かのじょうは わたしに あいましていましたから、きょねんのわたしの たんじょう日に ねこを もらいました。
わたしたち 九月に ちかてつと バスで どうぶうほご センター*へ いきました。二時かん かかりました。そこで しんせつな おんなのひとに 会いました。な前は カタリンさんでした。
ねこが たくさん いました。とても かわいかったです！でも、こねこが ほしいでした。もう ねこが いましたから。**
ちいさい へやへ いきました。へやの 中に こねこが いました。しろいと くろい こねこを みました。とても ちいさかったです。かのじょは すきでした。
すぎの ベージュ こねこを みました。わたしの ての 中に ねました。だいすきでしたよ。
よくありませんでした。わたしは ベージュこねこが すきでしたが、かのじょは しろいと くろいこねこが すきでした。なにを しましたか。
わたしたちは くろいこねこと ベージュこねこを かいました。こねこは バスが だいきらいでした。二時かん 『ニャーニャー」いってました。
いま、こねこは いっさいです。とても かわいいです。わたしのねこは モイラです。「モイラ」は スコットランドの な前です。かのじょのねこは リースです。「リース」は ほんの な前です。わたしたちの ねこが すきです。
* どうぶうほご センター "Animal Shelter Center." In other words, the ASPCA. :)
** Because cats are territorial, when you have older cats it's sometimes recommended to get a kitten instead of another older cat -- the older cats can more easily adjust to a kitten.
<In August last year, I came to New York with my girlfriend. Because my girlfriend is a graduate student, I was always alone at home. Well, my birthday last year was October 30th. Because I'd been in New York for two months, I did not have friends. I had a job at the Marriott Marquis, but I was alone at home.
Because my girlfriend loves me, for my birthday last year she gave me a cat.
In September, we went by train and bus to the animal shelter (ASPCA). It took two hours. There we met a nice lady. Her name was Catherine.
There were lots of cats. They were very cute! But, I wanted a kitten because we already have cats.
We went to a small room. Inside the room there were kittens. We saw a black and white kitten. He was very small. My girlfriend liked him.
Next we saw a beige kitten. She fell asleep in my arms. I loved her!
This was bad. I liked the beige kitten, but my girlfriend liked the black kitten. What to do?
We bought the black kitten and and the beige kitten. The kittens hated the bus! For two hours they said "Meow! Meow!"
Now, the kittens are one year old. They are very cute. My kitten is "Moira." "Moira" is a Scottish name. My girlfriend's kitten is "Rhys." "Rhys" is a name (from?) a book. We love our kittens!>
とてもいいストリでした。
ReplyDeleteI think this sentence is awkward. "じゃあー、きょねんの たんじょ日は 十月三十日でした。"I think you should break it into two sentences. わたしのたんじょうびは十月三十日。きょねんのたんじょうびわ。。。The sentence you wrote is saying that your last year's birthday was October 30th, as if your birthday changes every year. Otherwise, I think your story is cute~
Storyはとてもおもしろいですね！I'm amazed you were able to make a whole story with the limited vocabulary we have, although it would have been even better if you could incorporate some of the other uses for katakana. So do you have three cats now? うちはいそがしいとたのしいですか。Please share some more pictures of them in the future :)
ReplyDeleteどうして カタカナが ありましたか。
ReplyDeleteーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
* New York, one of the first katakana words I learned, appears as the name of a foreign city.
* The name of the hotel I work at, the Marriott Marquis, I discussed in my katakana analysis. In short, it appears as both the name of a business, and originally was also the name of a foreigner -- an American man named Bill Marriott. Both this word and the word for New York I first discovered on the papers of Japanese tourists coming to stay at my hotel. :) It was very cool to be able to read out the name of my place of work in Japanese.
* The word bus, which appeared in our vocabulary, shows up next to Eguchi Sensei's and my best guess for a translation to the idea of an ASPCA adoption center. The word "center," as more of an American concept, appears in katakana.
* My kitten is actually a calico, but I was not sure how to translate this -- she is brown, gold, black, and beige. I went with beige, since it's a fun word to say. :) We like to pick on her because she has only a quarter of her face with a lighter color, so she looks like she's wearing a mask like the Phantom of the Opera wears.
* On the bus, both kittens cried, all the way home. Since they were still small, it wasn't very loud, but it was very pitiful -- tiny little "Meeeew. Meeeeew." 's all the way there.
* Moira and Rhys are both foreign names, and as such written in Katakana. Moira's name actually sounds exactly like the katakana pronunciation, which makes it easy to translate her name, but there is a subtle "h" sound in Rhys that makes it a little more difficult. The katakana given for his name above is my best guess!
こんいちわ スタシーさん。 もいら は いいです。 Your narrative has a really nice introduction/setting. I like the dramatic progression that you use. Ie. "This was bad. I liked the beige kitten, but my girlfriend liked the black kitten. What to do?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is some katakana word that your could use for the passing of time in between this paragraph and the next one. That might dramatize this section even more, meanwhile, incorporating a different kind of use for katakana.
ありがとございした。
@ SooHyun:
ReplyDelete* Wow, you're right! Oddly enough, it is a phrase I use in normal conversation, but when you really look at it it does sound kind of odd. Thanks!
@ Melissa:
* I suppose that's the definition of a crazy cat lady .. if there's a way to talk about my cats, I'll find it! :) And sadly (for my wallet) we actually have four cats. We started out with two, and three seemed a decent number .. you're right, though, four makes things kind of crazy!
@ Tracy:
* Oh, man, I struggled with that, too! We don't know a lot of phrases in Japanese that could be used to express uncertainty -- for instance, we know "わかりません" for "I don't know," and that "します” generally means "to do." But how to say that we "didn't know what to do?" I'm glad you liked it.
Hmm .. I'm not sure how to do the time thing. I've seen it in other works (the ones I commented on) and I don't want to just take it from them.
It actually all happened rather fast -- I wonder if it'd make sense to try to express that, instead? Maybe the Japanese version of a "Zoooom!" sound? I'm not sure, but thanks for the input! :)