カタカナ

I am finally sitting down and actually studying Japanese. Although through osmosis and some very very light studying I have learned maybe 1/2 the katakana (the title of this entry by the way) alphabet, I decided it is time I actually LEARN it, so I bought a book. Katakana is one of the three (yes 3) Japanese writing systems. It is one of the most useful to learn because it is used to say western "borrowed" words, so most menus and other practical everyday things are written in katakana. The alphabet is all syllables that are all pronounced evenly in each word-unlike in English where we only pronounce part of the syllables (besides exeptions). Many words can sound VERY similar to the English/whatever western language word it was taken from, just with the Japanese style sounds (saying the words you pretty much just sound like you have a very thick Japanese accent while trying to speak English to give a better picture). However, you have to know exactly how to say it for it to sound that way. This is difficult sometimes because if the katakana is for two words...like "iced coffee" for example, there is no space/break in the writing like you are used to, so it is up to you to decide where a word starts and ends, that can be more difficult than it sounds. That is the fun part of studying? In the book there are lists of vocabulary and I have been covering up the answer and trying to read the word/figure out what it is. I feel like a retard because I am sitting there sounding it out in every breaking way I can and still have no clue, then I look at the answer and I'm like...OH. Hmm. OK. Then say it again, and it instantly sounds pretty much like the western word.

Here is an example:
ク リ ア
ク=ku (like coo in cool)
リ=ri (re in read)
ア=a (sounds like "uh")

So now try sounding it out. Ku-Ri-A...so naturally I sat there trying to guess this one. My best best was Korea (think about it). Check the answer...OH! CLEAR! DUHHHH. (Except ummmm kuria=clear?? What??). But then try saying it again, it will instantly sound close to "clear" because now you know how the syllables should be pronounced/how quickly they should be said.

Here is my favorite surprise word:
イ エ ス
イ=I (like "ee")
エ= E (like aye)
ス= Su (like sue)

So what does that wind up sounding like? Eeaysu? Wtf word is that???
This one stumped me. Then I looked at the answer: JESUS.
??????????????
But then I read the footnote and saw it is taken from the Portuguese version that starts with "ye" but there is no "ye" sound in Japanese meaning "I" is the next best sound. OK.

So although some katakana is very very similar to English, it sure takes a bit of understanding to really get it.

Oh and by the way- my name is リンジ
(Ri-n-ji)
Very close to Lindsay, huh? =)

PS-I hope you can all see the actual Japanese symbols in this?? I have the Japanese language pack installed on my windows....otherwise I pretty much wrote this entry for nothing. Haha.