Well, I found out that I’d passed the Eiken pre-1st grade test today.
I didn't have a lot of confidence with the interview, so I was a bit relieved. BUT, I really wanna pass the 1st grade exam because it seems as though it makes me have confidence with my English.
Step by step.
hmmm, how long does it take to pass the 1st grade level, I wonder.
-Mu
2008-07-22
2008-07-21
What Did It Like?
I watched news, which reported that another version of “Tail of Genji (源氏物語)” was re-discovered, today. There are some copies of that story, but this one is a bit different from others. Experts say it is useful because we can use it to understand what the original one, which doesn’t exist now, was like. Y’know that there were no printing tools at that time, so people had to copy stories if they wanted them. Although a lot of people are fascinated with this story, I don’t like it much. While reading it, I can’t help but think, “Oh my god, this guy is really a cradle-snatcher…and I can’t understand those incestuous relationships…”
Looking at the pictures (we call it Genji-monogatari-emaki 源氏物語絵巻, or just Genji-emaki 源氏絵巻), I wonder how those ladies could stand the heat of summer. They all have long hair and wear kimonos, which really look unbelievably hot.
Anyway, it is good that we now have a clue so we can know the original story. Ah, there are many Thirty-one Syllabled Verse poems (aka. Tanka短歌) . In those days, they were used to foster relationships between men and women. The people who were good at writing them were highly likely to have boyfriends/girlfriends. At this point in time, I never would have been able to have a boyfriend. I don’t have any literary talent or the sense of humor, unfortunately.
And I wonder what the life was like in those days… did they only care about dating someone? So they loved this story that much? hmmm.
Looking at the pictures (we call it Genji-monogatari-emaki 源氏物語絵巻, or just Genji-emaki 源氏絵巻), I wonder how those ladies could stand the heat of summer. They all have long hair and wear kimonos, which really look unbelievably hot.
Anyway, it is good that we now have a clue so we can know the original story. Ah, there are many Thirty-one Syllabled Verse poems (aka. Tanka短歌) . In those days, they were used to foster relationships between men and women. The people who were good at writing them were highly likely to have boyfriends/girlfriends. At this point in time, I never would have been able to have a boyfriend. I don’t have any literary talent or the sense of humor, unfortunately.
And I wonder what the life was like in those days… did they only care about dating someone? So they loved this story that much? hmmm.
How Long Does It Take to Master Another Language?
Again, I have not written in this blog for a long time. Also, I have not been studying English much lately. I just did not want to do anything... Gee, this heat!!! I can't stand it anymore.
I watched some DVDs today. I had to study English for a test, though, I did not want to. So I took an easy way out. It's easy listening practice. But, actually, it was not that easy.
I watched "Love Actually" and "Harry Potter". I thought it was a good idea to become accustom to the British accent, but the movies only helped me lose my motivation to study English. I could understand less than 20 percent of what they said.
Whoa... somebody tell me how long it takes to master a language, PLEASE! I thought I studied a lot in the last few months, but it was not enough. Rather, my English seems to have become a bit worse, since I stopped studying. Could I keep my English level till I go to England?
Okay, enough. I wrote a full load of crap today...
I watched some DVDs today. I had to study English for a test, though, I did not want to. So I took an easy way out. It's easy listening practice. But, actually, it was not that easy.
I watched "Love Actually" and "Harry Potter". I thought it was a good idea to become accustom to the British accent, but the movies only helped me lose my motivation to study English. I could understand less than 20 percent of what they said.
Whoa... somebody tell me how long it takes to master a language, PLEASE! I thought I studied a lot in the last few months, but it was not enough. Rather, my English seems to have become a bit worse, since I stopped studying. Could I keep my English level till I go to England?
Okay, enough. I wrote a full load of crap today...
2008-07-06
How to Gratify Japanese. (This is the smartest way!)
Heya. It’s been a while since I last posted a diary entry. I’m so surprised by how easy it is for the heat to rob me of my work ethic… Oops! It’s never certain if I will study or not...
By the way, I saw a lot of decorations for the Star Festival while driving today. So I’d like to write about this festival!
In my dictionary, there’s an example phrase,
The other day I read an article on Homer’s Odyssey on Scientific American. It was quite interesting. (If you want to read this article click here.)
According to this article, one reason why western people mythologized the universe is that they wanted to record the movements of stars and those events. How smart they were! By contrast, we don’t have many myths like them in Japan. For ancient Japanese, it was worth making Tanka of the moon, but not stars.
Also, I read a book the other day on my way to Tokyo. The author of the book kind of explained clearly on this topic.
Europeans had such a fertile imagination that they could make the notion of constellations under the sky. But Japanese didn’t look and gaze up at the sky. They preferred to look at the moon reflected in a pond or the moon shadow. This difference is so huge. Japanese put more importance on something they can absolutely see than something ideological. They realistically sought salvation in absence of absolutes (transience) rather than supposing a super terrestrial God exists. They thought it was better to give some “actual gift items” to express their gratitude. Japanese official diplomatic delegations sent to China during the Sui dynasty (遣隋使 Ken Zui Shi) and the Tang Dynasty (遣唐使 Ken Tou Shi) also returned to Japan with a lot of books, pottery, paintings, and so on, as the evidence of their hard work or accomplishment. Yes! Japanese is a really realistic nation!
I totally agree with the author. (sorry, it was so difficult for me to translate the book that I probably made a lot of mistakes, and it makes the idea hard to understand.) Japanese are existentialists to some extent. So, if you really want to express your feeling, just give someone a present without words! This is my visceral advice. haha!
And, I heard a real ridiculous piece of info on TV last night while having dinner. It (the TV commercial) said, “we’ll finish our TV program at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, because of the Star festival. If we do so, we can see stars more clearly.” (I don’t remember the exact phrase, but it was something like that.) I can’t help think the commercial is dodging responsibility by shifting the blame… Am I wrong?
Maybe I’ll write about this event again tomorrow… Because the actual festival is tomorrow.
-Mu
By the way, I saw a lot of decorations for the Star Festival while driving today. So I’d like to write about this festival!
In my dictionary, there’s an example phrase,
“The event was introduced into Japan in the 8th century and became popular during the Edo Period.”In a collection of Myriad Leaves (万葉集 manyo-shu), some people made Tanka (短歌 thirty-one syllabled verse) for the festival. Some empty-headed Japanese may think it is unique to Japan, but actually, it is quite different from our traditional culture. This event has lasted for a very, very long time here, it is easy to for us to misunderstand the event because Japanese people love to see stars. But in fact, as the example sentence says, it “was introduced” into Japan. And Japan is a strange nation because people are not interested in stars at all.
The other day I read an article on Homer’s Odyssey on Scientific American. It was quite interesting. (If you want to read this article click here.)
According to this article, one reason why western people mythologized the universe is that they wanted to record the movements of stars and those events. How smart they were! By contrast, we don’t have many myths like them in Japan. For ancient Japanese, it was worth making Tanka of the moon, but not stars.
Also, I read a book the other day on my way to Tokyo. The author of the book kind of explained clearly on this topic.
Europeans had such a fertile imagination that they could make the notion of constellations under the sky. But Japanese didn’t look and gaze up at the sky. They preferred to look at the moon reflected in a pond or the moon shadow. This difference is so huge. Japanese put more importance on something they can absolutely see than something ideological. They realistically sought salvation in absence of absolutes (transience) rather than supposing a super terrestrial God exists. They thought it was better to give some “actual gift items” to express their gratitude. Japanese official diplomatic delegations sent to China during the Sui dynasty (遣隋使 Ken Zui Shi) and the Tang Dynasty (遣唐使 Ken Tou Shi) also returned to Japan with a lot of books, pottery, paintings, and so on, as the evidence of their hard work or accomplishment. Yes! Japanese is a really realistic nation!
I totally agree with the author. (sorry, it was so difficult for me to translate the book that I probably made a lot of mistakes, and it makes the idea hard to understand.) Japanese are existentialists to some extent. So, if you really want to express your feeling, just give someone a present without words! This is my visceral advice. haha!
And, I heard a real ridiculous piece of info on TV last night while having dinner. It (the TV commercial) said, “we’ll finish our TV program at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, because of the Star festival. If we do so, we can see stars more clearly.” (I don’t remember the exact phrase, but it was something like that.) I can’t help think the commercial is dodging responsibility by shifting the blame… Am I wrong?
Maybe I’ll write about this event again tomorrow… Because the actual festival is tomorrow.
-Mu
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