Sheltered
Initiation
Language
Learning Japanese
Lesson 3: confront grammar.
Study as before, though in a partly new way.
Preparation: associations.
Lou cheats neatly to go HOME-WARD. knee-WARD, TO the knee gawk, co-eds, at the SCHOOL me say this is a good STORE GO with the E. key, moss. a yoyo could do WELL |
-ni
is translated as "-WARD", as in "home-ward, east-ward";
that is, it means "to-" but it follows its noun. More
generally, Japanese has "postpositions" instead of
"prepositions".
BEWARE
OF "GRAMMARITIS"
Unless you can use the new ending appropriately most
of the time, it is probably best ignored. In general,
absence of endings is less confusing than wrong endings:
The three child go tomorrow to many store is a lot
more comprehensible than The three childs will went
tomorrow to many storedren. This kind of "grammaritis"
will destroy your ability to learn, as well as speak. You
must speak confidently and continuously in order to
be understood.
Step 1:
Word-Quiz Translate each of
the following words. 1.
store 2. well
3.
school 4.
teacher 5.
go 6.
house 7.
-ward 8.
dances 9.
person 10.
writes 11.
subject
marker 12.
tea 13.
I 14.
chopsticks 15.
please 16.
meat
Step 2:
Pattern-Drill
In SILL, all new grammatical
categories are taught one at a time, "asymmetrically" rather
than in tables (paradigms). Tables are used mainly to review
learned categories. Each new category is, in a sense,
"optional": Not using it is a "shortcut," which will
maximize comprehensibility. Step 3: Talk
Now! 1. Tell what you
do at a party, in comparison with what others do.
To continue studying
the language: Study five words at a time,
following each study-step until fluent: 1
..
Word-quiz, 2
..
Pattern
Drill, 3
.... Talk
now! Also, do frequent
Talkathons on your own (in the car, etc..): Talk to
pets, pictures, friends, whoever, for as long as you
can.
Talkathon
Practice by
talking to a picture or a pet for as long as you can without
stopping! When no specific "Talk
now! " is assigned, you should be able to make up your
own topics, or just have a
Talkathon!
COMPREHENSION EXERCISES
a) Responding
Each question contains one key-word that you know. Respond to the question by making up a new sentence (a statement, not a question) using the known word; follow with 2-3 other sentences. (If you dont recognize any words, say any 2-3 sentences.)
1. Sensei-wa, ima nani-o shimas-ka? |
5. Kodomo-wa, odorimas-ka? |
2. Hito-wa, okaa-sama-to nani-o shimas-ka? |
6. Sensei-wa, nani-o sh'te imas-ka? |
3. Sensei-wa, Nihon-ni ikimas-ka? |
7. Chisai kodomo-wa, gakko-ni kimas-ka? |
4. Tomodachi-wa, uchi-ni ikimas-ka? |
8. Kashkoi sensei-wa, nani-o shimas-ka? |
b) Root-search
As you hear each word, translate it instantly if you know it, and say "zip" if you dont know it. Many of these words are forms of words you know, with different endings, etc.: You may not know the meaning of the ending, but, if you recognize the "root", you have the most important part.
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
odotte |
ikiru |
tabete |
kakimashite |
2. |
ikite |
gendai |
kaku |
odoru |
(Hint: you know all but 2 of these words.) |
The lesson here is that you can recognize many words even if you dont know what form theyre in. In many cases, the form is meaningless; in others, it is still more important for over-all comprehension to recognize the word than to understand its form.
You can study two or more endings at once but not for speaking: Learn them as "pencil grammar," for abstract grammar knowledge. As long as you dont try to integrate all pencil grammar into your speaking, it will not threaten your developing fluency.
c) Write down (in English) each word that you know in the following story.
Amerika-jin-no ôkii sensei-wa chisai Nihon-ni ikimas. Nihon-no gakko-de mainichi eigo-o oshiemas. Sensei-wa soko-no atarashii gaksei-ni aimas. Soshite iyimas: "Gakko-wa, doko des-ka?" Gaksei-wa iyimas: "Gakko-wa, yama-no-ue des." Sensei-to gaksei-wa bas-de gakko-ni ikimas. Sensei-wa, eigo-o taksan hanashimas. Nazenaraba sensei-wa, Amerika-ga ski-des kara. Sensei-wa, ureshii des. Sensei-wa, okaa-sama-ni tegami-o kakimas. Chichi-ni Nihon-no yoi hon-o okurimas. |
Now, write your own one-sentence story (in English), incorporating all the words you recognized.Your one-sentence "story" is, in effect, a "summary" of the story. If you practice writing summaries in this way, you will find yourself improving their quality and accuracy.
Vocabulary Review
Below is the entire vocabulary of these three lessons. Can you translate each word instantly, confidently, and correctly? Practice these words until you are fluent.
tea chopsticks meat |
please I Subject marker |
person teacher |
school house store |
-wards (to) well |
dances comes goes |
Can you say your own sentence with each word? Practice saying sentences until you are fluent.
These few words can be combined into hundreds of sentences: This ability to combine (rather than memorize fixed sentences) is the key to creative and fluent speaking.