Wish me luck!

あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go
さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so
ざ za	じ ji	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo
た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
だ da	ぢ ji	づ zu	で de	ど do
な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho
ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo
ぱ pa	ぴ pi	ぷ pu	ぺ pe	ぽ po
ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo
や ya		ゆ yu		よ yo
ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro
わ wa	を wo	ん n/m

I did a whole year of Japanese at TAFE in 2004 and subsequently forgot everything I learnt!  Now I'm forcing myself to start again, but this time it will be much easier as I have Manami and her parents to help.  As from last Wednesday, her parents and I are having week-about English and Japanese lessons here at my place.


I was astonished the other day when Emma recited most of these symbols quite effortlessly!  I had no idea she knew them - picked them up, it seems, from when her mother and grandparents read Japanese stories to her.  Makes me wonder why we have so much difficulty getting our kids to learn the sounds of the 26 letters of our alphabet.  In Australia 46% of adults have difficulty reading a recipe, directions on a bottle of medicine or safety instructions in the work place. Appalling.  (I know it's pretty much the same in UK, US, South Africa, New Zealand - all English-speaking countries.)  2012 is the Year of Reading, so it's a good chance for people like me to do something about it.  Though I must say I'm sick of trying to get through to the universities and departments ofeducation, as this is where the problem lies.  They simply do not teach either student teachers or teachers how to teach reading.


Thanks everybody for your New Year greetings.  So far so good for me.  Life is very relaxed.  Most days I swim, watch the tennis with the volume muted so I can do a bit of Japanese, and sip the odd glass of champagne.  We've had only one hot day this summer!  I had my first swim on Christmas Eve and have had a dip every day since then as the water is OK, even when the outside temperature is only about 22 degrees, as it is right now.


I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year.