Japanese Lesson 1

Hello! Here are a few words to start you off on learning Japanese!

こんにちは！＝　konnichiha! (HA here, is read WA. KON NI CHI WA) = Hello!

お元気ですか＝ おげんきですか＝　Ogenkidesuka (The SU here is pronounced S only. O GEN KI DES KA) = How are you?

元気です＝ げんきです＝ Genki Desu (GEN KI DES)= I am well.

ありがとう＝　Arigatou (TOU is pronounced as a hard, long O, like "toe". Can also be written TOO. Do not ever pronounce this like "two." That sound would be represented with a "u".)(A RI GA TOU) = Thanks

ありがとうございます＝　Arigatou gozaimasu (again, "s" not "su". like in DESU, do not pronounce the U" (A RI GA TOU GO ZAI MAS)= Thank you

どうもありがとうございます＝　Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu. (DOU MO A RI GA TOU GO ZAI MAS) = Thank you very much.

Good luck!

Lana

Apartments

Hello!

People have been asking me what my apartment will look like. Well, honestly I don't know yet, and every situation will be different. I have found some videos from past JET participants however, and they give a little mini tour around some of their rooms! I am guessing that depending on where you are, and who lived there before you will determine what furniture and accessories are left over. Some of the apartments are small, some large, some old, some new... so it is really a toss up. I think they will put me in touch with my predecessor in June, and at that point I can ask him or her what will be there and what I should bring, how big it is, etc. I hope you enjoy looking through these videos!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=JET+ALT+Apartment&aq=f

Lana

Interactive Blog

Hello all! It looks wonderful outside, so I hope it is a nice day!

Just an update about how blogger works... (as far as I can tell anyway...)

If you post a comment, you may want to subscribe to the comment. I usually write something back in the comment section to people who have responded, and without subscribing you will not be notified of the update. You can either "subscribe by e-mail" at the bottom of the comments section, or you could just check back occationally to see if anything was written about your comment.

Also, please interact with my blog! If you don't want to "follow me," interacting will help me see that people are reading. (I know I'm not actually in Japan yet, so don't worry about being too involved until then.) I have fishies on my page now that you can feed. They don't grow and I don't see who's fed them, but they're cute. I'm pretending that they're my Koi. (Koi are from Japan I believe.)

Some other interactive aspects I hope to add when I start writing more about Japan include a monthly calendar to show what I'll be doing, google translate for any text or words in Japanese, maps to help you navigate the places I mention, an agenda (if not a calendar), a clock to help with time, and a currency converter. This all may be too much for one page, so I'll add what looks right when the time comes. Hopefully I'll also be able to add fun things at times like the poll I have to the right, and games like Sudoku (which is also Japanese).

I hope you have fun exploring all of this when the time comes. My last blog was very one sided, but hopefully keeping things interesting will encourage readers, as well as encourage me to write more often!

Happy reading.

Lana

Lesson Material

Since I am going to Japan to be an English Teacher, I need to think of material to bring with me about my home culture and language! Here are some things I'm thinking about bringing with me, because they are helpful when I taught in Shimane for a month. Please post new ideas as a comment! Here are the ideas I have so far...

Bold items were added after people commented with their ideas

Children's books in English/Other books/Printouts
-Small, lightweight
-with pictures and simple sentence structure
-guidebook with large pictures (famous American places)

-Friendly Ladybug

-material from Uncle Dennis

Fold-up Maps with corresponding pictures to places
-NY Area
-OH Area
-US

Children's Songs
-ABC's
-Twinkle Twinkle

Audio Tools
-Search iTunes and internet for podcasts and free English lessons

-material from Uncle Dennis

Objects
-American Money

-photos of self, friends & family, surrounding areas (where I come from)

-snack recipes

-easy, medium and hard English learning puzzles

Lana

First Post

Hello!

This is the first post to my new blog. The main purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends updated about my life abroad, without having to e-mail lots of people. This way you can follow me if you create an account, or you can just check periodically to see what I've been up to.
If you followed me last year when I was studying abroad in Tokyo, you probably know that I did not update very often at times. This year, I am going to try to write at least once a week. This still may not sound like a lot, but compared to before I'd say it is. Sunday may be my "posting day" once I've gotten settled down. This will definitely be a while though. I am scheduled to leave from NY to Japan on July 24th. There is a mini 1 day orientation in NYC on the 23rd, and then we will all have orientation in Tokyo for a while before we make it to our final destinations.
We have until the 30th of April to send in our acceptance/position decline form, so no one knows where they will be placed until they account for all of the people actually going. The program estimates that between the end of May and middle June we will find out our placements, so please be patient until then.

If you could "follow" my blog by signing up, or leave comments it will help me keep track of who's reading. If it doesn't look like people are reading, it will be less motivating to keep writing. ^_^

As of now, I need to send in several forms to the consulate that I am working on. I have to get a chest x-ray on Saturday in Newark for the Japanese medical form. Hopefully they will turn in the results soon after because I need to send them into the consulate! We also had to get an FBI background check (that proves we have no history)!

I graduate in a few weeks, and I am preparing for that, as well as trying to finish up work, find learning opportunities for the summer, and prepare schoolwork for finals week. Maybe I'll see you on or before the 16th! If not, hopefully I'll see you this summer?

Thanks for reading!

Lana

PS. Don't expect me to write every Sunday now... I don't think I'll have all that much to say every week! Now that I've said I won't though, I probably will. Here's for hoping!

PPS. I don't know this site very well so I am still trying to figure it out, but you can sign in to follow if you have any usernames from the following: google, twitter, yahoo, AIM, Netlog, or OpenID.