Since I’m done studying for the JLPT (or more appropriately done failing the JLPT) I thought I’d post another grammar point.  This is one you hear all the time in a variety of situations when someone has forgotten something and is trying to remember or get the person they’re talking to to remember.

Noun/Verb/Adjective (Plain Form/Polite Past Form) +っけ
何だっけ。 What is it again…
新宿だったっけ。 Was it Shinjuku?  I can’t remember.
病気でしたっけ。 He was sick, right?  I forgot.
買ったっけ・買いましたっけ。 Did he buy it?  I forgot.
行くんだっけ。 He’s going, right?  I forgot.
行ったんだっけ。 He went, didn’t he?  I forgot.
行くんだったっけ・行くんでしたっけ。 He was going, wasn’t he?
冷たかったっけ。 It was cold, right?

注意：イ Adjectives don’t ever use the Past Polite form (～かったです) with っけ since it can’t attach to です.  Also, it’s not recommended to use the Present Tense for Verbs or イ Adjectives.  It’s generally unnatural (even in English) to forget something that didn’t happen yet.

This form is only used to express something you did know, but forgot.  If you remember た・だ + っけ, you’ll be ok.

Grammar Note: Plain Form
Verb: 行く ・ 行かない ・ 行った ・　行かなかった
イ Adjective: さむい　・　さむくない　・　さむかった　・　さむくなかった
ナ Adjective: 元気だ　・　元気じゃない　・　元気たった　・　元気じゃなかった
Noun: 雨だ　・　雨じゃない　・　雨だった　・　雨じゃなかった

Or rather apologies. Sorry for not posting more on this. I’ve been doing alot of studying on my own in other subjects, so my japanese fell by the wayside for a bit there. So to make up for it, lets give you a quickie lesson on apologizing. We won’t actually get into excuses till later…meaning when I get the hang of it myself.

すみません。

This first one (Sumimasen) is a very handy dandy one that gets used alot. It can be used for many situations. I think I shall touch on to the utility of the phrase later. Sometimes gets said (suimasen).

ごえめんなさい。

Gomennasai is another one of those common apologetics. The usage for this one is limited to apologizing. It seems to be a bit less formal than other forms of apoligizing so I would recommend being careful where you use this one.

ごめん。

A more casual apology. Can sometimes be replaced with (Gomen Ne) or (Gomen Na) the second being a more masculine way of use.

Now I will admit I have heard this following two as well, but as for their exact usage and whatnot, I cannot be too certain.

もうしわけありません。

Breaking open the dictionary on this one, it says that this is a very formal apology and is typically used when addressing a superior, like a boss or somesuch. Shows more feeling that Sumimasen.

しつれいしました。

Also formal apology but not quite as strong as (moushiwake arimasen). Now if I’m not terribly mistaken (and please please correct me if I am) it also can be used to the extent of (Sorry for the intrusion) when you come over to someone’s house or enter their office or something.

Anyway thats what I’ve got for today. I hope to get a bit more into the swing of things with this lovely blogspace.

Now since I am an optician by trade I have decided at the last minute to through some terms at you.

Optometry – kengan (けんがん）

Optometrist – shiryokukensai （しりょくけんさい）

vision test – shiryokukensa (しりょくけんさ）

Optician – meganeya（めがねや）

glasses – megane（めがね）

contact lens – kontakuto（コンタクト）

Ore sanjou! I have arrived!

Hello everyone!

I go by the name of Zombiehead, though some call me Chris, and Alex has given me a bit of blog space to help you learn Japanese, as best I can anyway. Personally, I’ve only take a bit of actual classes on the language, meaning one year college course really, which I had to drop for reasons I won’t get into. I have however continued my self teaching and it is from this self teaching method I shall assist you, the intrepid learner and possibly myself. So in a way, we are learning together.

Learning Japanese here in Alaska, where I am currently, is quite difficult because, except for the university classes, the only exposure I get to it is through Anime, Manga, and J-Drama and the occasional tourist who stops by the store I work in. But I shall try my best.

Predominantly the way I learn is through vocabulary lists, not really themed or anything, but ones I find immediately useful, and then I try figuring out how to use them in a sentence and such. Any other study tricks or anything shall come up as they occur to me.

Now some of the things I use for self study are as follows

The Genki Series of Textbooks (http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/index.en.html) These books are the ones my japanese teacher had us use and frankly they are fantasticly handy and useful.

Tuttle’s A Guide to Learning Hiragana and Katakana: (http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/TUTTLE007) To be honest, this is mainly just for practicng the Hiragana nd Katakana writing systems. Which is important. While kanji is going to be the primary obstacle (though don’t think of it that way, be positive now) it is important to be sure to remain sharp with the basics.

Ichinichi 15 Fun no kanji Renshu (Jou) ~ Fifteen Minutes a Day Kanji Practice (http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/ALK002) And this is for studying the kanji part.

The iPhone (or in my case the iPod Touch) has all kinds of nifty apps you can utilize. I recommend

Kotoba (Which is a fabulous dictionary program)

iKanji and iKana (great for practice with the writing)

I believe links for these have been posted already, so I won’t waste any time.