February is almost over!
Did you know that in old Roman calendars, there were no January or February? That's right! March used to be the first month of the year. That's why "October" has the same "oct" as "octopus" and "octagon". "Oct" means 8. So happy new year again!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Japan Times
I have a letter in the English-language newspaper The Japan Times this week! Go and read it if you want:
Look on the 2nd page.
The original article is linked from there. If you want to, feel free to write your own letter to the editors!
Look on the 2nd page.
The original article is linked from there. If you want to, feel free to write your own letter to the editors!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wikipedia
I often use Wikipedia as a reference when reading or studying. It can be fun to read articles in both English and Japanese on the same subject. Often, you can learn new vocabulary just by comparing the text of the two articles. Unfortunately, sometimes the articles say very different things - but this can be interesting too! I recommend reading the English-language articles on subjects you know very well in Japanese. You might be surprised at what is written!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
3 Syllables or 4?
One reason (of many reasons) I don't like katakana as a way of transcribing English is that it adds syllables to words. For example, take the word "word". It's one syllable in English, but 3 in katakana. "Peace" and "needs" are the same.
Basically, a syllable in English can have 3 parts - an onset, a nucleus, and a coda.
A one-syllable word like "splat" breaks down like this:
SPL A T
onset nucleus coda
The nucleus is almost always a vowel. All syllables have a nucleus - but not all syllables have an onset or coda. The word "a" has only a nucleus.
The onset and coda consist of consonants - in the above case, "spl" and "t". Some combinations are allowed, and some are not. You'll never see a word in English spelled "lpsitc", but "splict" would be OK.
Of course, if you use katakana, all those parts become one syllable each. This makes correct pronunciation much harder to learn.
Basically, a syllable in English can have 3 parts - an onset, a nucleus, and a coda.
A one-syllable word like "splat" breaks down like this:
SPL A T
onset nucleus coda
The nucleus is almost always a vowel. All syllables have a nucleus - but not all syllables have an onset or coda. The word "a" has only a nucleus.
The onset and coda consist of consonants - in the above case, "spl" and "t". Some combinations are allowed, and some are not. You'll never see a word in English spelled "lpsitc", but "splict" would be OK.
Of course, if you use katakana, all those parts become one syllable each. This makes correct pronunciation much harder to learn.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Parking Spots
O.C. English's parking spots are now 14, 15, and 16. Please remember not to park in 17.
As of this week, O.C. English's parking spaces have changed from 15, 16, and 17 to 14, 15, and 16. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
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