News aggregator

Out of boredom, I bought a few DS games the other day.

I bought 人生ゲーム平成のデキゴト (Game of Life: Heisei) thinking it would be a great way for me to learn more about recent Japanese popular culture. I was very wrong. For someone like me who knows very little about Japanese personalities, hit novels or movies, etc, there isn’t much hope. In other words, you either know the answers or you end up broke and broken hearted very quickly.

In retrospect, I guess it is obvious the game wouldn’t have a ’study mode,’ but oh well.

But I did find an excellent game called ゼルダの伝説：　夢幻の砂時計 Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - (Found the Japanese version at Play Asia and the English version at Amazon)

?

Well, I haven’t gotten far enough in the game to say I love the game play, but here’s why I think it makes a great reader (probably for Intermediates): Tap on any kanji and furigana appears.

Sorry for the fuzziness, but maybe you can see what I mean. Just tap and hold any kanji to get the furigana. Neat!

Musouka pointed to a PDF in a comment earlier about the changes to the JLPT in 2010.  See here. (Thanks Musouka!)

Some juicy information includes:

• Starting in 2009, the current JLPT will be held twice a year
• JLPT 1 and 2 (current levels) will be held in July 2009
• JLPT 1-4 (current levels) will be held in December 2009 as it has in the past
• Testing in July will be conducted in Japan as well as in a limited number of locations in China and elsewhere overseas
• Apparently the test will be created with a more communicative approach in mind; one complaint some have with the JLPT is the student ends up studying for the test–but this is true for all tests, I’m sure.
• To reduce the 3 to 2 gap and increase level 1 difficulty, the test levels will be reorganized into a 5-level format
• The new test will have 5 levels: N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5; the “N” may stand for both “Nihongo” and “New.”

N1: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 1 test, but designed to
enable slightly more advanced abilities to be measured as well.
N2: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 2 test.
N3: Positioned at a level bridging existing Level 2 and Level 3 tests.
N4: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 3 test.
N5: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 4 test.

• All the tests, N1 through N5, will consist of both a Reading Section (covering Writing-Vocabulary as well as Reading and Grammar) and a Listening Section.
• This round of revisions will not extend to the introduction of tests of oral and compositional ability
  leaving it as future challenge.

I think a lot of people will be happy about the test being offered twice a year. Having it only once a year made failing all the more painful. 

The test now has an official website: http://www.jlpt.jp I wasn’t aware of this website, but I could have just been a little behind the times on this one.

One of Makoto’s favorite new words is ‘Combine.’  A month or two ago while at his cousin’s house he had an opportunity to sit on their combine harvester tractor.  He declined the offer preferring instead to cower behind his daddy.

He has grown in courage but only at a distance.  This is probably a good thing considering the danger of a close encounter.

Here is Makoto yesterday watching (or was watching) a combine harvesting the rice crop:

Shortly after this photo was taken, Makoto made his first 親父ギャグ.  He said, “コンバインは.”  I couldn’t have been prouder.

This morning while rummaging through the refrigerator looking for some drink to drink, I saw the only ice coffee left was the non-black variety–only sweet coffee.

I haven’t had sweet coffee in years so I thought I’d give it a try.  It’s ok, but I wouldn’t intentionally drink it if given a choice.  Once you add milk or sugar, it can no longer be classified as Coffeeius Oishiius, but as Coffeeius Mazuius.  Maybe it is just me though.

I remember following my father around as a small child.  Wherever he went he would invariably drink coffee and the coffee he drank was black. I did the same thing, often passing up perfectly good Hot Coco.  My grandmother, conversely,  drank the light-brown coffee type, but dad’s was always black.

There seemed to be two diametrically opposing factions; I had to choose sides.

I of course choose the Black group–ブラック団

This could be because my grandmother rarely drank coffee but my father had it every day.  I suppose my impressionable mind fell victim to repeated familiarity:  (Dad) Black, Black, Black, Black (Grandmother) Light-Brown (Dad again) Black, Black, Black, Black [pattern repeats]

I finished my ‘coffee’ just now but the sweet candy taste lingers.  I will need to brew some hot coffee to get rid of the aftertaste; It will of course be Black.

Just released! Richard VanHouten’s Yuki no Monogatari–the Video–Chapter Four!

Just a quick entry.

This morning, minutes after waking up, Makoto saw two of his favorite things at once–grandma (baba) and cat (neko)–and decided to put the two together saying, 「猫ばば」 (neko baba)

猫糞 neko baba [lit. cat poop] is slang for embezzlement, pocketing, or just plain stealing. It basically means to pocket something found that is not yours and then use it as if it were yours.

Cat is ‘neko‘ of course, but the 糞, usually pronounced fun, uses the baby-talk ‘baba‘ sound.

But why ‘cat poop’?

Cats tend to hide their poop.  Just as a thief would find someone’s wallet and quietly pocket it, a cat kicks sand over his poop to hide it.

For more on this marvelous piece of slang, see our How to Wow pages.

Up until now Bonjinsha has published one book with the previous year’s 1 & 2 level tests and another book with 3 & 4’s actual tests. This has always been a great way for students wanting to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test to become familiar with the test’s layout and get some practice in.

But one downside is each book only included one test per level. If you are not sure you want to take level 4 or 3 or to take 2 or 1, getting the tests together in one book like that is probably a good thing. However most people pretty much know which level they will take and therefore only half the book is immediately useful.

But now Bonjinsha has released four new books–one for each level–containing three previous tests (2004-2006).

1) Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 4 (easiest) (HEISEI 16-18; 2004-2006)
http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=17404
$30 (for three tests and CDs)

2) Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3 (HEISEI 16-18; 2004-2006)
http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=17403
$30 (for three tests and CDs)

3) Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 (HEISEI 16-18; 2004-2006)
http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=17402
$33 (for three tests and CDs)

4) Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1 (hardest) (HEISEI 16-18; 2004-2006)
http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=17401
$33 (for three tests and CDs)

If you are wanting to take the test this year or next, having these previous tests in one book will not only help you become familiar with the layout of the test, but also give three times the practice.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with them: (Sorry, a little off-beat)

Turns out this guy does this for a living. Check it out: http://www.tommabe.com/videos-find/video_index.htm

In related news, you may enjoy this voicemail drama:

http://www.misanthropytoday.com/2008/06/27/olga-and-dmitri-funny-voicemail/

Yesterday we experienced our first earthquake since we’ve been back in Japan.  It was a 震度１ (Category 1) which lasted for less than a second and felt like an extremely heavy truck passing right by.

It reminded me of our old apartment–(stressing the ‘old’). The other day, Yumi and I went by the old place and were surprised to see it was still standing and occupied.

When we lived there the building felt like it was built in the previous century (and that was in the 1990s!)

We lived on the second floor.  Whenever someone climbed the metal flight of stairs, literally the whole building shook.  It was probably equivalent to a 震度1, but lasted as long as the person climbing climbed.  So I guess it would be more like a 震度1.5 with extra points given due to longevity.

and… One other ‘P’ word I can’t think of at the moment.

This morning we had a family outing. It was very nice. Basically the ‘mission’ was to pick up Megumi’s Japanese passport; she had to be present. But after that was done we enjoyed Pizza and Spaghetti at an Italian restaurant. (Very おいしい)

Here are three shots of Makoto awaiting the pizza.

He ate almost a whole large pizza. I had a piece and most of the crust (Young Makoto wishes pizza not to be cursed with crust).

Next we entered the nearby shopping center where lo-and-behold I saw a sign that renewed my faith in the Japan I knew and loved.

You see, since we’ve been back in Japan, we really haven’t gone out to see the ‘real’ Japan (been busy with baby and all). I was fearfully afraid Japanese businesses would start asking any one of the many native English speakers (they’re everywhere!) for advice on signage with English. I mean, after all, signs for advertisement are very expensive.

I’m happy to report Japan still has a plethora of 変な英語 EVERYWHERE. Fresh pickings for an example:

Now, one would think a prudent business owner would simply stop any one of the many, many English speaking foreigners and ask, 「この英語は大丈夫？」 But no. No, they don’t. They didn’t when I lived in Japan and they still don’t.

Next we made our way to the second floor and today’s main event. Makoto loves trains–especially the 新幹線, Shinkansen. Well, there was a train exhibit for children in that shopping mall. A whole room was devoted to train models that move by themselves (yes, “horseless train carriages”).

And Megumi… Well, she didn’t do much today. She slept and slept and slept a little more. But here is her car seat in a shopping cart at the shopping center. It fit very well.

I’m sure as a teenager she will appreciate our choice of a shopping cart to put her in.

Got home to find theJapanesePage.com server had crashed. The techs have been working on it all the while I’ve been typing. Will be back up soon so they say.

The Japanese Graded Readers books are one of our best sellers for a reason. First quality Japanese readers are hard to come by. This fact alone makes this series all the more a valuable asset for any student of Japanese (Beginner-Intermediate).

Each set contains several booklets with a story graded to a certain level of Japanese ability. As a nice bonus each set includes 1-2 CDs with the stories spoken by a professional native speaker.

Beginners often have a hard time finding resources to practice after learning hiragana and few hundred words.  The Level One of this series is made just for such a student. Their level four is suitable for intermediates.

Today for our Super Suiyoubi sale, we are discounting each book by $5 (15% off) and as always US shipping is free if over $50.

While I’m advertising here, I’d like to mention if you are looking for more readers, we, ahem, have four $5 instant download readers so far.  Each download pack has a PDF, Flash file, and MP3 files of the story.  (Not sure if I have mentioned this here before…)

We left this morning at 5:30AM to go to the American consulate in Osaka to apply for Megumi’s American passport. (We do want to take her back with us, you know.) We arrived shortly after 9AM and was first in line.  It took all of twenty minutes to fill out the form and wait a bit.  We ate spaghetti, drank some tea, and caught a train back to Fukui.  A very pleasant morning.

This stands in stark contrast from our last Osaka consulate trip–to get Makoto’s passport.

It was a cold and snowy day…  It snowed hard most of the way and we arrived literally 15 minutes before they closed. It worked out, but it was a nightmare. (おまけに: When leaving, we got lost looking for the parking lot where Yumi’s father left the car.  We had to carry baby Makoto in the cold.)

As mentioned above, this time we took the train. I took the picture below a few years ago, but saw it again today on the Thunderbird train (Hokuriku line: Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama) this morning.

(Just read the English)

Information of the Exits

There are no Exits

I got a few (read more than one but less than five) hours of off and on sleep last night but Yumi got virtually none. It seems Megumi has caught a cold. She has a runny nose and an occasional cough. She seems to be fine, but she was very restless last night.

Then…

Makoto woke up wide-eyed at 2:30AM. He took his ‘nap’ at 3PM yesterday and slept until 2:30AM. During that almost-12-hour sleep period, he quite effectively stored up his excess energy for the great explosion of 2:30AM. The great explosion of 2:30AM is still going on.

Thankfully Baba was there to help, but today will be sluggish.
–

“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.” ~Leo J. Burke (no idea who he is, but he must be pretty smart)

Makoto has been enjoying watching
となりのトトロ tonari no totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) over and over again.* It is a famous anime that you can buy in the States on DVD through Disney. It is set in rural Japan some time in the fifties or sixties.

Yumi mentioned the atmosphere of the movie reminds her of her childhood. For example, the scene at the train station feels like it is the big city while home is utterly in the country with no easy way of getting around.

The thing that shocked me was she also mentioned, like in the movie, they used to take weekly baths heated by fire. She swears they had electricity and running water, but, still, they had a bath heated by fire.

Which leads to an interesting vocabulary word.

五右衛門風呂
goemon buro
a bath heated directly on a fire

I can’t say this is very useful in the 21st century, but the term for a bath heated by fire is named after a thief (Ishikawa Goemon) whose punishment was to be boiled to death in such a bath. Pleasant isn’t it?

“Mommy must I take a Goemonburo?”
“Yes, dear.”

“Ok. I’ll get in. By they way, why do they call it ‘Goemonburo’?”
“Oh, that’s because a villain named Goemon was boiled to death in a furo just like the one you are in.”

“…”

–
* and over and over and over again.

I haven’t had much blogging time less because of the baby but more because of our updating theJapanesePage.com. (the baby sleeps a lot!)

At the beginning of this year, we moved the site to a new server and did major upgrades. However, many things went wrong and the upgrades turned out to be very haphazard at best. The cause of most problems was my lack of understanding Drupal, the CMS the site currently uses. After almost a year, my knowledge of how Drupal works is good enough to begin an upgrade to the newest version.

So we (the admins) decided to start literally over. We have built the site from ground up; every article has been or will be moved and polished individually. As soon as the forum is integrated and moved, we will turn the proverbial switch and that will become the new–and very much improved–TJP.

I can’t express how much nicer the new site will be. I’ve been so disappointed at how the current site was thrown together. The new version will be organized much better. Updates to come–and I’m back to work!
–
We will go to the hospital today for the first weighing and checkup. Will update that too!

Here is my friend Gary Noland going Beyond the Sea with Bobby Darin:

From time to time we get really nice emails from customers. Here is one about our $5 instant downloads for Beginners:

Thanks Clay and Yumi. These $5 downloads are by far, the best help a beginner can get! And for the price I got way more than expected. This is something I was looking for a long time ago: some easy level reading were I can practice my kanas (and some easy kanji), and at the same time entertain myself and not feel as I am all the time studying. And now finally found it!! and with audio!!! Thanks you for devoting your time and efforts to help people with Japanese language learning (specially in the Japanese page!). You guys rock!! And congratulations for the arrival of little cute Megumi!! Arigatou gozaimasu!

And…

I am more than satisfied with the purchase and I wish every beginner could see the great product this download is! Finally something that is not boring to read (I am kind of bored of the same silly beginners conversations in text books “hi, what time is it? oh, it is very late! My name is Michelle, nice meeting you”).

Thanks!  After things slow down (things=Megumi) a bit, we’ll start work on the next beginner reader. We are always on the lookout for good beginner level stories. If you know of any, please let us know. Of course Japanese fairy tales are always great, but they can seem a bit childish–some however are far from childish.

If you haven’t checked out our $5 instant downloads, we have a little (right now, very little) for almost everyone.  This blog has most of them through PayPal here.  Or check out all of them at our store here.

We just came back from the hospital.  Makoto was happy to see Mommy and Megumi (whom he calls Megu-chan) leave the hospital with us.

Makoto *almost* stayed long enough for the shot, but oh well–We’ll get a family photo later.

I found a GREAT deal at iTunes. I’m not a big fan of iTunes: it seems buggy at times, it is VERY sluggish, and Apple requires it for the iPhone (I don’t like being limited like that even though I understand why)

But if you are a Sinatra fan (who isn’t?), you can’t pass up this opportunity: 97 great hits for only $9.99! I don’t know if this is a mistake on iTunes’ part or if it is just a great deal, but Amazon has it for almost $30!

The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952
Frank Sinatra

Including great songs like: Saturday Night (is the Loneliest Night of the Week); Ol’ Man River; Embraceable You; Someoe to Watch over Me; Nancy; Guess I’ll Hang my Tears out to Dry; and… well, you get the picture.

Megumi Update: She is still sleeping.

Megumi (and mother) are doing well. We will go to the hospital in a few minutes, but this is from yesterday.

She seemed very contemplative with her hands (before this photo) in a ‘thinker’ pose. Perhaps she has solved life’s greatest mysteries (e.g. How can vending machines in the middle of a rice paddy in Japan receive electricity, etc.). It is a shame she won’t remember these contemplative moments. But at least we captured the moment on film–well digital film anyway.