SmileTalk

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

Golden Week

Kogosai 100DJs x 100SONGs000 (Photo credit: Mixtribe Photo)

The Golden Week has begun, Ladies and Gentlemen

The Golden Week has begun (Photo credit: @ 孟亚柯)

Today is the 29th of April which in Japan is the start of Golden week. Golden week is a succession of holidays which (if you include the weekends) is one of the longest holidays in the whole year! Today we are going to learn all about Shōwa Day and it's origins so stay tuned to Smiletalk for everything about it!

The first day you celebrate

天皇誕生日 Tennō Tanjōbi
which is the Emperor's birthday.
Which Emperor? Emperor Akihito of course who was born in 1933.

This day later evolved into what is now known as みどりの日 Midori no Hi which is Greenery Day (not to be mistaken for the band GreenDay). It is mildly similiar to the western celebration 'Earth Day'. Greenery day is a day for communing with nature and being thankful for what it gives us. The Emperor was known for his love of nature so it seemed appropriate to have a day that both honored him and nature.

Isn't Japanese History Fascinating?
If you enjoy it you should check out the Facebook
for all sorts of tidbits of Japanese History!

The day then evolved once more to 昭和の日 Shōwa no Hi or as we know it Shōwa Day.
This day honors the birthday of the Shōwa Emperor and exists to remind people to look back on his reign. This is only the first day Of golden week!

Golden Week 02 (Photo credit: bhollar)

Sunday, 27 April 2014

Nature Kanji Crunch!

Nature Nirvana Resort (Photo credit: Natesh Ramasamy)

With Golden week fast approaching we need to learn some vocab A.S.A.P! But what to learn?
Well the first day of Golden week is Shōwa Day previously known as Greenery Day which is a day dedicated to nature. Lets learn some Japanese Kanji and phrases to do with nature.

Kurdistan Nature, Landscape (Photo credit: Kurdistan Photo كوردستان)

When I try to remember Kanji I link them with
something in my language. For instance 'sora' is sky
when I see it I think of Sora from 'Kingdom Hearts'
Find something to associate with a kanji
and it will be easier to learn!

Flower
花
Hana

River
川
Kawa

Springtime
春
Haru

Fresh Water
水
Mizu

Pond
池
Ike

Summer
夏
Natsu

Nature
自然
Shi Zen

Cloud
雲
Kumu

Forest
林
Hayashi

Island
島
Shima

Snow
雪
Yuki

Autumn
秋
Aki

Grass
草
Kusa

Leaf
葉
Ha

Stone
石
Ishi

Lake
湖
Mizumi

Sun
太陽
Taiyou

Moon
月
tsuki

Winter
冬
Fuyu

Animal
動物
dobutsu

Bird
鳥
Tori

Wave
波
Nami

Valley
谷
Tani

Weather
天気
Ten

Star
星
Hoshi

Hill
丘
Oka

Mountain
山
Yama

Sky
空
Sora

Rain
雨
Ame

Tree/Wood
木
Ki

Wind
風
Kaze

Sea
海
Imi

Earth
土
Tsuchi

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Phrases for Eating

A meal

BREAKFAST (Photo credit: malias)

食事を
Shokuji o

(said before meals) Let's eat
頂きます
Itadakimasu

Breakfast
朝食
Chōshoku

Lunch/ midday meal
昼食
Chūshoku

Dinner
夕食
Yūshoku

Hey
Do your best to learn all these cool food phrases!

delicious
おいしい
Oishī

Milk
ミルク
Miruku

Eggs
卵
Tamago

Bread
パン
Pan

Rice
米
Kome

Sunday, 20 April 2014

10 Culture Points to Survive in Japan

Keep business cards safe. If you receive a business card treat it with the utmost care and be seen to do so.
Be clean before you enter the public bath. Don't pee in the bath!
No talking in the elavator. It's really really rude.
Take your shoes off before entering a house. Common cutesy.
Never stick your chopsticks into your food so they stand vertically. It's bad luck
Unless you have medical reasons or are good at lying about having a condition don't refuse a drink.
Don't sit at the head of the table unless you are told to.
Do not season your food without tasting. It's an insult to the chef.
Don't imitate anime characters in practical speech, you'll look like a fool unless you are cosplaying.
Bow upon meeting someone, if you don't know for how long it's best to bow deeper and longer then to be thought of as rude.

Thursday, 17 April 2014

10 Things that Japan invented

PlayStation brand logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PlayStation: That gaming console we all know and love was invented by Ken Kutaragi and has been making Nintendo weep ever since!
Nintendo: rival to the PlayStation (well it tries) the virtual boy and game boy were both created by Gunpei Yokoi who also did extensive work in other areas.
Instant noodles: mm that instant lunch that students everywhere adore was created by none other then Momofuku Ando
Compact Disc player (CD Player): back in the day when we didn't have mp3s or Itunes.

Cover of Nintendo

Pocket Calculators: And thank goodness
Ninja Robot: if you aren't in love with the title then this seven ton building climbing robot's going to impress you but helping prevent landslides.
Blu Ray disc: We can thank Sony for this one.
Quartz wristwatch: revealed in 1967 who couldn't love it?
Katana: A sword all Manga/Anime fans know and love.
Bullet Train: Traveling up to 210kmph speeds through Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka!

Well that's our top ten, comment below with your suggestions for the next top ten

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Kate's Classes

Hey I'm Kate, I don't specialize but I'll help you with general Japanese and a few kanji from time to time. If you have any requests I'm the one you want to talk to. Here are my lessons so far but please remember there are loads more in the classroom. I'm also the one who provides you with resources such as videos and PDF documents I have found online and anything to aid your learning.

Lessons By Kate

Saturday, 12 April 2014

Chloe's Kitchen

Hello and welcome!
My name is Chloe and I'm the cook around here!

Want to learn about:
Miso Soup
Chopsticks

Monday, 7 April 2014

Kate's Classes: Hiragana

Wired Kana: Hiragana and Katakana Practice Sheet - 1 (Photo credit: ryanthewired)

Japanese hiragana me mincho (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are learning Japanese on your own you should remember that it is important to practice your writing as well as reading, For this I recommend you use a practice sheet that you can print out and use. I learnt using practice sheets like this one and did one page everyday till i felt confident. I later moved on to using a sum copy and after that regular lined paper. It's important in the beginning to take baby steps and reward yourself frequently so you are not discouraged. I learnt to recognize the hiragana using hiragana games and when I was learning to write them I said allowed what they were.

Hiragana is vital to learning japanese so dive right in and use these fantastic resources to learn it

practice sheet (pdf)
hiragana game 1
hiragana game 2
hiragana game 3
Hiragana Chart
Hiragana Chart 2
How to write video
Writing game
Hiragana Practice

Friday, 4 April 2014

Miso Soup

Hello! I'm Chloe and this is my kitchen!

A bowl of miso soup (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here we talk about cool Japanese foods and I even give you recipes! Today's cool Japanese food is....

Miso

(みそ)

ヒラツメガニの味噌汁(miso soup) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Miso Soup (Photo credit: carlosj)

Miso is just one of those awesome Japanese seasonings that not everyone has heard of. It is made by fermenting soybeans with salt and a fungus known as kōjikin in Japan. Sometimes rice is included to make the delicious gloopy paste. Just add a little dashi soup stock and you have some tasty miso soup (misoshiru) on your hands! Surely the king of staple foods.

Miso is rich in vitamins and high in proteins and was even around in feudal Japan. Most of the time it has a delicious salty taste but both the taste and smell change depending on how it was fermented.
Miso has quite a lot of variety so it's worth
experimenting with.

Miso Soup (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is a simple recipe for Miso Soup that I hope you will enjoy!
Vegetarian Friendly!

Ingredients:

4 cups water
1/3 cup miso
3 green onions (scallions), chopped
1 tbsp shredded nori or wakame seaweed
1/2 block firm silken tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
dash soy sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: Serves: 3-4

Instructions:

Get a medium sized saucepan and put in you water and dashi packet (be sure to give it a good stir!).
Bring it to boil on medium heat. When it boils reduce it to a simmer for approximately five minutes.
Make sure you've gotten rid of that Dashi packet. Get a Tbsp. of miso and mix it in with your dashi. Kepp on doing it till all of the miso is used up.
you can try adding tofu to dilute it if you like. Just cut it into neat cubes and plop it in, give it a gentle stir. You of course don't have too but it is tasty.
Get some lovely soak dried wakame and put it in some water for a good ten minutes or so.
While that's soaking slice up a nice green onion and serve it in a bowl with your wakame when you're ready,
Put you miso soup on simmer till it heated through and then serve.

Top Tips

Kombu Dashi is the best for vegetarians.

Don't boil the miso because it ruins the taste.

Taste as you go!

I hope you enjoyed this lesson! Why don't you post a response on Smiletalk about your experience making miso soup!