NIHONGO O NARAU

Quote of the day: There's no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.

In order to fulfill one of my resolutions this year and to satisfy my "die-hard craving" for boundaryless knowledge, I've signed up for Japanese Language. Back to the early years in University where I once shared room with 3 other roomates who studied Japanese as major, ironically I never learn a single word of the language. Sumimasen doesn't count. Arigatou is excluded as well. A good chance just slipped away like that. My teacher is a middle-aged lady with the name Loh, which we fondly call sensei Loh. And from the way she speaks, we can almost feel her deep passion for the language.

Let's take a look at some of the basic words that she has taught us.

Lesson 1

1. Ogenki desu ka. (How are you?)
    Hai, genki desu. (I'm fine.)

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Introduce yourself.

Q: Onamae wa.(What's your name?)

A: Haji me mashite. (Nice to meet you!)
    Watashiwa insert name des. (I'm insert name.)
    Dozo yoroshiku. (Qin duo duo zhi jiao!)

.:. Dozo - go ahead
.:. Sumimasen - excuse me

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Introduce other people / your friend.

3. Kochira wa insert friend's name san des. (This is insert friend's name)

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Numbers

1 | Ichi                r is being pronounced with the (L) sound. Eg: 6 roku - loku
2 | ni
3 | san                O denwa bango wa. (What's your phone number?)
4 | yon, shi          Denwa bango wa insert phone number desu. My phone number is insert phone number.
5 | go
6 | roku
7 | shici, nana
8 | hachi
9 | kyu
0 | zero, rei

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My purpose of sharing this is to encourage readers/friends to learn the language together!
A click on Google reveals an enormous list of results on how you can learn Japanese! There are a lot of on9 sensei available to guide you on the appropriate words to use on different occasions and also the historical sentiments of the language. In yours truly opinion, the best way to master a language is to first understand the culture and value of it. For Japanese, the most outstanding & worth-mentioned value is on mannerism, which is clearly demonstrated in their body language and also intonation when communicating with another person.

Did I mention that I was once a member of Gishinkan Karate Federation in school ages ago? For 5 years straight to be precise and apart from the all the punching, side-kicking, front-kicking, defensive-stunts, etc skills that I have gained, another invaluable value that I learn after heavily invested in the sport is RESPECT.

RESPECT FOR OTHERS. RESPECT FOR ELDERS. RESPECT FOR OWNSELF.

I have a 3rd brown belt recognition. Talking about it brings back the passion that I once had for the sport. I'm wondering whether I should do it again.

Arigatou Gozaimase for reading!

Sayonara! ^_^

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