I haven`t been posting much the last few months. Things have been rather busy in my life.
I did want to write about this little gem I came across for reading practice.

My language partner gave me a set of Japanese Graded Readers for Christmas. This is the sort of book I have been looking for over the last 2 or 3 years. It has furigana for all kanji, pictures that help set the context, and a cd to follow along if you want to listen. This is sort of the Japanese version of the `I see Sam` or Dick and Jane books, but seem to be intended for second language learners.

My set came from Kinokuniya bookstore, but I looked up a few links in case this catches anyone`s interest.

Japanese Graded Readers website has some samples of the pages and audio.
The books on amazon: This is not my favorite place to buy, but probably the easiest access if you want to get your hands on them.

I looked at the website of the bookstore and you can only find them there using the Japanese title: レベル別　日本語多読　ライブラリー

I fell behind in my postings with the busy holidays and a little travel back home. WordPress ate my first attempt at this a week or two ago. This is the grammar for describing something that someone made you do.

子供の頃に　母に　ぼくは　ありがとうの手紙を　かかされた。
Kodomo no koro ni haha ni bokuha arigatou no tegami wo kakasareta.
When I was a kid, my mom made me write thank-you letters.

ビール先生に　１０マィルを　走らされた。
Biiru Sensei ni 10 mairu wo hashirasareta.
Bill Sensei made me run ten milse.

The structure:
に indicates the person making the other person do the action.
は indicates who was or is being made to do the action
を marks any objects involved (thank-you letters)

う – verbs are conjegated as follows:
書く　－　書かされる
走る　－　走られる
買う　－　買わされる

る – verbs: drop る add させられる
食べる　－　食べさせられる

irregular vers:
する　－　させられる
来る　－　こさせられる

Currently I live on an island in the middle of a bay, near a peninsula, so a lot of these were very functional words for communicating. I find these a bit in stories that I am reading as well.

そと　　　outside 外
いなか countryside 田舎
いけ　　　pond 池
みずうみ lake 湖
わん　　　gulf 湾
いりえ　　bay 入り江
たき　　　waterfall 滝
しま　 island 島
はんとう　peninsula 半島
もり　　　 forest 森
たんぼ　 rice field 田んぼ
はたけ　 field 畑
いし　　　 stone 石
いわ large rock 岩
ほらあな　cave ほら穴
ほし　　　 stars 星
そら　　 sky 空
くも　　　 cloud 雲
かぜ　　　wind 風
きり　　　　fog 霧
いなずま　lightning
あめ　　　 rain 雨
ゆき　　　 snow 雪
みずたまり　puddle 水たまり
くさ　　　　　 grass 草
どろ　　　 mud
はな　　　　 flower 花
にじ　　　　 rainbow 虹
き　　　　　　tree 木
は　　　　　　leaf 葉
にわ　　　　 yard 庭
おか　　　 hill 丘
なみ　　　　　wave 波
すな　 　sand 砂
うみ　　　　 ocean/sea 海
すなはま　　 beach 砂浜

Stone / Rock:
The difference between いし　and いわ was explained to me as いわ is something that goes from difficult to pick up and bigger. If you watched Okuribito / Departures, いし is what is used for the stones.

Fog is deep rather than thick:
きりが　ふかい。

Beach – There are several ways to reference a beach, including the loan word ビーチ. I have been using the “Let`s Learn Japanese Picture Dictionary” to aid in my vocabulary selection since I like their grouping of common items. I have found several inaccuracies in the book including them listing Sand as すなはま, wich was how I first had the post listed. The two characters are actually sand shore, making one of the many was to say beach.

Recently I realized I hadn’t learned how to express too much of something or not enough of something and had some kind help in adding this to my new grammar / vocabulary.

Too much　－　すぎる　

あまい　－＞　あますぎる – い Adjective – drop い add すぎる
おおきい　－＞　おおきすぎる

きれい　　－＞　きれいすぎる – な Adjective – add すぎる
ふべん　―＞　ふべんすぎる

まつ　―＞　まちすぎる　　－　verbs: pre ます stem – add すぎる
たべる　－＞　たべすぎる
のむ　　－＞　のみすぎる

Irregular verbs:
する　　－＞　しすぎる
くる　　－＞　きすぎる

Not Enough – たりない

All adjectives have to be a noun then add たりない.
あまい　－＞　あまさ　－＞　あまさがたりない
おおきい　－＞　おおきさ　－＞　おおきさがたりない
べんり　－＞　べんりさ　－＞　べんりさがたりない
きれい　－＞　きれいさ　－＞　きれいさがたりない

Verbs – pre ます + たりない
あるく　－＞　あるきたりない
たべる　－＞　たべたりない

Irregular verbs:
する　－＞　したりない
くる　－＞　きたりない

Note that は is always the particle used for the subject (が does not get used).
A few example sentences for the feel of usage:

このコーヒーは　あますぎる。 This coffee is too sweet
このコーヒーは　あますぎます。　Same sentence in masu form
けさのコーヒーは　あますぎた。　This morning`s coffee was too sweet.

このコーヒーは　あまさがたりない。 This coffee isn`t sweet enough.
このコーヒーは　あまさがたりません。 Same sentence in masu form
けさのコーヒーは　あまさがたりなかった。This morning`s coffee wasn`t sweet enough.

This list is back to the basics of what I am trying focus on with my vocabulary.   I have been rather happy with the way flashcards are working out for my independant study so far.  I do feel that they would be much less effective if I weren`t handwriting them.

いえ　　　　　house           家

へや　            room            部屋

だいどころ　　kitchen        台所

しんしつ         bedroom      寝室

いま　　　　　  living room  居間

よくしつ　　　  bathroom    浴室

ゆか　　　　    floor              床

かべ　　　　    ceiling          壁

てんじょう　    roof               天井

かいだん　　  stairs           階段

まど　　　　    window         窓

だんろ　　　   fireplace      暖炉

えんとつ　　   chimney      煙突

かがみ　　　   mirror         鏡

たな　　　       shelf             棚

ほんだな　　  bookshelf     本棚

おしいれ　　  closet           押入れ

ゆぶね　　     bathtub       湯ぶね

いす　　　　   chair             椅子

つくえ　　　　 desk             机

こんろ　　　    stove

ながし　　　 　sink              流し

げんかん　　 entrance      玄関

れいぞうこ　  refrigerator 冷蔵庫

ごみばこ　　  trashcan      ゴミ箱

かたい　　　  hard              固い

やわらかい　 soft               柔らかい

せまい　　　  narrow         狭い

ひろい　　　  wide             広い