What's in Japan?

エンゲルト：にほに　いきましたか？

わたし：　はい、いきました。

エンゲルト：　にほんに　なにが　ありますか？

わたし：ええと、ひろさきしろが　あります。

エンゲルト：そですか。ひろさきしろは　どなですか？

わたし：あのう、とても　ふるいです　そして　とても　りっぱです　でも　ちいさくありません。あおまりに　ありますよ。　

エンゲルト：そですか。にほに　たべものがありますか？

わたし：どらやきがあります。どらやきは　とても　いいです　でも　おおきくあろません。

エンゲルト：いいですね！ きょとに　なにが　いますか？

わたし：宮本茂さん（みやもとしげる）きょとが　います。

エンゲルト：いいですね。ありがと　ございます。

わたし：いいえ

My Hometown：ロサンゼルス

わたしあ　カリフォロニアしゅうのロサンゼルスから　きました。わたしの　うちは　たかいうちです 　でも　あおくありません。ロサンゼルスは　とてもゆうめいです　そして　ふるいです。 DowntownLAの　ててものは　たかい　そして　りっぱててものです。　

わたしの neighborhoodのおなまは　ハイランドパークです。ハイランドパークは　きれいです　そして　ちいさいです　でも　あまり　ゆうめいじゃありません。としょかんは　ちいさいです。

カタカナ Expressions

Once we learned hiragana, I thought that we would be using that for the most part but when I started to look things up I found out that katakana is used just as much as hiragana is. This surprised me mainly because I know that many languages will create their own words for foreign words or at least assimilate the word but Japanese not only tries to stay close to the original but also distinguishes it from the Japanese words/ "alphabet." For example, soccer is known as football almost everywhere else in the world but for English it has a different name altogether. Whereas in Japanese, a sport like basketball has the katakana name ベスケットボール. I was also surprised to see some words that I would have imagined would be in hiragana to actually be in katakana. For instance Pokemon is written ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト despite the series having originated from Japan. I appreciate katakana much more now that I have seen its applications in Japanese and actually thought about what the purpose of even developing katakana.

Arthur Binard Poetry Reading

Arthur Binard spent many years living in Japan and translated various books and poems. He talked about the difficulties as well as the joys of translating English text to Japanese or vice versa and his experiences doing so. For example, he told us how translating can be difficult because there are not always analogous words between languages so the translator must find words and phrases that can be used to communicate the meaning of the literature. So it can either be translated faithfully or it can be completely butchered! This made some of his translations take a few years just because he could not find words that could make the literature impactful and meaningful in Japanese. On the other hand, he also talked about how he was able to write his own poem in Japanese when he could not accurately express himself in English and he joked about how translating is a form a legal plagiarism. In the end, he emphasizes that he always aimed to remain faithful to the original intentions and meanings of the author, even if that meant being liberal with the actual translating and how rewarding he found translating to be.

Still Waiting on the End

Kingdom Hearts is an action role-playing-game series that I have loved since the first installment came out back in 2002. It is a very unique game because it is essentially the product of a crossover between the Final Fantasy series and various Disney characters and stories. The only problem that I find with this series is that since the second main installment came out in 2006, the third main installment still has not received a release date! Granted the series has lived on through various mini installments on various handheld consoles (PSP, Nintendo DS and 3DS), no information on the next main installment was released until E3 2013. Although short the teaser trailer got me incredibly excited.
 I have always loved this game but as I got older I grew to appreciate its unique nature. It has many similar features to the Japanese RPG series Final Fantasy as it is made by the same company yet it's Japanese influences never overshadow the Disney stories that it retells throughout the various games. On top of that, the story is also unique and convoluted which is another thing that makes it great. It is not simply the main character invading Disney stories, it has its own plot and new characters that work in harmony with both Disney and Final Fantasy characters. The finale to the story that has been building up for over a decade now is only a couple years away at this point and I cannot wait to get my hands on the final game.

My routine

これわわたしのroutineです。
ぼくはくらすにいきます。あさごはんをたべます。ごごにじにほんごのくらすをいきます。にほんごのじゅくだいをします。ごごごじはんばんごはん。ごごしちじべんじょします。ごぜんじゅいちじしょわあをあびます。ごぜにちぼくわねます。

First Try at Typing Hiragana

はじめまして。わたしわMartinezです。あめりかじんです、 にねんせいでう。わたしの　せんこわ　いがくです。


Most of the Japanese media that I consume comes in the form of anime or video games so it is not very surprising that a song I really like I first heard in an anime.

"Lovers" by 7!!

I heard that song from Naruto and its one of the only songs that I liked as its own thing rather than it being associated with Naruto. The only aspect of the song that I do not like is that I understand absolutely none of it. It could be saying the sappiest or most vulgar things but I have no idea nor do I really care. I enjoy the song despite not knowing what it says. As much as I like this song, the thing I want to introduce is the anime that first exposed me to anything Japanese and that is Dragon Ball Z.

Dragon Ball Z continues the story of Goku from Dragon Ball as he starts his family and discovers his true origins. He is revealed to be a Saiyan, a now extinct warrior race, and throughout the course of his new adventures he faces fearsome villains that threaten to destroy everything that he holds dear. He is determined to not only protect those he cares about but also to be the strongest that he can possibly be. This anime was a large part of my childhood and was one of the main reasons why I became so interested in Japanese culture. Dragon Ball Z ended quite some time ago but Goku's story has recently been continued through the release of Dragon Ball Super which I am very excited to see as it releases.