I had only three classes today, because one got cancelled. Actually, it got moved to tomorrow, so I’ll deal with it then. I did an extra study session with Mr. Hayashi, who seems to be really proud that I passed the exam. I think the result of the exam somehow makes him think that I’m more serious, and so he’s game for lots of Japanese study.
We were looking at the requirements for the next level, level 2. I just passed level 3, and they say that you should know 300 kanji and 1,500 words. Level 2 says that you should know 1,000 kanji and 6,000 words. Wow! That’s a big jump. I learn about 200 words a month at my current pace. In 10 months I will theoretically know 3,500 words, which is a lot less than what they expect. I guess I’ll just go at my own pace and take a crack at it in December. My goal is to pass it in Dec 2006. My overall goal is not just to pass a test, but to speak and understand Japanese well. That goal is a long way away.
My second year classes were really cool today. Our lesson today was loosely about comics, so I took some popular comics from Doraemon, a famous Japanese comic strip, and photocopied a page with the text cut out. Then I handed out the page to the students and asked them to fill in the text with English, based on what the situation seemed to be.
It was a big challenge for the students. The advanced class did really well and they were enthusiastic. The lower class had a harder time, but they still managed to do it. I asked them to hand them in to me afterwards, and I said that I’d award a prize next week for the best comic.
After school I read the comics and they were really, really funny. It’s not that the English was funny, although in some places it was, it was the student’s take on the situation. I’ll see if I can post some of them sometime. I was laughing out loud at what some of the students wrote.
The comic involved a lowly elementary school student (Nobita), his friend Shizu-chan (the love interest), and a villainous classmate (Suneo). There last frame was a scene involving a unicorn crapping on Suneo’s head. There was a strategically placed speech bubble right above the unicorn’s backside, and I learned today that the Japanese sound effect for that particular action is “Bu-ru Bu-ru Bu-ru”. Ha!
I’ve been relaxing at home tonight. I made spaghetti for the first time in a long time. The sauce was particularly decadent, a tomato base full of meat, garlic, green onions, wine, and two kinds of cheese melted in.
Tomorrow it’s just one class, so I’m going to have lots of free time. Should be a nice easy day!
