おすすめ：The Magic Hour

japanese-revision:

Film recommendation #02: ザ・マジックアワー（The Magic Hour）

A comedy directed by Kouki Mitani (Japan’s “king of comedy”), nominated for eleven awards in the Japanese Academy Prize and the Asian Film Awards. 

When an ambitious underworld thug proves incapable of tracking down a hit-man for his powerful boss as promised, he convinces a third-rate actor to accept a role for a film that will never get made.

“The Magic Hour may refer to the brief window of time before sunset when filming conditions are best, but the film itself is also magic of the comic kind. Sit back, enjoy and don’t worry about the man behind the curtain, pulling the strings — he’s blowing massive smoke, but the journey he’s sending you on is pure entertainment. His only message: There’s no business like show business.” - Mark Schilling.

After watching this, I am really excited to watch many of his other films that I haven’t seen yet.

The actor (played by Koichi Sato), as the hitman, is so funny at some points. I think the best thing about the film is how the gangsters, including the Boss, react to his strange behaviours (which are a result of him thinking these situations are all part of a film, as opposed to real life). As the story unfolds, it’s a really pleasant journey throughout.

The ending is also one of the most entertaining ones I’ve seen. Ha ha!

日本語で:

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Gonna give it a try!

日本語の勉強方法（Methods for learning Japanese）

japanese-revision:

This is a list I saw that I have decided to follow. I thought I’d share it in case it were useful to others, and I’m sure it could be applied to other languages of study too.

As I will be crossing these off and adding commentary to it for my own personal progress soon, I have also put up the list here, where I won’t make any change to it (it’s also accessible through one of the main links on my blog, by the same title).

1. Start with reading and writing as this will help you in the long run.

2. Learn the hiragana syllabry perfectly and be able to write and recall it from memory.

3. Learn the katakana syllabry perfectly and be able to write and recall it from memory.

4. Learn a set number of kanji per day by writing them over and over and over again.

5. Memorize at least 10 particles. If possible, buy a book specifically dealing with particles and learn as many as possible. You will thank yourself later.

6. Increase and review your vocabulary on a daily basis.

7. Practice pronunciation with native Japanese speakers.

8. Have conversations with native Japanese speakers as much as possible.

9. Learn how to say: “How do you say _______ in Japanese?” in Japanese.

10. Watch Japanese movies with English subtitles and take notes.

11. Watch English movies with Japanese subtitles and take notes.

12. Watch Japanese movies with Japanese subtitles and take notes.

13. Listen to Japanese music and pay attention to pronunciation.

14. If possible, go to karaoke with Japanese friends and sing Japanese songs.

15. Find articles written in Japanese about things that you are interested in. Read them even if you don’t understand every single kanji. Try to grasp the subject matter and explain it to someone else in Japanese.

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「のだめカンタービレ」のシーン

japanese-revision:

☆聞き取り練習

―「のだめカンタービレ」をまねしてみよう―
Let’s try and copy “Nodame Cantabile”!

この動画を見て、最初から4分くらいまでの日本語をディクテーションしてください。

If you are native to Japanese and learning English, try writing down the English script!

時間: 00:48 ぐらい~04:00 ぐらい
シーン: 千秋真一が先生へ書いた手紙を心の中で読んでいる。

The correct script for this listening exercise is below:

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