Nowling JCCC Nihongo

 I made the connection between two words today.   Recently, we have been listening to, and practicing reading, the Tadoku book, シュモーハウス.  In it, at one point, they are met at the train station by the governor of Hiroshima Province and by the Mayor of Hiroshima City - 広島市長（しちょう) (& other suchlike luminaries など ;)).  This was a term that I had stumbled over a few times - the sh sound so close to the ch sound, and trying to keep the right speed and fluidity, whilst not running the shi for city too hard into Hiroshima or divorcing it from the rest of the term (& at some point, realising that it was the alternate pronunciation for the 長い (ながい) kanji - perhaps because they were originally picked village elders, or greybeards as we would call them (somewhat disrespectfully) in western culture - maybe long beards in Japanese?  Or just for length of life & experience? Anyway, I just started looking at the vocabulary for Nakama 2, chapter 3, at lunchtime today...

This is probably my third post like this, maybe my fourth*. But I was watching two episodes of a gender bending*** show for the radio show yesterday and in the second episode***** I paused it to text my study buddies and tell them that I can’t really recommend the series, but if one wants to hear a ton of Nakama 2 Chapter 1’s vocabulary in an anime episode, one should watch episode 2 of onimai! 🤣 Then shortly after that I paused it again to tell them that there were a ton of plain volitionals too (this past week’s grammar). And then again to tell them that I had just heard できた too being used for are you ready, is it done too (this chapter’s vocab) and an enhancement to the potential grammar point (or a gotcha to watch out for)… and that I had just realised I heard that before a ton of times and not known it but knew that potential form wasn’t right there from context... It's actually amazing that I managed to watch two episodes with all these pauses for language discussion.^^^ One...

 I was thinking on Wednesday evening* & again on Thursday, about language teachers and the amazing job that they do. The specific item that prompted the pondering was listening to 中田先生 talking us through the vocabulary in chapter 2 of Nakama 2, and the grammar that they take, because it doesn't always** do a very good job of pointing out which verbs take に or を or が or could be more than one at different times depending on context maybe. And one of the vocabulary terms was 空港 (airport***) & another one was 海外, so she used them together in a sentence, to help us learn them by using them in context, instead of dead words pinned on a page of vocabulary like linguistic butterflies with all the life and joy gone out of them... We talked about having the new airport and if anyone liked it, and can you fly abroad from our airport**** and for overseas, we learned it can be combined into the phrase overseas travel & that got used in a sentence.  But it wasn't just any sente...

  10 minute test, which took me four min… there’s a slight chance that I might have overprepared… むりをするでしょう。

 カルちゃん、犬が年上は、心の病気があるんです。薬を飲んだ方がいいですが、苦すぎるんだので、朝ご飯と晩ご飯に薬を入れます。それでも、時々食べません。 ぽっピーちゃん、犬が年下は、食べるのが一番好きです。苦いも、甘いも、しょっぱいも、何でも食べられるんです！早く食べているそしてカルちゃんの食べ物が欲しいんです。ポッぴーちゃんは、心の薬を食べない方がいいです。大変ですよね。 カルちゃん ポッピーちゃん

 仕事で寝られますが、家で、夜遅くまで、寝られません。大変だ！