Week 41- Catching up on notes; adding vocab to last week’s post.
As a result of taking a week off of lessons, there are a whopping 88 level 32 vocabulary words to do before actually leveling up; Level 33 unlocked 7/7 R, 25/32 K, 28/109 V. Finding this information took a few extra steps to find due to the new dashboard and whole site updates.
Overall the changes are a push for me: I have eliminated all the information that I never looked at, but the information I used regularly is hidden behind clicks and scrolls. Who did the final quality control check before releasing this update? Even the staff notes that things look weird or have removed functionality/accessibility…. Seems rushed … unnecessarily IMO.
Some comments from Koichi make me wonder if the team is being hypocritical or deceptive in their advertising.
Although this is in the fine print How long does it take to finish WaniKani? | WaniKani Knowledge
The homepage leads with this:
There are 60 levels and 52 weeks in a year. That means one level per week to “finish” (getting to level 60) in 13.8 months. If the company philosophy is so strong against speed-running, why push the one year goal?
6.31 to 6.33 catch-up post
my mistakes are underlined.
The philosopher defined man as a political animal. 哲学者は人間を政治的動物と定義した。哲学者は政治的動物と人間を定義した。
That is how she is different from other people.そのが他人と異なるところだ。そのが異なると他人だ。
歴史は繰り返す。History repeats itself.
ごまかされなかった。I was not deceived.
日本語には丁寧さを表す言い方が多いです。 Japanese has a lot of ways to express politeness.
異なった考え方の大切さを理解している。 I understand the importance of different viewpoints.
彼の主張は我が国の将来を謝るものだ。 His proposal would be a mistake for the future of our country.
I had the same dream repeatedly for a week. 一週間同じ夢を繰り返し見た。
Try looking in the mirror. 鏡を見てご覧。Not sure where the try part comes in.
これは一言も言わずに部屋から出た。 He left the room without saying anything.
I passed the exam without studying. 勉強せずに試験に合格した。
Please remember to sign your name. 忘れずに署名をしてください。（Don’t forget to sign it） 忘れにとってに署名をしてください。
Fortunately, the store was open. ありがたいことに点が開けいていた。
ここにいたとはあなたは幸いでした。 It was fortunate that you were here.
I am truly sorry. 誠に申し訳ありません。
6.34
He tried to hide his Spanish accent. 彼はスパインごなまりを隠そうとした。
Please turn this noun into a verb. この動詞を名詞化してください。この動詞を名詞に化してください。
Would you mind repeating that last part one more time? 今のところをもう一度繰り返して言ってくれませんか？
今のところ = い ま の と こ ろ expression adverb at present, currently, so far, for now, for the time being
(Could you please repeat what you just said? ) 今のところはもう一度を繰り返して言ってくれませんか？
この分は二通りに解訳が可能だ。 This sentence can be interpreted in two ways.
言語の学習では繰り返しが重要な働きをする。 Repetition plays a vital role in language learning.
I am just stating the obvious. 当たり前のことを言っているだけだ。当たり前だけを言っている。
I am looking for a fitting adjective to describe m little sister’s peculiarities. 妹の特徴を表すのにぴったりした形容詞を探している。
I increased my vocabulary by reading books. 本を読んで語彙を増やした。I read books and expanded my vocabulary.
NOTES- Events and Schedules
Grammar Note
Did you remember that we can turn a whole sentence into a noun phrase by changing the sentence into the plain form and adding の at the end, as in ちょうないかいのあつまりがあるの (that we have a neighborhood association meeting)? We could use こと instead of の to do the same, but as you recall, we tend to use こと to refer to abstract ideas. Since we are talking about the concrete action of having a meeting, の is a better choice in this case.
Grammar Note
Here is how you can express your emotional reactions with just a vowel or two. あ registers a nonchalant recognition as in あ、わたしのです (Oh, that’s mine). あっ! signals an epiphany or a pure surprise of seeing an unexpected, as in あっ! スーパーマンだ! (Oh! There’s Superman!). Then, あーっ! indicates some disaster, like suddenly remembering at the dinner table that today is your wedding anniversary (Ah, oh…). Now, え? conveys that you couldn’t catch what was said, like “Huh?” えっ! shows your surprise but with a certain amount of incredulity, like えっ! まじで?! (What! Seriously?!) Then, えーっ?! carries a mixed load of protest and disappointment, as in えーっ?! プレゼントないの?? (Whaaat?! Didn’t you get me a present??)
Grammar Note
When we want to express our own conviction about something, we can use the “plain form plus はずです” structure. The English equivalents can be “should ~,” “ought to ~,” “I expect that ~,” “I’m sure that ~,” or “I’m fairly certain that ~.” Please note that はず itself is a noun that means “reason” or “being reasonable or just.” So, if the word that comes before はずです is a な- adjective, we need to replace だ with な, as in げんきなはずです (I’m sure he is fine). Also, if the word is a noun, we need to add the particle の before はずです, as in ５かいのはずです (It should be on the 5th floor).
Grammar Note
When we want to indicate that we are trying to recall some information or when we have doubts about the soundness of our own memory, we can end our sentence with the particle っけ. Please note that we can only use っけ after the た- form of a verb, as in そうだったっけ (Was it?), or だ (the plain form of です), as in そうだっけ (Is it?)
Grammar Note
When we are talking about a plan or schedule, ～はずです (or its plain form ～はずだ) can mean “is supposed to ~,” “is due to ~,” “is to ~,” or “is expected to ~.”
It was supposed to be this Saturday. こんしゅうのどようびのはずでした。
Grammar Note
We have already used the expression かいてあります to mean “it says” or “it is written,” right? Now, let’s look at the structure “て- form plus ある,” which expresses the “continuing” state. For example, someone wrote a message on a sign in the past and, as the result, the sign still conveys the message. It’s similar to the “て- form plus いる” structure, but while ～ている presents the state as if it’s a “natural” phenomenon, ～てある indicates that the state has been brought about by a willful act. For this reason, the ～てある structure is always used with transitive verbs!
Grammar Note
Do you remember that we can use the “て- form plus おく” structure to describe an action performed in preparation for something? to go ahead and phone (someone) でんわしておく
In very casual conversations, we can use ～とく, the shortened form of ～ておく, as in でんわしとく (I’ll go ahead and phone her)
Please note that though “home page” in English means the front (or starting) page of a website, ホームページ in Japanese often means the website itself,
Grammar Note
The form of verbs that conveys one’s volition is called the volitional form. We can use it on its own in the plain style of speech to express our will to ourselves as in もうかえろう ([I think] I’m going home now), or we can use it in various sentence structures. Here is how to form the volitional form for Group I verbs such as よぶ (to invite). First, replace the last character of the dictionary form with the character in the お- line of the same row in the ひらがな chart and then add う. For example, the verb よぶ (to invite) ends with ぶ. The お- line of the same row is ぼ. So, the volitional form of the verb よぶ will be よぼう. I’m thinking about inviting よぼうとおもっています
Grammar Note
Forming the volitional form for Group II verbs is easy! All we have to do is to attach よう to the ます- form. For example, the ます- form of the Group II verb でる (to attend) is で, so its volitional form will be でよう.
I’m thinking about attending でようとおもっています
Grammar Note
For the irregular verbs (くる and する), we simply must memorize each conjugated form, right? The volitional form for the verb くる (to come) is こよう.
as a matter of fact, I’m thinking about going (and coming back) いってこようとおもってるの
Grammar Note
To review, while we usually say “I don’t think that ~” to express our negative thought in English, it sounds more natural in Japanese to use the “negative plain form plus とおもいます” structure, as in じかんどおりにいかなくてもいいとおもいます (I think that we don’t have to be there on time).
Grammar Note
べつのひにすれば literally means “if you decide on another day,” but when the phrase is said with a rising intonation as in べつのひにすれば？, it works as a suggestion in the casual style, as in “Why don’t you pick another day?” It’s a short form of べつのひにすれば、どう？ (How about if you pick another day?)
Normally, I would have spent the day reading. I chose to deep clean the kitchen while listening to mix tapes from the mid 2000s.
This post was inspiring and informative.