The World According to Nils » Japanese

I am Mr. Jeppe

Nils — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:18:28 +0000

Watashi wa Jeppe-san desu.

And, no, I cannot write that in (any of the) Japanese script yet. But I must admit that I am enjoying my [Japanese lessons](/2007/09/19/first-japanese-lesson/) quite a lot. Yesterday, during the second lesson, our teacher (Kreutzer-sensai, heh) taught us the first actual bits of grammar, using a few sentences. As you probably guessed the first topic is “introductions”. It already feels a little less daunting.

Of course, with next Wednesday being a national holiday and the two weeks afterwards being school holidays, the third lesson will only be in three weeks. I wonder if I will manage to actually learn all the vocabulary we had so far.

Funny tidbits: An “engineer” is “enjiniaa” in Japanese. And Kreutzer-sensai (as she likes to be called) is obviously married to a [Cyberpunk 2020 geek](http://www.arasaka.de/). But for some reason she doesn’t even have her own email address. I shan’t speculate about any of that; it’d be too easy.

First Japanese Lesson

Nils — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:42:04 +0000

My first [Japanese](/2007/09/19/japanese/) lesson came and went. I actually like it a lot – it is something completely new, the teacher (Kreutzer-sensei, heh) seems nice enough, and the people who sit around me all are either very quiet, or rather likable. A far cry from the unpleasant folks who were in the Spanish class I took some years ago. A possible exception was the old, balding, guy who looked like he’s had a beer to many in his lifetime, who thought he had to try to pick up a girl twenty years his junior.

But anyway.

I have big problems with the pronunciations, I can’t really remember the words well, and don’t even get me started about [Hiragana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana). I feel like I am in first grade again, knowing nothing at all. I am illiterate all over again. It’s an interesting phenomenon. I felt very much reminded of my trip to Japan way back in 2001.

I’ll be a good student, do my homework and make sure I get lots of practice until next lesson. I am quite motivated to learn Japanese. And if I am motivated and it’s fun, then what could possibly go wrong?

Japanese

Nils — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:20:38 +0000

I am starting to learn Japanese tonight. I can’t wait – and I am a little excited about it. Finally, a new language!

I have been toying with the idea for a long time, but I always found something else to do. Now that I have more contacts in Tokyo, it’s high time for me to learn Japanese. Of course a side benefit is that I’ll finally be able to watch (and understand) Anime in the original version.

Well – Eventually, anyway.

I am going to learn Japanese in the Volkshochschule (VHS; basically an adult education program); so for the next half year every Wednesday night will be busy.