Watching MegaMan NT Warrior (ロックマンエグゼ) in Japanese

日本語の練習 第155週
Japanese Practice Week 155

2023年01月15日「日」第155週 

日本語のイベント／EVENT IN JAPANESE

ゲーム会社というカプコンは４月にロックマンバトルネットワーク（ロックマンエグゼ）を発売するよていです。だから、カプコムはYouTubeでアニメをアップすることに決めた。字幕がありませんが、リスニングの練習にはいいですよ。

ちっさいころ、子供向けに番組を編成するために設定した放送時間帯というKidsWBでこのアニメを見たから、これは懐かしいアニメです。それに、法的に見ることができるサイトので、うれしいです。アニメを見たいなら、５月末まで見ることができます。

対話／DIALOGUE

Dreaming in Japanese can be weird.

[夢はちょっと変]

A: サトシ、どうして早く起きたの？

B: 変な夢を見た。

A: え？変？

B: ラーメン屋でラーメンを食べた。

A: うん。

B: でも、俺のラーメンネジが２本入ってた。

A: え？！もしかして飲んじゃったの？

B: いや。それでは、店長さんに文句を言って、返金してもらった。

A: 変な夢ね。

B: ですよね。

A: 残念ながら。新しいラーメン屋に誘うつもりだったのに。

B: いいよ。行こうよ。

A: え、なんで？変な夢を見たのに。

B: まあ、夢のラーメンはおいしかったよ。

[That Dream was a Little Weird]

A: Satoshi, why are you up so early?

B: I had a weird dream.

A: Weird?

B: I ate ramen at a ramen restaurant.

A: Uh-huh.

B: But my ramen had two screws in it.

A: What? Don’t tell me you swallowed them?

B: Nah. After that, I complained to the manager and got a refund.

A: That was weird.

B: I know, right?

A: That’s too bad. I was going to invite you to that new ramen place.

B: That’s okay. Let’s go.

A: What? Even though you had that weird dream.

B: Well, the ramen in my dream was delicious.

救世の大冒険／KYUUSEI’S ADVENTURE

第30

いかりのみずうみでトレーナーに勝った時、啓二の事を話した。あのやつ。。。あの強いポケモンの話しをまた言っているのか。僕たちに勝ってないのに。湖に行って、赤いギャラドスを見た。あれ？普通は青だっけ？あのギャラドスに向かって、あいつは僕を襲ってきた。

スタティックのでんじはであいつをマヒさせた。それで、コチョウのいとをはくはあいつの素早さを減らした。掴みにくかったが、できた。ウズマキと名付けた。必ずウズマキのリベンジしに来るわ、ロケット団め！戻ってきたら、ケープをつけている男に出会った。名前はワタル。やっぱ、ロケット団の仕業だ。コイキングをギャラドスに進化させた原因は電波だ。ワタルに調査を手伝ってほしそう。仕方ないなあ。賛成して、彼はどこかに逃げた。

釣り人に勝った、スタティックはデンリュウに進化して、かみなりパンチを覚えた。よっしゃー！この瞬間を待っていた！強くなったポケモンと僕と一緒にロケット団を倒しに行く。

ワタルはどこにいるのか？

＃30

After battling a trainer at the Lake of Rage, he told me about how he met Keiji. Sounds like that guy is still going on about strong Pokemon. Even though he can’t even beat us. Went to the lake and saw a red Gyrados. Huh? Those are usually blue, right? When I approached the red Gyrados, it started to attack.

Static was able to paralyze it with Thunderwave and Kochou lowered its speed with String Shot.  It was hard to catch it but we did it. I’ll name him Uzumaki.

I’ll make sure it gets revenge on Team Rocket. When I got back to land, I met a guy wearing a cape. His name is Lance. So Team Rocket is behind this. And those radio waves are causing the Magikarp to evolve into Gyrados. Lance wants me to help with the investigation, so I guess I have no choice. After I agreed he ran off somewhere.

After a battle with a fisherman, Static evolved into Ampharos and learned Thunderpunch! Nice! I’ve been waiting for this.

Now that we have gotten stronger and added Uzumaki to the team, let’s go take down Team Rocket. But where did Lance run off to?

What’s in a Title: Tonari no Onigiri-kun

となりのおにぎり君

となりの

となり can mean “next to” or it can mean a neighbor. While no is of course stating a possession on となり. You can see this type of pattern in other shows and movie titles (e.g. となりの関くん which can be translated into “My Neighbor Seki”). 

おにぎり

This is a food that usually has something in the middle wrapped in rice and seaweed wrapping at the bottom (🍙like so). Basically it is a sandwich but it uses rice instead of bread to hold the contents in. 

If you grew up watching Pokemon you may have gone up to your parents asking for jelly donuts.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a good enough translation for this word so it is usually kept as Onigiri.

君（くん）

This kanji may look familiar to you if you have seen the kanji 君(きみ). They are the same, however it takes on a different meaning here. When put together with a name it gives off a honorific tone such as ちゃん、さん、様（さま）. It is usually thought of as the boy equivalent to ちゃん. This also doesn’t have a direct translation so it will be kept as is.

So put together we have “My Neighbor Onigiri-kun”. This title comes from a few shorts made by Studio Ghibli, who also made “My Neighbor Totoro” （となりのトトロ）.

Looks like they were taken off of YouTube. However, if you are interested in watching these shorts you can find them on the web.

What’s in a Title: Boruto

野良犬

野良（のら）

From the first kanji 野（の）can mean rustic, field, etc. But in this context it comes from the word wild. The 良（ら）comes from the kanji good, so I’m somewhat confused on how it makes up this word. Maybe they are describing something that can survive in the wild. Nonetheless, together it means “stray”.

If you have watched a certain anime called Noragami or ノラガミ then you may be familiar with this word. Even though Noragami is written in katakana in the show’s title, it means “Stray God”.

ノラガミ　＝　野良神（のらがみ）

犬（いぬ）

This word just simply means “dog”.

So put all together, you get “Stray Dog”.

Here are my past thoughts on Boruto:

This title comes from the 191st episode of Boruto. The show is good and like how they try to flesh out the story where the monthly manga fails to do (which is understandable since they are monthly and want to stick to the main plot). Especially now since a certain character has appeared that many have been waiting to see in the anime. The last episode’s art was dedicated to the manga art-style which made it pop and look so much better. Unfortunately, they went back to the old art style in this episode.

I’m a bit disheartened that they gave us something like that and then went right back to the usual art. I like this but I love the other art style that reflects the manga’s art. Besides if they did that every week, I’m pretty sure that would turn out to be a problem in a production sense. Speaking of Boruto, the manga chapter for this month has come out and I better go read it after this since it’s the aftermath of a fight.

As of now, it seems Boruto is starting to do some interesting things starting this year. We have the Sasuke Retsuden arc which has a manga adaptation in the works. Plus, we’ll be back to more manga canon episodes after that arc is done.

Learning Kanji with WaniKani

日本語の練習 第154週
Japanese Practice Week 154

2023年01月08日「日」第154週 

日本語のイベント／EVENT IN JAPANESE

ついに、WaniKaniのライフタイムメンバーになりました。このウェブアプリを使ったことあるが、お金がないから、レベル３ぐらいに辞めました。今年は日本語はうまくになりたいと思いますから、アカウントをゼロから始めます。とりあえず、今年の終わりの前に、レベル１０に上がるかもしれません。

ライフタイムメンバーになりたいなら、ちょうどいいですよ。セールは１００ドル割引があります。つまり、今、このメンバーシップは２００ドルです。明日は最後の日です。

対話／DIALOGUE

Want to be J->E Translator but…

[翻訳者の道]

A: あ、アイザイア君、あけおめ。

B: あけおめ、綾瀬ちゃん。今年は何をする？

A: 英語を勉強し続ける予定。アイザイア君は？

B: まああ、日本語を勉強し続ける予定だが。。。

A: だが。。。

B: 翻訳者になりたいけど、まだまだ。

A: N3に合格したっけ。

B: うん。でも、日本語能力が足りなくて。

A: なんで？

B: だって、N2かN1は必要ないだろう？いま、N2コースを受けている。

A: じゃあ、N2コースを終えたら、夏に日本語能力試験を受ける。

B: あ、ほんとうだ。

A: そういえば、翻訳者ワークショップの事を聞いているのか？

B: ううん、初耳。

A: じゃあ、後で、リンクをメールするね。

B: ありがとう。

[Path to be a Translator]

A: Oh, happy new year’s, Isiah.

B: Happy new year’s, Ayase. What are you going to do this year?

A: I’m going to continue studying English. How about you?

B: Well, I plan on continuing my Japanese studies but…

A: But…

B: I want to be a translator, but I’m not at that level yet.

A: Didn’t you pass the N3 Exam?

B: Yeah. But isn’t N2 or N1 needed for that? I am taking a N2 course right now.

A: Then, if you can finish it, you can take the N2 exam in the summer.

B: Oh, you’re right.

A: By the way, did you hear about the translator workshop?

B: No, first time hearing about that.

A: Then, I’ll send you the link later, kay.

B: I appreciated it.

救世の大冒険／KYUUSEI’S ADVENTURE

第２９

階段を上って、ミカンに薬をあげた。あかりちゃんはもう大丈夫そうだから、ミカンはジムに戻るつもりだ。手持ちのポケモンははがねタイプポケモンと聞いた。だから、ミカンに挑戦する前に、ハナビはもっと強くならいないと。このシティに行くの途中でトレーナーを戦わなかったから、いい訓練だった。

こんな経験値が足りない。ハナビは強くなるために、別の町に行った方がいいな。エンジュシティに飛んだ。それで、池で新しい街に到着した。途中で、トサキントを捕まえた。名前をつけるのを忘れちゃった。後で、できるかなあ。

ともかく、チョウジタウンに到着したが、でかい男はジムの入り口の前に立った。ジムリーダーはここにいないのか。でかい男はいかりのみずうみを観光に行くのがおすすめだった。じゃあ、そうする。この町はレンドリィショップがないじゃん。なんか怪しい店があるけど。だって、店の店長はヤドンのシッポを売るから。それに、怪しそうな男はコイキングの実験についてぼそぼそしている。そういえば、赤いギャラドスの事を聞いたから、たぶん関係ある。いかりのみずうみに行ったとき、ロケット団員のしたっぱの二人は僕に１０００円を取った。エントリー料金？！あいつらはここにいれば、悪いことをするはずだわ。

＃２９

After climbing the stairs, I gave the medicine to Jasmine. Amphy looks like it’ll be okay now, so Jasmine is going to return to the Gym. I heard that she has steel type Pokemon, so I better go train Hanabi before we challenge Jasmine. I avoided a bunch of trainers on my way to Olivine City, so Hanabi can fight their Pokemon.

Don’t seem to be leveling up fast enough. Maybe I’ll go to another town. That way Hanabi can get stronger. Flew back to Ecruteak City and swam across to a new town. Caught a Goldeen on the way. Darn I forgot to name her before she got sent to the PC. Wonder if there is a way to change the name later.

Made it to Mahogany Town but there’s this guy in front of the Gym. Looks like the Gym leader isn’t in so he recommended me to go do some sightseeing at the Lake of Rage. Looks like this town doesn’t have a PokeMart. It does have this suspicious looking shop though. The shop owner sells Slowpoke tail and there’s another guy talking about an experiment on Magikarp. I did hear about a red Gyrados at the Lake of Rage. Maybe that’s what that guy is talking about. I went up to Lake of Rage but two Team Rocket grunts took 1000 yen from me just to enter. If they are here, then they must be up to no good.

In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来週！

What’s in a Title: Haganai

僕は友達が少ない

僕（ぼく）

This is a pronoun usually used for guys. For example, you can see that I use it quite a bit in this blog. It just means “I”.

は

This is a particle that just means “is”. It is used during to put focus on what is being talked about. So, for example with 僕 it can mean “I am”.

友達（ともだち）

Let’s split up these two kanji. 友 can be derived as a friend, or a companion. 達 is an interesting kanji that allows us to put a plural touch on people and animals. So together it just means “friends”

が

Like は, が is another particle that can show what object you are talking about in a sentence. In other words, が is acting upon the word for friends.

少ない（すくない）

The kanji少 from 少ない can mean “small”, or “little”, or “few”. In this context it is best to go with “few” instead of the other translations.

So together you have 僕は友達が少ない　⇒　I Have a Few Friends.

So, the translation by Funimation is Haganai I Don’t Have Many Friends. The Haganai comes from the end of some words from the Japanese title.

僕 は 友達 が 少 ない => boku ha tomodachi ga sukunai

This is the first anime that I watched subbed. It didn’t have an English dub at the time but I wanted to watch it because it seemed fun. This is probably the only show that I have watched subbed and then dubbed afterwards for both seasons. I have watched the first season without subtitles on Animelon this year as well.

On another note, the only thing that bothers me about this show is that it never got a conclusion. The light novels have not been translated officially into English. Plus, there is a slim chance they are going to do another season after so many (10?) years even though the material has been done for so long.

Here’s an excerpt from a past rant about the manga and the light novels:

They have a manga but the art style kind of throws me for a loop. If I get into the manga, it will just take getting used to but, I prefer to read the light novels. If my Japanese gets better, I wonder if I could read it in its original language instead.

I started reading the manga volumes in Japanese last year. The art-style took some time to get used to but this seems to be the only way for me to finish the story right now. At my current level the light novels seem like a daunting task so the manga is a great option.

If you’re interested in finishing this series, you can find them all on Bookwalker. In fact, it is on sale till January 5th so it’s the perfect time to get some of the volumes.

Happy New Year’s! あけおめ！

日本語の練習 第153週
Japanese Practice Week 153

2023年01月01日「日」第153週 

日本語のイベント／EVENT IN JAPANESE

皆さん、あけましておめでとうございます。初日の出を見ましたか？ここ、天気がうっとおしいから、また見なかった今年、僕はただ日本語を上達したり、ゲームを作ったり、翻訳したいと思います。

姉は関西弁について本をもらいましたから、これを読みたいです。本ってば、「Learn to Read Japanese Vol. 2」という本も読みたいと思います。

読んでくれてありがとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします!

対話／DIALOGUE

That red-bean soup is looking good right about now…

[初詣]

A: お待たせごめんね、さくら。
B: もう～　ゆい　たら、何をしてたの？初日の出を見に行った？
A: てへへ。。。寝坊しちゃった。
B: 目覚まし時計をセットの？
A: 忘れちゃった。
B: もう～。まいいわ。あけおめ。
A: あけおめ。神社に行くだっけ？
B: うん、ゆいの着物がきれいなあ。
A: あ、これ、おばあちゃんが作ってくれた。
B: へ～　いいな。
A: さくらちゃんの着物もきれいですよ。買ったばかり？
B: うん、そっちの店で買ったばかり。きれいな着物がたくさんあるよ。
A: あれ？あたしのおばあちゃんの店じゃん。
B: そういえば、このマークはそっくり似てる。
A: じゃあ、神社に行こう。お汁粉を食べたいなあ。
B: 大事な試験そろそろでしょう。とりあえず、参拝しょう。
A: はい。

[First Shrine Visit]

A: Sorry to keep you waiting, Sakura.
B: Oh, Yui, what were you up to? Did you go to see the first sunrise?
A: hehe… I overslept.
B: Did you set your alarm clock?
A: I forgot.
B: Geez. Oh well. Happy New Year.
A: Happy new year. We’re going to a shrine, right?
B: Yeah. Your kimono is so pretty.
A: Oh, this? My grandma made it for me.
B: Wow, that’s nice.
A: Yours is pretty too. Did you just buy it?
B: Yeah, I just bought it at the store over there. There have lot of beautiful kimonos.
A: Eh? That’s my grandma’s store.
B: Come to think of it, the logo looks exactly alike.
A: Well, let’s go to the shrine. I want to eat oshiruko (sweet red-bean soup).
B: Don’t you have an important exam coming up soon. Let’s go pray at the shrine first.
A: Okay.

救世の大冒険／KYUUSEI’S ADVENTURE

第２８

緊張すぎて、チームのモンスターボールの中で、トリヤマのモンスターボールどっちだっけ。

スタティックを出した。幸い、スタティックのでんじはの攻撃のおかげでオコリザルをマヒさせた。コウチョウに入れ替えて、かたくなる技で防御力を限界まで上げた。ねんりきの攻撃でオコリザルがぶっ飛ばして、倒れた。

シジマのニョロボンは強かった。コウチョウは限界まで防御力があるのに、あいつの攻撃は強かった。あいつはなみのりの攻撃を連続しやがった。しかし、コウチョウはどくのこなであいつに毒された。それで、あいつのさいみんじゅつでコウチョウを寝かせたから、スタティックに入れ替えた。まああ、チームの中で、防御力は高そうみたいね。あいつのばくれつパンチはスタティックを殺したかと思ったけど、ギリギリだった。それで、毒でニョロボンが倒れた。

ショックバッジゲット！

ジムに出かけたとき、シジマの奥さんに出会った。奥さんはショックバッジを見て、ひでんわざの「そらをとぶ」をもらった。トリヤマにひでんわざを覚えさせたから、アサギシティに飛びに行ける。灯台のトップに飛べるかなあ。しもた、到着できない。じゃあ。。。また階段を上る。

２８

After training, I battled Chuck. He only had two Pokemon: a Primeape and a Poliwrath.

I was so nervous that I forgot which Pokeball Toriyama was in and ended up throwing out Static. Luckily, Static paralyzed Primeape with a Thunder Wave attack. Switched to Kochou and raised its defense to the limit with Harden. Took it down with Confusion.

Chuck’s Poliwrath was strong. Even though Kochou had increased her defense to the max, Poliwrath’s attacks were still strong. It kept using Surf but Kochou was able to poison it with Poison Powder. Poliwrath put Kochou to sleep with Hypnosis so I switched to Static since he seems to be the most sturdy. I thought he was going to die from that Dynamic Punch but Static managed to hang on. And the poison took down Poliwrath.

We got the Storm Badge.

I met Chuck’s wife when I left the Gym. She saw that I had the badge so she gave me the HM for Fly. Taught the HM to Toriyama so now I can fly back to Olivine City. I wonder if I can fly to the top of the lighthouse. Darn it doesn’t look like I can land there. Welp… guess I’ll have to climb the stairs again.

In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来週！

Book Review: Kaito Red Volume 4

This is the fourth book in this phantom thief series. Here’s a bit of a synopsis on the main plot.

Two fathers pass the thieving business down to their children, Asuka, a cheerful athletic girl and Kei, a unsociable child prodigy. With Asuka’s athleticism and Kei’s intelligence, together they make up the phantom thief that is simply named Red.

Fantajista (Phantajista?), a phantom thief from another country has thrown down the gauntlet to see who can pull off a heist first. Their target: a necklace called the Black Tear (漆黒の涙) that is on a cruise ship.

ENTERTAINMENT

So, is this book entertaining? If you like heists, action, and learning a few facts here and there, this is for you. You can really see how series like Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Lupin III have influenced this series.

The character interactions and addition of new characters keeps this series fresh. The action scenes and the game of cat and mouse add to the story as well.

Unlike the other volumes, Two phantom thieves with two different ideals are racing to get a hold of the jewel called the Black Tear. Red acts as a Robin Hood of some sort by stealing things and returning them to their rightful owners. On the other hand Fantajista only seems to steal things for fun.

LANGUAGE LEARNING

From what I saw on Bookwalker, this series is for elementary or an intermediate level of Japanese proficiency （小学中級から）. Even though I passed a couple of N3 practice tests (these kinds of books helped so much with my reading speed.), I still had to look up 128 words.

Here are some interesting words that I found while reading:

  • ちんぷんかんぷん = an expression that is used say something is incomprehensible. Takobato had a good English equivalent to this word: “it’s all greek to me”
  • 引（ひ）ったくり = purse snatching or purse snatcher
  • げっそり = a verb that means to be disheartened
  • 種明（たねあ）かし = reveal of how a magic trick is done

Some words I could figure out through context, but I like to double check on things. Luckily these books have furigana so looking up words is easier. I wish that Bookwalker had a built in dictionary like Kindle though -_-

A SMALL JAPANESE REVIEW

さすが、秋木せんせい。４巻もおもしろかったです。まさか、怪盗の対決とは思いませんでした。この巻では、ケイ君の弱点の使い方はいいポイントです。怪盗の仕事によって、アスカとケイはまだ青いだから、ファンタジスタに比べて、まだまだです。ファンタジスタってば、彼の正体は明らかですけど、あの人と関係が思いがけなかった。正月いよいよだから、この本はぴったりです。それでは、みんな、良いお年を！

FOR MY NEXT BOOK…

I’ll be reading the first volume of the Demon Slayer light novel. I bought Mugen Train at Kinokuniya last year. Wish I would have bought the first two books while I was there. Fortunately they can all be found on Bookwalker. Learn Natively has this book sitting at level 30 (N2 level). This book will be quite challenging but that’s what the New Year is all about, right?

2022 Year Reflection/2022 まとめましょう！

BOOKS／本

Read 24 manga volumes, 8 novels and 2 manga one shots.

The longest novel I read was the fourth volume of 怪盗レッド (274 pages) while the shortest one was 少年探偵団 (157 pages).

The longest manga I read was one of Togashi’s (creator of HunterxHunter and YuYuHakusho) early works てんで性悪キューピッド (354 pages). The shortest one was 名探偵コナン 警察学校編 Wild Police Story 上 (144 pages).

今年の目標：何もない　読み続きます。

GAMES／ゲーム

Bought the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 Remix this year on Play-Asia. I only played Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II so far. Played them on my JP account, so I’ll be speed-running the games again on my main account.

Going into the first game was a lot easier because I went through majority of the dialogue and taught a little Japanese here and there. If you are interested you can find that on Substack.

Cleared all routes on Tokyo School Life. The game had furigana and the girls were mostly fun to get to know. Plus, there’s quite a few places you get to go to and learn about. Like Osaka, Kyoto, and Akihabara. The game comes with a dual text feature meaning you can read the text in Japanese and English on the same screen. My honest opinion on the routes: Aoi > Sakura > Karen. IYKYK.

Still playing Pokemon Scarlet. There are so many Pokemon to catch and things to do so I’ve been getting caught up. Only have a few more things to do before the Elite Four, so I should be able to finish it in January. Furigana helps out but there are some things that I can’t comprehend at my current level.

ANIME & DRAMA／アニメとドラマ

Only finished a few anime and drama this year. Glad that someone told me about Animelon. I went back to my childhood with デジモンアドベンチャー and now the opening theme lives rent free in my head.

I wish they had the second season but having the original that started it all isn’t too bad of a start.

Watched some of my favorite anime like 僕は友達が少ない and ３月のライオン to see if they still hold up. ３月のライオン was the hardest one to watch but I was amazed at how much I could understand. I put Yu-Gi-Oh and Naruto on hold but, I should be able to finish those up next year.

Finished the first season of いたずらなキス: Love in Tokyo on Crunchyroll. Currently on the second season and I’m looking forward to how it ends.

BLOG／ブログ

This year I took a break for the first time. Going forward I’d like to take it a bit easier and not push myself too hard. There’s so many things I want to do, but I have to find a balance. Luckily I finished up the N3 series so that’s a bit off my plate. I’ll be taking a N2 course next year, so I’m not sure if I’ll continue this verb and grammar series.

Key points for the blog this year:

  • Started another bilingual Nuzlocke journal with Kyuusei’s Journey
  • Separated タイトルを見る aka What’s in a Title from the main blog
  • Started book reviews
  • Finished the translation/teaching Japanese project with Kingdom Hearts
  • 132,441 words written (183,740 words written last year)
  • More views this year and from so many countries. Thank you for following this journey with Japanese with me.

I don’t have any goals for next year but I would like to continue what I’m doing. In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来年！良いお年を！

What’s in a title: Detective Conan’s 1000th Episode

For the last What’s in a title this year, I want to cover an episode of Detective Conan. But not just any episode. The 1000th episode. So let’s take one last dive into translation this year with this week’s title breakdown.

ピアノソナタ「月光」殺人事件

（前編）

ピアノ

Katakana is used for names and foreign words (also when they want to put emphasis on a word).

This word means simply piano.

ソナタ

As mentioned about katakana before this is the word for Sonata, a song for a piano piece.

ピアノソナタ together means piano sonata.

「月光」（「げっこう」）

The 「」usually entails a song title or in light novels quotations. 

Now the Kanji inside those brackets, 月, which means moon and the 光, which means light. Put together and you get Moonlight.

Together ピアノソナタ「月光」roughly means Piano Sonata “Moonlight”. “Moonlight” Sonata would be a better translation here.

殺人（さつじん）

More compounded Kanji. 殺（さつ）, comes from the verb 殺す（ころす）人, just means person. So if we take the verb and put it together with a person. It can mean to kill a person. Or in other words, murder.

事件（じけん）

And one more compounded Kanji. 事, means thing or matter or case, while the kanji 件 has a similar context and meaning. In this context it means an incident or for better words a case.

Together 殺人事件 can be simply translated to Murder Case.

前編（ぜんぺん）

Last compounded Kanji I promise. 前（ぜん）, can mean in front of or before. While 編（へん） is usually associated with a completed work or a part of a book. 

Notice that the second Kanji doesn’t say ぺん. This is how you would usually read one of the kanji readings for 編.

Thanks to something called Rakudan, when Kanji are compounded, the first letter of the first and/or second Kanji will change to its respective diacritical mark. Diacritical marks are categorized into two things: the dakuten are the two dashes and the circle is the handakuten.

 Here’s a chart detailing diacritical marks:

Phew. Now that that is over, 前編, means first part or in other words Part One.

Put it all together and you get:

ピアノソナタ「月光」殺人事件 （前編）

=

“Moonlight” Sonata Murder Case  (Part One)

Pretty good and (somewhat) straightforward translation. 

Since the 1000th episode of Detective Conan (my first anime that I’ve watched to get to that many) came out Saturday, I wanted to make this translation. I recall watching this back in elementary school and enjoyed many cases and mysteries. This show has impacted my interest in mysteries by a significant margin. Detective Conan is one of the few that got me into anime in the first place. 

I recall rewatching it on youtube in high school after it went off the air. They had the recent episodes and they even had them in Japanese after the last English dubbed episode. But, I only watched dubs back then. Didn’t even think, “Hey, why not learn Japanese”. All that matters is that I’m on this learning journey now and I don’t plan on stopping. Speaking of stopping, love this series but, I do hope that Detective Conan will not see a 2000th episode. 

Merry Christmas & Trip to Hogwarts

日本語の練習 第152週
Japanese Practice Week 152

2022年12月25日「日」第152週 

日本語のイベント／EVENT IN JAPANESE

メリクリ、みんな！家族と一緒にフロリダに旅行しますから、帰るときに、プレセントを開けます。妹の誕生日のためにユニバーサル・スタジオに行きました。金曜日の好きな乗り物はスパイダーマンだと思います。

ジュラシック・パークの乗り物はなんていうか激しかった。ジェットコースターがあんまり好きではありませんけど、姉はこんな乗り物が大好きだから、しょうがない。

ハリー・ポッターはすっごく面白かったです。ワンドとマフラーを買ったり、トレインに乗ったり、写真を取ったりしました。

N3　文法

[ようとしない]

not try to, not make an effort to

This is the opposite of the grammar introduced last week (ようとする). Use this expression for when you or someone else is not trying to do something. Like going jogging early in the morning or studying for a test for 4 hours.

V (volitional form) + としない

Ex:医者になるのに、この子は新しいことを習おうとしない。

(Even though he wants to become a doctor, he doesn’t try to learn new things.)

Ex:彼女は無口だから、いろんなことは何も言おうとしない。

(She’s quiet so she doesn’t talk much about a lot of things.)

[ずに]

without doing

V(ない-form) ＋ずに

This grammar negates the verb that is being used. In other words, you are negating an action while doing something else. In a way, it kind of works like the grammar ないで. For example, 泣かないで（don’t cry）ー＞ 泣かずに（without crying）. Just make sure to set the verb into it’s ない form drop ない and add ずに.

A helpful tip: に can be omitted from this grammar point. 

Furthermore,する has a different set up compared うand るverbs.

する turns into せずに instead of しないー＞しずに. 

Ex:彼は言わずに、出かけました。

(He left without a word.)

Ex:勉強せずに、N2に合格できるなんて、すごい。(Passing the N2 without studying is amazing.)

[ずにいられない]

can’t help but feel, can’t help but do

V(ない-form) ＋ずにはいられない/ないではいられない

する exceptions

V ＋せずにはいられない/しないではいられない

This grammar is used to express that even though you try not to do something you end up doing it anyway. Like crying during a sad movie or can’t help but wait for a big trip or reading a book that you can’t stop reading even though it’s 2 in the morning.

Ex:懐かしい音楽を聞きながら、歌わずにはいられない。

(I can’t help but sing along while listening to nolstagic music.)

Ex:今年が終わる前に、この「N3文法」セグメントを終えずにはいられない。

(I can’t help but to finish this N3 Grammar segment before the year is over.)

対話／DIALOGUE

It’ll be fun they said…

[ジェットコースター苦ってだ]

A:つまない。乗り物にあまり乗らないじゃん。

B:何に乗りたいのか。

A:これ。

B:これ？！えーと。。。別のを乗る方がいいと思う。

A:つまない。いいから、いいから。１分だけだよ。それに、ラインが短い。

B:もう、いいよ。並ぼう。

A:やった！

乗ったあと。。。

A:すっごく楽しかった！あたしと乗ってくれてありがーえ？大丈夫？！

B:ダ、ダ、大丈夫。

A:こんな顔で大丈夫じゃないみたい。

B:げ、吐きそう。こんな乗り物が苦ってだ。

A:じゃあ、もっとゆっくり乗り物を乗らない？

B:うん。とりあえず、バーから手を離して手伝ってくれないか。

[I hate roller coasters.]

A: Boring. We haven’t ridden that many rides.

B: What do you ride?

A: This.

B: This? Well… I think it would be better if we ride something else.

A: That’s boring. It’s only for a minute. Besides, the line is short.

B: Okay, fine. Let’s get in line already.

A: Alright!

After the ride…

A: That was so much fun! Thanks for riding with me. Eh? Are you okay?!

B: No, no, I’m fine.

A: You don’t look fine.

B: Ugh, I think I’m going to throw up. I hate this kind of ride.

A: Then why don’t we go on a slower ride next?

B: Yeah. In the meantime, can you help me get my hands off the bar?

救世の大冒険／KYUUSEI’S ADVENTURE

第２7

薬屋さんからひでんの薬をもらった。いいぐすりも買った。とりあえず、タンバシティのジムリーダーを倒す。それで、アサギシティに飛んでるよていだ。トリヤマは自分で戦えると思ったがあいつらがめちゃ強い。コチョウにもっと頼るなあ。いわなだれの技を覚えるゴーリキーが大変だったから、頭もっと使わないと。みんなで倒せた。ふむ。。。みんな回復したほうがいい。

回復してきたとき、大きな岩石は道が邪魔だから、かいりきを覚えさせたロック・リーに頼んだ。このジムは強いポケモンがいっぱい。じゃあ、「筋肉より脳」というシチュエーションだね。シジマというジムリーダーに出会った。岩石をぶっ投げた！こんなことがポケモンに関係ないけど、シジマさんはポケモンと戦うタイプらしい。きいりきを覚えるポケモンさえいらないじゃん。こんな人のポケモンは強いだろう。

挑戦する前に、トリヤマを稽古したほうがいいなぁ。もっと強いトリヤマは必ず役に立つ。そういえば、あかりちゃんを治すあとで、次のジムリーダーはミカンだね。それじゃあ、みんなで一緒に激しく稽古する。海に行こうか。

27

I got a medicine called Secret Potion from the pharmacist. Bought some Super Potions, too. While I’m here I’ll take down Cianwood Gym leader. Then I’ll fly back to Olivine City. Thought that Toriyama could fight on his own but these guys are strong. Looks like I’ll be relying on Kochou more than I thought. She struggled against a Machoke that knew Rock Slide, so had to be more strategic and used almost everyone to take it down. Should heal my Pokemon before going further.

There are boulders in the way, so I had Rock Lee learn Strength to push them. This gym has a bunch of tough Pokemon but I’ll have to beat them with brains instead of brawn. Met the gym leader Chuck. He just threw a boulder! It doesn’t have anything to do with Pokemon but he looks like a type of person that has sparring matches with his Pokemon. He doesn’t even need a Pokemon that knows Strength. His Pokemon are surely just as strong.

Before facing off with Chuck, I think I’ll train Toriyama a bit. It’ll really help if he can fight in this gym. Now that I think about it, I’ll be fighting Jasmine after Amphy is cured. So maybe I should train for that, too. Guess it’s back to the sea.

In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来年！良いお年を！

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