Word Borrowed Perfectly: Japanese to English

This post reflects a note I scribbled on a bit of paper while watching television months ago, October 28, to be precise. It was about a word borrowed from Japanese, and - if my ears had not deceived me after two listenings (17:00+ and 21:00+) - perfectly so into English.

I say perfectly, because an NHK News in English announcer's usage of the adopted word represented adaptation of a common, stand-alone Japanese noun generally unmarked for number, to make it into a plural noun marked with an -s, or rather, with the sound /-z/.

Can anyone guess what that word was? There will be a grab-bag surprise for the author of the first accurately spelled guess in a comment on this post by a current Writing Studio participant. You must appear in person during a class meeting to collect the prize.

Here is a bit of context from the note for a hint; the "It" refers to a letter reportedly discovered in Kumamoto:

• "It had been sent to ...-s [n., pl.] of the Fukui domain."

Good luck brainstorming! Please post your best guesses in comments on this post.

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Third presentation display [+ design, + ...]

Here's version three of a brief personal history, with a design for the slides, additional graphics, links, and photos. It's ready for a sound track to make the slideshow into an oral presentation.

| View | Upload your own

Welcome home, hallows!

This post represents an iPhoto slideshow, with animation effects and music, exported as a movie, uploaded to YouTube, and embedded here:



I'm also embedding a Google Video version of the same movie for comparison, here:

For ease of comparison, I've resized both viewers above, making them the same width. Which do you think looks better?

[53 words]

"Somebody stole my...

... radio" (*) -

... no, bicycle -

... no, more precisely, -

... my bicycle seat!



____________________
* That line may be from a song performed by Nicollete Larson (Wikipedia). Though I haven't been able to track down the song or lyrics, in addition to the Wikipedia stub (above), I have found an online biography covering her musical career.

[59 words]

Week's Assignments: Mega-Essay Project (1.3)

This post reiterates the tasks that I displayed in class today for classwork and homework assignments (due Oct. 12, 2007).

Kumamoto essays: Information questions and answers [classwork]

1. Preview three or more essays - not outlines - in blogs DOWN list (Writing Studio Wiki, §2.3).
2. Ask information questions about essays, or suggest additional information for those essays, in three or more blogs UP list in comments on those blogs.
3. Check your own essay for incoming information questions [and suggestions].

Kumamoto essays: Responses and revisions [classwork]

1. Answer questions from comments in comments on your own blog.
2. Transfer information from answers in ALL comments to ONE of your group member's essays.
3. Reorganize and revise all individual essays, as necessary, to suit additional information from comments on all group members' essays.

Kumamoto essays: [homework]

1. Add finishing touches to your individual essays.
• Add links (3 minimum).
• Add photos (3 minimum).
• Add other media:
• graphics,
• maps,
• music,
• slideshows,
• videos, or
• voice recordings.
2. Use NO copyright - “©” - material (without written permission [from owners])!

For further information, please review:

• The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1.2);
• The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1.1); &
  
• The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1).

Then, if you have questions about finalizing your mega-essays, please post them in comments on this post.

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The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1.2)

This is a follow-on to: Mega-Essay Project (1.1). Mr. Lavin has been so kind as to share links to two blog posts representing a jointly written essay in two individual fashions:

• Snowman's Life 3: Kumamoto; &
• Candie's: Essay 3 - Kumamoto.

Please check them out as you're working on your own - original - mega-essays about Kumamoto!

The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1.1)

This post is a follow-on to: The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1), which explained group formation (done, right?). Here is an illustration suggesting workflow to follow in order to jointly develop and then individually represent your mega-essays about Kumamoto:

Please remember that after compilation of a joint mega-essay, each member of your group must post the essay to her or his own blog, adding links, pictures, slideshows, videos or other media.

The Group Thing: Mega-Essay Project (1)

For the group thing, or mega-essay project one, you need to find two classmates or near-peers, and form groups of three, who will contribute to, and continue to cooperate on, development of a mega-, multi-media essay on Kumamoto. The homework assignment on September 26, 2007, was to find partners immediately.

Working together to compose a mega-essay from individual essays and other posts about Kumamoto (posted spring semester) will make it easier for each of you to achieve the 150% extension of essay lengths from Writing III to IV. Through cooperation, you can combine your main points, personal perspectives, favorites, and recommendations - not to overlook pictures and other media.

Each of your group members must represent the collection of your group's ideas (content and form) in posts on their respective blogs, in order to satisfy the requirements for the first essay fall semester. Once your group has agreed on, and posted a collective product (by Oct. 8, 2007), you may present individual variations and amplifications which fairly represent group mates' contributions, by linking to original essays or other blog posts of your peers.

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4th essays: on Kumamoto, due June 18th

As I've posted on the Google Calendar:

The fourth essay topic is Kumamoto. Your essay should cover unusual aspects of the city or the prefecture, or represent more common aspects from interesting, new, personal perspectives.

(4th essays due by noon [June 18])

Here are details of the fourth essay assignment, due by noon on June 18, 2007. All essays must:

0. be original;

1. consist of at least five distinct paragraphs:

1.1. three or more body paragraphs each with a unique focus (sub-topic), plus
1.2. a paragraph at the beginning introducing the topic and outlining the subtopics, and
1.3. a concluding paragraph at the end summarizing the main points;

2. be 250 or more words in length; &

3. include resource links or photographs which you have permission to use.

The title of your essays must be original, too. The following titles are only suggestions to get you thinking outside of the box:

• What I like most about Kumamoto;
• What attracted me to Kumamoto; or
• How Kumamoto resonates for me.

If you have concerns or questions about titles, topics, sub-topics, essay organization or paragraph development, please ask them in class on June 13, or post them in comments on this Writing Studio Blog post no later than 17:15, June 14.

Cherry blossoms @ Ichifusa Reservoir

Cherry blossoms @ Ichifusa Reservoir
Originally uploaded by pabeaufait
© 2007 Paul Beaufait, all rights reserved

This year fluctuations in temperature may have delayed cherry blossom viewing in many locales. Weather forecasters revised predictions that I heard on NHK new programs.

However, the body of water in Ichifusa Reservoir seems to have moderated temperatures, and brought blossoms to their full nearly on schedule. I visited the area yesterday and took this picture (Cherry blossoms @ Ichifusa Reservoir, right).

Does anyone know how the Meteorological Agency derives its schedule for cherry blossoms? Please check the schedule out (March 28, 2007, was the most recent one that I found) and let us know (in a comment on this blog entry) what you think about blooming predictions.

Gaijin-Eyes video gallery

Gaijin-Eyes is a video production enterprise in Kumamoto specializing in footage or still shots of Japan.

For example, check out high-definition (16:9) video clips here:

• Japan - Festivals & People;
• Japan - Food & Handicrafts; or
• Only in Japan.

As the Gaijin-Eyes homepage notes:

To view [videos on] this site you will need a fast connection and Flash Player 8 or 9 installed. If you don't have Flash Player 8 or 9 you can get it from the link below:

Though I haven't verified "only in Japan" claims, I'm adding Gaijin-Eyes to my local favorites link roll in the sidebar to give readers new perspectives on local customs and traditions. If there is any clip in the gallery that you find particularly interesting, please write it up in a post on your own blog or in a comment on this post.

Kumamoto-i: links, mailing list & wiki

Kumamoto-jo [castle] in the spring
Originally uploaded April 8, 2006,
by overoften (some rights reserved).

In this post, I'd like to introduce three Kumamoto-related websites, namely the:

1. Kumamoto Links,
   
2. Kumamoto-i mailing list, &
   
3. Kumamoto-i Wiki.
   

I've added these links to my sidebar already (see: Local Favorites).

The first site is "a gateway to regional information and Kumamoto's vibrant Internet community," Kumamoto Links. The links are "a by-product of the Kumamoto International mailing list" (Yahoo! Groups: Kumamoto-i), the second site, which Kirk Masden started in 1999.

Kumamoto Links is an organized collection of information about Kumamoto, much of which mailing list members have found and shared. Either the Introduction (top left) or the Favorites list (top right) is a good place to start browsing to find out what's in Kumamoto Links already.

Among favorite Kumamoto Links you can find the Kumamoto-i mailing list subscription page. If you are looking for something else, like restaurants, I suggest that you use your browser search function (command/control F - that is what I did when I was trying to find the Star of India).

The third website that I'd like to introduce is the Kumamoto International Wiki. This site also is a collection of information about Kumamoto. Yet it differs from Kumamoto Links in that it is a "wiki, a collaboratively edited website, for people living in and around Kumamoto" - in fact, anywhere in the world!

As with Kumamoto Links, you are welcome to browse the Kumamoto-i wiki, but you also may make contributions directly to the wiki. "If you'd like to start, check out the Getting Started page for help." I've been over and found a niche for info. about the Star of India on the wiki just now.

Restaurant: Star of India

Friends invited me to a new restaurant last Saturday, the Star of India in Shimotoori. It is so new that I could neither find it in online guides to restaurants in Kumamoto, nor get the phone number from telephone directory assistance.

The Star of India is on the south side of the side street south of Tsutaya. (Try saying that three times fast!) That is, the restaurant is about a block east of Shimotoori; it's on the second floor.

I found it easily without a map or address. Someone in the neighborhood with a digital camera-equipped cell phone sent me the picture - thanks!

There were a couple of loud patrons there at first (around seven p.m.) and lots of smokers. Be forewarned: the Star of India is a small place, and there is no no-smoking section. Since it appears quite popular, I recommend making reservations in advance.

Image courtesy of Free Food Graphics

Of course the food is good, and serving sizes are generous. A set for four to five people was more than four of us could eat. The mango lassi is delicious.

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