Archive for January, 2007

This is a series of videos to learn the Japanese katakana writing alphabet. Katakana is used for foreign words and it can be tricky to understand the “English” at first. OK, here is episode number one. The worlds in this lesson are tomato (トマト), toast （トースト）, mike　（マイク）, christmas　（クリスマス）, smart　（スマート）and suit（スト）

Technorati Tags: videos, learn, Japanese, katakana

Boy checking out Mt Fuji

This is a funny and a bit weird learning video. A bit overloaded with graphics, but it’s all good information.

One of the tools I use to study Japanese is an interactive CD-ROM called Rosetta Stone. It’s a unique and intuitive approach to learning a language. What they have done is created an environment similar to that of a child. With pictures, sound and letters the language is presented and absorbed bit by bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Japanese, CD-ROM, Rosetta, Stone

Japanese service is the best in the world in many areas, no doubt about that. At the bank however, things can be a little different. A friend of mine wanted to pay the bill for his son’s school the other day. Now, the form was to be filled out in kanji and my friend asked the clerk for help to write the name of the school for him. “Sorry sir, can’t do that” was the answer. Turned out that the bank had a rule, “forms are to be filled out by the client. Only”. A manager was called, but the answer was the same. No. Since his kanji writing skills was not good enough he had to leave to bank, bill unpaid. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Japanese, service, bank, bill

Learn the numbers in Japanese!

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Seeing a medical professional in a foreign country is always a challenge. First you have got to have the right paperwork. Then find out how they “do it” over here. With a bruised foot refusing to heal from a tournament a month ago and pain in the rib and right hand from the last tournament I thought I would let a doctor check on me before doing any more full contact. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: medical, professional, doctor