Nekojarashi@No.24@March/April 2000
Failure is the Mother of success.
If you are a poor speaker of foreign languages and want to improve your language ability, you should go abroad alone. Experience a lot of failures. They will produce good memories to enjoy after coming home.
If you long to communicate, your language skill will be strengthened.
Traveling Abroad, Keiko-style
Mrs. Keiko Umezeki, who lives in Chino and is a cartoonist as well as the editorial staff of Nekojarashi, went to Portugal for the first time in two years. She had always been friends with Brazilians in Japan, so she could roughly understand what was said in Portuguese. Wow! Though of course gestures were essential for her communication.
She gave us some advice about making a trip abroad alone.
1 Airline Tickets
They've become cheap recently. For example, a round-trip fare to Europe costs no more than 100,000 yen and to the U.S.A no more than 80,000 yen. If it's your first time to go to abroad, she recommends JAL and ANA, because they have begun to discount and everything is O.K. in Japanese on board.
2. Hotels
At the front desk, just ask "How much?" and show how many nights you'll be staying with your fingers.
one-night stay = one finger
two-night stay = two fingers
3. Restaurant
If you can't read the menu, don't be afraid. Out of the dishes on near by tables, just point at the one you want to eat.
4. Passport, Cash and Credit Card
Don't put them in your handbag or in your hotel room. Put them into a pouch worn inside your clothes or in a HARAMAKI (belly band). Or leave your valuables in a safe deposit box at the hotel.
Take care not to have your bag stolen. And walk all about town. Have a nice day!
What is Chinese?
The Chinese Sound system, which consists of 37 vowels and and 21 consonants, is said to be difficult to learn, but there are helpful clues: the phonetic alphabet showing how to read Chinese characters and the symbols called "pin yin" indicating the pitch (sheng diao).
For example, the well-known Chinese phrases meaning "hello" and "good-bye" are expressed as below:
"Ni hao!" and "Zai jien"
Especially the sheng diao symbols (the four tones) are very important in mastering Chinese pronunciation which has to unique intonation. There are 4 symbols indicating the 4 different pitches, and they are attached to the top of each syllable. You have to be able to use these 4 pitches properly, since a difference in pitch means a difference in the meaning of the word (phrases) even if you could read the phonetic alphabet correctly.
Chinese, like Japanese, has many words of foreign origin. In Japanese loan words are expressed in Katakana, but in Chinese they use only Chinese characters when expressing those words including foreign person's names, the titles of foreign films, etc. Here are some examples:
Word depicted phonetically
Kentucky fried Chicken -> Ken de ji
Beethoven -> Bei duo fen
Guitar -> ji ta
Word depicted according to meaning
Superman -> chao ren (super + man)
Hot-dog -> re gou (hot + dog)
Kangaroo -> dai shui (pocket + mouse)
AJET
Summer Lovin'
Date: Apr. 23 2000 (Sun)
Time: 1:00 a.m.
Place: Shiojiri Musical committee (phone: 0263-53-5503)
Fee: 1000 yen (adult), 500 yen (Junior High/Senior High Students)
300 yen (Elementary Students)
The cast and crew have been working hard on this year's Nagano AJET(Association of Exchange and Teaching) musical, called Summer Lovin'.
We have got the hand jive, all of your favorite songs and more energy than we know what to do with. We can't wait to show you what we have come up with. We have even made it easy to understand by using English and Japanese. Come along and support us we bring you "Summer Lovin'". We've got a grat set, suburb singing, and dancing that'll knock your socks off. Can't wait to see there.
Suwa Dialect
Rachaanee koto iu monjya nee. Don't talk nonsense.
Ano otoko mo zudee na monda. Hi is no good.
Eppodo ikakka to omottada kedo, yameta da. I was really thinking of going, I decided not go.
Ookini dekaku natta na. How you've grown!
Hee kitadaka. So, you're really come!
Kousyaku kokuna. Stop trying to look so smart.
Gosomatsu na monde moushiwake nee. I'm afraid it's nothing special.
Suguji wo ikyaa hayaide. Go this way. It's a shortcut.
Isso nukutoku naranee naa. It isn't getting warm at all.
Ankini shiterya komaru jyanka. Don't you have better things to do?