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I get asked frequently how much Japanese I know. People are slightly shocked when I say not much. I am mostly focusing on reading and writing at the moment. I thought I'd give you a crash course on the Japanese language writing systems so you can appreciate what I'm going through. Please note: I looooove languages, so this is actually super fun "work" for me.
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Japanese has 3 different writing systems as I have mentioned before.
Hiragana
Katakana
Kanji
The first two are character alphabets (pictured to the right). These are the "kana" that I am learning. It kind of feels like I'm writing in a secret code where I replaced letters with symbols. I totally did that as a kid! I like to think of it as my Japanese multiplication
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tables because in general you add a consonant, like "K", with a vowel, like "A", to make the "KA" sound that is represented by one character on the chart.
K+A=KA and KA=か
Now you might be asking, "Elya, do you really need to know all three of those ways of writing in order to read Japanese?" The answer is, YES! Unless of course I stick to reading kids books which are mostly in hiragana like this page from my "Rainbow Fish" book. I love the shiny pictures! I can "read" all the sounds in this book, but I have no idea what all the words mean.
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Below is an exert from the book I really want to read in Japanese, The Bible. As this one verse shows, they mix all three types of writing together. I really do have to learn them all and what an enjoyable challenge it is!
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In the mornings I have some quiet time with God and a cup of coffee. My quiet time usually ends with a good long stare out the window...like 30 minutes or longer...where I have a conversation in my head with God. I call it my mental journaling. This particular morning I started reminiscing about cake (I'm sure many of you do that too). Specifically about why I had not been baking very much lately. I was feeling sad about it. As I let God take hold of my mental pen and paper, I was reminded of my time in Mexico. I loved baking for Warm Heart (the hostel/cafe ministry) and my Mexican family. I loved it because we almost always ate together. The laughter and good conversations, the unique excitement dessert brings, the joy of being a community; that is why I baked. I love being a part of making community. Being able to understand this took my breath away. For me, a baked good that brings joy is one that has a story behind it linked to people, a community that I love and have shared time with.
As a grand finale to God blowing me away, He gave me inspiration to make a cookie. A cookie that represents my time in Mexico and the great love I have for all of Warm Heart, Milamex, and the Garcia-Blumenkron family. So, I present to you the Warm Heart cookie. A mixture of the crazy amount of succulents I brought into the hostel with the sugary goodness of being able to eat them! They are in Japanese terms, kawaii (cute) and oishii (yummy)!!
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Next Steps:
Still going to final training February 22-29 in Kansas City.
As soon as I have 100% of my monthly support, I can apply for my visa and go to Japan!
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