#uni-venture

[chouhatsumimi]

@uni-venture reblogged my post celebrating 3,000 followers! Thank you!

For you I chose the kanji uni-v援ture!

援 means “abet, help, save,” and is pronounced ‘en’.

Similar to 唐, 援 only has the onyomi reading, no kunyomi. However, it can be 援ける, an alternate way to write ‘tasukeru’ (to help), which is usually 助ける。

Breaking down the kanij, you can see what I call the radicals for ‘hold’, ‘receive’, and ‘friend’! 

The three most common words using 援 are:

支援　shien　support; backing; aid; assistance　[branch + help] 援助　enjo　assistance; aid; support　[help + help] 応援　ouen　aid; assistance; help; reinforcement; rooting; barracking; support; cheering　[apply + help]

Now, you might be wondering how these words are different. 

応援 (ouen) means to cheer. If your friend has a big game or a big test, you can say 応援しています！(I’m rooting for you!) As far as I know, you wouldn’t say 支援 or 援助 しています unless you were there on the field with them, or right there helping them cheat on the test. 

支援 and 援助 are a lot more confusing, even to Japanese speakers it seems:

支援 is the most general term, and gets applied to a lot of other terms to mean help or support, such as 特別支援教育 (tokubetsu shien kyouiku, special support education), 子育て支援 (ko sodate shien, child-rearing assistance), or 火力支援 (karyoku shien, fire support [a military term]). The above website tried to explain it as focusing on the person(s) receiving the support, and the idea that you’re helping them get to their goal.

援助 is also very general, but is used more in situations where it means aid or assistance, such as 学費援助 (gakuhi enjo, student aid; tuition assistance)/財政援助 (zaisei enjo, financial aid; financial assistance), 食料援助 (shokuryou enjo, food assistance), or 国際緊急援助隊 (kokusai kinkyuu enjo-tai, international disaster relief team; international emergency aid unit). The above website tried to explain it as focusing on the person(s) providing the assistance, and the idea that you’re doing it for them. 

Interestingly, jisho.org gives both 人道的援助 (jindou-teki enjo) and 人道支援 (jindou shien) for “humanitarian aid.” 

I don’t think this post is sufficient enough to answer the question of the difference between the two, but it’s an interesting prompt now to look out for how 支援 and 援助 are used!

Here are a few other words that use 援:

救援　kyuuen　relief; rescue　[save + help]

声援　seien　(shout of) encouragement; cheering; rooting; support　[voice + help]

後援　kouen　support; backing　[after/back + help]

孤立無援　koritsumuen　being isolated and helpless; fighting (struggling) alone and unassisted​ [yojijukugo]

Finally, remember not to mistake 援 for 暖 (warm) or 緩 (loose)! 媛 ‘hime’ also looks similar, but you’re more likely to see that as 姫. 

If you’d like a personalized kanji post, check out my follower spree here!

Thank you to @uni-venture for everything you do to help/support/assist/aid the Japanese langblr community!

[cactii-studies]

Random Japanese Verbs #1

This is the beginning of a list of verbs that will be included on my Japanese final for Levels 3 / 4. 

I’m still a beginner, so if there are any mistakes, please correct me! Also, some of these are generally written without kanji, but I thought I’d still include the kanji.

出来る（できる）to be able to do

怒る（おこる）to become angry

答える（こたえる）to answer

感謝する（かんしゃする）to be grateful / to appreciate

着く（つく）to arrive

聞く（きく）to hear / to listen

質問する（しつもんする）to ask a question

付ける（つける）to attach

いる to be (animate things like people and animals)

ある to be (inanimate objects like desks and books)

成る（なる）to become

始まる（はじまる）to begin

生まれる（うまれる）to be born

借りる（かりる）to borrow

連れて来る（つれてくる）to bring someone

持って来る（もってくる）to bring something

買う（かう）to buy

聞こえる（きこえる）to be audible

見える（みえる）to be visible

気を付ける（きをつける）to be careful

風邪を引く（かぜをひく）to catch a cold

応援する（おうえんする）to cheer

噛む（かむ）to chew

片付ける（かたづける）to straighten up (i.e. a room)

掃除する（そうじする）to clean

閉める（しめる）to close

来る（くる）to come

比べる（くらべる）to compare

渡る（わたる）to cross (i.e. a bridge)

混む（こむ）to be crowded

泣く（なく）to cry

切る（きる）to cut

死ぬ（しぬ）to die

食事する（しょくじする）to dine

漬ける（つける）to dip

離婚する（りこんする）to divorce

する to do

ホームステイをする to do a home stay

自己紹介する（じこしょうかいする）to do a self-introduction

頑張る（がんばる）to do one’s best

書く（かく）to write / to draw

飲む（のむ）to drink

運転する（うんてんする）to drive

食べる（たべる）to eat

勤める（つとめる）to be employed (at)

[malteseboy]

NVA November Challenge

01: mail - to fetch - cute

mereu sunt cât de fericit când merg și aduc poșta și văd că este pentru mine de la prietenii mei din alte țări! o dată am adus poșta care a fost fursecuri foarte drăguțe (și gustoase 😋)

you can find the challenge here!

[mikanbatake]

NVA November - Day 7

Today, the girls are still studying at the shrine.

うさぎは「宿題をするの、つまらないよ！」と思った。ドアが開けて、お茶を持っているレイは部屋に入った。お茶を 五つのカップに 盛った。

「お茶ブレークだよ！」と愛野美奈子は言った。金色いラッパーをごみ箱に捨てた。

つまらない boring

お茶「おちゃ」tea

部屋「へや」room

入る「はいる」to enter

五つ「いつつ」five (pieces)

カップ cup

盛る「もる」to fill, to serve

ブレーク break

愛野・美奈子「あいの・みなこ」character name: Aino Minako, Sailor Venus

金色い「きんいろい」golden

ラッパー wrapper

ごみ箱「ごみばこ」garbage can

捨てる「すてる」to throw away

The story so far:

月野うさぎはアメリカから手紙を待っていたから、学校の後にゲームセンターに行かなくて、直ぐに家に帰った。家に郵便物を取って、アメリカから手紙はなかった。

同じ時、星夜光は近所に散歩した。家の前にうさぎを見た。かわいいと思った。

うさぎの彼氏の地葉衛は一か月前に大学のためにアメリカへ行った。しかし、今まで手紙がなかった。郵便箱を見ていて、ため息をついた。「まもちゃん、大丈夫？毎日毎日、心配するのは難しい。安全を聞き糺したい。」と願った。

うさぎを見ている星夜は甘い匂いを嗅いだ。率然、鳴き声を聞いた。「きゃあー！甥は家を抜け出した！」

うさぎは衛からくれた指輪を見ていて、本当に遅い手紙を欲しかった。率然の鳴き声を聞いていて、セーラー戦士の本能を目覚めった。隣の小母さんの甥は危険にひんしていた。通りに走っていて、クラスメートの星夜が見えた。若い男の子と話していた。

星夜は鳴き声を聞いていたところ、セーラー戦士のように失せた男の子を探した。街角に男の子を探し出した。

「見つけた！大丈夫？お名前は？」

「うん。まさおだ。」

「まさお君。俺は星夜だ。小母さんは心配しますよね。帰ろう。」

まさおといっしょうに帰って、うさぎに会った。

「あー、お団子！」

「誠也君、まさお君。大丈夫？」

うさぎの隣の家に帰って、まさおの小母は嬉しかった。

隣の小母は「まさお君を返納した、どもありがとう！この礼物を食べてください！」と言ったところにドアを閉めた。うさぎと星夜は甘い匂いがあるケーキと高いブランドのコーヒーを持っていた。

あくる日にケーキは食べてしまった。

放課後にうさぎは友達と火川神社で宿題をした。英語の宿題のために木野まことは 高い本棚から 火野レイの辞書を取った。

[e-dash-lace]

How to learn Japanese while hungry

Everyone thought I was crazy for doing this in high school but it worked so!   

The best way to master katakana is practice.  Katakana is generally used for non Japanese words or purely for aesthetic purposes.  It’s the edgier Japanese alphabet when compared to hiragana which is a lot of swoops and curls.

Because it’s so edgy, Katakana is frequently used in advertising for fast food. 

My best advice for studying Katakana and getting good at reading it is to peruse Japanese fast food/ chain restaurant websites.  

So KFC Japan is pretty easy. Right off the bat from their front page we can read a lot in katakana.  Most of what we see are English loan words because KFC is an American company.

メニュー　Notice that katakana uses the ー rather than a double vowel.

キャンペーン will show you their current campaigns and specials. 

Sound out as much as you can and try to figure out what English it comes from.

This campaign is for their Muchos Wrap.  When there are campaigns like this, the katakana is written beneath the romaji/non-Japanese word.  The campaign also boasts signed goods (サイン入りグッズ) from a popular model called Michopa (みちょぱ).  It’s actually kind of interesting how much current pop culture you can learn from KFC alone.  So anyway. Let’s continue.

Okay so to be honest this thing is kind of gross looking, but we’ll charge on.  The Muchos is a Spicy Chicken Wrap that costs about $4.  No matter your Japanese level, you should pick through the description paragraph and sound out katakana words and try to get a feel for the product.  Mostly it will probably have words that are synonyms of refreshing, delicious, fluffy, crunchy, and healthy.  If there is a katakana word you don’t know, look it up in jisho or in google translate.  

Try it on your own to increase your exposure to Japanese.

My Fave Practice Sites

KFC (Kentucky Fried) McDonalds (You know who it is) Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors (Ice Cream) Saizeriya (Cheap Italian Family Restaurant) Denny’s (Family Restaurant) Taco Bell (New to Japan. Their menu is small) Mister Donut (The real.  If you’re living in Japan, treat yourself to one of their Old-fashioned Honey Donuts.  It will change your life) Mos Burger (Hamburgers) Royal Host (this place is bomb af if you are living in Japan right now you know where it’s at) Café Gusto (Family Restaurant) Pizza Hut (the prices at this establishment will blow your pants off your body.  $35 for a medium pizza???)

Did this help? Maybe not?  I hope you have a good time making yourself stupid hungry while studying Japanese.

Good ways to practice your listening and Japanese:

Delish Kitchen --> Tasty before Tasty existed. They make recipe videos that are usually less than a minute.  You could probably binge watch their entire channel without realizing it and then you’ll definitely learn a bunch of food words.  They talk pretty fast but if you listen to them you will eventually learn lots of cooking words.  

You can also check out this guy who does recipes in Japanese but much lower and slower.

Happy studying!

[jpn-langblr]

fell so in love with @kkulmango‘s beyond adorable pencil case that i had to get one of my own - and it finally arrived! justified this purchase by reminding myself that i’ve had my old pencilcase since like, 5th grade 8)

now just waiting for my mildliners to arrive, and to get a new more sturdy backpack, and i’ll be set for spring!

[chouhatsumimi]

I SUPER think you should listen to something by Eivør (Salt or Í Tokuni are fantastic) or Where Soul Meets Body(Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie, or Dark Road by Sarah Jarosz! Please do rec me some Japanese music, I listen to far too little of it. - uni-venture

Ooh, I just tried listening to them! I assumed that Sarah Jarosz would be similar to Eivør, boy was I way off the mark!  

It seems like you like a variety of music, so I’m just going to recommend you a bunch of meme songs that were popular with elementary school kids while I was in Japan XD

1. 「あったかいんだから」

2. 「ちょっと待てちょっと待てお兄さん/ラッスンゴレライ」

3. 「妖怪ウォッチ】ようかい体操第一」

4. 「恋」by 星野源 (Hoshino Gen)

I’d also recommend the artists Sakanaction, Suiyoubi no Campanella, Mrs. Green Apple, flumpool, One OK Rock, Perfume, Kenshi Yonezu, Sekai no Owari, Bump of Chicken, Babymetal, Angela Aki, Do As Infinity, Greeeen, and Yuzu. Alexandros, Back Number, Sandaime (Exile Tribe), and Mr. Children are also really popular, but not my favorites. Hopefully there’s something in there you’ll like! 

[chouhatsumimi]

Langblr feature: uni-venture

I’m featuring some langblrs to celebrate 1000 followers!  I’m very happy to feature one of the people that I’ve interacted with the most since joining the studyblr community, uni-venture! Thanks for being such an inspiration!

1) Please tell us your blog name! (If you don’t have a studyblr, any blog is fine!) It's-a me, uni-venture!

2) What language(s) are you studying? I use my blog as a Japanese langblr, but occasionally dabble in refreshing my school German.

3) What was your motivation to start studying? What has been your motivation to continue? I just really thought Japanese was a beautiful, beautiful language. Then I went on a high school exchange for a year and fell head over heels in love. It's hard and boring at times, but I'm sticking with it and I'm proud of myself!

4) What kind of language-related posts do you get most excited about, and/or what kind of language-related content would you like to see more of? I love sentence breakdowns! Vocab lists are good, but kinda boring, I think. Seeing someone picking apart a sentence (or even a whole paragraph!) is a really good way to get to understand a language better, in my opinion. 5) Any final comments of your choice! Dear new studyblrs: Post content you like, and do it for yourself, not the strangers on the internet! Use your studyblr to document your journey of learning and see it as a motivational factor rather than something to be stressed about because you don't post original content or don't get a lot of notes <3 Thank you so much, @uni-venture!  I am totally guilty of posting mainly boring vocab lists, haha XD  But it’s one thing I like to do for myself because I can show myself I’m constantly learning, one word at a time :)  I do want to do some sentence analysis from manga though! There are so many interesting ways to express yourself in Japanese! And I definitely agree that there really was no going back once I spent an extended period of time in Japan. Thank you for all your hard work, the motivational NVA challenges, and generally being a welcoming and supportive member of the japanese langblr community!