Composition 3: 二十ねんごのわたし

二十ねんごのわたしはシャンハイにいます。しずかなどこかにひろいアパートがあります。いいしごとがあります。わたしのアパートから、会社まであまりちかくないですが、ちかてつでとてもべんりです。わたしはもうけっこんしました。むすこがひとりとむすめがひとりいます。かわいいこどもです。わたしはひとりっこです。さびしかったですから、こどもがふたりほしかったです。いま、しあわせがあります。毎年、がいこくへりょこうにいきます。パリとニューヨークがいちばんすきです。

Katakana Analysis - Revision

In textbooks:

Katakana is introduced along with hiragana and kanji (the three of them make up the Japanese writing system). Normally this part is what a Japanese learner would read at the beginning of his/her learning process, so getting to know the whole system and information like 'how many hiragana exist' and 'how many kanji letters will we learn' are of more concern to the reader. I think that's probably why katakana only gets one third (or less?) of the space, which makes it quite impossible for the textbooks to do a very detailed katakana analysis.

The followings are the katakana examples I found from various sources:

(1) Onomatopoeia  
クシュ　sound of sneeze, online


(2) loanwords
ローション　lotion, lotion bottle　

(3)Emphasis

company names
スズキ         Suzuki, company website
ミツビシ     Mitsubishi, company website

signs
ゴミ            rubbish, online
メガネ        glasses, online

words with emphasis in a sentence
ツライ　　painful, Japanese pop song

Katakana Analysis: 

I will write about the company names and the word  ツライ.(pain, sorrow)

(1) company names

Out of historical reasons the Japanese tend to keep pace with 'the western world'. For a company which has good domestic business and is also eager to expand internationally, it's understandable to write their company name in katakana just beside its English equivalent, to make it more modern and international. 

I once heard a story about the Japanese company Bridgestone. The company founder's surname is 石桥 (the two kanji letters literally mean 'stone' and 'bridge'). When he was deciding which company he should go for when doing foreign business, he didn't use the hiragana readings of the kanji, but the simplest English translations of them. Then, why Bridgtone but not Stonebridge? Because 'Stonebridge' would sound too much like a concrete object, and reversing the word order would make it more 'classy'. 

Honestly I didn't think of Bridgestone as a Japanese company until I heard this little story. From it I think we can have a pretty good idea how much effort the Japanese companies make to sound modern and international, and we can see why the company names are in katakana better.

(2) ツライ(pain, sorrow)

I wasn't particularly looking for such a word that day; it popped up like a suprise. It was one of the few times when I got very happy to see something I don't really understand!

I think the reason for emphasis. To express how painful the person is in the song. Actually when I thought about it it's a brilliant way to put words of emphasis into katakana. What do we do if we want to emphasize something in English? Make the words UPPERCASE, like this. It's the same logic with katakana. But when I tried to look for a way to emphasize some words in Chinese? I couldn't find any (other than making the words bold, the font bigger, etc, which are means outside the writing system), for Chinese only has characters/kanji. So way to go! Japanese! lol

サンクスギビングの日

サンクスギビング

水曜日

今日は水曜日です。あした、図書館はやすみですから、今日は図書館へ行きました。へやはプリンターがありませんから、図書館でプリンティングをしました。


木曜日

今日はサンクスギビングの日。ともだちのうちへ行きました。ともだちにくだものをあげました。わたしたちワインをのみました。そして、ターキーをたべました。たのしかったです。今晩、とまたちとWoodbury Outletsへいきました。
　
金曜日
今日はつかれました。たくさんかいものをしました。いま、おかねがぜんぜんありません。:p

Katakana literary work - senryu - final

くうこうで
バイバイちちと
ははとうち

だいよねん
とおいがいこく　
せまいへや

ドリームは
いつか　タダイマ
ドゥーアで

I have to admit that my limited Japanese vocab is no help to the 'poetic' thoughts running wild in my head. The senryu turns out to be much more depressed than I intended it to be. But look at the brighter side: I wrote a poem in Japanese!


The senryu is not 'conventional' in terms of satire/irony. It's more of a direct expression of feelings of me, a girl who studies away from home for the 4th year. People say that one only treasures the precious until it's gone, and I'd say a less extreme version is that one treasures the precious more when he/she looks at it at a distance. That's me and my family.

Katakana:
バイバイ in the 1st stanza is foreign words (in terms of katakana usage). 'byebye' is actually what the younger Chinese generation say when we part, and the Chinese 'zai jian' is quite outdated. My dad is not so comfortable with 'byebye' but he has to get used to it because me and my mom say it all the time :p

ドリーム (foreign words) actually is a pretty strong word. I use it because I don't know the word 'dream' in Japanese, and because I think the katakana version is also popular.

タダイマ is the one I'm not quite sure of using. It's in katakana here because it's a quotation - what I wish to say and feel when I go home.

ドゥーア (foreign words) can also be written as ドア. But the 4-syllable fits the senryu better.

To answer aki121787's question in his/her comment:

Here I use うち　as 'home', and the first stanza means that 'at the airport I said goodbye to mom, dad and home' :)

Composition 2

やまださんへ　
　　はじめまして。おげんきですか。
　　わたしはシュウチェンです。ちゅうごくじんです。コロンビアだいがくのだいがくいんせいです。ニューヨークはにぎやかなまちですが、きれいなまちじゃありません。でも、ニューヨークのせいかつはべんりです。そしてたのしいです。コロンビアだいがくのせいかつはとてもいそがしいです。まいにちクラスへいきます。しちがつついたちににほんへいきます。よろしくおねがいします。

Katakana Analysis - revision

In textbooks:

Katakana is introduced along with hiragana and kanji (the three of them make up the Japanese writing system). Normally this part is what a Japanese learner would read at the beginning of his/her learning process, so getting to know the whole system and information like 'how many hiragana exit' and 'how many kanji letters will we learn' are of more concern to the reader. I think that's probably why katakana only gets one third (or less?) of the space, which makes it quite impossible for the textbooks to do a very detailed katakana analysis.

The followings are the katakana examples I found from various sources:

(1) Onomatopoeia  
クシュ　sound of sneeze, online


(2) loanwords
ローション　lotion, lotion bottle　

(3)Emphasis

company names
スズキ         Suzuki, company website
ミツビシ     Mitsubishi, company website

signs
ゴミ            rubbish, online
メガネ        glasses, online

words with emphasis in a sentence
ツライ　　painful, Japanese pop song

Katakana Analysis: 

I will write about the company names and the word  ツライ.(pain, sorrow)

(1) company names

Out of historical reasons the Japanese tend to keep pace with 'the western world'. For a company which has good domestic business and is also eager to expand internationally, it's understandable to write their company name in katakana just beside its English equivalent, to make it more modern and international. 

I once heard a story about the Japanese company Bridgestone. The company founder's surname is 石桥 (the two kanji letters literally mean 'stone' and 'bridge'). When he was deciding which company he should go for when doing foreign business, he didn't use the hiragana readings of the kanji, but the simplest English translations of them. Then, why Bridgtone but not Stonebridge? Because 'Stonebridge' would sound too much like a concrete object, and reversing the word order would make it more 'classy'. 

Honestly I didn't think of Bridgestone as a Japanese company until I heard this little story. From it I think we can have a pretty good idea how much effort the Japanese companies make to sound modern and international, and we can see why the company names are in katakana better.

(2) ツライ(pain, sorrow)

I wasn't particularly looking for such a word that day; it popped up like a suprise. It was one of the few times when I got very happy to see something I don't really understand:p

I think the main reason to use 'tsurai' in katakana is for emphasis, to express how painful the person is in the song. Because of the way katakana is shaped (katakana is more square and hiragana is more rounded, while kanji is much more complicated), katakana stands out in a sentence of hiragana and kanji. Actually when I thought about it it's a brilliant way to put words of emphasis into katakana. What do we do if we want to emphasize something in English? Make the words UPPERCASE, like this. It's the same logic with katakana. But when I tried to look for a way to emphasize some words in Chinese? I couldn't find any (other than making the words bold, the font bigger, etc, which are means outside the writing system), for Chinese only has characters/kanji. So way to go! Japanese! lol

Katakana Categories

(1)Onomatopoeia  
クシュ　sound of sneeze, online


(2) loanwords
ローション　lotion, lotion bottle　
ビタミナ       vitamin, drink bottle
ビートルス    Beatles, poster
イエロー・セブマリン Yellow Submarine, poster
スーパー　ドライ         Super Dry, beer can

(3)Emphasis

company names
スズキ         Suzuki, company website
ミツビシ     Mitsubishi, company website
ニンテンド Nintendo, company website
マツダ         Mazda, company website
ニコン         Nikon, company website

advertisement
スーパー　ドライ  Super Dry, beer can


signs
ゴミ            rubbish, online
メガネ        glasses, online


words with emphasis in a sentence
ツライ　　painful, Japanese pop song


group members:
Qian Xu
Mikhail Horne
Emma Peterson