Talk Like Singing

すみません。I meant to post about this sooner! にしゅうかんまえぐらい　NYU で ともだちとアメリカ で いちばんにほんのミュージカルをみました。

Talk Like Singing is the first-ever original Japanese musical to premiere in the U.S. This energetic and heartwarming comedy is a never-before-seen style of musical theater.

A unique young man named Tarlow knows only how to communicate through song and dance. Tarlow appears to go through life happily singing his thoughts, regardless of his mood, because of the band members playing music in his mind. With the help of a speech therapist and psychologist, the singing voices inside his head are eliminated, and for the first time in his life Tarlow can speak without singing.

Talk Like Singing represents an incredible collaborative effort with direction, script and lyrics by the talented Koki Mitani, composition and music direction by Yasuharu Konishi, and lead performance role performed by Shingo Katori.

I wasn't even sure about whether it would be in English or Japanese, but my friend was also interested in going...so why not?

えいごですか。にほんごですか。：ときどきあまりわかりませんでした。ナレーションはえいごででしたが、うたはだいたいにほんごででした。 There were scenes with creative "subtitle" use: cue cards, electronic signs. At one point, they went on in Japanese too long and I had no idea what was going on. The narrator character then popped in announced that they were going back to do the scene in English!

ミュージカルでScenesがいちばんよかったですか。：My favorite scenes were when the speech therapist tried to teach Tarlow to speak without singing and dancing. In "A.I.U.E.O.", they basically went through the hiragana with song and dance. There was also a very random song "50 states", where...they sing about the 50 states, hehe.

ミュージカルはどうでしたか。：At a running time of about two hours, it may have gone on too long, but it was a very entertaining show with a very talented cast. Shingo Katori (best known from the Japanese idol group, SMAP) was endearing as Tarlow, but Jay Kabira was my favorite. His very energetic performance of the somewhat egotistical psychologist, Dr. Dyson, had him tap-dancing with geta (下駄) in one moment and donning a Rambo-muscle costume in the next.

ミュージカルはたのしかったです。十一月二十二日におわりました。

Here's a video with some of the musical (that part with "Louisiana..." is from that "50 states" song I mentioned) :D

Another video from Japan...


Edit 12/19: すみません。The video seems to be private now :-/

二十ねんごのわたし

ようちえん　から、クラス　で　いちばん　せが　ひくかったです。この　クラス　で　わたし　が　いちばん　せが　ひくいですか。たぶん　そう　ですね。せが　たかい　に　なりたい！でも、二十ねんご、かぞく　で　いちばん　せが　ひくい　に　なりたい。せが　たかい　こども　が　ほしい　です　 から。おおきい　かぞく　が　ほしいです　から、　こども　が　たくさん　います。

アメリカ　に　おおきい　うち　が　ほしいです。 どこでも　きせつ　に　なれます。テキサス　と　ニューヨーク　は　いい　ところ　です。そこ　で　アレルギー　が　すくないです　から。プール　を　ふたつ　ほしいです。　なつ、うち　の　そと　に　プール　で　およぎます。そして　ふゆ、うち　の　なか　に　プール　で　およぎます。

わたし　は　げんき　な　いぬ　が　ほしいです。　まいあさ、わたし　は　いぬ　から　しんぶん　を　とります。それから、しゅじん　と　さんじゅっぷん　ぐらい　こうえん　へ　いぬ　と　さんぽ　に　いきます。

テレビ　の　かいしゃ　が　ほしいです。そして　たのしい　テレビばんぐみ　を　つくります。みんな　の　すき　な　テレビばんぐみ　を　ならいます　から、みんな　も　わたし　の　テレビばんぐみ　を　みたいです。

おいしい　りょうり　を　ならいたい　です。メキシコ　と　ペルー　の　りょうり　を　ならいたいです。ときどき　いぬ　の　たべもの　を　つくります。にほん　の　レストランと　が　ほしいです が、そこ　に　はたらきません。そこ　へ　りょうり　を　たべに　だけ　いきます。

また、いろいろ　な　がいこく　へ　あそびに　いきます。　せかい　の　ゆうめい　な　ところ　を　みたいです。ペルー　で　マチュピチュ や　インド　で　タージュマハール　など　を　みたいです。そして　すてき　な　おみやげ　を　かいたいです。ともだち　と　かぞく　に　あげます。

おかね　が　たくさん　ありません。どう　しましょうか。まいとし、ジャックポット　が　あたります。二十ねんご、せいかつ　は　とても　いいですね！ぜんぶ　の　ほしい　もの　が　あります から。

*words in bold explained in the comments

Literary Work: ケーキ

Although my artistic skills are very limited, I decided to work with it and make a silly comic and poem. It came out looking very childish (hopefully more children's book than actual child drawings), but it fits the dialogue. In case you are wondering, these animal characters are supposed to be チンチラ . My sound effect sources: language exchange partner and here. すみません about the lack of manga format- I only remembered the whole right to left thing when I finished. ウーーー！

The first part of the poem is from the perspective of the　ちゃいろ (brown) チンチラ　and the second is from the sick しろい チンチラ.
*Some vocabulary explanation- つまらない(boring), あり (ant), ゲボ (throwing up sound effect)*

つまらない...
あり　ケーキ　です。
おもしろい

たべましょう！
どんな　あじ　です　か？
きらい... ゲボ！

ハリソン・フォードさんはビールがほしいそうです。

なつに三国(Mikuni beach)でこのしゃしんをとりました。ハリソン・フォードさんですか?　

フォードさんはキリンビールがすきです。わたしもキリンビールがすきです。アメリカのビールはにほんのビールよりにがいですから、にほんのビールのほうがおいしです。でもあまりビールがすきです。

This commercial always made me feel awkward for フォードさん and I didn't know why. でもいまテレビコマーシャルがわかります。 フォードさん 「―ぼん」 counter がわかりません。




サントスさんもawkwardがいごくじんです。ええと、I think it may be all the pauses.



サントスさんはフォードさんよりにほんごがじょうずです。フォードさんビデオとサントスさんビデオとどちらがすきですか。

HG

ハードゲイ（HG)がすきです。 このビデオはたのしいです。 ハードゲイ は モーニングムスメ と　ことば（word） ゲームをしますから。どちらもゆうめいです。　このゲームはむずかしいです！
*Skip to 2:20 to start watching the word game



ハードゲイ　の　theme うた　は Livin' la Vida Loca。 :)

HG's frequent pelvic thrusts and outrageous behavior made me hesitant to post one of his actual video sketches, so I just decided on a show appearance.　

どれにほんのビデオをみますか。　なににほん　テレビばんぐみ(tv program) を、しっていますか。

Katakana Analysis

From cjvlang.com

From conbinibento.com

• タバコ : tabacco, cigarette
  

The search for katakana words turned up the first image of a sign using おタバコ. Initially, I thought that perhaps it was used for emphasis, since it was a public sign, but that didn't really answer why that same word is listed in hiragana with Minna no Nihongo. Aren't you supposed to write it in a specific way? I remembered that there was a series of "Smoking Safety" signs in Japan, so I looked up what they used to write tobacco with...hiragana. Now I'm confused. When we asked Hamada sensei why it was written in different ways, he emphasized that you are capable of writing katakana words in hiragana, and that it is basically up to you. So although I got the idea that tobacco was common enough to write in hiragana, there are no rules dictating that it must be written in a certain way. I suppose this particular katakana use would be categorized as a loanword (falling in/out of favor as foreign), emphasis, and asserting that the katakana/hiragana "rules" are not as rigid as I thought.

From subway.co.jp

• アボカド : avocado
  

The search for katakana continued and I found this fun little subway advertisement. Obviously, katakana is used for a loanword in this case. Interestingly enough, the advertisement also demonstrated onomatopoeia (\ドーン!/), as well as katakana's flexibility: あぼかどううううん　doesn't have the same look as アボカドーーーーン.

• プリクラ : purikura
  

As a purikura fan, I immediately thought of it as a katakana word. I remembered this particular picture because I could read and understand it. プリクラのメッカ....Mecca of purikura! According to Wikipedia, "purikura is the shortened form of the registered trademark Purinto Kurabu (プリント倶楽部),. The term derives from the English print club." The idea I got from Minna no Nihongo is that katakana is used for loanwords (things not of Japanese origin), and basically things that were not created until approximately the last 50 years. I am hesitant to classify this as a loanword, because that is not the english term used for photobooth- I have never heard "print club" used. Purikura is a pretty recent invention, so it falls into the additional categories we created in the group: short forms, new inventions (technology), (Japanese interpretation of a) loanword. It could also be for the purpose of giving the word a connotation of something modern and "cool"/クー. See クー, シーシーレモン as examples.

Each textbook has different katakana explanations because it is so flexible and open to interpretation. They all seem to agree that it is used for foreign and loan words, but they seen to also focus on different aspects of the language. Yookoso and Japanese for Busy People directly mention katakana can be used for emphasis and onomatopoeia, so they provide an understanding of katakana in a greater context of contemporary uses in writing and television. The accepted katakana explanation is ultimately a matter of author preference.

The Pillows

金曜日（きんようび）　に　コロンビア　だいがく　で　エンジニアの　career fair　へ　いきました。おもしろかったです。がくせい　が　おおかったです。　いろいろ　な　かいしゃいん　に　あいました。 たくさん　かいしゃ に　レジメ(resume)　を　あげました。　しごと　を　ください！

それから　としょかん　で　べんきょうしました。I like to listen to music when I study.　としょかん　で (Ipod で)　おんがく　を　ききました。わたし　の　「べんきょう　playlist」　は　にほんご　の　うた　が　すこし　あります。。。

The Pillows　が　すき　です。ここ　に　いつつ　（５つ）　の　うた　が　あります。ひとつ　の　うた　は　えいご　で　です。








Note: (In case the file names are confusing.) FLCL is the anime that features some of the songs.
どんな　おんがく　が　すき　ですか。 「べんきょう　playlist」　が　ありますか。Favorite Japanese songs?

のみましょう！

M2Mはコロンビアだいがくのちかくにあります。にほんののみものはM2Mにたくさんあります。(クー もM2Mにあります。）　でものみものをさんぼんだけかいました。たくさんににほんののみものがM2Mにあります。

のみものをさんぼん

シーシーレモン: ビタミンC、レモン７０個分

(すみません！The bottle is empty in the picture. ぜんぶをのみました。おいしいですから。）

このマグネットはむりょうです。「スイーツ　マグネット」　Yay わかります！

シーシーレモンCM

カルピスウォーター: Non-carbonated soft drink, Refreshingly sweet and tangy!

たくさんのあじです。

Pocari Sweat: With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body.

このなまえがすきです！

のみましょう！

*Mmmmkay...this post came out a bit like an advertisement, but I wanted to use grammar we have just learned (counters!). Besides, I couldn't keep that Simpsons commercial to myself.

Japonés

One hundred Japanese syllables were presented to ten Spanish-speaking listeners. They were instructed to listen to and to transcribe the sounds using their own Spanish alphabetic symbols. All five vowels were identified with high accuracy, whether presented alone (96%), with another vowel (97. 5%), or paired with consonants (94%).

When I heard Japanese for the first time, I noticed that the pronunciation seemed to be pretty similar to Spanish. This is nothing new, I've heard the same observation from other people. Both languages pronounce vowels the same way and words are generally spoken as written. I usually switch into my Spanish when reading/speaking Japanese, but I don't want to speak with an accent. This is where those language lab pronunciation drills should come in handy. (Say "rara...", "rarara...", "rararara..." ) The similarities are pretty helpful as mnemonic devices and a basic reminder to pronounce words a certain way. Sometimes, I even find myself thinking in English and Spanish to remember new Japanese vocabulary.

I grew up speaking English and Spanish, but I never really chose to learn a language. It would be exciting to realize that I am thinking in a new language, but we'll see where the future takes my Japanese language education. Here is a sample of words that sound alike, with the dual meaning the word has for me:

　　　　　　Spanish Spelling　　　　Spanish Definition

• パン　　　　　pan 　　　　　　　　　 bread *Same thing すごい!
  

• かさ　　　　　casa　　　　　　　　　 house

• から　　　　　cara 　　　　　　　　 face

• で　　　　　　　 de 　　　　　　of, from, about

• に　　　　　　　 ni　　　　　　　　　　　 nor

• なか　　　　　 naca 　　　　　　 foolish (Mexican slang word)

「おとうさん」はだれですか。

As long as I'm writing about いぬ...

Churrito はにほんにかぞくがいます。 (゜∇ ゜)ブヒャヒャヒャヒャ
このビデオをみってください。



Confused? This one sort of explains things.


にほんの commercialsがすきです。

わたしのいぬ

いぬがいます。Churrito（チュリート）です。　「Churro」 (チューロ）はスペインのディザート(dessert)です。 「-ito」は　スペインごで　じゅうあい(term of endearment)です。　チュリートはしろいいぬです。　ミニアメリカンエスキモ(Mini American Eskimo)のいぬです。　いまTexasにいます。わたしのいもうとからemailでしゃしんをもらいました。　

せんせんしゅうチュリートのたんじょうびでした。

Vetはチュリートにたんじょうびカードをあげました。

わたしのいぬはかわいいですね！

Japan Fan

I've always been interested in learning Japanese and this is the first opportunity I've had to learn it. I'm fascinated with Japan's traditions, the pop culture, and I like anime/manga.

Although I am taking the class for a required non-technical credit, I consider Elementary Japanese to be my fun class. I plan to take it in the Spring as well and I would like to continue learning the language after I graduate from Columbia.

I was actually fortunate enough to visit Japan this summer! The trip intensified my love for all things Japanese. (Perhaps I can write about my experiences in Japanese as we learn more sentence structures.) My boyfriend is in the JET program, so he is temporarily teaching English in Japan. Since he has been in Japan for about a year now, he knows his way around very well, and I went through minimal tourist issues. The luxury of having my own tour guide also meant that I didn't have to utilize my Elementary Japanese A skills. It was a little frustrating being unable to understand menus, signs, and people- a weird experience! There were familiar phrases here and there, but it became clear that I needed to learn more. I'm comfortable with writing and reading Japanese (at the pace we are learning...kanji will be another story...), but speaking has always been my weak spot.

After the first few weeks of class, I realize I need to review sentence structures and some vocabulary. I would also like to improve my conversation skills- especially speaking at a more natural speed. I'm excited to learn more Japanese to use if I get the chance to go back to Japan!

*Picture: Qoo, a tasty orange drink and one of my favorite cute Japanese products.

じこしょうかい

こにちわ！はじめまして！

わたしはマリリンです。にじゅうにさいです。コロンビアだいがくのエンジニアのがくせいです。よんねんせいです。アメリカからきましたがりょうしんはペルーじんです。

スペインごとえいごがよくわかります。にほんごがすこしわかります。ひらがながわかります。いちがつからにほんごをべんきょうしています。

はちがつににほんへいきました。いいですね！わたしのかれはにほんにすんでいます。えいごのせんせいです。にほんはおもしろいです。そしてすてきです。にほんりょうりがすきです。おいしいですね！わたしはしゃしんをとりました。たぶんblogにしゃしんをみせます。

これからにほんごとえいご(...ときどきスペインご...）でblogをかきます。またいらっしゃってください！どうぞよろしく！