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Baby Talk

I'm pretty sure some of you have been wondering how the heck I communicate (and if you haven't been wondering that, well, hopefully you are now). A typical conversation might go like this:Host Mom (HM): astlakawelnvalekjf....book...aodlfoeijwfd...understand?
Me: Nnnn...nnnn....un! Wakarimashita! (FYI the "nnn" noises are understanding noises, like "yes, yes...yes"

It's amazing what a deep conversation you can have with different inflections of the "Nnnnnn" noise! One of my friends put it quite nicely when he said you essentially become a child again, unable to communicate for yourself the majority of the time. My host sisters' electionic dictionary is greatly abused, and I'm marking my level of language success by the frequency I have to use it.

I have been learning new words etc. (However, some of them are probably a little useless.) Still here is an example of some of my new vocabulary:
せみ (semi) -cicada
蝶 (chou) -butterfly
湯便局 (yubinkyoku) -postoffice

Surprisingly, I've used those words a lot since there are a multitude of cicadas...
...and butterflies, and I've had to go to the postoffice several times.

Also, some of you might be familiar with my love of a certain author, Maggie Stiefvater:
and her very lovely and lyrical trilogy. Well guess what I found in Japan:

That, my dears, is a very bad picture of a very happy me holding the Japanese version of her first book.

And tomorrow I go to Harajuku! Happy day!
Cheers everyone!
Labels:
Location: Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Comments

  1. wizardonskis22August 27, 2011 at 12:32 PM

    Very cool! Plus, I get to see a picture of a Japanese bookstore :-D
    I am glad and impressed that you are becoming proficient enough to discuss the native insect life.
    Enjoy Harajuku!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 27, 2011 at 3:27 PM

    Hey Claire hope the Harajuku store is awesome! I LOVE Harajuku and I know you do too! :D (I finally figured out how to leave a comment)

    ReplyDelete

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