Ah, other countries. There are a lot of them, aren't there? So, when someone challenges you to read "a book from another country", it's not really very limiting. I mean, we didn't even limit you to fiction or non-fiction.
Did you find a book from "another country" to read this week? We did.
Scott Dale read Japanese for Busy People by the Association for Japanese-Language Teaching.
Booking a holiday to Japan is reason enough to
study some of the language. If you are silly enough to agree to take your
parents and parents-in-law along for the trip, well, that’s some extra
motivation.
Turns out the JCU Library has a lot of resources to help me out with my Japanese studies. This week I’ve been reading Japanese for Busy People (495.683421 JAP C.A) in the hope of getting my language skills good enough to ensure the parents eat well in Japan.
I consider myself a busy person so the title to this had some appeal. Language books work for me because they make me pick up pen and paper and that’s how I learn best. I do have some language learning apps but I like using books as well. For me it’s good to get as much exposure to the language as possible: apps, books, film – the works.
This language book begins each chapter with a dialogue. That dialogue introduces the new verb conjugations, grammar, and vocabulary that the chapter is based upon. I like how these dialogues are written in script (hiragana, katakana and kanji) and then most of the chapter uses romanised Japanese. It helps me figure out what’s what and is a good way to learn a hiragana and katakana (two of the written phonetic lettering systems – see the hiragana chart attached).
So what starts as おはようございます becomes ohayou gozaimasu (good morning).
I find learning a language is fun and challenging. We’ll see how well I have done next year when I’m guiding the in-laws through Japan.
Sharon Bryan read Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.
All together now: "Pippi Longsticking is coming into your town. The one no one can keep down, no no no no. The one who's fun to be around, wooaahh woah. Pippi Longstocking is coming into your world. A freckle-faced red-haired girl, you oughta know. She'll throw your life into a whirl..."
*Ahem*
I was going to use this week's challenge to revisit The Never Ending Story (which we have in both English and German) or The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business (which we also have in English and German) or maybe (since I accidentally read a book we don't hold in our library for last week's YA challenge), The Wave Runners (which, you guessed it, we have in both English and German)... but then I realised that I've already reviewed at least one German book in this challenge (The Reader, which we have in both English and German), so I thought I'd shake it up a bit.
Pippi Longstocking (c839.7 LIN) comes from Sweden. That's... well... okay, technically Sweden is closer to Germany than Tasmania is to mainland Australia. It's still a completely different country.
And Pippi Longstocking is awesome. She's a wild child, who neither has nor needs parental supervision. Her mother is an angel (as in, deceased) and her father is a sailor who may or may not have found a tribe of cannibals and become their king (as in, missing and presumed dead), but she has a ramshackle old house, a horse (that she can lift up and carry around whenever she feels like it) and a monkey called Mr Nelson.
Her wildness causes the grown-ups in town some consternation (but grown-ups are always being consternated), and brings great joy to the kids next door. Oh, and she has super strength, and incredible sense of balance, and strangely prehensile feet. If there is a normal way to do something, Pippi will do it upside down whilst juggling - just because she can. She's a like a strange, magical being - but unlike most magical beings in books, she doesn't leave at the end. She's still there, in Villekulla Cottage, ready for more adventures.
Did you find a book from "another country" to read this week? We did.
Brenda Carter read The
French Way: Aspects of Behaviour, Attitudes, and Customs of the French by Ross
Steele
France’s cities, villages and picturesque countryside, her
medieval cathedrals, castles and art museums, her restaurants, high-fashion and
luxury goods are well known throughout the world. But who are the French?
The French Way (944
STE) is a handy guide to
understanding how people from every region of France think, do business, and
act in their daily lives. 85 key traits are organised alphabetically, so it’s
easy to dip into the topics you’re most interested in, from bread and pastries,
drinking, greetings and farewells, and men and women, to Zut (you’ll need to
read the book to find out what this means)!
It’s easy to misunderstand the words and actions of people
from another culture when we interpret them according to our own cultural
norms. This book seeks to clear up such misunderstandings by explaining
traditions and placing French behaviour and attitudes in their own context.
Whether you’re planning a trip to Paris or are simply
intrigued or confounded by aspects of French behaviour, attitudes and customs, The French Way could be just the ticket.
Scott Dale read Japanese for Busy People by the Association for Japanese-Language Teaching.
Turns out the JCU Library has a lot of resources to help me out with my Japanese studies. This week I’ve been reading Japanese for Busy People (495.683421 JAP C.A) in the hope of getting my language skills good enough to ensure the parents eat well in Japan.
I consider myself a busy person so the title to this had some appeal. Language books work for me because they make me pick up pen and paper and that’s how I learn best. I do have some language learning apps but I like using books as well. For me it’s good to get as much exposure to the language as possible: apps, books, film – the works.
This language book begins each chapter with a dialogue. That dialogue introduces the new verb conjugations, grammar, and vocabulary that the chapter is based upon. I like how these dialogues are written in script (hiragana, katakana and kanji) and then most of the chapter uses romanised Japanese. It helps me figure out what’s what and is a good way to learn a hiragana and katakana (two of the written phonetic lettering systems – see the hiragana chart attached).
 |
| Hiragana chart with romaji (English letter) transcription (from iClipart) |
I find learning a language is fun and challenging. We’ll see how well I have done next year when I’m guiding the in-laws through Japan.
Sharon Bryan read Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.
*Ahem*
I was going to use this week's challenge to revisit The Never Ending Story (which we have in both English and German) or The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business (which we also have in English and German) or maybe (since I accidentally read a book we don't hold in our library for last week's YA challenge), The Wave Runners (which, you guessed it, we have in both English and German)... but then I realised that I've already reviewed at least one German book in this challenge (The Reader, which we have in both English and German), so I thought I'd shake it up a bit.
Pippi Longstocking (c839.7 LIN) comes from Sweden. That's... well... okay, technically Sweden is closer to Germany than Tasmania is to mainland Australia. It's still a completely different country.
And Pippi Longstocking is awesome. She's a wild child, who neither has nor needs parental supervision. Her mother is an angel (as in, deceased) and her father is a sailor who may or may not have found a tribe of cannibals and become their king (as in, missing and presumed dead), but she has a ramshackle old house, a horse (that she can lift up and carry around whenever she feels like it) and a monkey called Mr Nelson.
Her wildness causes the grown-ups in town some consternation (but grown-ups are always being consternated), and brings great joy to the kids next door. Oh, and she has super strength, and incredible sense of balance, and strangely prehensile feet. If there is a normal way to do something, Pippi will do it upside down whilst juggling - just because she can. She's a like a strange, magical being - but unlike most magical beings in books, she doesn't leave at the end. She's still there, in Villekulla Cottage, ready for more adventures.
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