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PFFF… ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE, WE HAVE TO REMEMBER WHAT WE LEARNED IN SCHOOL?…!
IN JAPANESE, THERE IS NO SINGULAR OR PLURAL.
NOR IS THERE MASCULINE OR FEMININE…
NOR ARE THERE ANY COMPLICATED VERB CONJUGATIONS OR TENSES…!!!
AND IT WORKS WITHOUT ANY OF THAT? I MEAN, DO THE JAPANESE MANAGE TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER?
YOU’RE SUCH A PAIN, TÉO! OF COURSE IT WORKS… THINK ABOUT IT: HAVEN’T YOU SEEN ALL THE PRODUCTS THE JAPANESE MANAGE TO MAKE? DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY DO IT ALL WITHOUT TALKING?
NO WAY…? FANTASTIC…! SO NO AGREEMENT MISTAKES, NO CONJUGATION MISTAKES…? SO, WELL, I’M STAYING AFTER ALL. IS IT POSSIBLE TO BECOME JAPANESE… RIGHT AWAY I MEAN…? YOU WOULDN’T HAPPEN TO KNOW THE ADDRESS OF THE JAPANESE EMBASSY BY ANY CHANCE?
DEAR READER, YOU WHO WILL LEARN JAPANESE WITH EMILY, TÉO AND NICO AT YOUR SIDE THANKS TO THIS BOOK: GRAB A PENCIL LIKE THEM, SOME SHEETS OF PAPER…AND AN ERASER (IT IS INDEED BETTER TO ERASE A BADLY WRITTEN CHARACTER THAN TO TRY TO FIX IT).
ALL THE CHARACTERS YOU’RE GOING TO STUDY, WHATEVER NUMBER OF STROKES THEY’RE MADE OF, HAVE TO OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE ON THE PAGE. WE SAY THAT THEY ARE CONTAINED IN THE SAME “IMAGINARY” SQUARE. WE SAY “IMAGINARY” BECAUSE, MOST OF THE TIME, THE PAGES HAVE NO GRID PATTERN ACTUALLY SHOWING.
THE VARIOUS STROKES NEED, THEN, TO BE ENLARGED OR REDUCED ACCORDING TO THE COMPLEXITY OR SIMPLICITY OF THE CHARACTER YOU’RE GOING TO WRITE—IN ORDER TO OCCUPY THE SAME AREA.
START BY WRITING ON PAPER WITH A LARGE GRID PATTERN. AT THE END OF THIS BOOK, ON PAGE 128, YOU’LL FIND A GRID PATTERN THAT YOU CAN TRACE OR PHOTOCOPY. THEN AFTER A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS, YOU CAN START USING SMALLER SQUARES.
IN ORDER TO MEMORIZE HIRAGANA PERFECTLY, YOU WILL HAVE TO PRACTICE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. YOU WILL HAVE TO WRITE THE NEW CHARACTERS AND GO BACK TO STUDY THOSE ALREADY LEARNED. LIKE THE JAPANESE YOUNG PEOPLE, YOU’LL HAVE TO PRACTICE MEMORIZING THE CHARACTERS BY WRITING EACH ONE OVER AND OVER.
ARE YOU SURE IT’S THE FOX WHO’S MAGICAL, OR IS IT JAPANESE?
SO, OUR FIRST CHARACTER:
は IS PRONOUNCED HA. IT IS ALSO PRONOUNCED WA, BUT ONLY IN ONE SITUATION, AS WE’LL QUICKLY SEE. は IS MADE UP OF THREE STROKES, THAT YOU NEED TO LEARN IN ORDER… WHICH IS THE CASE FOR EVERY CHARACTER.
HA
HA…
WA-F, WA-F!
THE SECOND CHARACTER… に IS PRONOUNCED NI AND IS ALSO MADE UP OF THREE STROKES.
THE THIRD CHARACTER: を IS PRONOUNCED O. AND THIS ONE ALSO IS MADE UP OF THREE STROKES.
AGAIN! SO… ALL THREE HAVE THREE STROKES, THEN…
THIS ONE’S A LITTLE BIZARRE…
WHAT, YOU DON’T FIND THE OTHER TWO BIZARRE TOO?
SO THAT I FORGET WHAT YOU THOUGHT VERY LOUDLY AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. TRY.
UH… FOX SENSEI は (WA) YARD に (NI) TO BE.
VERY GOOD.
Emily and Téo go to school.
Emily and Téo は (wa) school に (ni) to go.
Nico bothers Emily.
Nico
