はるやすみ：せんしゅう かんこくへ いきました。

みなさんの　はるやすみは　おもしろいですか。
どこへ　いきましたか。
わたし　ひこうきで　かんこくへ　いきました。
さんがつようかから　さんがつじゅうはちにちまで　いきました。
かぞくと　かれと　ともだちに　あいました。
かんこくの　たべものは　おいしいです。
New Yorkは　いま　ごぜん　はちじ　にじゅっぷんです。
でも　かんこくは　いま　ごご　くじにじゅっぷんです。
Due to jet lag, きのうの　ごご　よじから　はちじまで　ねました。
きょうの　ごぜん　ごじに　おきました。

きょねん とうきょうと おおさかへ いきました。

きょねんの　はちがつに　とうきょうと　おおさかへ　いきました。
おおさかへ　ちちの　ともだちに　あいました。
ともだちの　なまえは　やまざきさんです。
この　しゃしんは　おおさかへ　とりました。

やまざきさんの　ふねです、
おおさかは　きれいです。

The Difficulties of Learning Japanese

The three different sets of characters in the Japanese language make it one of the more difficult languages to learn. We have to learn hiragana, katakana, AND kanji. I personally like the round shape of the hiragana characters the best and kanji the least because it is extremely detailed and complex. Before I learned Japanese, I would see the hiragana characters and think they looked nice and bubbly and cute. I feel as though Japanese would be easier and quicker to learn if it didn't have so many kanji characters. Both Japan and Korea still use Chinese characters, except a lot less so in Korea. Many, if not all, Chinese characters are pronounced differently between Korea, Japan, and China, but they carry the same meaning; my family was able to find our way around Osaka and Tokyo during our trip to Japan last year because of my father's extensive knowledge of Chinese characters. When I am in Korea, I see only a few Chinese characters and those are mainly in the newspaper. Koreans use a lot of Chinese in the spoken language (pronouncing the characters differently from the Chinese) from various phrases to wise sayings, but they are often written in the Korean characters, just like how our textbook has hiragana above the Chinese characters. However, in Japan, Chinese characters (with no accompanying hiragana pronounciations) cover the pages of even teen celebrity magazines, which I'm sure middle school students read. I doubt such magazines would print so many Chinese characters if they didn't assume the majority of middle school students and above were able to read them. Anyhow, being from Korea, where we are drifting away from printing Chinese characters, I wonder why Japan is still incorporating so many Chinese characters in their language. I know, I am jumping way ahead of myself considering we haven't even learned Kanji yet and probably won't for a while, but the frequent use of Chinese characters in Japanese intrigues me. My conclusion is that three different sets of characters make the Japanese language one of the most difficult to master. I would love to hear more about the relationship between Chinese characters used in Japan, Korea, and China; does anyone have any feedback? :) Maybe that is why to write and to draw are the same word in Japanese; Chinese characters are like a beautiful drawing.

Internship

Came across this internship posting last week. If anyone knows someone who is bilingual and is interested in journalism or just needs some extra cash, please forward. I wish I had the Japanese ability to apply!

intern for ESPN. Paid internship. Start immediately. Requirements: Must speak, read, and write both English and Japanese. Must have sound journalistic instincts. Job Description: Monitor print reports out of Japan for figure skating and baseball. Translate articles from Japanese to English for use by production crew (producers, announcers, etc.). Contribute to editorial research for figure skating and Little League World Series (baseball) broadcasts. Translate interviews from Japanese to English during or for broadcasts. Hours are extremely flexible. Pay will be daily and as an "intern." Most likely work will be 8-10 hours per week now with the possibility of there being much more work over the summer. Email resume and cover letter to Amy Stetson (ESPN Researcher) at amy.l.stetson@espn.com