Composition 3

ニューヨークはわたしのいちばんすきなまちですから、にじゅうねんごのわたしはまだこのまちにいます。トロントからコロンビアだいがくへべんきょうしにきました。わたしはしゅっぽんぎょうかいのしごとがしたいです。わたしはへんしゅうしゃになりたいです。おっととこどもがほしいです。かぞくといっしょにニューヨークのゆうめいなびじゅつかんやコンサートへいきたいです。いっしゅうかんにすくなくともいっかいなにかたのしいことがしたいです。ニューヨークはとてもにぎやかですから。そしてにほんりょうりがならいたいです。にじゅうねんごのわたしはいそがしいですが、しあわせです。

Katakana Literary Work Final

なぞ

ここはどこですか。

このまちに
ほしがありません。
でもよるはあかるいです。

このまちに
ひとがおおいです。
でもときどきさびしいです。

このまちは
ザー、いつもあめです。
でもみんなのかさはカラフルです。

このまちは
わたしのしゅっしいんじゃありません。
でもココはわたしのうちです。

ここはどこですか。
ニューヨークですよ！

Katakana Analysis (Final)

One of the remnants of my childhood in Japan is my collection of まんが. My favorite series is called イマドキ！by ゆうわたせ of the しょうじょ genre. In it there are some unusual uses of katakana: 「ゴメンなさい　ひと　いるとおもわなくてー」and 「あなたもココのせいと？」and 「マズイよね」. These are all instances where words normally written in hiragana are for some reason in katakana. 


In order to understand why they are written differently, I think it is important to consider the context of these words. The first sentence roughly translates into "I'm sorry, I didn't think there was a person here," and is said after a girl called やまざきたんぽぽ nearly crashes into a boy named くぎょうこうき while on her bike. 

Then こうき asks "You're a pupil here?", which is the second sentence, when he finds out unexpectedly that たんぽぽ is a new student at his school. 

Finally, the last phrase means "It's bad, isn't it" and たんぽぽ says it after she has had a terrible day. 

In all of these cases, the katakana is used to emphasize the word, almost like using capital letters. For example, instead of "sorry" たんぽぽ says "SORRY" because she nearly hit こうき. Another similar interpretation is that katakana is used much like bold and italics, according to a book called "Mangajin's Basic Japanese through Comics." So the second sentence can be read as "You go to school here?" and the third sentence "It's bad, isn't it." 


I think because katakana is more angular than hiragana it is better suited for emphasizing certain words, and whenever we look at a word that isn't written in the conventional way we pay extra attention to it. According to japanese.stackexchange.com, katakana is used both for semantic and visual emphasis. On the page, katakana simply stands out more than hiragana. 


Most textbooks will explain katakana as the writing used to express loanwords, foreign names, and onomatopoeia. According to www.omniglot.com, katakana has been used since the 20th century for these purposes in telegrams. However, as we have discovered in this katakana analysis, the use and significance of katakana is complex and extends beyond what most textbooks include. Namely, in this manga we have katakana that is used for Japanese words, which proves that katakana is not solely restricted to foreign words. 


Furthermore, I believe that the katakana in this manga also shows たんぽぽ's character as a girl who is lively and cute. Because it is difficult to convey the tone of a character's speech in manga, katakana helps the readers know where to "hear" the inflections in a sentence and also helps us establish how the characters speak. According to my Japanese friend Ayo, many まんがか will use katakana to make the dialogue more exciting and expressive. For example, we can easily imagine たんぽぽ saying ゴメンなさい in a loud and genuinely sorry voice. On the other hand, we can also gather that she is really truly upset when she says マズイよね. Therefore, using katakana is an effective way to subtly convey character in manga. 


Interestingly, after talking with my parents and family friends who have lived in Japan for a number of years, I've discovered that katakana can be a sort of slang. Especially in manga, which is generally geared toward young people, writing regular words in katakana can be regarded as somewhat rebellious of conventions. By looking at popular culture, like manga, we can see that Japanese people have developed another use for katakana so that it places emphasis on certain words, helps reveal character in manga, and serves a form of slang for young people. 


Sources:
Ayo Yoshida-Are (native Japanese speaker)
Lixin Shi (my father and previously a かいしゃいん in とうきょう) and his friends
Mangajin's Basic Japanese through Comics by Ashizawa Kazuko 
http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1930/why-dame-is-written-as-katakana-ダメ-in-manga
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm

ハッピーサンクスギビング!

ことしはわたしのだいいちサンクスギビングです。ともだちとごぜんじゅうにじに Macy's でかいものしました。とてもにぎやかでした。ひとがおおかったです。

わたしはふくをたくさんかいました。シャツをいちまいとズボンをにそくかいました。ともだちといっしょにかいものするはたのしかったです。ハッピーサンクスギビング！

Literary Work Draft

なぞ

ここはどこですか。

このまちに
ほしがありません
でもよるはあかるいです。

このまちに
ひとがおおいです
でもときどきさびしいです。

このまちに
ザー、いつもあめです
でもみんなのかさはカラフルです。

このまちは
しゅっしいんじゃありません
でもココはわたしのうちです。

ここはどこですか。
ニューヨークですよ！

Composition 2

やまださんへ

はじめまして。わたしはアンニです。コロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。そしてじゅうななさいです。わたしはまいにちりょからがっこうまであるいていきます。またくるまがありません。ニューヨークのせいかつはいよがしいですが、にぎやかです。せんしゅうのしゅうまつともだちとタイムズスクエアへいきました。このまちはとてもたのしいです。デパートやびじゅつかんがたくさんありますから。でもわたしはいつもしゅくだいがあります。げつようびとすいようびにごごろくじからじゅうにじまでとしょかんでべんきょうします。いつもしょくどうでたべますが、ときどきかれとレストランへいきます。わたしはろくがつじゅうさんにちににほんへいきます。よろしくお願いします。

アンニより

Katakana Analysis Draft

One of the remnants of my childhood in Japan is my collection of まんが. My favorite series is called イマドキ！by ゆうわたせ. In it there are some unusual uses of katakana: 「ゴメンなさい　ひと　いるとおもわなくてー」and 「あなたもココのせいと？」and 「マズイよね」. These are all instances where words normally written in hiragana are for some reason in katakana. In order to understand why they are written differently, I think it is important to consider the context of these words. The first sentence roughly translates into "I'm sorry, I didn't think there was a person here," and is said after a girl called やまざきたんぽぽ nearly crashes into a boy named くぎょうこうき while on her bike. Then こうき asks "You're a pupil here?", which is the second sentence, when he finds out unexpectedly that たんぽぽ is a new student at his school. Finally, the last phrase means "It's bad, isn't it" and たんぽぽ says it after she has had a terrible day. In all of these cases, the katakana is used to emphasize the word, almost like using capital letters. For example, instead of "sorry" たんぽぽ says "SORRY" because she nearly hit こうき. Another similar interpretation is that katakana is used much like bold and italics, according to a book called "Mangajin's Basic Japanese through Comics." So the second sentence can be read as "You go to school here?" and the third sentence "It's bad, isn't it." I think because katakana is more angular than hiragana it is better suited for emphasizing certain words, and whenever we look at a word that isn't written in the conventional way we pay extra attention to it. Furthermore, after talking with my parents and family friends who have lived in Japan for a number of years, I've discovered that katakana can be a sort of slang. Especially in manga, which is generally geared toward young people, writing regular words in katakana can be regarded as somewhat rebellious of conventions. Most Japanese textbooks will say that katakana is used mainly for borrowed words from foreign languages, but as we can see here, it can also be used for Japanese words as well. By looking at popular culture, like manga, we can see that Japanese people have developed another use for katakana so that it places emphasis on certain words and that it might be a form of slang for young people. 

Bloor Street

わたしははちがつじゅうごにちにトロントからきました。わたしのこうこう was smack dab in the middle of ダウンタウン, at the intersection of Bloor Street and Spadina. Ta-dah, here's what it looks like:

Apart from the asbestos and the constant fear of getting run over by crazy downtown drivers, it really was a great location for a school. What I love about it is how convenient it was to FOOD. Of course everything revolves around food! まいにちわたしはともだちとひるごはんをいっしょにたべました。ときどきわたしたちはすしをたべました。わたしたちはあるいてレストランへいきました。 One of our favourites (sorry I'm Canadian, "favourite" has a "u" in it) is called New Gen.

The funny thing is that at one point there was a rumour ("rumour" has a "u" in it too!) going around that someone got stabbed there. Although there were definitely sketchy red marks on the walls, that didn't prevent any of us from frequently lunching there. Besides, isn't it worth potentially risking your life for Japanese food? No? Well, clearly you haven't had New Gen's dragon roll.

Moral of the story...にほんのりょうりはすっごくおいしいです！

Manga & Me

わたしはまんががだいすけです。One of my favourites in the しょじょgenre is いまどき。I know it sounds really cheesy to like しょじょ, but it's one of my guilty pleasures. いまどき in English means "nowadays." I thought this was a fitting title because when I first got to Canada, I really missed my home in とうきょうso I read まんが online. まんがをよみました。Reading this series always made me think that "nowadays" my life is so different from what it was before. わたしはとうきょうにすんでいました。This served as one of the only connections to my childhood in Japan, and to this day I still get really nostalgic when I read まんが or watch アニメ。

Why Japanese

I chose to study Japanese because I lived in Tokyo for three years when I was younger, but I have since forgotten most of the language. It’s funny to look back at old home videos and not understand what five-year-old me was rambling on about. Partly because I love the culture and partly because I want to watch the original Pokemon series in Japanese, I’ve decided to study this language. I’ve enjoyed my first two weeks of lessons; I’m excited to learn more Japanese grammar. I’m most scared of learning kanji because I'm afraid I will confuse Japanese characters with Chinese characters. Well, here goes nothing! I’m going to try my best (がんばれ)! 

Mini-Biography

わたしのなまえはトキエんです。

コロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。

じゅななさいです。

ちゅごくじんです。

ときょにすんでいました。

トロントからきました。