Night Elf Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Um.. I realize there is a special board for foreign language but I don't know how often it is read. I have a quick question! Ds15 is taking the 1st year Japanese with his online school. When he says My name is Jeffrey, does he say Watashi wa Jeffrey desu? We've learned Watashi as 'I' but his instrutor mentioned using it somewhere else, maybe saying where he is from or where he lives. He just took a test and he guessed at these answers using Watashi wa. Are we way off the mark? Would you believe this particular thing isn't covered in the lessons exactly? He was taught to ask 'What is your name?' and then answer 'Jeffrey desu.' That doesn't help! That doesn't help for 'My name is...' BTW, the instructor said not to use outside resources because students need to stick to what they've learned even if it means all one can say is "I like fish." :tongue_smilie: I figure the Hive isn't an outside resource. It's my Goto home! At least the instructor is on Skype every afternoon. We've only talked with him once and he was ... um, I'm not sure what to call it. He tried to help but he did like the course and just assumed we knew what we were talking about. But why would we ask how to say something if we already knew how to say it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Um.. I realize there is a special board for foreign language but I don't know how often it is read. I have a quick question! Ds15 is taking the 1st year Japanese with his online school. When he says My name is Jeffrey, does he say Watashi wa Jeffrey desu? We've learned Watashi as 'I' but his instrutor mentioned using it somewhere else, maybe saying where he is from or where he lives. He just took a test and he guessed at these answers using Watashi wa. Are we way off the mark? Would you believe this particular thing isn't covered in the lessons exactly? He was taught to ask 'What is your name?' and then answer 'Jeffrey desu.' That doesn't help! That doesn't help for 'My name is...' BTW, the instructor said not to use outside resources because students need to stick to what they've learned even if it means all one can say is "I like fish." :tongue_smilie: I figure the Hive isn't an outside resource. It's my Goto home! At least the instructor is on Skype every afternoon. We've only talked with him once and he was ... um, I'm not sure what to call it. He tried to help but he did like the course and just assumed we knew what we were talking about. But why would we ask how to say something if we already knew how to say it?? I'm on lesson 4 :lol:, and I think it is "Watashi no namae wa Jeffrey desu." I'm curious if I'm right. "Watashi wa Jeffrey desu" should be "I'm Jeffrey," for which a short cut would be "Jeffrey desu." Anyone else, pretty please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I think you're right. Hopefully Jean will see this. Boys also use "boku" instead of "watashi". Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 I'm on lesson 4 :lol:, and I think it is "Watashi no namae wa Jeffrey desu." I'm curious if I'm right. "Watashi wa Jeffrey desu" should be "I'm Jeffrey," for which a short cut would be "Jeffrey desu." Anyone else, pretty please? Are you doing it with Keystone too? We just checked his grade and he got a 100% on the test so he must have done it right. He wrote: 1. Watashi ha Jeffrey desu. 2. Watashi ha America shusshin desu. 3. Watashi ha Georgia ni sundeimasu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 If he was answering a question, then "Jeffrey desu" would be more natural. Japanese doesn't repeat a lot. If he was offering his name to someone who had not asked for it then you would say "Watashi wa" or "Boku wa". "Watashi wa" is the feminine form of "I am" in all situations. "Boku wa" is the masculine form in more casual situations. In formal situations a man can say "Watashi wa" or even more formally "Watakushi wa". From your grade, they are either teaching a more formal form across the board or they are feminizing all their students (which happens, btw). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Are you doing it with Keystone too? We just checked his grade and he got a 100% on the test so he must have done it right. He wrote: 1. Watashi ha Jeffrey desu. 2. Watashi ha America shusshin desu. 3. Watashi ha Georgia ni sundeimasu. We are doing the Irrashai course and some other youtube resources. Waku-waku Japanese is a fun little supplement on youtube. I know you said they are not encouraged to use other materials, but personally, if he's eager, I'd expose him to other stuff as well. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 If he was answering a question, then "Jeffrey desu" would be more natural. Japanese doesn't repeat a lot. If he was offering his name to someone who had not asked for it then you would say "Watashi wa" or "Boku wa". "Watashi wa" is the feminine form of "I am" in all situations. "Boku wa" is the masculine form in more casual situations. In formal situations a man can say "Watashi wa" or even more formally "Watakushi wa". From your grade, they are either teaching a more formal form across the board or they are feminizing all their students (which happens, btw). Thank you Jean! I missed your response until Sunflowers bumped it up again. I'm going to have him ask his teacher about boku. On one assignment, Jeffrey was supposed to just say his name, but the lesson didn't discuss how to do that. The only thing we saw was the question/answer scenario, so he just wrote Jeffrey desu. But the teacher counted it wrong and commented he could use watashi wa or boku wa, without any explanation of why. I'm going to have him ask his teacher about using boku wa, or maybe I'll just have him start using it. The problem is that the teacher didn't write the lessons. We've seen a change of teachers in a couple of courses but nothing changes. My guess is that the courses are set and they just hire teachers to grade the assignments. But if the teacher and lesson are different, it makes things difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 We are doing the Irrashai course and some other youtube resources. Waku-waku Japanese is a fun little supplement on youtube. I know you said they are not encouraged to use other materials, but personally, if he's eager, I'd expose him to other stuff as well. Good luck! Ah! It's interesting, isn't it? We have flashcards for the Hiragana and practice writing it every day. We haven't yet learned them all, but I'm happy about that because I'm still messing up the ones we are supposed to know already! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyomarie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 If he was answering a question, then "Jeffrey desu" would be more natural. Japanese doesn't repeat a lot. If he was offering his name to someone who had not asked for it then you would say "Watashi wa" or "Boku wa". "Watashi wa" is the feminine form of "I am" in all situations. "Boku wa" is the masculine form in more casual situations. In formal situations a man can say "Watashi wa" or even more formally "Watakushi wa". From your grade, they are either teaching a more formal form across the board or they are feminizing all their students (which happens, btw). Beginning Japanese textbooks/courses usually teach "watashi" first. When my husband & I first studied Japanese as adults, we were told that foreign businessmen should stick with a more formal speech pattern- at least until they are further along in their study and have a better grasp on when it's ok to be less formal. It wasn't long after dh got into the work environment in Japan that he switched to using "boku." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyomarie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Are you doing it with Keystone too? We just checked his grade and he got a 100% on the test so he must have done it right. He wrote: 1. Watashi ha Jeffrey desu. 2. Watashi ha America shusshin desu. 3. Watashi ha Georgia ni sundeimasu. I missed this thread until just now because I don't always look at the General Board. However, I have a thread on the High School board about online Japanese classes and someone suggested I check in with you about your experience with Keystone. In general, how are things going with Keystone? It looks like your son has only recently started Japanese. What do you think of it so far? Is the instructor American or is he native-speaker Japanese? Feel free to PM me if you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I missed this thread until just now because I don't always look at the General Board. However, I have a thread on the High School board about online Japanese classes and someone suggested I check in with you about your experience with Keystone. In general, how are things going with Keystone? It looks like your son has only recently started Japanese. What do you think of it so far? Is the instructor American or is he native-speaker Japanese? Feel free to PM me if you wish. PMing you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 NightElf, I have nothing constructive to add.:D I saw your post, asked dh who explained everything in much the same fashion as Jean. Your son probably does not need to know how to pick a fight by using the really familiar term "omaae." What I am curious about is how you and your son feel about not using outside sources. My son just finished Spanish II with Connections Academy. It is part of the honor code and the student is docked points for using even a hard copy dictionary at home. I understand why they do it, but find it a very limiting way to teach a language. My son had to attach a photo to an assignment and talk about the clothing. He looked up the word "tan" and took a zero for the assignment. He was supposed to write in English any words that he did not know. You may not talk about anything that is tan in second year Spanish. It is not allowed.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 What I am curious about is how you and your son feel about not using outside sources. and He was supposed to write in English any words that he did not know. You may not talk about anything that is tan in second year Spanish. It is not allowed.:tongue_smilie: We haven't yet encountered a problem but he's still in the beginning. When he spoke with his instructor on Skype, the instructor told him that at the beginning, all he'll know is 'I like fish' and that's a very boring way of learning a language, but he promised things would improve as he went through the course. I just don't know bad habits to form because then he'll have to unlearn them and learn the new way. He hasn't been told to use English in the same way as your son. I wonder if that is helpful. What frustrated us is that he was told to tell his name, where he is from, and where he lived in a speaking assignment. We use Audacity to save a .wav file. The problem was the the course only taught how to respond to questions. If someone asks What is your name? You answer with your name. But saying My name is something wasn't explained. So how is he supposed to do that assignment? That's why he talked to his teacher with Skype. I'm grateful the teacher is making himself available like that. The teacher recognizes that students need to hear and speak Japanese as part of the course, but it isn't required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.