こんいちは
As the title of my blog suggest I am a 5th generation Japanese trying to learn the language.
Meaning my family came from Japan five generations ago first arriving in Hawaii in the late 19th Century. At the time my family name was Inouye. By my Grandma's generation most of the Japanese language had been forgotten.
I am excited to learn Japanese. It will be my fourth language I have learned. I have learned Spanish, Hebrew, and Greek so Japanese should be easy for me with all my language experience. WRONG! I am expecting Japanese to be the hardest language I have ever learned. The Spanish alphabet is so similar to English that it was not a huge leap. Greek, while harder than Spanish, still had similar characteristics in their alphabet compared to English. Not only that but Greek and Spanish both shared cognates with English. Hebrew thus far has been the most difficult, because it has no similarities to the English alphabet. Yet like the English alphabet the Hebrew alphabet letters represent sounds that form words. Hebrew is probably the most similar of all the languages I have learned to Japanese. As it is also read from right to left. However with Hebrew and Greek I did not learn to speak nor construct sentences. All I learned was to read. With Japanese I want to be able as fluent in it as I am in English. A lofty goal.
I plan to go to Japan next year. I will live there for at least 11 months. My goals for this semester and the upcoming semester was to create a solid base of the Japanese language. I want to have a working knowledge before I leave next year. I am excited to learn.
さよなら。
Wong
こんいちはうおんさん！
ReplyDeleteWanting to connect with your ancestors is a really good reason for learning Japanese, thank you for sharing it with us! It's really cool that you know 3 other languages already. Knowing multiple languages can give you an entirely different perspective while learning. Also, your post actually made me curious. As the semester continues and we learn more Japanese, I'd love to hear more about how Japanese compares to Spanish, Hebrew, or Greek!
Hope you have a great time in Japan next year,
じゃまた
しじむ
うおんさん、おはよう。
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to study four languages and your personal experience is a great incentive for Japanese learning. Good for you!
じゃ、また。
夏麗麗
こんいちはうおんさん！
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your story! It's incredible to hear about your previous language work. So many different types of languages! That's so exciting that you plan on going to Japan for 11 months. I would love to learn more about what you want to do there and where in Japan you want to be. Good luck with the semester!
じゃ, また
こんばんはウオンさん！
ReplyDeleteWow! Knowing so many languages is really impressive. Your post also makes me curious about how you came to learn these particular languages and what you are planning on doing in Japan for nearly a year.I can't wait to hear more about you!
じゃ、また。
アマリア
うおんさん, こんばんは.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you are already multilingual. It is also great that you are proud of your generation. I am sure it will become a good motivation for you when you face some hardships studying Japanese. I hope that you will be able to speak fluent Japanese next year so that you can enjoy Japan more!
じゃ、また。
ブ
うおんさん, こんばんは.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you are already multilingual. It is also great that you are proud of your generation. I am sure it will become a good motivation for you when you face some hardships studying Japanese. I hope that you will be able to speak fluent Japanese next year so that you can enjoy Japan more!
じゃ、また。
ブ
こんいちはうおんさん！
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your story! It's incredible to hear about your previous language work. So many different types of languages! That's so exciting that you plan on going to Japan for 11 months. I would love to learn more about what you want to do there and where in Japan you want to be. Good luck with the semester!
じゃ, また