Today is a day where I definitely feel tired of studying Japanese. I’ve been good about studying it everyday for over 8 months now. I completed the 3rd book of Japanese From Zero and started on the 4th. I also reached level 12 on WaniKani. The excitement is really gone at times and I think if I can really keep going on and why❓ I have such a strong habit now that I just keep pushing. I look back and think that I have learned a lot and can express some inner ideas. What’s wild though is that I still totally suck at the language. I listen to Japanese people speak in videos and still don’t know really anything they’re saying. That hits hard and reminds you that you suck. I can read silly little sentences in a grammar book but it’s so far away from real Japanese. My last post mentioned that I started reading a book on the side called Japanese the Manga Way. Really enjoying it and good to be exposed more to everyday speech. I would really like the ability to read manga and get more understanding of the Japanese mind. I think it will eventually happen but it years away. I guess I can’t think much about it and just keep doing my daily routines. Life is routine. The low time in learning will pass and then something will make it fun again. Then another low point will emerge. Studying a lot for the next 5 years seems crazy but I’ll look back in 5 years and wonder how it went by so fast. Can’t stop.
Well enough for now and happy Sunday. Time to go make lunch. Discovered this old song from Clam’s Casino and had no idea how much recognition it gathered. Still a really cool song.
またね
今は午後です。そして、仕事を終わりました。今日はとってもいいでした。ばんごはんの時間です。たぶん、ベーコンエッグを料理します。たべてから日本語の勉強をします。ゆうべ、新しい日本語の本をはじめました。本は本当におもしろいです。今夜は寝る時、それをもっと読みます。
またね！
Not writing about Japanese today but I keep thinking of the really sad image above. I found this picture yesterday when browsing through いらすとや. Reminded me when my cat Lilly had to be put down two years ago. She lived a really long life of 18 years. She was so bad at the end and miserable. Couldn’t lift her head up anymore and going to the bathroom was painful. When I took her to the vet the doctor said it was definitely time. I never thought that when my mom first brought Lilly home as a tiny kitten I would have to be the one taking her on the final car ride. I got to pet her while they injected the heart stopping fluid. It was really weird to do that and then just see her eyes stop moving. The life just left. I got way more sad than I expected. Even days after I’d cry sometimes thinking about her. The photo above made me relive through all of that. I often think of how I’ll have to do the same again for the two cats I currently have. Pete and Callie. What hard thing it will be to go through once again. I even think about my parents and how I’ll have to live going through losing them one day.
Well I better get back to work. Enjoy your pets while they’re still with you.
またね
こんにちは！
This post will be in English this time. You may have noticed the last couple were in Japanese. I sometimes like to practice writing in Japanese when I learn some new concept from my studies. I can only write and express really, really basic ideas haha. I’d like to say more but I’m pretty limited currently.
Anyhow, have you ever seen those really cute pictures used in all sort of Japanese learning websites? I noticed them since this certain picture set is used a lot on the https://cijapanese.com/ website. I love these pictures and started wondering who created them. After some digging I found they’re from this site:
かわいいフリー素材集 いらすとや (irasutoya.com)
There are so many free pictures available for use! Here are a couple cool ones I found:
I can imagine all sorts of uses for these. Like when you’re teaching, creating a flier or writing a story with pictures. Maybe you’ll find these pictures useful. Amazing how many there are and that they’re just given away. I’m sure there’s some restrictions if you plan to use commercially or something. I’m just happy to now know where these cute pictures originated from. Have a look around いらすとや sometime! It’s 楽しい！
またね！
あけましておめでとうございます！
今日は一月の1日です。いまはにほんごの勉強の映画を見ています。ぼくのねこはカリちゃんが机の上にいます。彼女はにわにたくさんとりを見ています。日本語の勉強からばんごはんをします。ほとんど、ぼくは十じぐらい寝ます。
またね！
おはようございます！
正月は近づいています。今年はいいでしたよ。そして来年もいいと思います。
今夜は六時ぐらいにおとうとのうちにピザのパーティがあります。楽しみですよ。私たちはマリオパーティスーパースターズと遊んでいます。たぶん、後で映画を見ます。アメリカの映画より日本の映画のほうがいいと思います。
じゃ、あけましておめでとうございます！
おはようございます！
Yesterday I sadly finished this incredible expansion for Thief: The Dark Project called The Black Parade. Wow was it a great journey! Such diverse levels and so much lore. I took many screenshots on my perilous quest as a thief and hope you enjoy them. If you like stealth games I would strongly recommend (ほんとうにおすすめ) getting a copy of Thief: The Dark Project and giving it a try. Lovely stealth/stealing game set back in an ancient past that seems familiar but is a bit alien. Wonderful atmospheres and the audio system is so much fun since it matters how much noise you make. Once you beat the game then check out The Black Parade. Besides this incredible fan mission there exists some other amazing ones as well.
Link to The Black Parade thread:
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152429
Link to my photo gallery while playing through The Black Parade:
https://snap.as/caleb/thief-the-black-parade
(What a beautiful sight to see sun light projecting through an ornate window.)
またね！
メリークリスマス！
Isn’t it wild that Christmas is only a few days away? I got my special turkey dinner ordered for Monday and will enjoy a simple Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law. 日本語をべんきょうしています is going well still and I’m half way through my Japanese From Zero book 3. I made it to level 11 on WaniKani which is wonderful! I’m now in the painful zone. I don’t see/feel any changes yet. Just the some old thing. Review and do new lessons. I still only do 5 new lessons everyday. Anymore than that feels like way too much for my brain. No clue how people do more than that daily. I’m just going to be a カタツムリand go slow. WaniKani will continue to be a daily thing for many more years.
Probably before the middle of next year I’ll finish all 5 grammar books I’m currently working through. That may make it possible for me to attempt the JLPT N4 試験. I played around with the practice N5 and was able to make it through sort of well. I’ll wait and see how much my Japanese has progressed before I make a final decision on what test I should take. I have plenty of time still to study. So besides the normal studying routine I have nothing new to share.
Right now I’d like to say how thankful I’m for all of the great stuff I have. I have a wonderful house, lazy cats, musical equipment, health, an industrial strength DDR game pad, steady job and lots of great Japanese learning material. Nice to reflect on the things you do have from time to time.
Hope your Christmas is wonderful if you celebrate it and make sure to enjoy some クリスマスケーキ!
またね！
I have to get ready for bed soon but I thought I’d share some more silly conversations I created. I wrote these for the LAST EXERCISE in my Japanese From Zero book 2. I actually started a bit in book 3 already. I think these conversations make sense and I tested them via translation and I got the results I was mostly expecting. I’ll look back at these one day and think how bad these are. 🤣 Well time to start winding down and get the cats ready for bed.
おやすみなさい！
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一番会話
A: あなたはもうたべましたか。
B: いいえ、クラスのあとはしょくじをします。
A: なんのクラスですか。
B: ぶつりがくです。ほんとうにおもしろいです。
A: そうか。なんからですか。
B: じゅういちじごろです。
-———————————————————-
二番会話
A: きょうはこくりつこえんにいくよ。
B: いいね。いついくの。
A: じゅうじはんぐらい。いしょうにいかないの。
B: ごめん。いそがしいから、まだかないのかぞくはまちにいる。
A: かわいそう。いつおくさんのかぞくはかえるの。
B: わからないよ。
