Let's get out of this slump!

皆さん、こんにちは！

So, it's been awhile since I posted (over a week). It's the slump of being a full-time teacher, doc student, and family man. With waves of responsibility, I'm pushing other necessaties aside to have a little active fun--with this new blog post. I've been working passively a great deal; I have a new obsession with Hell Girl: Two Mirrors...　「いっぺん、死んで見る。」I just love how she delivers that line!

But, I digress, "let's" have some fun with Japanese grammar structures. Specifically, "let's" look at how to say "let's" in Japanese. This is done with a simple verb ending: ましょう

Here are some examples:

Let's watch "Hell Girl".         「地獄少女」をみましょう。　　　　　　　"Jigoku Shoojo"-o mimashoo.
Let's drink sake.                      お酒を飲みましょう。　 　　　　　osake-o nomimashoo.
Let's take a shower together.     一緒にシャワー をあびましょう。    isshoni shawaa-o abimashoo.
Let's turn the lights off.         　電気を消しましょう。　　　　　　denki-o keshimashoo.
Let's sing!            　　　　　歌いましょう。　　　　　　　　　 utaimashoo

By adding the question particle  か(ka), the meaning slightly shifts to asking "shall we...?" When this came up in class, I was very interested in comparing it to the ending  ませんか(masenka). However, this is slightly different as well.

...ましょう 　　　　Let's....
...ましょうか              Shall we...?
...ませんか                 Would you like to...?

While pragmatically-speaking, these phrases are very similar, one can easily notice that "Shall we...?" is more inclusive than "Would you like to...?" For example:

Shall we drink coffee?                     コーヘーを飲みましょうか。　   kohe-o nomimashoo
Would you like to drink coffee?   　コーへーを飲みませんか。   kohe-o nomimasenka

In the first, we are both enjoying the activity. On the other hand, in the second, I am inviting you to drink coffee (while I drink something else or nothing at all). While these are not necessarily different in use, the subtleties of the meanings are there. The first seems more like, "let's go out and drink coffee, okay?" while the second seems more like, "I can give you coffee if that is your wish."

Well, that was a wonderful way to kill time. Let's do it again soon! 

さよなら！

Collaboration Invitation

皆さん、こんにちは！

Collaboration is an integral part of learning. So, I have been thinking how we might collaborate. Here's the idea. In many of the Facebook groups that I have joined, there are occasional posts with vocabulary or culture. Therefore, I decided to start a "日本語 Japanese Sharing" Padlet Wall. If you are unfamiliar with Padlet, it is a website where you can create "walls" to post a variety of items on. You can link websites, post .docs and .pdfs and other files, even record messages to leave on the wall. So I want to invite everyone to join in on posting anything that will help others learn Japanese.

The wall is below. You can also visit Padlet directly at this URL http://padlet.com/wall/8n8t5e76j9 . I look forward to others sharing in the collaborative spirit of social learning.

Created with Padlet

Many Uses of て

皆さん、こんにちは！

After taking an aside to talk about immersion, I'd like to get back to playing with grammar. In class, we've recently learned about the て-form. Depending on what follows, this suffix can be used for a variety of purposes. Most commonly, you may have heard people in anime say "待って！" (matte), which means "Wait!". Often it is followed by ください (kudasai), meaning "please" Maybe your teacher has told the class to "聞いてください！" (kiite), which means "Please listen!".

Besides simply being commands, the て-form can be used to:

1) ask permission

     This form uses the ending -てもいいですか. Essentially you are asking "is it okay..." (いいですか) to perform an action.

Ex.
一緒にお風呂にはいてもいいですか。(isshoni ofuruni haitemo iidesuka)
                                                                  May we bathe together?

お金を借りてもいいですか。(okane-o karitemo iidesuka)
                                                          May I borrow money?


2) to prohibit an action

     This function is noted by the ending -てはいけません. Basically this is a way to tell someone not to do something.

Ex.
死んではいけません。(shinde haike masen.)
                                        You must not die!

入ってはいけません。 (hatte haike masen.)
                                          You must not enter!

3) to represent the same tense as next verb

     This is referred to a "Transfer of Features" by our esteemed professor. Apparently, when a verb is conjugated, it marks the end of a sentence. Therefore, to connect two verbs in the same sentence, we use the て-form to note the internal verb is not the final verb in the utterance.

Ex. 私はコーヒーを飲んで、本をよみました。(watashiwa koohii-o nonte, hon-o yonmimasen.)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　I drank coffee and read a book.

I just recently recieved a new Japanese grammar, and I hope to share some of that information with you in future posts. Until next time...

さよなら！