毎日二つの漢字を習おう Let's learn two Kanji a day!: January 2006

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

アキラ：　私の復習

Before I start, 復習 = ふくしゅう = review

Anyways, so I've seen this film three times now. Beautiful animation, a fantastic soundtrack, as well as a good story and characterisation... But the last 30 minutes?!? What exactly is this all about? Anybody care to explain? Something about Tetsuo powers growing out of his control, then Akira pops up, blah blah blah. Still, a great movie. I prefer Miyazaki though :-)

Kanji 63 - 64

Two kanji for today...

広い
ひろ：い Wide

狭い
せま：い　Narrow

Monday, January 30, 2006

Kanji 61 - 62

Two quickies for today...

走る
はし：る To run

歩く
ある：く To walk

I think we use the verb 散歩（さんぽ）する to say 'to go for a walk'. Think this needs clarification from the 日本人 community :-)　

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Kanji 59 - 60

近い
ちか：い Close

遠い
とお：い Far

I got a little 酔っぱらった last night. 今、たくさん寝っている。

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Kanji 57 - 58

勝つ
か：つ　To win

負ける
ま：ける To lose

I believe these apply to games only, and you couldn't for example use 負ける to mean to lose a sweater...

Friday, January 27, 2006

Kanji 55 - 56

Two words which have had their kanji lost in time...

試験
し：けん Exam

洗う
あら：う To wash (e.g. 食器(しょっき) を洗う　－ to wash the dishes)　

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Kanji 53 - 54

Bit of a mix tonight. Firstly, we have a new verb that I learnt in class tonight...

着く
つく To arrive

...and now for another verb, a personal favourite (I think I already knew this one!)

酔っぱらう
よ：っぱらう To be drunken

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Kanji 51 - 52

外
そと Outside

内
うち Inside

I believe these kanji need to be followed by 側　（かわ）　to mean inside/outside (the building)... maybe someone can confirm?!?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Kanji 49 - 50

Following up from yesterdays post, here's the finshing seasons。。。

秋
あき Autumn

冬
ふゆ Winter

Monday, January 23, 2006

Kanji 47 - 48

Seasons (季節きせつ) for today and tomorrow. I do already know them but revision is good! Also, the main problem I find with kanji is that recognising them isn't so bad, it's writting them yourself from memory is when it gets tricky.

Here goes...

春
はる Spring

夏
なつ Summer

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Kanji 45 - 46

Two opposing verbs for today...

立つ
た：つ To stand

座る
すわ：る To sit

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Kanji 42 - 44

土曜日の漢字は「night」を二単語です

夜
よる　Night

晩
ばん　Night

夕
ゆう　Evening

Any other words??

Friday, January 20, 2006

和子先生は病気なっていました

和子先生おだいじに！

Kanji 40 - 41

Two words that aren't used that often in Japanese... well I cvertainly don't use them often.

彼
かれ　He

彼女
かのじょ　She

So looking at this, she is basically he + woman, which obviously makes sense!?!
Can these kanji also be used for him/her??

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Kanji 37 - 39

Breaking the rules a bit here and putting out 3 kanji... They're all words that I have learnt, but once again forgotten. だめな！　今私はこの漢字を習うに違いない！

市
いち City

町
まち Town

村
むら Village

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Kanji 35 - 36

Last of the family words today, I'm sure they're loads more, but I doubt we need to know them for the A2 class...

夫
おっと Husband

妻
つま Wife

I'm unsure as to whether there are specific wotds for 'my wife', 'my husband'... Anyone know?

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Ping Pong/ ピングポング。。。

土曜日の週末の先週私は「Ping Pong」と言う日本語の映画を見た。この映画はよかった、しかしも変でした。

こっち行って　Ping Pong

Kanji 33 - 34

Sisters today!

Elder sister
お姉さん / 姉
お：ねえ：さん (respect)
あね　(humble)

妹
いもうと (humble)
Younger sister

For more 'family' words, check out Kenjis post to yesterdays kanji. Cheers Kenji!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Kanji 31 - 32

Think I'll start a bit of a family theme for the next few days. I'm always mixing up elder brother with elder sister, there must be a good way of remembering them - please email if you think of one!

Anyways, I'll start with brother:-

Elder brother
お兄さん / 兄
お：にい：さん (respect)
あに (humble)

弟
おとうと (humble)
Younger brother

I haven't bothered with the honorific version of 弟 as it simply involves sticking さん on the end. Besides, who wants to give the little shits any respect?!?

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Bastard counters: 日

Counters. I hate them. Everybody hates them. A language that needs specific counters for small animals (no larger than a dog!), is surely proof that the Japanese are having a laugh at us all...

一日いちにち
二日ふつか
三日みっか
四日よっか
五日いつか
六日むいか
七日なのか
八日ようか
九日ここのか
十日とおか

Kanji 29 - 30

Two more opposing adjectives...

忙しい
いそが：しい Busy, engaged

暇な
ひま：な Free

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Kanji 27 - 28

Couple of adjectives to throw in to the mix for today

速い
はや：い Quick　（早い、also read はや：い, means early)

遅い
おそ：い Slow

Friday, January 13, 2006

Kanji 25 - 26

Two kanji I am always getting mixed up, which I have no explanation for...

作る
つく：る To make

使う
つか：う To use

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Kanji 23 - 24

Couple of easy ones for today...

昨日
きのう Yesterday

明日
あした Tomorrow

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Kanji 21 - 22

Continuing with the 'learning' theme...

習う
なら：う To learn, to take lessons in

知る
し：る To know, to find out

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Kanji 19 - 20

勉強する
べんきょう：する To study

学ぶ
まな：ぶ To (try to) learn, to study, to take lessons in

I'll take suggestions from people for other 'learn' words... if anyone's actually reading this!

Monday, January 09, 2006

Kanji 17 - 18

So I've been thinking about themes for each pair of words - maybe it'll help to remember a pair of words that are related. I don't know, but worth a try. I'll start with 'forget' and 'remember'...

忘れる
わす：れる To forget

覚える
おぼ：える To remember

As for vocab (単語) over the coming days, I'll be hooking you up with words which mean to learn, to study etc... There were quite a few the last time I looked!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Kanji 15 - 16

見つける
み：つける To find

本当
ほんとう Really

昨夜は「キングコング」と言う映画を見た。。。

大丈夫でした、が私はもっと大きさを見たことがありますよ！

Aye, it was good, pretty damn long film though. Try not to sit front row, far right like I did... 3 hours of neck torture.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Kanji 13 - 14

Still keeping the vocab flowing even on a Saturday... gotta keep up the regime!

簡単　
かんたん　Simple

心配する
しんぱい：する To worry

Friday, January 06, 2006

Kanji 11 - 12

Some more AS level Kanji...

持つ
も：つ To have (お金持ち to be rich)

頭
あたま Head

I'm thinking of changing the format to 'two words a day'... still keeping the kanji of course, but not limiting it to single kanji words. Now that would be a 予定　(plan)!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Street term: しばく

しばく。。。

to put your foot up someones ass, to bring a beat down etc...

e.g. 　しばくぞ　I'm gonna kick your ass

Courtesy of Mr.Terrance Young @ Kobe-beef [01.04.2005]

Kanji 9 - 10

Couple of kanji from this evenings class...

静かな
しず：かな Quiet

変な
へん：な Strange

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Kanji 7 - 8

Two verbs for today!

送る
おくる To send

受ける
う：ける To receive

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Japanese podcasts

Here's a couple of podcasts that I've been listening to...

Kobe beef
This half American, half Japanese dude is studying in Kobe and offers a great insight into life in Japan, whilst also throwing in some funky vocabulary

Josh in Japan
An interesting podcast detailing everyday life for the typical gaijin

Links to the shows are on the right.

Kanji 5 - 6

Yes, I know, these kanji are a bit random at the moment. Hopefully I'll start working out some sort system for postings... Mixing 'em up keeps you on your toes though!

難しい
むずか：しい Difficult

疲れる
つか：れる To be tired

Monday, January 02, 2006

Kanji 3 - 4

Getting a bit regular with these updates! Hopefully writing each kanji 100 times will commit to memory - or so they say. Of course, need to keep looking back at them over time, but becoming familiar with them and recognising the radicals is an important step. がんばって！

悪い
わる：い Bad

悲しい
かな：しい Sad

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Kanji 1 - 2

First two Kanji for the blog! Don't think it gets more exciting than this...

訳　
わけ　 Reason
やく：す To translate

込
こ：む To be crowded
　

First post - The rules!

This site is primarily just for myself, but may be of use for other learners of Japanese.

Originally I was going to post everyday with 2 new Kanji to learn (as part of the A2-level curriculum here in the UK). But then I thought fuck it, I'll post all of my notes as well as the new kanji. This will allow me to check notes wherever I have web access, and don't need to carry mountains of books around with me!

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting all of my Japanese notes, and I'll throw in some cool websites, blogs, podcasts etc... that I've been checking out.

Anyways, at the moment I feel inspired to learn, it's the new year, start something new etc... Let's see how long this blog will last!

毎日二つの漢字 を習おう Let's learn two Kanji a day!