Merlin 2018

[kujichagulia]

Very interesting. がんばってください！

[Adrianslont]

Good luck, whether you take the 2 or 3 person date option!

I personally don’t think it matters if your Japanese is not so great - lots of people have trouble dating when both parties are fluent in the same language - and lots of relationships start when both parties have not much language in common at all!

A common language can make things easier but good will and mutual interest in each other goes further I believe.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

So tonight was the first time in over a week that I’ve sat down and drank with Japanese speakers. And it was a really big improvement honestly. Now I mean, we are talking like me understanding half of what’s happening, given the appropriate context clues.

So that gives me home that I’ll be able to struggle through the date happily. It will be fun I think, and a good learning experience.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

My date went extremely well. We ended up meeting in the middle as far as language goes, and I learned a few words along the way.

We’ll be going out again sometime soonish, maybe 1-2 weeks as he is quite busy with work. So my plan for the next 2 weeks is as follows:

- Rearrange textbook material so that similar items are adjacent.

- Do all the excercises in the book, all of which I had originally skipped.

- Create my own sentences for each of the forms which I do not know well.

- Find opportunities to actively produce all the forms, even if I have to invent them a little bit.

I’m in no real rush at this point, but I’m aiming to put in 2-3 hours per day, and to try to talk with him a little each day. Which is hard, because I’m quite shy. But at least now I know him a little better.

[For future reference, I “directly” studied for about 23 hours, the 1st through the 10th]

[SophiaMerlin_II]

I only studied for one hour each day since I last wrote.

Today, a friend encouraged me to try to tell a story that I told him in English, to the guy I went on a date with.

I was able to more or less string together the equivalent of a 350 word story in Japanese. It remains to be seen if it is at all comprehensible (he hasn’t messaged back yet) but let me post it for posterities sake, even though I am extremely embarrassed by the whole ordeal, because I know it is not good. I have to start somewhere I guess? Some of the words I had to look up, so they might not be quite right.

[name]さんはとても働きますから、私はうるさい人ほしいません。でも私と[girl]ちゃんは会話ました。[girl]ちゃんは[boy]さんを話しました。[boy]さんは「[name]さんを話します」言いました。
You’re always busy, so I don’t want to bother you. But, I was having a conversation with [girl], and she told [boy] about it, and he said I should tell you about it.

私の中学校と高学校の試験はとても良いでしたから、大学は私に郵便物をくれました。毎年大学は奨学金をくれましたでも母さん「いいえ」と言いました。 私は大学を早く入できました、でも母さん「いいえ」言いました。 大学はMITやSoCal Polytechnicなどがです、最高の数学と科学大学のアメリカ。
In middle school and high school, my test scores were very high. Because of that, colleges sent me letters. Every year, colleges would send me scholarship offers, but my mom would say no. They allowed me to enter college early, but my mom would say no. They were colleges like MIT and SoCal Polytechnic, the best math and science schools in the US.

4年の高校、人生は難しいでした。18歳、両親は難しいですから家が同じくない。高校は出ますこと難しいです。大学入ません。

My 4th year of High School, life got very difficult for me. I was 18, and my relationship with my parents bad, so I had to move out. It was difficult to graduate High School. I didn’t go to College.

でも、人生は良いです。1年に、政治働きました。私はボス、400社員でした。1週に80〜100時間働きました。難しいが楽しいでした。
But, life is good. For 1 year, I worked in politics. I was a boss, and I had 400 employees. Each week, I worked 80-100 hours. It was hard, but it was also interesting.

ストレスは大編問題でしたから、病気でした。4年、働きません。2年前、働きました、でもまだ難しい。

The stress was a big problem for me, and it caused me to get very sick. 4 years I did not work. Two years ago I started to work again, but it is still hard.

私はよく悲しいでした。日本は違うから日本国へ来ました。ここ時間はすこし寂しい、でも私は大体嬉しい。

I was sad all the time. But Japan is different from America, so I came here. Sometimes I am a little lonely here, but I’m happy a lot more.

帰ることが欲しいくないです。私は4月に帰るなければなりません、でも私は東京に留学するほしいです。
I don’t want to go home. In April I have to go back, but I want to come and study in Tokyo.

日本語で説明することがわかりません〜 難しい…
I don’t know how else to explain in Japanese. It is hard and complicated...

So I’ve already sent it but gentle corrections are always welcome, because I’m sure that it is a hot mess. I spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to string it together with the grammar that I’ve learned, and there was a lot that I couldn’t say because I really just don’t know how.

Also, yesterday I was accosted by a maid and talked with her in Japanese.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

I only studied a few minutes yesterday and absolutely none at all today. I’m not feeling terribly motivated, just a bit stressed really.

I want to talk to him but I feel always as if I am bothering him, because he is working. But he makes time to talk to other people, so I’m not doing something wrong.

I realized that some of what is making me upset are different cultural expectations and that is good to know. There’s no real reason for me to be upset, actually. I was just misunderstanding is all.

Tomorrow is my day off, so I want to try to get in about 4-6 hours of studying, as energy permits. Since I will have the day off, I’m going to try to study as closely to how I would in the States. So the pacing and everything.

As far as comprehension goes, I am starting to recognize some of the words that I have learned. Production is still really hard because I am just not studying enough. I don’t have any grammar bouncing around in my head.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

Sorry in advance, as this is a sad update.

I just learned that my dog is not doing very well. Or that she is dead I am not sure which my aunt meant. I think she just means that she is sick but I don’t really want to ask her to clarify, because I’d like to think that she is just sick.

I wish that I could just fly home tomorrow. I really just don’t have the money.

So my study plans for today are cancelled.

And maybe for the next few days/weeks.

[rdearman]

Sorry to hear that.

[Adrianslont]

Sorry in advance, as this is a sad update.

I just learned that my dog is not doing very well. Or that she is dead I am not sure which my aunt meant. I think she just means that she is sick but I don’t really want to ask her to clarify, because I’d like to think that she is just sick.

I wish that I could just fly home tomorrow. I really just don’t have the money.

So my study plans for today are cancelled.

And maybe for the next few days/weeks.

Sorry to hear about your dog.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

My aunt just told me that my dog passed away.

I don’t know if I will go back to the states now.