Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Minna no Nihongo no Owari

Closer and closer I'm closing in on the final pages of Minna no Nihongo (Everyone's Japanese), my first Japanese textbook.  I'm not sure what happens after this.  Maybe a fairy comes to me in my sleep and I wake up speaking Japanese.  I'm just afraid I won't understand her instructions on how to get there.  I'm on the brink of knowing–but it's a very large brink, and maybe filled with crocodiles (friendly ones, though).

I really enjoy studying Japanese.  I don't understand it, or speak it, but I enjoy the act of studying it and experiencing it.  And Minna no Nihongo has also taught me a lot about Japanese culture.  I'm not sure how reliable it is–textbooks can be a bit misleading as to the way a living language and culture actually work.  (I remember a non-native English speaker's disappointment when she learned that we don't really say, "It's raining cats and dogs."  It's not that we don't , but, really we don't.  Unfortunately.)

But here are a few that stood out to me from the text.  Different ideas, or things unique to Japan.

"Air conditioning isn't good for the body." "Because you have a fever, please do not take a bath." "Dieting is bad for the body."  "When my wife is sick, I stay home from work."

"Even if it's raining, I'll do the laundry."  (To anyone living in Japan, these are completely related.  Others may may wonder at the washing valor.)

I think I still have a very long way to go.....


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