Grammar + Lovelorn Teenager the Remix

Once again I got some great help on my Ringo's Good Friend comic from the users of Lang-8. tomochanさん, suteさん, and meguさん all gave corrections here.

Luckily for you, unlike previous comic entries, the grammar was a-OK. However, I received some corrections for word choice and fluency. Such as...

From tomochanさん: まさみ君がその手紙を読んだかどうか気になって、ろくに寝られなかったよ。(The original sentence was まさみ君がその手紙を読んだかどうかって、ろくに寝られなかったよ。)
I think adding  気になって (to worry) helps make the sentence more complete and concise. Perhaps it's comparable to saying "He said he couldn't believe she did that" instead of "He was like I can't believe you did that". 


From suteさん: まさみ君がその手紙を読んだかどうかって、ろくに寝られなかった(わ)よ。
わ isn't necessary, but it's a particle often used by women at the end of their sentences, kind of like a softener of sentences, so a sentence including it can seem more natural. I actually asked some people on Lang-8 about it a while ago, since I had heard it being used by men also. (This confused me, since we were told it was strictly a feminine part of speech.) The journal entry is here: 

From meguさん: きっと あのまきこって子にはかなわないよね. (The original was でもまきこってあの子にかなわないね.)
I think this is  a case of how different cultures prefer words to be grouped (in regards to the あのまきこって子 correction). This correction shows how a Japanese speaker would organize the word structure to have better clarity and more natural sound. I get the feeling it isn't quite equivalent, but compare "that Makiko girl" or "that girl Makiko". I'm sure people have a preference as to which they say or write.

Grammar Points + Lovelorn Teenager: The Best Way to Learn Japanese

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Script 

Grammar Points + Space Whales: the Best Way to Learn Japanese

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*Note of a failure: You might see that I spelled 'adventure' as アドベンチャinstead of アドベンチャー。In the script it is spelled correctly. Also, I wish I had drawn the whale bigger.

Script 

Grammar Points + Unicorns: the Best Way to Learn Japanese

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The story of a young unicorn who loves the sea more than the sky. Going with a bit of a different format, the script is just below, with the grammar points bolded; below that you can find the specifics of the grammar points enumerated. 

Note: edits to this script with help from Lang-8 are here.
Script

家族と一緒にいるのに、いつもぼくがちがう気がする。
Even when I'm with my family, I always feel like I'm different. 

ぼくだけ海が好きなせいかそういう気がするかもしれない。
Maybe I feel that way because I'm the only one who likes the sea.

空より海が好きなユニコーンなんて、ありえないじゃないか？　ぼく、一体なにものか？
A unicorn who likes the sea more than the sky -- isn't that unbelievable? What am I?

神様に　同感してくれるものを、ぼくまで送ってくださるようにお願いしても、今まで返事もなかった。
I ask God to please send me someone who feels the same way I do, but until now there hasn't been any answer.

今までは　ずっと　涙が出るぐらいさびしかった。でも・・・
Until now, I've always been so lonely I could cry. But...

これから、もっといい日がくるような気がするよ。
I get the feeling that better days will come from now on.


文法ポイント

Grammar Points + ZOMBIES : the Best Way to Learn Japanese

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For your enjoyment, a culmination of the grammar points which I haven't been posting... I have so many drafts in blogger it's ridiculous.

A script is below, with grammar points.　

Vocabulary of the Week: Earthquake 地震・じしん

夕べ地震があったと聞いたんだけど、ぐうぐうと眠っていてぜんぜん気がつかなかった。

I heard there was an earthquake last night, but I was snoring away and didn't notice it at all. 

In Japanese, 地震・じしん　is earthquake. The level of its strength by the Japanese scale is called 震度・しんど。　1 is the weakest, 7 is the largest. By the Japanese scale, I think the earthquake in Chile was categorized as a six.

This actually happened to me a few days after I came to live with my host family. My host father asked if I'd been woken up by the earthquake. No. I hadn't. This is not surprising, as even the fire alarm outside my bedroom apparently is not strong enough to wake me. I suppose I prefer dreamland. At the time I was a bit sad that I didn't get to experience the 'excitement' of my first earthquake, but after Chile I wonder if it isn't foolish to want to experience one.

Grammar: -tara ～たら #2 and #3

Use of the conditional ～たら　#2 and #3: to state an intention or offer a suggestion.

 

#2: to state an intention. For example, "after I eat, I'm going to sleep." 「食べたら、すぐ寝る。」 "When he answers, we'll decide." ｢彼が答えたら、決める。」 Notice that the actions are ordered; the verbX with -tara attached must happen before verbY. 

#3: to suggest. For example, "how about you eat at Matsuya's today?/ Why don't you eat at Matsuya's today?" ｢今日、松屋で食べたらどう（ですか）。」

Necessary vocabulary for all Japanese students:

血に飢えた・ちにうえた　bloodthirsty

一角獣・いっかくじゅう     unicorn

逃げる・にげる                 run away, escape

去る・さる                          leave

I just noticed that I made a mistake with my unicorn kanji! Did you notice, or would it have been better if I'd said nothing?

Grammar: Use of -tara ～たら

Conditionals. In English all you have to do is stick on an 'if' and you're pretty much covered. (To be honest, they're pretty complicated in English, if you think about it. 'If I eat' vs 'If I had eaten' vs 'If I had eaten' vs 'If I ate' vs 'If I have eaten'... I suppose that isn't a problem of conditional conjugation, but of past/present/future and everything in between.) In Japanese, it's a little more complicated. Depending on what you're trying to say, you can choose from ～たら、～と、～ば、and なら.We've been reviewing the differences between each in class, and instead of studying for my test like a good student, I decided to doodle and call it studying. First in the series: "The Use of -tara #1". 

This use is for use in ordering past events. Basically, "When/After X-ed, Y-ed!" When I woke up this morning, there was a Turtle Cat standing on my bed.


The catch is, the Y action has to be an uncontrollable/surprising occurrence. This means you can't use it to order things like your daily actions (ie, "when I woke up, I got out of bed") because you have control of them. You can use this to recount things that happened to you, or things that you noticed - basically things outside of yourself. 

"When I got home, my friends were waiting outside." (OK)

"When I went to McDonald's, I sat in the booth on the right." (X)


In my textbook there was a line that confused me, because I felt it contradicted the rule: 「さきはいたら、だいぶよくなりました。」　"After I threw up earlier, I felt a lot better." My thought was she controls the way she feels, but really your health isn't something you control, so it adheres to the rule. 

When using ～たら #1, your sentence may come out as either when or after, since depending on the content one will sound more natural than the other in English.

Comic Sunday: Shoes

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