Me Vs Nihongo

11:42 AM Posted by Krishna

Hello everyone. Hope everything is fine. Its been long time, rather a  veryyyyyyyyyyy long time since my post. Its been 25 days since my exams got over and its 11 19 PM i just decided to write something. But what shall i write? After a bit of delibration i decided to write something light (In the sense that i don't get a WAR of Comments ;) ). Well if u hadn't guessed it right from the topic, this post is gonna be about my experiences learning "Nihongo". Well the etymology of this word is 'Nihon' -> Japan and 'Go' -> language. In short my experiences durin my japanese classes. If i run a small flashback my tryst with 'Nihongo' started in december when the organisation which recruited me gave an option of learning japanese. Well fortunately or unfortunately (This only time will answer. Hope its former than the latter). I was one of the 20 students who got enrolled from my college. The classes were scheduled Tue, Thur and Sat 5 30 PM to 8 30 PM.

The first class started in december. My teacher asked us what we knew about japan. Those were the days when i was playin AOE2 quite regularly and i just said about the korean war and stuff thanks to AOE history of civilzation menu. And i barely controlled my giggles when my teacher said " You have a very good knowledge about the country's history and its relationship with neighbours". Then came our first test. Most of us weren't familiar with the alphabets and it turned out to be a open book test and that was the only test in which i have managed a PASS. We were supposed to finish with our JLPT Level 4 and level 3 portions before we join the company. Days passed, months passed JLPT level 4 came to an end. A mock test was conducted. It was a 3 hour test based on the JLPT pattern. As usual most of us didn't study a thing as those were the days when our univ exams were nearin in. Our teachers got changed and we had a native japanese teacher or 'Sensei' teaching us.

The first part of the test was based on 'kanji' reading. Well if u dont knw what 'kanji' is, jus google and U will defintely get an idea of the difficulties. There were a couple of kanjis which i could recognize, the others were just a combination of lines and curves which created more confusion than clarity. (In short jelabi ah pichu pota mathiri erundhuchu). 

The second part was listening comphrehension. In short it was a total disaster.  Suthama pesarthu onnume purila. There were few known words amdist words which can be termed as 'noise'. The third part was grammar. It was relatively ok compared to the previous two parts.When the results were announced, there were no surprises to know that out of a class of 26 only 3(ya all 3 were gals) had passed.

Well my japanese classes (were,) is (and will) never boring, thanks due to the people around me. Its loads of fun. People gettin teased and people teasin. There's Mimicry Mannan "G K(arthik)". The day he mimiced Hari's, mine and host of others voices is unforgettable. Hari is known for his Idly and Getti chutney dialouge. Aashiq is the favourite of our 'Sensei' for whenever the words "BEER" and "WINE" comes his name is attached to sentence or a reference is made to him. Then there is PUNTER POONAI a.k.a Sai Ganesh and NAVEEN who's names are taken whenever sentences with 'DATING' and 'GIRL FRIENDS' are formed. U can guess the atmosphere and words exchanged when these sentences are formed!

RAGHAVENDRAN is the most regular person of our class. He always comes late ( It will definitely rain if he comes early) and once he gets settled down in his seat switches on the computer and starts browsin. And on IPL and other match days he constantly updates us with the scores. There is always a competion in these aspects between Raghav and Vishwesh(Velammal). Rendu perum potti potukitu late ah varuvanga and rendu perum potti potukitu scores papanga.

Did i miss anyone? Ah the class is never complete without VADAI san a.k.a Sriram. He is known for his intellectual questions. One day he had asked our teacher  "What will you do if there is a Volcano??". WHat a quesion!! WHat a question!! A question which can stump the greatest of intellects in this universe. The rest of the class supports these great stalwarts by constant appreciation for their acts.

Thus goes my experiences durin my japanese classes. The recent test i got 7 on 30 and lets hope i get better marks in future tests. Yah athuku padikanum theridhu. Lets hope i do that too. Till my next post its Krishna signing off!! Adios.

KP
THE DEVILZ ADVOCATE