Language Progress/Goals

Before coming to Japan, Casey and I decided that we wanted to learn as much Japanese in our short year here. The moment we arrived in the Tokyo airport and heard the language, we realized it was quite the undertaking! Our progress with the language thus far has been rather slow, which we can only partly blame on getting all settled in and Casey's busy schedule. We have hit the point where we can "survive" or "just get by" when we go to a store. We know the basics like "Where is this item?" "How much is this?" "Excuse me" and "Thank you!"

We soon realized we weren't putting in much effort to learn more of the language once we hit that point, however, because we were starting to feel comfortable (or at least slightly competent.) The other day, we were hanging out with our American friends. One of them mentioned the fact that we will likely hit this safety "checkpoint" in the language, and that we will likely not learn much more if we don't put in the effort, which was his experience for a while.

So we decided it was time to get serious with our language studies. After all, how many times will we get an opportunity like this?

As a way of keeping ourselves accountable, we decided to "log" our progress on the blog. (Hey, that rhymes...)

We'll check in each week. Here's hoping it will motivate us!

Week 1
*Hiragana (Alphabet 1): Done! We can both write and read Hiragana characters on signs and instructions. Don't know what the words mean, but it's a start!

*Katakana (Alphabet 2): Casey=done! Angela=lame! Casey can write and read the characters. Angela can read and write 15. Woohoo, I'm catching up!

*Kanji (Impossible character system I hope to slightly understand someday): We know the Kanji for "minute" "use" "water" "river" "milk" and "rice."

*Conversational Phrases We Can Use:
-Ohayō Gozaimasu, Konnichiwa, Konbanwa: Good morning, Hello/Good afternoon, Good night
-Angela desu: My name is Angela.
-Oyasumi Nasai: Good night (sweet dreams).
Hajimemashite (Hajimemashite, dōzo yoroshiku): Nice to meet you (You too.)
-Sayōnara: Goodbye.
-Kore wa ikura desu ka? How much is this?
-Toire wa doko desu ka? Where is the bathroom? (Always a good phrase to know!) 
-Sumimasen: Excuse me/Sorry
-Nanji desu ka? What time is it?
-Shusshin wa doko desu ka? Where are you from?
-...shusshin desu: I'm from...
-Arigatō gozaimasu: Thank you very much.
-O genki desu ka? How are you/ Are you well?
-Hai, o genki desu: Yes, I am good. 

Soooooo...as you can see, we've got a ways to go!  Now for this next week's goals.

Goals
*Both of us will be able to read and write in Katakana.
*Both of us will know 10 new phrases and be able to use them easily.
*Both of us will learn 10 new Kanji.

Here we go!