Nehongo Here we go!

One of the things we learned early on was that we could get free tutoring to learn (or in Lee's case, re-learn) Japanese. I thought it would be wonderful if I could at least try to learn some Japanese. Since everyone I've met from Japan could speak English, I figured I wouldn't NEED to learn Japanese. And since I'll be working in the office where only 20% of the missionaries are Japanese, and where the mission president and his wife are from Utah, I could probably get by without learning it. And we have even learned we will be in a ward where half of the members speak English.

But how nice it would be to be able to speak with the Japanese people and get around on my own. We have a darling and excellent tutor, Norie Palmer, from Provo, Utah. She is helping us with the language via Skype, and we got to meet with her a few times when we were in Provo in September.

Here she is, busily teaching me Japanese in a Skype session. By the way, you are reading: refrigerator, oven, microwave, and sink.

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to remember the new words. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stay awake while studying. I was afraid it would just be too difficult for me. But...I LOVE IT. It is exciting and fun to learn. And I love the language. It's easier than I thought it would be, and it also has it's difficult parts.

Easy: Very few exceptions to the rules.
No need to worry about singular and plural nouns. Same word for both.
Hirigana
Verb Conjugation (for the most part)
Numbers. Once you learn 1-10, you've pretty well got it. Instead of having to learn new words like eleven, twelve, thirteen, you just say 10-1, 10-2, 10-3.
In English, we speak in sentences that use subject, then verb, then object. The Japanese use subject, object, verb. English: "I am going on a mission." Japanese: "I a mission for the purpose of going." (I should have paid more attention to Yoda!)

Hard: When a word has a "u" (pronounced oo as in shoe) on the end, sometimes a native speaker says it, sometimes she doesn't. How to know what to do? Listen to a native speaker.
There are subject and object markers, like wo, go, wa, ni, ga, etc. When to use what? Listen to a native speaker.
There are at least four different words meaning "that." There are two meaning "this." There are at least three words for "there is," depending on whether you are talking about something you think or do, or something you can touch, or if you are using the honorific. Oh, and I think there are at least five levels of honorific.

My favorite word so far: shukufuku suru. So here's your first lesson: The letter "f" is pronounced like we pronounce "h" but with the sound of air coming out between your lips. Also, you don't move your lips at all when you say this word. So it sounds like this: shoe-ku-hoo-ku-soo-doo. Try it. Don't move your lips. It's fun. And it means: to bless. Great word!! And I love the phrase: Okagasama de genki desu. It means, "Because of your goodness, I am doing fine." I hope I'll be able to use that phrase a lot. It's so lovely.