Let's start!

A few months ago, my father started to learn Chinese. He said he's really bad at studying and always got a terrible grade in a language class when he was a student (long long ages ago!!). So I introduced him a great teacher who can teach him step by step in a fun way, for free! Who's that? ...It's me!! XD


*Japanese Word of the Day*
外国語(がいこくご)の勉強(べんきょう)を始(はじ)めました。
/gaikokugo no benkyou wo hajime mashita/
I've started to learn a foreign language.

*外国語(がいこくご) /gaikokugo/ ＝ 外国(foreign country) + 語(language)
*勉強(べんきょう) /benkyou/ learning, study
―勉強する /benkyou suru/ to learn, to study
*始(はじ)める /hajimeru/ to start, to begin
I added ました(the past form of ます) to make the sentence polite.

I've featured this verb 始める before in this post.
ブログ(ぶろぐ)を始(はじ)めて1年(いちねん)になります。
Please look at the original post to see its translation and additional explanation. Now as you know, 始めて/hajimete/ is so-called te-form of 始める. Japanese verbs end with te(or de) when it connect to the following words. I'm not going to explain about grammar in detail, but I picked it up again because I want to tell you about a confusing word, 初(はじ)めて/hajimete/. And this was a question from Arman. Thank you Arman! :)

Both 始めて and 初めて are pronounced as /hajimete/, but they're totally different words. 始めて is a verb as I explained above, but 初めて is an adverb. It means "for the first time".

初(はじ)めてすしを食(た)べた感想(かんそう)は？
/hajimete sushi wo tabeta kansou wa/
How did you feel when you first ate Sushi?

初(はじ)めて彼(かれ)が笑(わら)っているのを見(み)た。
/hajimete kare ga waratteiru no wo mita/
I saw he lauging for the first time.

Speaking of which, "for the first time" cannot always be translated as 初めて. Please check out this post to see how we say it in Japanese.



Now I want to introduce another verb which is closely related to 始める. Let's see an example sentence to begin with.

もうすぐ新学期(しんがっき)が始(はじ)まる。
/mousugu shingakki ga hajimaru/
The new semester will start soon.
*もうすぐ /mousugu/ soon, before long
*新学期（しんがっき）new semester
*始(はじ)まる /hajimaru/ to start, to begin

It's confusing, I know. 始める and 始める, and they're both translated as "to start" in English. Though we never say 勉強を始まる or 新学期が始める. What's the difference?

These verbs are usually explained as (1)transitive verbs and (2)intransitive verbs. Well, I won't (can't!) give you a detailed grammatical explanation but you'll find a lot of website and Youtube videos if you want to know more about it. :P

I give you some example sentences and its simple explanation!


(1)transitive verb ―勉強を始める
It is a verb which has an object. を is a particular which comes after the object.
ドア(どあ)を開(あ)ける /doa wo akeru/ open the door
予定(よてい)を決(き)める /yotei wo kimeru/ decide the plan
成績(せいせき)を上(あ)げる /seiseki wo ageru/ improve the grade
声(こえ)を出(だ)す /koe wo dasu/ utter a voice
All of these sentences omit the subjects, but it's talking about the action what the subject does.


(2)intransitive verb ―新学期が始まる
It just describes a situation. It usually implies that the occurance or movement is not intended.
ドア(どあ)が開(あ)く /doa ga aku/
―The door opens but the one who opens the door isn't the speaker, or the speaker doesn't intend to open the door but it does.
予定(よてい)が決(き)まる /yotei ga kimaru/
―It doesn't matter who decided the plan but the speaker is talking about what happened on the plan.
成績(せいせき)が上(あ)がる /seiseki ga agaru/
声(こえ)が出(で)る /koe ga deru/
―This sentence implies that the voice comes out without intention.


Let's recap the point:
- A transitive verb has an object, and the particular を is following after the object. It's talking about the action.
- An intransitive verb sometimes imply that it happened by itself or it's not intended by the speaker. It's talking about the situation.

transitive verb	intransitive verb
（〜を）始める	始まる
（〜を）開ける	開く
（〜を）決める	決まる
（〜を）上げる	上がる
（〜を）出す	出る

<< Quiz >>
Let's say that you're a teacher and going to start the class. Which sentence is correct?
1) 授業(じゅぎょう)を始(はじ)める。
2) 授業(じゅぎょう)が始(はじ)まる。
*授業 /jugyou/ class, lesson
Incidentally, from students' point of view, which sentence is more appropriate?


You're watching a movie and it was so heart warming that impressed you a lot. You found that a tear's running down your cheek. Which sentence is more appropreate?
1) 涙(なみだ)を出した。
2) 涙(なみだ)が出た。
*涙 /namida/ tears
*出した(past form)＝出す // 出た(past form)＝出る



That's all for today! If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment! Thank you for reading. :)

Never Stand Someone Up!!

Do you think you are forgetful?

I am a very forgetful person, indeed. I usually write a memo so as not to miss appointments, but the other day I even forgot to review the memo and I stood my friend up! X( I feel bad. I should have set a reminder.

*Japanese Word of the Day*

約束（やくそく）をすっぽかしてしまった。

/yakusoku wo suppokashite shimatta/

*約束(やくそく) /yakusoku/ an appointment, an agreement, a promise

*すっぽかす /suppokasu/ to blow someone off, to stand someone up, to miss an appointment

―すっぽかされる is its passive form

*しまった /shimatta/ is the past form of しまう /shimau/

We add this word after verbs to show that we did something bad or cannot help doing things that actually we shouldn't have done.

あの人(ひと)の顔(かお)を見(み)ると笑(わら)ってしまう。

/ano hito no kao wo miruto waratte shimau/

(I know I shouldn't but) I can't help laughing when I see that person.

水(みず)をこぼしてしまった。

/mizu wo koboshite shimatta/

(I feel bad because) I spilled water.

So you can indicate that you feel bad by adding しまう/しまった after the verb!

Here's one more expression which means "to get stood up", すっぽかされる;

待(ま)ちぼうけを食(く)らう or 待ちぼうけを食う

/machibouke wo kurau/ or /machibouke wo kuu/

Speaking of which, it was a heavy snowy day when I got stood up by my boyfriend. I was waiting outside in snow for an hour... Did he finally show up or did I give up waiting and left? I don't remember.

雪(ゆき)の中(なか)、1時間(いちじかん)待ちぼうけを食(く)らった。

/yuki no naka, ichi jikan no machibouke wo kuratta/

I got stood up for an hour in snow.

Have you ever got stood up?

That's all for today. Be careful not to miss any appointments! (I will!) Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave your comment. :)

Don't see my feet!!

Well, when did I write my blog last time? July 1st? I have been slacking off for a month...

The reader might have been gone away. :'( I wish you guys will come and read my blog again.

It's not an excuse but I really haven't been feeling well these months. Now I feel better, so I'd like to start learning languages which I've held off for a while: Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Persian and English.

I just found Pontia's blog My Persian Courner has updated. Her blog introduces Persian culture, language and beautiful places in Iran. She also shares some Persian musics with its lyrics and English translations. I love it! :)

Today I learned a new word from her latest post which means something is more expensive than it should be. (Visit her blog if you want to know how to say it in Persian!) In Japanese, we say it as ぼったくり /bottakuri/.

それって、ぼったくりじゃない？

/sorette bottakuri ja nai?/

Isn't it a rip-off?

Here's one more expression which is related to this word.

足元（あしもと）を見（み）る

/ashimoto wo miru/

足(あし)/ashi/ means "leg" or "foot", and the meaning of 足元（あしもと）/ashimoto/ ranges over "step" and "underfoot". 見（み）る /miru/ is a verb "to see" or "to watch". So it literally means "to see one's feet".

If I said 足元を見られた, it means that I was taken advantage of my helpless condition. Let's say I was walking on my way home from shopping. I carried a big shopping bag full of fruit and vegetables but I was still a long way from home. I was exhausted but there was hardly any taxi. Fortunately, I found a taxi and hailed it. The taxi driver said it's 3000 yen, but I (and the driver) knew it was much more expensive than it should be. But I had no choice but to accept it because I was too tired to walk home. The driver "saw my feet".

Have you ever had 足元を見られた experience?

That's all for today! thank you for reading and feel free to leave your comment! :)