My Japanese Page
Introduction
Shortly after I retired in 1992 I began to study Japanese. There were several reasons
but the main one was probably that I just like languages. I’m not sure what I expected to
learn, but now I can read and write a little, speak very little, and, unfortunately, hear and
understand almost nothing at all. What I didn’t expect, though, was to become interested
in the teaching of Japanese. My enjoyment in seeing how the language is presented helps
compensate for my rather spectacular lack of progress in it.
In an attempt to consolidate my very limited knowledge of Japanese grammar, I put
together a short summary for my own use. Several of my friends read it and offered many
helpful suugestions, and one suggested that I make it available on the Web. I have done
so, and give the details in the next section.
At the same time, I thought I might include a few remarks on my favourite Japanese
textbooks, mention a very interesting Web site on things Japanese, and finally show a few
pictures taken by myself and friends on trips to Japan in 1996, 1998 and 2000.
Grammar Summary
The summary is entitled Some Notes on Japanese Grammar, is twenty-five pages in
length, and has the following abstract:
No claim is made for either originality or completeness in these notes. Most of the
examples have been taken from, or have been suggested by, the references given at
the end. The topics chosen are those which may benefit a person who is beginning to
study Japanese and who would like a quick reference to supplement more complete
and authoritative sources.
It may be downloaded as either a
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.cs.ualberta.ca/pub/smillie/jgrammar.ps">Postscript</A>
or a
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.cs.ualberta.ca/pub/smillie/jgrammar.pdf">PDF</A>
file.
Textbooks
I started my study of Japanese in the Faculty of Extension at the University of
Alberta, and took the four-course sequence Japanese I, II, III and IV. (Unfortunately only
Japanese I survives today.) The textbook we used in the first three courses is undoubtedly
known to many learners of Japanese. It was Japanese for Busy People I (Association for
Japanese Language Teaching, Kodansha International, 1984). I found it a most enjoyable
text although I would have liked to have seen more hiragana and katakana and less romaji
in it. In the last part we used Japanese for Busy People I I which proved to be
considerably more difficult and we covered only the first six or seven chapters during the
term. Since then I have studied on my own, and, during the last year and a half, with a
small group which meets weekly during the academic year with a Japanese graduate
student at the University.
My favourite text for independent study is Business Japanese by Michael Jenkins and
Lynne Strugnell (NTC Publishing Group, 1993) which is in the well-known English
“Teach Yourself Books” series. The Japanese language is taught by means of a
continuing account of efforts of the British company Dando Sports to market its sporting
equipment and clothing in Japan through the Wajima Trading Company in Tokyo. One of
the main characters is Mr. Lloyd, marketing manager for Dando, who visits Japan on two
occasions to draw up a contract. We follow Mr. Lloyd as he works with the company and
meets the staff socially. Hiragana and katakana are introduced in Chapter 1 and kanji
characters are introduced a few at a time very shortly thereafter. Each chapter after the
first has the same format: a summary of the story so far (in Japanese beginning in Chapter
12), another installment of the story, in both Japanese characters and in romaji; new
vocabulary; grammatical notes; exercises; a short reading exercise; and a one-page essay
in English on some aspect of Japanese business.
Lynne Strugnell is also the author of Essential Japanese (Berlitz Publishing
Company, Inc., 1994) which I have studied with considerable enjoyment. I often consult
it while trying to write Japanese.
Jim Breen's Web Pages
We mention <A REF="http://www.dgs.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html">Jim
Breen's Japanese Page</A>, a Web site maintained by Jim Breen of the School of
Computer Science and Software Engineering at Monash University in Melbourne,
Australia. It contains a wealth of information on the Japanese language and culture. In the
brief introduction the author modestly says that he has "an on-going interest in Japan, its
people and language".
Some Pictures
Bamboo Grove
Arashiyama, Kyoto
Manhole Cover
Kakunodate
Akita Prefecture
Dewaya Inn
Mazawa
Yamagata Prefecture
Getting Ready ...
... In Japan ...
(Miyazaki City)
... Home again
Home Page: <AREF="http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~smillie">
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~smillie</A>