やまださんへ

わたしはマイケルです。コロンビアだいがくのにねんせいです。たのしいですが、むずかしいです。コロンビアはニューヨークのたいがkです。ニューヨークがうきです。たくさんしゅくだいがありますkら、いつもまちへいきません。
にほんじんとアニメとにほんりょうりがすきですから、にほんへいきます。にほんへいきませんでした。にほんごがすこしわありません。八月ついたちに日本へいkます。
どうぞよろしくおねがいします。
マイケル　11月5日

カタカナ literary work

わかいです
あたらしチチに
はじめます

わかい= young
I use はじめます as in meet for the first time (is this wrong?)

ねています
マド、かなじょに
あいました

アカイです
かのじょいます
あいました

There is an implict she as the subject in the first two sentences, the second would be in the future tense in English.

二十ねんごのわたし
ニューヨークにいます。ウエストビレッジのアパートにいます。あまりおおきくないですが、きれいです。わたしのしごとはビルです。Arupの会社員です。しごとはいそがしいdすが、たのしいです。けっこんします。おとこの子がひとりとおんなの子がふたりいます。まいにち、八時にしごとへいきますが、かぞくがすきですから、Washington Square Parkでかぞくとひるごはんをたべます。

Katakana Analysis

ラムネ - I think this is a foreign word, or at least a foreign concept. It is not an English loan word, sop I am not sure. It may also be a brand name. Putting a brand name in katakana like ラムネ or トヨタ gives the brand name emphasis and makes it stand out in a block of text, like the way the we capitalize brand names.

ノブ- this is a character's name in a manga. I think it is "cool" to have your name written in katakana to make it seem more exotic.

Different textbooks go into different depths when explaining katakana. There are some easily definable categories, like loan words or onomatopoeia that all of them tend to mention, but it is harder to define use for emphasis or to be "hip." I think it all depends on the depth that they want to try to explain it to.

Schedule

こんばは、

まいにち、くじにおきます。くじからじゅうじはんまでしんぶんをみます。

じゅじはんからしちじまでべんきょします。

じゅういちじにみるごはんをたべます。しちじにばんごはんたべます。

はちじからじゅうにじまでやすみます。ときどき、はちじからじゅうにじべんきょします。

So, Ola asked if かっぱ　means cucumber in English.

No

it means:


かっぱまき is Kappa's favorite maki.

At the risk of recreating Julie & Julia, this post is also going to be about my culinary explorations



Yes, I made すし. かぱまき in fact.

Making this type of maki is quite easy. All you need that you probably won't have lying around is a sushi mat, which is just a set of bamboo stick tied together that helps you roll and not rip the sushi. You will also need a fairly sharp knife for the same reason.

Sushi rice isn't just plain rice, one needs to add a touch of salt, sugar and vinegar. After that, making simple sushi is just what you would expect. Lay out the nori, spread rice, cut thin strips of whatever you want in the sushi and then roll it with the mat.

This time I didn't do something quite so nontraditional, i just put cucumber in it. I hope to try making California rolls next.

おにぎり

こんばんは！

こんばん、わたしはおにぎりをたべました。


That is my onigiri. It isn't the prettiest oni giri, but it was tasty, and Rowan liked it too.

To make this, all you need is rice, sesame seeds, salt, nori (dried seaweed), and some sort of filling. I used beef, which is not very traditional, but I like it.

The first step is of corse to cook the rice. Then comes the hard(ish) part.

You must flatten the rice, and then create a dimple in it to put in the filling. (On my first try, the beef was too wet, so the rice came apart a little when I put it in.) While doing this, your hands should be wet, so that the rices sticks to itself and not to your hands. Also, in order to put in the salt, I simply poured salt into my hands, and then rubbed them together before molding the rice into a bal. (Onigiri should be triangular, but oh well.) I then repeated this process with the sesame. At the end, my hands were covered in a delicious salty sesame mixture.

We went out to get more rice to take the picture :D.

Soon, i'm going to try to make other Japanese foods, like beef teriyaki and sushi.

みかえるです。
にねんせいです。
ぽらんどじんです。
こるむびあだいがくのだいがくせいです。
じゅうきゅうさいです。

I am learning Japanese because before I left high school, my friend and I agreed o take Japanese in college and then go to Japan and work there for a few years. I am excited about being able to watch (and read) anime (and manga) in Japanese!

However, Japanese is so different that I am finding it difficult to remember all the letters and word orders.

じゃあまたらいしゅう。