひとが　おおい　いました 

                  みんぽんしゅぎがありませんでした

 

きのう　おひさまは　あつかったです

きょうはきのうよりあつかったです

ひょうがは　いま　アイスクリーム　です



These three "poems" if you will, contains messages about environmental concern and individual freedom. The first one is about how we neglect and destroy the very planet that we inhabit. In the end it says that the Earth now has a lethal cancer, because this is how I see it.

The second one is about the mass demonstrations going on against the economic injustice that exist in the world. It ends saying that democracy doesn't exist.

The third one is again a message about environmental concern. How the planet is getting warmer and warmer. It ends saying that the glaciers are now "ice cream" This is figurative, meaning that they melt like ice cream because of global warming.

さくぶん ２

なかたさんへ。わたしは　ヤコブ　ハーンゲリアムです。スウェーデンのストックホルムからきました。コロンビアだいがくのだいがくせいです。にねんせいです。きょねん　ニューヨークヘきました。いま　数学とにほんごをべんきょうします。にほんごがすこしわかります。とても　むずかしですが、おもしろいです。そして　てのしいです。にほんごのせんせいは　いいせんせいです。もう　わたしは　たくさんならいました。だいがくのせいかつは　いそがしいですがすてきです。コロンビアダイガクであたらしいともだちにあいました。ろくがつよっかに　にほんへいきます。じゃあまたらいねん。なかたさんは　まだ　サッカーを　しますか。よろしくおねがいします。

カタカナ Analysis

As we have seen from the previous group postings regarding カタカナ, they are categorized depending on the use of them.

1) カタカナ is used for foreign names, foreign countries, and foreign loanwords. For example トマト (tomato) or アメリカ (America).

2) カタカナ is often used in science. Names of minerals, animals, plants, and various diseases are written in カタカナ. For example カエル (frog) or キャンサー (cancer).

3) Nowadays it's very common to spell out names of different companies in カタカナ such as スズキ (Suzuki) or ホンダ (Honda).

What I would like to research more for this project is the use of カタカナ for foreign countries. Why is it that some countries are written in カタカナ and others are not. Countries like スペイン (Spain) and イタリア (Italy) are written in カタカナ while countries such as ちゅうごく (China) and かんこく (Korea) are written in Hiragana (in our case) or Kanji. My first thought was: Well, countries such as China and Korea have had relations with Japan since ancient times, so the names for the surrounding countries in East Asia have had their names for quite some time, way before カタカナ was even invented. Western countries came into the picture much later from a Japanese perspective and therefore the names of those countries were made as we went. The general pattern that one can spot is that the names of the countries in Western Europe and North America usually are written and pronounced in similar to the English pronunciation or similar to the pronunciation of the native language of that specific country. However there are a couple of cases that breaks away from the general pattern. Countries like イギリス (England) and ブラジロ (Brazil) do not follow this pattern. Why is Brazil written as "Burajiro" and England as "Igirisu"? How did these names come into place?

This is something that I will try to do some more research on within the next few weeks. I will  try to reach out to the few Japanese friends that I have and see what they have to say. There must be some explanation behind the creation of these names that don't follow the general pattern.

きのうのOWS

こんいちは。をげんきですか。きのう　わたしは　Zuccotti　の　こうえん　へ　いきました。occupy wall street を　しました。ごせん　じゅうじから　ごご　さんじはんまで　しました。さんぜん　ひと　でした。きのう　わたしは　くつを　かいました。チェリシ　で　かいました。ちかてつで　くつうりばへ　いきました。らいしゅう　occupy wall street かえります。　

......e si va avanti!

こんばんは。きょう　わたしは　ごせん　ろくじから　ごご　じゅうじまで　べんきょしました。たいへん　です。にほんご　comunque e' una lingua parecchio difficile per dire la verita'. Adesso mi sento piu' comodo con gli "Hiragana" anche se ancora vado molto piano, ma chi va piano va sano e va lontano, ね。A parte gli scherzi, sto migliorando e devo dire che e' una soddisfazione grande. Non vedo l'ora di imparare pure gli "Katakana" cosi ho la base della lingua prima di entrare nel campo dei "Kanji". いま　じゅうじはん　に　わたしは　ねます　perche' sono molto stanco!!!

La sfida del にほんご　continua......

La ragione per cui studio il giapponese

Salve a tutti!

Mi chiamo Jakob e sono uno studente presso Columbia University. Son nel mio secondo anno ed il mio corso di laurea e' matematica applicata.

Pur studiando la matematica frequento anche un corso di giapponese per i principianti. Questa e' la prima volta in assoluto che sono in contatto con la lingua giapponese, e quindi e' molto difficile, ma nello stesso momento lo trovo molto divertente.

La cosa piu' frustrante per me finora sono gli caratteri che si chiamano "Hiragana". ogni Hiragana corresponde ad una sillaba. Oggi abbaimo avuto un test su tutti Hiragana. appena ricevuto il foglio mi sono reso conto che avevo solamente studiato tutti i suoni differenti ed i correspondenti Hiragana, ma non vice versa. Mi sono trovato in difficolta' per questo, ma ora so che devo essere piu' paziente e studiare ancora di piu'.

Ho scelto di studiare il giapponese perche' mi interessa la cultura giapponese e piu' che altro, cerco sempre nuove sfide, e questa e veramente una sfida con la S maiuscola!

Seguite il mio blog perche' vi daro' aggiornamenti almeno ogni settimana per quanto riguarda il mio progresso.

Grazie a tutti!

Jakob

こんにちわ

こんにちわ　みなさん

わたしは 　Jakob　です、Stockholm　から　きました、Sweden　ぎn　です。
Columbia-の　だいがくせ　です、にーねんせ　です。にじゅ　ごさい　です、わたし　の　せんこお　applied mathematics です。

よろしく　おねがい　します