Composition 3

わたしはニューヨークにいます。わたしは大学のきょうしです。中国の歴史をおせあます。わたしのほんはとてもゆうめいですから、おかねがたくさんあります。わたしはしんせつですから、わたしの学生はわたしがすきです。でも、わたしのクラスはとてもむずかしいです。わたしのクラスはおもしろいですが、むずかしいです。
わたしはかぞくがいません。わたしの生活はとてもいそがしいですから。まいにちはちじにおきます。それから文章をかきます。そらか大学へ中国歴史のクラスをおしえにいきます。それからパーティへいきます。わたしの生活はとてもむずかしいですね？

Senryu

ともだちの
はなをください
キレイです

あかいです
チリソースです
ファイアです！

ぎゅうにゅうを
のみましたでも
フルイです。

こんしゅうわたしはとてもいぞがしです。わたしはどしていぞがしですか？エッセイをかきますから。むすかしいですが、とてもおもしろいです。中国の歴史のエッセイです。せんしゅ図書館へいきました。としょかんいに中国の歴史の本や文章がたくさんがあります。ふゆですから、とてもさむいです。ことし、てんきもあめです。てんきはよくないですから、うちでべんきょおします。でも、本はおもいです。

Katakana Analysis

As we have learned, katakana have three primary purposes- onomatopoeia, loan words, and emphasis. That is, they can serve to represent a sound, or to identify a word that comes from another language, or they can emphasize a particular word. In a sense, I believe that this latter process involves defamiliarizing the reader with a word that they might pass over quickly. By forcing the reader to spell out the word rather than simply look at the kanji ideogram, for instance, the writer has enabled the reader to dwell on the word, so that they might devote more attention to that word than they might otherwise have done.

I looked at online newspapers like Asahi (Asashi.com) to find my katakana words, and I was surprised to find that many were "borrowed" from English, such as キャリアアップ、 カタログ、トレーニング, and レッスン. (career, catalogue, training, and lesson). While I understood the concept of borrowed words, I believe that these concepts existed in some indigenous form within Japan prior to contact with English language speakers. Therefore, the usage of these terms is not merely a question of using the foreign alphabet to represent foreign ideas.

I think we can see that there is some sort of cachet to using English words, or some purpose beyond pure necessity. For the terms I have listed above, I can see how some might have felt that they were associated too deeply with traditional forms of education, particularly in terms of the kanji terminologies. Perhaps we can sense a desire to emphasize the modern and global implications of these new usages in opposition to Confucian interpretations of the same concepts. Perhaps, furthermore, there is a feeling that these modern and global terminologies will be beneficial to the reader, providing a greater ability to interact outside of the Japan sphere. Or, maybe they just seem cooler.

Katakana Haiku Draft

ともだちの
はなをください
キレイです

あかいです
チリソースです
ファイアです！

やまださんへ

わたしはアマンダ ブラウンーインズです。ブルックリンからきました。わたしはコロンビヤだいがくのがくせいです。コロンビヤだいがくはふるいですが、いいだいがくです。そしてとてもゆうめいです。わたしはちゅうごくごをべんきょうします。まいにちくじにおきます。げつようびからきんようびまでちゅうごくごのほんをよみます。ごごじゅういちじにねます。わたしはしちがつここのかにふねでにほんへいんきます。よろしくおねがいします。

アマンダより

Katakana Analysis Draft

I looked at online newspapers like Asahi (Asashi.com) to find my katakana words, and I was surprised to find that many were "borrowed" from English, such as キャリアアップ、 カタログ、トレーニング, and レッスン. (career, catalogue, training, and lesson). While I understood the concept of borrowed words, I believe that these concepts existed in some indigenous form within Japan prior to contact with English language speakers. Therefore, the usage of these terms is not merely a question of using the foreign alphabet to represent foreign ideas.

I think we can see that there is some sort of cachet to using English words, or some purpose beyond pure necessity. For the terms I have listed above, I can see how some might have felt that they were associated too deeply with traditional forms of education, particularly in terms of the kanji terminologies. Perhaps we can sense a desire to emphasize the modern and global implications of these new usages in opposition to Confucian interpretations of the same concepts. Perhaps, furthermore, there is a feeling that these modern and global terminologies will be beneficial to the reader, providing a greater ability to interact outside of the Japan sphere. Or, maybe they just seem cooler.

日本人は17世紀(17th century)から19世紀(19th century)まで何にを食べましたか？　わたしは日本料理の歴史のほんをよみました, so I can tell you. Following the wake of scholars like Carol Gluck who have examined the ways in which notions about 徳川(とくがわ）日本 were manufactured during the 明治（めいじ）period, 日本の historians are beginning to examine the realities of 日本料理 prior to the 20世紀 (20th century) attempting to trace the continuities and breaks in what people ate, and in how they thought about what they ate, before the modern era.

Eric RathはKansasだいがくのせんせいです。Rathはこのほんを書きます、and if the type of work I described above is of any interest to you, it is definitely worth a look. As I'm writing this post, however, I realized that the material was less about the actual food products that 日本人 consumed, and more about their attitudes toward consumption. Rath argues that nonconsumption was a very important part of the process of eating for elite 日本人, a unique way of relating to food that would continue to the modern era, in the more ceremonial aspects of 日本の cuisine that can be observed even in contemporary アメリカの日本のレストラン。Check it out!

こんばんわ！This summer, I studied 中國語 in 台湾. How does this relate to 日本 or 日本語? Actually, 台湾 has been strongly influenced by 日本. Why? Well, certainly the ごじゅう years of colonial rule has had something to do with that. Much of the present infrastructure in 台湾, such as buildings, roads, plumbing, 電車　and 電気 were all introduced under 日本の rule. 台湾の most famous tourist site, 太魯閣渓谷 (Taroko Gorge), still bears the name assigned during this time period as well. Furthermore, an older generation of 台湾人 still speaks fluent 日本語, as they were taught in がっこう.

Beyond these colonial remnants, young 台湾人 are very interested in 日本文化 (Japanese culture).　日本食 can be found everywhere, including the ubiquitous night markets. This is something that I found particularly striking, as 日本食 is very hard to find in mainland 中国. 日本の clothing, toys, etc, fill the デパート. Alongside every なな-じゅういち（７−１１） is a Family Mart, a 日本の version of the chain. I was surprised to find as well that many young 台湾人 study 日本語, which I assume is both a matter of its popularity and its usefulness for business purposes.

All of these factors served to familiarize me with various aspects of 日本文化 (Japanese culture), and have increased my interest in further understanding the linguistic aspects of this culture. Hopefully soon I will be able to write more of these blog posts in 日本語!

Hello, my name is Amanda. I am a second-year masters student at Columbia University, and I specialize in late Qing/Republican-era Chinese history. I am studying Japanese in order to utilize Japanese-language secondary source materials concerning Chinese history. So far, I am having a bit of trouble learning the hiragana, as I'm more accustomed to square Chinese characters, and my handwriting is not refined enough to handle all of the curves! I'm looking forward to getting to kanji...

おはようございます！こんにちは！こんばんは！
はじめまして、わたしはアマンダです。アメリカ人です。ブルックリンからきました。コロンビア大学のだいがくいんせいです。にじゅうななさいです。どおぞよろしくおねがいします！