Japanese Project 2 Likes and Dislikes (Part 4)

2010-04-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Japanese Project 2 Habits and Hobbies (Part 3)

2010-04-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

Japanese Project 2 Schedule (Part 2)

2010-04-14T12:30:00.001-07:00

Japanese Project 2 Introduction (Part 1)

2010-04-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

Japanese Project Final Draft

2010-02-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

Project Overview

Project Objective: The project was to read a plot synopsis of a movie found on a Japanese version of Amazon. A copy of the paragraph read and translated can be found in the Notes section as Figure 1. The link to the website is as follows: http://www.amazon.co.jp/悪夢探偵2-DVD-塚本晋也/dp/B001WL1DDY

Course Objective: The chosen objective to complete was the Interpretive Reading Objective. It entailed finding specific, predictable information in simple everyday material such as advertisements, menus, schedules, and simple personal letters.

Tools Used: In the original proposal, a kanji dictionary, Popjisyo.com and Rukai.com were the tools intended to be used in translating and understanding the paragraph. Although a kanji dictionary was proposed, this tool was soon overlooked due to time constraints and the translation capabilities of the translating websites. While both Popjisyo and Rukai were beneficial in translating kanji and vocabulary, these websites were unable to translate some of the more complex grammatical structures. However, a Japanese dictionary was employed during the translation to comprehend vocabulary the websites had difficulty translating.

Process: Originally the plan for translating and understanding this paragraph was to read and translate one sentence a night. Although this process was slow it allowed me the chance to study the sentence in greater detail and identify grammar and vocabulary already known. An additional benefit of translating by this method was the opportunity to learn kanji repeated in the synopsis and from past mistakes while translating grammar. Notes were transcribed before and after the translation process to indicate grammar and words overlooked or mistaken in the first reading. In addition, sections of the sentence were highlighted to pinpoint specific details noticed within the sentence.

The first step in comprehending the text was to look over the sentence and find any words or grammatical structures that were familiar. These grammar structures included particles and verb endings to describe who the characters are, what they were doing, where they were doing it and when. After looking through the sentence, the popjisyo and rukai websites were used to translate the sentence. Following the translation, the sentence was read through again to understand the context and confirm my suspicions that some kanji were verbs, adjectives, nouns, locations of action or time periods.

An example of this process can be found in the Notes section below under the title Figure 2.

Specific Details

Language Learning Process: Throughout the reading process specific kanji and grammatical forms were learned that should have value in the near future. Although kanji such as mother, one, to watch, middle, to speak, to enter, and river were already known, new kanji such as every night, dream, and minute were learned in this process. In addition, reading through the entire paragraph little by little made me more aware of particles within sentences. For instance, when reading the first few sentences, particles such as の and に were overlooked causing me to disregard to whom an action is directed towards.

A list of kanji recognized can be found in the Notes Section under Figure 3. Conversely, a list of grammar and kanji learned can be found in the Notes section of Figure 4.

Reflection: In hindsight the project originally proposed was a little beyond my current capabilities. Although some kanji and words were recognizable, the paragraph possessed a significant number of kanji above my level of comprehension. Also, the sentence appeared to contain grammar that was incomprehensible. As a result, a translator was needed to comprehend the sentence to a greater extent. However, it should be noted that my current level of grammatical understanding helped in comprehend sections of individual sentences. In addition, kanji related to my current level of vocabulary were learned during the process of translating. Furthermore, the objective was completed in that I learned how to spot significant information in a movie article such as the characters, their location, what they experienced, and when an event took place.

Notes

Figure 1

【ストーリー】

“悪夢探偵”と呼ばれる影沼京一のもとに、新たな依頼者・雪絵がやってきた。“怖がりの同級生・菊川”が毎晩夢に現れると話す雪絵。同じ夢を見ていたというクラスメイトが、授業中に急死したというのだ。菊川に自分の亡き母の面影を見た京一は、雪絵の話に興味を持つ。異様なほどの怖がりだった母の逸子は、幼い京一を怖がり、世の中を怖がり、ついには生きることの恐怖に耐えきれず、自ら命を絶っていた。何がそんなに怖かったのか?逸子の思いを知りたいと願う京一は、菊川と接触を図るために雪絵の夢に入ることを決意する。

Figure 2

February 19, 2010

The sentence translated for today was:

同じ夢を見ていたというクラスメイトが、授業中に急死したというのだ。

While looking over this section the following parts looked familiar:

同じ夢を見ていたというクラスメイトが、授業中に急死したというのだ。

The blue を and pink が were particles that signaled that nouns may precede these hiragana. Conversely, the brown ていた and red した signaled that the kanji were past tense verbs. The only word that did not require translation was the green クラスメイト. Finally the purple に hinted that the three kanji 授業中 was a place since none appeared to be number kanji. In addition, the kanji 中, represents middle or inside of hinting that the three kanji make up a location.

For the most part this sentence was more difficult to understand, however I was able to comprehend the basic concept. The kanji 同じ夢 translated as おなじゆめ, same dream. 見ていた was the short past tense form of みます, to watch. My assumption that the purple に signified a place of action was partially correct since 授業中, translated as during the middle of class. The guess that the red した signaled a past tense verb was also correct since the two kanji signaled sudden death.

The sections incomprehensible are highlighted in red below:

同じ夢を見ていたというクラスメイトが、授業中に急死したというのだ。

This is due to my lack of grammatical knowledge and the inability of the translating websites to comprehend their meaning.

February 20, 2010

The sentence translated this day was:

菊川に自分の亡き母の面影を見た京一は、雪絵の話に興味を持つ。

Overall, this sentence was more difficult to understand and translate. The following sections looked familiar.

菊川に自分の亡き母の面影を見た京一は、雪絵の話に興味を持つ。

I perceived the four blue kanji to be the names of individuals because they were all used as subjects in the previous sentences. Again, the brown に represents the direction of the verb. The green 見た was recognized as the past tense of the verb みる used previously in the paragraph. Finally it is safe to assume with some certainty that 持つ is a verb since it follows を and is located at the end of the sentence. It should also be noted that this verb is possibly a う-verb in the dictionary form. Furthermore, the red kanji, 話 and 母, were recognized as the kanji for to speak and mother.

When reading through the translation of this sentence I was correct in identifying the location of subjects and verbs. However, in the process I overlooked the possessive particles in the following locations.

菊川に自分の亡き母の面影を見た京一は、雪絵の話に興味を持つ。

Figure 3

Mother-母-はは

One-一-いち

To speak-話す-はなす

To Enter-入る-はいる

Middle-中-なか

Figure 4

Kanji

Every Night-毎晩-まいばん

Dream-夢-ゆめ

Minute-分-ふん

To see-見る-みる

Grammar

Under the supervision of-のもとに

Work in Progress

Japanese Project 2 Likes and Dislikes (Part 4)

Japanese Project 2 Habits and Hobbies (Part 3)

Japanese Project 2 Schedule (Part 2)

Japanese Project 2 Introduction (Part 1)

Japanese Project Final Draft