I took a day of yesterday from Pimsleur which I resumed today. I'm at a break in TextFugu because I need to get my katakana skill sup a bit before going on. I just don't get the chance to see katakana as often besides loaner words, which I already know a bunch anyway. Once i feel I'm ok with my katakana I will continue on with TextFugu.
Speaking of textFugu, I started using their WaniKani site to learn and practice Kanji in addition to the Anki decks from the TextFugu site. I also picked up the Ultimate Vocab deck from the site which is free when you are a member and have been learning new things from that as well. Right now I'm having trouble with 事. It just eludes me every time I see it. But, between what I had already gleaned with my previous Kanji studies and with what all i have learned in the past few weeks, I seeing that i can read a lot of signs and such in Anime.
Anyway, WaniKani is addictive... like crack cocaine levels of addictive. And it is working. I remember the 音読み for just about everything and I make it a habit of learning it for new Kanji i look up. Maybe this weekend I will explain 音読み and 訓読み this weekend, since I now understand what the hell they are and kind of when to use them. the 訓読み for numbers has helped a lot with those strange counters. I found out they use a form of the numbers 訓読み so it's just a matter of remembering that and then adapting. The 音読み has helped me read and understand more multi-kanji words.
Here is a side effect: I can understand some written Chinese now even though I cannot pronounce it in Chinese. I realized this when I was watching a YouTube video of a strange Chinese commercial. I knew a good percentage of the Hanzi so even though I didn't know exactly what they were saying I did have an idea without looking at the subtitles.
The last few days have been kind of tough outside of the Japanese learning. I did learn one more form of condolence:
ご冥福を祈ります。(ごめいふくをいのります)
It can be translated as "rest in peace". It translates literally as I pray for your happiness in the next world. The kanji for 冥福 are made up of "dark" and "fortune." I think it has a kind of macabre beauty to it. In any case: ご冥福を祈ります、エミリー様。
A Blog for The Trials and Tribulations of Self-Learning/Self-Teaching the Japanese Language.
Showing posts with label Condolences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Condolences. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
My Condolences...
DISCLAIMER: This may be morbid, so forgive me in advance if it seems so. It's no secret that I have always handled death in ways that most people don't understand. As a result of my "odd" behaviors, I no longer attend funerals and try not to be around others who are grieving.
This post comes with sad news. A childhood friend and sweetheart of mine was reported missing this weekend and I just received word that her body has been found. I haven't been close with her in many years, but she did come hang out for my birthday celebration this past year. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for her we never officially dated, but we were really close in Jr. High and High School. She was always such a sweetheart, strong willed, funny, and pretty damn smart.
Needless to say, I'm broken up about this news. But, I'm also a student of Japanese. This is where the morbidity may come in. As I take a break from my tears I became curious how the Japanese give condolences. I guess there is really no good time to learn this, just like there is no good time to fill out a will or get life insurance. It's simply a morbid and often unpleasant topic. But learning is a coping mechanism. And for me, studying is helping ease the pain a bit.
I learned 2 phrases.
ご愁傷様でございます。 (ごしゅうしょうさまございます)
and
心よりお悔やみ申しあげます。(こころよりおくやみもうしあげます)\
The first (ご愁傷様でございます) is kind of weird from an American worldview. It just kinda acknowledges that someone is grieving. This is the polite form you use with someone who is not in your family.
The second(心よりお悔やみ申しあげます） means "condolences from the bottom of my heart" basically (more literally, condolences rise from my heart). I believe this one is ok to use for family or friends, but is maybe too informal for strangers.
In any case, I had to learn that and write this out to kind of deal with what's going on right now. I know it's morbid, but it helps.
This post comes with sad news. A childhood friend and sweetheart of mine was reported missing this weekend and I just received word that her body has been found. I haven't been close with her in many years, but she did come hang out for my birthday celebration this past year. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for her we never officially dated, but we were really close in Jr. High and High School. She was always such a sweetheart, strong willed, funny, and pretty damn smart.
Needless to say, I'm broken up about this news. But, I'm also a student of Japanese. This is where the morbidity may come in. As I take a break from my tears I became curious how the Japanese give condolences. I guess there is really no good time to learn this, just like there is no good time to fill out a will or get life insurance. It's simply a morbid and often unpleasant topic. But learning is a coping mechanism. And for me, studying is helping ease the pain a bit.
I learned 2 phrases.
ご愁傷様でございます。 (ごしゅうしょうさまございます)
and
心よりお悔やみ申しあげます。(こころよりおくやみもうしあげます)\
The first (ご愁傷様でございます) is kind of weird from an American worldview. It just kinda acknowledges that someone is grieving. This is the polite form you use with someone who is not in your family.
The second(心よりお悔やみ申しあげます） means "condolences from the bottom of my heart" basically (more literally, condolences rise from my heart). I believe this one is ok to use for family or friends, but is maybe too informal for strangers.
In any case, I had to learn that and write this out to kind of deal with what's going on right now. I know it's morbid, but it helps.
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