Japanese class

About 2 years ago, I took a beginning Japanese class through our local community education program.  I learned something of the basic construction of the language and a small vocabulary.  At the end of the course, I was able to say a few polite things in Japanese and understand some of what a very sympathetic Japanese speaker was saying.  After that I spent 2 years not using any Japanese and forgetting most of what I had learned.

Last night I attended the first session in the second level Japanese class.  I was pleasantly surprised by what I remembered from my classes of 2 years ago.  Our teacher, Nanako san, is a very sympathetic Japanese speaker, and presents the Japanese language to us in a meaningful and understanding way.  If we put in the effort, we will gain much from this class.

My personal goals for this class are to improve my understanding of  the structure, develop an active vocabulary of 100 or so basic words and phrases with a much larger passive vocabulary, be able to have short simple conversations, and write at the level of a first grader.  That means that by December I'll be able to tell you in Japanese that I've accomplished these goals.

There are still openings in her classes on Wednesday evenings, both in the first and second levels.  So if you are in the Bemidji area and interested in starting or continuing your study of Japanese, check out www.bemidjicommunityed.com, then click on course listings under adult enrichment, then on world languages.

Sayonara 'til next Wednesday

Concordia Field Trip

上 星期三 我 和  顾 老师 认识 以下。  她 是 教授 从 中国。 今年 她 来 把密集 大学，较 中文。 我 邀请 她 来 看 Concordia 语言 的村庄。 星期六 我们 去 在 Concordia。 我们 看 五 个 语言 的 村庄。 我们 也 看 圆 的 和平。 真言 是 [和平 通过 了解]。 我们 都得 学 另外 的 文化。


Pinyin:  Shang4 xing1qi1san1 wo3 he2 Gu4 lao2shi1 ren2shi yi1xia4.  Ta1 shi4 jiao4shou4 cong2 Zhong1guo2.  Jin1 nian2 ta1 lai2 Bamiji da4xue2, jiao4 Zhong1wen2.  Wo3 yao1qing3 ta1 lai2 kan4 Concordia yu3yan de cun1zhuang1.  xing1qi1liu4 wo3men qu4 zai4 Concordia.  wo3men kan4 wu3 ge yu3yan de cun1zhuang1.  wo3men ye3 kan4 yuan2 de he4ping2.  Zhen1yan2 shi4 [he4ping2 tong1guo4 liao3jie3.]  Wo3men dou1 dei3 xue2 ling4wai4 de wen2hua4.

English:   Last Wednesday I met and visited with Professor Gu.  She is a visiting professor from China.  This year she came to Bemidji University to teach Chinese.While visiting, I invited her to come and see Concordia Language Villages.  Saturday we went to Concordia.  We saw 5 villages and also looked at the Circle of Peace.  The motto is "Peace through understanding".  To promote peace, we should all learn about other cultures.

也 看,  ye3 kan4,   see also,  Concordia Language Villages, fall 2011

Brann om bord i Hurtigruten. Fire on board the Hurtigruten

Idag på norskebordet snakket vi om brannen om bord i Hurtigruteskipet i Norge. Vi hadde hørt om brannen, men vi visste ingen detaljer. Jeg fant denne artikkelen på internett. Klikk her for artikkelen.

English: Today at the Norwegian table we talked about the fire on board the Hurtigruten cruise ship in Norway.  We had heard about the fire, but we knew no details.  I found this article on the internet.  Click here for the article.

Kiitos (Thank you) Salolampi at Concordia.

Viime viikolla minulla oli ihana aikaa Salolampissa . Tapasin vanhoja ystäviä ja tein uusia. Opin joitakin suomea​​, ja oli hauskaa.   Ja ruoka oli herkullista.  Kiitos kaikille Salolampissa.

English:  I had a great time at Salolampi last week.  I met old friends and made new ones.   I learned some Finnish and had a great time.  And the meals were delicious.  Thank you all at Salolampi.

Suomeaviiko (Finnish week) September 11-16

Päivää!  Tämä on Suomeaviiko!

Maanantaina, Keskiviikona ya ehkä torstaina, mina olen työssä suomessa kauppassa, Concordiassa.
En puhu paljon suomea, mutta Concordialainen hyvin ystävällistä.  Kuunnellan paljon suomea, ymmärän hieman, ya puhun vähän.  Jos haloatte nähdä neuvontan suomean viikon, voitte nahksahtaa tämän paikkan.


Hi!  This is Finnish week!

On Monday, Wednesday and maybe Thursday, I’ll be working at the Finnish store in Concordia.  I don’t speak much Finnish, but the Concordia people are very nice.  I’ll hear a lot of Finnish, understand some, and speak a little.  If you would like to see information about the Finnish week, you can click on this site.

Anishinaabemowin

Boozhoo!  If you look at the schedule to the right, you'll see that 2 Ojibwe language tables have been added to our listing.  Check out the website at http://bemidjistate.edu/airc/resources/ojibwe/.  Geget (truly} we are fortunate in Bemidji to have the opportunity to learn about this language and culture.that is so close to the earth.

For those of you who would like an introduction to Ojibwe language and culture, the website, http://ojibwelanguage.blogspot.com/, seems to be an excellent starting point.  As the website suggested, I went back to the first entries in October of last year, and went forward.  Caution, DON'T skip the cultural sections.  You must know something of the culture to learn the language, and you must know something of the language to learn the culture.  But then, as we already know, that goes for any language and culture.