IATIJ Sprint! Who's With Me?

Japanese Language
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IATIJ = An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
A little over two years ago I posted a Genki Sprint which turned out to be one of the most useful exercises I put myself through. A lot of other people also seemed to enjoy it. I proceeded to get lazy with my Japanese, despite going on to spend two years in the country, but now I’m aiming to turn that around, and I’d like you to join me!

Here’s how it works: We’re going to start one week from now on Monday, April 1. You start with lesson one and read one lesson every day for 15 days straight. You don’t do anything else. Just read the material and listen to the audio if you can. Even if it doesn’t seem to be sticking, just plow ahead.

Then, at the end of 15 days, we start again at the beginning, this time highlighting our texts, or writing notes. Optional: Create Anki cards from notes.

When this is done, I’ll probably move on to repeat this with Tobira.

Every day, starting Monday, I’ll make a post summarizing the chapter and offering thoughts, and I hope you’ll come and comment and think through this stuff with me.

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I don’t own IATIJ, but Tobira has been gathering dust on my shelf for a while now. I’ll probably join you when you get to it.

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I‘m currently at chapter 5 (or was it 6 already?) of IATIJ and could definitely need some motivation to go faster. I also want to do Tobira afterwards so this sounds great :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:

I‘m currently in Japan and when I come back home in April, I have to travel for work right afterwards so I‘ll have to see how consistent I can be but I‘ll try and keep up with you.

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Chapter One

I’ve read through this chapter before, so it was less of a challenge than it otherwise might have been. That said, despite being somewhat familiar with the grammar, the dialogues were really difficult to listen to. Reading them was fine, but trying to follow along just by listening was… oof. I know everyone passes through this point, but from here I can’t imagine what it will be like to look back and think, “Jeez, this is practically baby-talk. What was I having such a hard time with??” That’ll be a nice day…

Okay, a summary of the challenging parts:

～たばかり

'have just done something; have just finished doing something

Ｖ(plain)＋ところ

“about to do something”

Ｖ(stem)+ているところ

“am in the process of doing something”

～たところ

“have just done something”

I found this resource for more details. They offer this elaboration:

Let’s compare ところ and ばかり when they are used with the past tense. One point to note is that ところ is far more time-specific—emphasising that the action has taken place that moment.

あのデパートができたばかりです。( OK )
That department store has just been completed.

あのデパートができたところです。( ✘ )
That department store has just been completed.

The sentence with ところ implies that you’ve just seen the final brick being put in place. Because we probably mean that the building has been built recently rather than literally just now we need to use ばかり. In other cases, they can be used interchangeably because either sentence sounds reasonable.

改札機かいさつきを出でたばかりです。( OK )
I’ve just come out of the ticket gates.

改札機かいさつきを出でたところです。( OK )
I’ve just come out of the ticket gates.

Finally, ばかり is often used to imply a reason or explanation for something.

この靴くつを買かったところです。
I’ve just bought these shoes [factual emphasis on the time].

この靴くつを買かったばかりです。
I’ve just bought these shoes [that’s why they look new].

This post on stackexchange was also helpful:

～たところ and ～たばかり both mean “just did X”. I was always taught that ～たところ means “I just did X and haven’t done anything else”, whereas ～たばかり means “I just did X (but could’ve been a little while ago).” The “scope” of the event can determine the recentness.

例文

  • 昼食を食べたところだ。 → I just ate lunch (right now).

  • （午後３：００) 昼食食べたばかりなんで、眠たい。 → (At 3:00pm) I just ate lunch (even though it was several hours ago), so now I’m sleepy.

  • (隣の人に車を見せながら） 新しい車買ったところやで！ → (Show his neighbor) I just bought this new car (as in just came home from the dealership)!

  • （電車の改札口で） 森内さん、回数券多いね。新しい車買ったばかりじゃない？ → (At the ticket gate for the train) Moriuchi, you sure do have a lot of commuter (train) tickets. Didn’t you just buy a new car? (could have been several days or even a few weeks ago).

V(plain) ことになっている

“be expected/supposed to”

it is a rule/custom that…

V(plain) ことになった

“it’s been decided/arranged that…”

Does anyone understand why the example sentence “日本で英語を教えることになっています” gets translated as “I am to teach English in Japan”? Why isn’t it なった? Wouldn’t it be that it was “arranged/decided” for them to teach in Japan?

V(plain)+ ようになる

indicates a change which has taken place or will take place

N (or sentence + の) は初めてです

Expresses the first time encountering something

V(stem) にくい

something is difficult to Verb

vice versa: V(stem) やすい

V(plain) ことにする

‘decide to do’

S1たら、S2(past tense)

“when”. S2 usually describes an event you didn’t expect

Ｖたら+S(present tense)

conditional use. “If you blah blah blah”

とても～ない

“can’t possibly”

らしい

evidently; seemingly

Ｖて初めてのＮ

“the first N after V-ing”

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Day Two, Chapter Two

Get this: I somehow got roped into catering an event on Thursday. For 20+ people. Making ramen. Uh, I’m not a caterer. I’m not even a cook, beyond a hobby. How I got roped in… is a long story. So, that’s a humble-brag way of saying: Holy crap I’ve been busy.

I wasn’t able to get into the nitty-gritty today, but I’m holding strong and true and I read the dialogues, skimmed the longer text, and am going through the grammar. Here we go.

V ないで

Without V-ing; instead of V-ing

  • Carries a connotation that one didn’t do what was expected of them

宿題をしないで学校へ来るのは良くない。
It’s not good to come to school without having done your homework.

V ばいいのに

You should～

  • Usually used to suggest the opposite of what someone is doing

もっと早く寝ればいいのに。
You should go to bed earlier.

{Skipping the それで stuff. Most of it I know, and the deeper details I’m too half-asleep to deal with right now}

なかなか～ない

‘not easily’

  • either something is not easily done, or it takes time to do

コーヒーを飲んだので、なかなか眠れませんでした。
I had coffee, so I had a hard time falling asleep.

Question word + か分からない

Embeds a wh-question in another sentence

  • Make question sentence into plain form

いつ日本へ行くか分かりません。
I don’t know when I will be going to Japan (lit. “When will I got to Japan? I don’t know.”)

しか～ない

'only; no more than

  • Implies a lack

五ドルしかないから、映画へ行けません。

つまり

‘in other words’

  • pretty self-explanatory

～わけです

“That means”; “It follows that…”; “That is to say…”

  • Shows a logicial conclusion drawns from previous statement(s)
  • Often gives a summary of previous statements

A: スミスさんは日本に十年も住んでいたんですよ。
B: だから、日本語はペラペラなわけですね。

N によって

“depending on”

人によって考えが違います。
Opinions vary from person to person.
あいさつ言葉はその日の天気によっていろいろ言えばよい。
What greeting you use may vary depending on the weather of the day.

N に当たる

“correspond to～”

日本語の「こんにちは」は、英語の “Hello” に当たる。
一ドルは、何円に当たりますか。

～（の）ような N

“N, like～”; “N, such as～”

「どうも」のような便利なフレーズは、英語にはないだろう。
名前の漢字は、日本人にも読めないような読み方があるから、難しい。

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I had not listened to the audio yet (CDs are not something I still use regularly and I somehow have to get the content on my laptop) but since you mentioned it, I’m planning on listening to it on the weekend.

Looking forward to your next summaries! This sprint comes just at the right time for me. Still so much to do before the July N3…

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As someone who completed a Tobira sprint last time, good luck to you all! It was a real slog by the end but I felt like I learned a lot. I’d consider joining again if it weren’t for finals. Maybe after…

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How are you doing @jomteon ? I‘m guessing life is keeping you busy and I can certainly relate. Just came back from Japan, quite jetlaggy, have to leave on a business trip tomorrow. But otherwise still motivated to keep going with IATIJ, so I hope you will be back and continue with the sprint.

One chapter per day is really an intense pace if you still have life going on at the same time, at least for me…

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I’m still here. This last week was crazy so I fell behind. I’m catching up, though. I’ll make my next post tonight or tomorrow morning.

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Life had been challenging the last week+. Working on catching up now. No surrender!

Glass of 米焼酎の水割り in hand, ready to tackle the night!

Chapter Three

Vないで

Contracted form of Vないでください

明日持ってくるのを忘れないでね。
Please don’t forget to bring it tomorrow, okay?

V(causative) ていただけないでしょうか

Causative is the one that goes させる
This is a very polite way to ask for permission to do something.

*NB: Should you use the plain form of the verb, you will be asking the person you’re speaking to to do something.

For example:

先生、英語で言わせていただけないでしょうか。
vs.
先生、英語で言っていただけないでしょうか。

The first one ask if the person asking can speaking in English, the second asks the other person to do so.

～ば～ほど

“The more/less～, the more/less ～”

Some notes: The first part is the ば conditional form.
The second part changes depending on what precedes.
V & い-adj = ば
N & な-adj = であれば

日本語は、勉強すれば勉強するほどおもしろくなると思います。
I think the more you study Japanese the more interesting you will find it.
日本語は、勉強しなければしないほど分からなくなります。
The less you study Japanese, the less you will begin to understand it.

いいレストランであればあるほど高い。
Better restaurants are more expensive.

I don’t really understand this grammar point, so any help would be appreciated.

N以外の・以外に

other than～; besides～

学期の初めは、教科書以外にいろいろ買うものがある。
At the beginning of the semester, there are so many things to buy besides textbooks.

必ずしも～というわけではない

“it doesn’t necessarily mean that ～”

NB: Imabi notes that 必ずしも often is paired with ～とは限らない as well

勢力はそれ自体では必ずしも幸福をもたらすとは限らない。
Power, in itself, doesn’t necessarily bring happiness.

必ずしも高いものがいいというわけではない。
It’s not necessarily the case that expensive things are good.

Nばかり・Ｖてばかり

"Nothing but ～

Expressing the idea that there’s so much X, it’s like X is all there is.

日本へ行って初めのころは、おもしろいことばかりだった。
When I went to Japan, in the beginning I had nothing but interesting experiences.

なるべく

as～as possible

宿題は、なるべく次の日に出してください。
If possible, please hand in the homework the next day.

教室の外でも、なるべく日本語を使った方がいいでしょう。
It will be better if you speak Japanese as much as possible even outside the classroom.

Ｖ(plain)べき

should; ought to

NB: Following する it can become simply すべき
Negative form is べきではない

日本語の新聞が読みたかったら、漢字を勉強すべきだ。

悪い友だちの意見は聞くべきではない。

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Chapter Four

別に (～ない)

“not particularly”

人１：日本語のクラスは、どう。難しい？
人２：ううん、別に。

たしか

“if I remember correctly; if I’m not mistaken”

アメリカで一番人口の多い州は、たしかカリフォルニアだと思います。

Nにする

“to decide on N; to have/take N”

  • Used when you’re deciding on one among menu, such as food on a menu
    俺は、オムライスにします。

さえ

“even”

  • usually follows a noun (or sentence+こと), and focuses on an unusual of least expected case

自分の名前さえ書けない人は少ないでしょう。

期末試験の前は、学生は忙しくて、寝る時間さえありません。

時々夏のように暑い日さえあります。

日本の夏は暑けて、眠れないことさえあります。

いつのまにか

“before you know it”

そとはいつのまにか暗くなっていた。

～になれる

“be used to”

  • follows a noun, or a sentence+の
    日本の生活になれてきた。
    日本人でも敬語を使うのになれていない人が多ぜいます。

Ｖてくる・Ｖていく

  • Describes how a change relates to the speaker.
  • てくる = indicates a V has been taking place up to now
  • ていく = indicates a V will take place from now on
    日本語がだいぶ話せるようになってきました。
    I have come to speak Japanese a lot better.

～わけではない

“it doesn’t meant that…; it doesn’t follow that…”

  • negates when you’d usually conclude from a previous statement/situation
    あまり英語を話しませんが、英語ができないわけではありません。
    I don’t speak English much, but that doesn’t mean I can’t.

Ｖないで済む

one manages to get by without V-ing

図書館に本があったので、買わないで済みました。

～ずつ

“each; at a time”

  • used after a number or limited quantity (少し), indicating a quantity is equally distributed
    郵便局で切手と葉書を五枚ずつ買いました。

～ようだ・Ｎのように

“it seems that; it looks like~”・“like; as if it were”

豆腐のようなですね
Looks like tofu, hunh?

日本人は白い車が好きなようです。
Japanese people seem to like white cars.

Differences between よう and らしい:

  • Both offer conjecture. よう typically offers first-hand info, らしい second-hand
    試験は難しかったようだ。
    The exam seemed difficult. (I felt it was difficult)
    しけんはむずかしかったらしい。
    It seems the exam was difficult. (I heard it was difficult)

Ｎ1のようなＮ2 = N1 looks/acts like N2. If we add らしい, it changes a bit.

田中さんは、女のようなです。
Mr. Tanaka looks like a woman.
田中さんは、女らしいです。
Ms. Tanaka is very feminine.

夏のような日です。
It’s a summer-like day. (i.e. It’s hot like summer, though it’s not summer.)
夏らしい日です。
It’s a very summery day. (It’s hot like summer’s supposed to be)

Ｎのように = N is like someone/thing else

十月の末なのに、夏のように暑いです。

そうだ VS. ようだ

  • both based on visual evidence
  • そうだ is more of an immediate impression
  • ようだ involves more reasoning and the speaker is typically more certain of their conclusion.
    この試験は難しそうだ。
    This test looks difficult.
    この試験は難しようだ。
    It seems this test is difficult.

そうだ VS. らしい

  • both may be based on what one has heard
  • そうだ is hearsay, based on what one has heard
  • らしい is more of a conjecture from what one has heard
    スミスさんは病気だそうです。
    I hear Mr. Smith is sick.
    スミスさんは病気らしいです。
    It seems Mr. Smith is sick.
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Good to see that you are back!

I’m currently also working through the book with my italki teacher at a slower pace (last 2 lessons were chapter 1). It is nice being a bit prepared for the grammar that we are going to discuss because I read through it a couple of times but it makes me realize how badly I internalized the grammar on my first read through.

It always feel like everything makes sense while I read it and I can soak up the easier concepts that way. But the more complex ones need more repetition and ideally an explanation by my teacher before I can really remember them. Well… as long as we are making progress… :woman_shrugging:

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A while back someone asked about this grammar, so I wrote this:

ほど roughly means “to the extent of…” or “as”

So for the first example:

時間がたつほど価値が上がる roughly means, “as the time goes by, the price goes up”

On the other hand,

物が増えればふえるほど整理が大変になる roughly means, “If the things increase, to the extent of the increase, it will become that difficult”

In essence, they are like the book says the same thing in English, but I’ve asked a friend of mine about ～ば～ほど, and he told me that that form is not often used in conversation because people to tend to rephrase their thoughts differently using fewer words. Which form is better? I couldn’t tell you, but after finding out about just using ほど in that way, I prefer not to use the ～ば～ほど form. To kind of answer your question, you could convert all of those examples to one form or the other. I believe the grammar text just wanted to show you how to use them both just using a couple of examples. I believe for the sake of clarity you would probably need to use ～ば～ほど in its entirety, but I am not fully confident about that though.

As you can see from the explanation, the ~ば part isn’t essential all the time. Hopefully that helps. Here’s the original thread.

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