自分撮り

勉強単語と文法は赤色で

今日友達とブログのエントリーの内容は何を書くって尋ねた。自分撮りって。最初に何が言いた分からない。そうか、自分は自分；撮り（どり）は写真を撮るの撮り（とり）。挑戦だけど頑張る。

 まず、女子と男子の自分撮りは違う。

女子：
自分撮りの目的は沢山ある。ヘッドショットとボディショットとフルショットを選べる。
フルショットは新しい服を買ったと皆に見せたい。だって、そんな事ないなら、あっ、また同じ服を着たか思える。それがやだでしょう？今日の服は明日に着えない。フルショットの言外の意味は今日のコンビはこれを普通に書く。
ヘッドショットはメイクがいい時か私は可愛いと思ったの時。なぜ上目遣いするの？絶対に可愛い顔見せたい。フェイスブックで最近”いいね！”を余り貰わないか可愛いアルバムを作りたいの理由だから写真を撮る。珍しい良いメイクしちゃったの顔またしたい時にとかわあぁ、のこ顔が絶対にこの感じになれないだから友達を見えるために写真を撮りたい時ヘッドショットを撮る。
ボディショットは二人にいるとか首飾りを買ったとか”きょにゅう見せてやろう！”とか髪の毛が長いな～の時に自分撮りを撮る。

男子：
ルショットの意味がない。
ヘッドショットは近い過ぎ。
ボディショットは今日の髪の毛いいね；隣の女子可愛いね。

それだけ。

いい写真撮れた! - 狩野英孝

A Brief Introduction to Particles は and を

I'm not an expert in teaching particles, nor have I truly mastered particles. When I learned it, it was without any rules; just feeling. I'm sure there may be a better way to explaining particles somewhere, but like all of my posts will be, it's what I think and how I would teach it to a person. Do not take my words for truth (I'm still learning like you are), I may make mistakes as well. If I do, the comments are free to anyone with our without an account so please leave a comment if it's wrong.

What are particles? Particles give the word before it meaning in the sentence. It has to ability to tell the receiver what is being acted on what, or where something is going. Because Japanese can put these particles on words, there are many ways of saying the same sentence. The longer the sentence, the more combinations you can make. Why do some Japanese people speak without particles? I've always learned that Japanese people like shortcuts. They like to remove the subject from the sentence or make words shorter than they already are. Because of the context the sentence is in, the speaker assumes the listener knows which particle is being used.

Well then, let's get started.

は　pronounced wa when spoken as a particle, ha otherwise.

は is the 'topic marker' as everyone would say but I really hate using those words. But what does that really mean? What is the 'topic' of a sentence anyway? In English, the word order for a sentence is Subject-Verb-Object or SVO as some would refer to. When you make a sentence in English, the 'topic' is generally the first thing you would say in the sentence.

I am cold. 私は寒いです。
This is cool。これはかっこいです。
Curry is hot.　カレーは辛いです。

In the previous sentence, I, This, and Curry are the topics of the sentence.


を　pronounced as o when spoken as as particle, wo otherwise.

を is the object marker. This is a little easier to understand because in English, we have verbs that must have an object directly, or eventually, after the verb. Whenever you're talking about an object in relation to a verb, use the object marker を. Japanese word order is SOV so you don't really know what will happen to the object before the verb appears.

（I） received a letter. 手紙をもらった。
（I） bought a pen.　ぺんを買った。
（I) drank water. 水を飲んだ。

In the previous sentences, the letter, pen and water are the objects. You generally don't make sentences like I received, I bought, or I drank. You have to say what the object is with the verb.


The topic and the object play an important role in the sentence. You want to know who does what to whom. Because particles tell the receiver what the purpose of the word is, sentences can be jumbled up and still make sense. Sentences do not always start with the topic in Japanese. Be careful with your particles (if you choose to use them).

私はケーキを食べた。　I ate the cake.
私をケーキは食べた。The cake ate me.


There are always exceptions to grammar. Some words require a specific particle all the time 天気. Some verbs use a specific particle in the positive and another one in the negative　欲しい、好き.　There is no way to explain exceptions. They are made by the culture in practical use and as a learner of a new language, you must accept exceptions as they are.

Coins and Their Names

Well, you might have heard that Canadian coins have names to them, but why is this so? There are 7 coins in Canada but only five of them are commonly used. Starting from the lowest cost, it's the penny (1 cent), nickel (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents), fifty piece (50 cents), loonie (1 dollar), and toonie (2 dollars).

I guess the biggest question is "Why should I remember these names?". Let me answer this question by giving you a small situation. We are going out for dinner and the bill for $10 each comes to our table. You, being the international student, have plentiful amounts of $20 bills. I, on the other hand, am a poor, unemployed, student. I check my wallet and only have $10. In this situation I am short $5 and you have $5 extra.

I frown. But I fear not, for if I beg to borrow $5 from you, we would be able to pay the bill. You do so and now I owe you 5 dollars. A few days later we meet again and you kindly remind me I owe you 5 dollars. I reply "Sure, here's 500 pennies (1 cent)". It's $5 isn't it? You must accept it.
But you have much higher standards than that, don't you? (Yes, you do). You reject the pennies and demand "I want quarters or higher". Darn, now I have to give you a combination of quarters, loonies, or toonies.

So, what did you learn? I hope you learned that the names of the coins represent the type of coin and the amount of coins is the value. If you're asking for a specific type of coin, perhaps in the subway, bus, or vending machine, you would use the name. If you want a total, then use any type of coins to add to that total.

We have talked about coins but what about bills? What is the name of the five dollar bill?
Answer: (Highlight text to find out) Five dollar bill. It's a joke.

Let's have some sample sentences of useful vocabulary shall we?
-Cashiers still accept pennies but they won't give them as change.
-There is a beaver on the nickel.
-The dime is the smallest Canadian coin.
-The quarter, much like numbers, is a quarter of a dollar.
-I like to tip using fifty pieces to confuse waiters for fun.
-The bird on the loonie is a loon.
-Toonies are a cute way of saying "worth two loonies".

-Short: missing, lacking
He was three minutes short of being on time
We are running short on eggs, can you go buy some?

-Extra: more, leftover
I have an extra cookie. Would you like one?
Do you want to do anything extra or is the basic package alright?

自己紹介

勉強単語と文法は赤色で

はじめましてケビンと申します。まあ、それだけが俺のしてる敬語。今、俺が大学生でコンピュータか学勉強している。大学生だけど、もう二ヶ月間に卒業する。

日本語はもうすぐ四年間勉強した。何で日本語勉強したの？アニメ大好き過ぎて勉強したい。まず、ポケモンから始まった。ポケモンで、次はJumpのナルト。テレビは英語で見た。でもその時でナルトの話はいいと思う。アニメは日本からしてるでネットで探した。まっすぐに英語と日本語の違い見える。そんな違うが嘘でしょう？と思ったので漫画のほんとの意味知りたい。で、日本語初めて勉強した。日本語を勉強したいけど、どういう勉強するだろう？自分で絶対できないと思った。運よく色々な場所がある。次のポストで続く。

Introduction

What is this blog and what is it for?

I am a Canadian learning Japanese. I also like to teach English. I will be writing in English for those who are learning it as well as in Japanese to improve my own skills. I am hoping this blog will be helpful for those learning both languages.

I am currently volunteering at multiple places and often hear words or phrases that I think will be useful for learners. I'm sure there is a better definition on the internet but I like to put things in my own words. I also really hate textbooks. They easily go out of date before print and I rather use the word in context the learner can understand.

In my Japanese posts I accept all comments, and corrections. After all, I'm learning too. And in return, I wouldn't mind answering any questions you may have. Who knows, it can be a future post.