Japanese has proven difficult to learn. Part of this is because there are three different symbols to learn: Hiragan, Kanji and Katakana. Hiragana is taught to young kids and you see it often. Kanji seems to be used on official documents and signs. Katakana is used for foreign words. When one can decode the symbols one often can understand the signs. The gender thing confuses us too. Gender in the word itself...but also gender in the tone of the speaker - as in, "De'Ettasan you are speaking like a man." We've discovered many American men are taught Japanese by their girlfriends and therefore speak like women. You can read more about the language on wikipedia.
We will miss trying to understand the conversations addressed to us and those swirling around us.
We will miss the delight of some when you TRY out your Japanese...and the little kids who run up to practice THEIR English (which they learn in elementary school) and to correct MY Japanese.
I will miss having an excuse for my frequent "adventures" (lost again?) with the kids.
We will miss weekly tutoring sessions with Akikosan. ::sniff::
Arielle has worked at it much harder than the rest of us...she can read Hiragana and Katakana. Reading Hiragana is a dubious skill if one can't understand it....but reading Katakana is a great skill to have.
We play a game in the car where Arielle reads the Katakana and the rest of us guess the meaning. She says it with the Japanese accent - sometimes it's a challenge. Cover the right column and see how you do....In the following examples:
R - says "L"
I - says "ee"
A says "ah"
O says "oh"
Aisu Kurimu Ice Cream
It really is AMAZING Japanese children learn three ways to read and write their language AND English.
Living all of life before the face of God...