Remember “The Blob”? It was a horror movie from the 1950s, starring Steve McQueen, in which a red slimy blob from outer space kept eating people and growing bigger and then eating even more people. I saw it as a…
Today I wrote my first vertical word. In Japanese you can write horizontally left to right, as in English—but you can also write vertically, moving top to bottom, right to left! Crazy, right? My First Vertical Word …
Today I had a Japanese-writing breakthrough. There are 92 basic kana characters, and I have been writing them over and over, but I have still been having trouble remembering a number of them. Most days when I wake up I practice…
I must admit, the Japanese characters are not flying into my head as rapidly as I would like. Yesterday, to expedite the absorption of kana by my recalcitrant brain, I made a mnemonic device to help me remember the…
Although I have been studying plenty, I feel guilty over my lack of Japanese-related New York City field trips. My main reasons for being remiss about investigating Japanese cultural and language centers around town: It won’t stop snowing here. …
One of my earliest childhood memories is of writing the alphabet. The English one, I mean. I can see myself sitting on the floor at the edge of a sunny living room, I think with wall-to-wall carpeting and glass doors,…
Practicing my Japanese writing skills at Café Margot this morning, I heard two very different languages. Site of Today’s Language Encounters One emerged from the mouth of a maybe 30-something woman who parked herself long-term at a table without…
This morning I was still lying in bed when I noticed that I was repeatedly drawing the hiragana symbol for fu in my head. (I would like to unrhyme the preceding sentence, but I can’t think of how…
Today was another snow day. Enough is enough. My California blood cannot take this. Snow More Snow Nonetheless, I decided to brave the elements to achieve a higher goal: errand running. There I was, trudging down Columbus Avenue, listening to…
Tokyo is New York’s sister city in Japan. I learned that yesterday from a neighbor of mine. I want to go there. Rosetta Stone, Danger! See That Girl’s Really Big Piece of Cake on Right? That Made Me…
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