Japanese From Zero - Book 3 - Chapter 3 - Reading Comprehension

Still working my way through Japanese From Zero - Book 3.

This is the reading comprehension test from chapter 3, I added the English translations:

1. 私の名前はよしえです。
1. My name is Yoshie.
2. お母さんの名前は静かです。
2. My mother's name is "Quiet".
3. 英語で静かの意味は「quiet」です。
3. In English Shizuka's meaning is "Quiet".
4. でも、私のお母さんはとても煩いです。
4. But, my mother is very noisy.
5. 朝から晩まで煩いです。
5. From morning until the evening (she) is noisy.
6. 皆さん、聞いてください。
6. Everyone, listen please.
7. たとえば朝の会話はこれです。
7. For example this is a morning conversation.

お母さん：よしえ、起きて。もう、八じよ。
My Mother: Yoshie, get up. It's 8 o'clock you know.
よしえさん：ええ、もう八じ？会社に遅れる！
Yoshiesan: Eh, It's already 8 o'clock? I am late for the company.
お母さん：朝ごはんを食べてね。
My Mother: Eat breakfast!
よしえさん：時間が無いからもう行く。このリンゴは車の中で食べる。
Yoshiesan: Because I don't have time I must go already. I will eat this apple in the car.
お母さん：ダメダメ、ミルクも飲んで！
My Mother: That's not good, also drink the milk!
よしえさん：はい、はい。行ってきます。
Yoshiesan: Right, right. I am leaving.
お母さん：行ってらっしゃい。
My Mother: See you later.

Below are the questions about the text above.

1 よしえさんのお母さんの名前は何ですか。
1. What is Yoshiesan's mother's name?
静か

2. 英語で静かの意味は何ですか。
2. What is the meaning of Shizuka in English?
Quiet

3. よしえさんのお母さんは静かですか。
3. Is Yoshiesan's mother quiet?
No

4. よしぇさんは何じに起きましたか。
4. What time did Yoshiesan wake up?
8 o'clock

5. よしえさんはどんな朝ごはんを食べましたか。
5. What kind of breakfast did Yoshiesan eat?
Apple and Milk

6. よしぇさんはどこで朝ごはんを食べましたか。
6.  Where did Yoshiesan eat breakfast?
In the car

7. よしえさんは何を飲みましたか。
7. What did Yoshiesan drink?
Milk

8. 「行ってきます」は英語で何ですか。
8. In English what is "Go and come back"?
I'm leaving

9. 「いってらっしゃい」は英語で何ですか。
9. In English was is "Go and come back"?
See you later.

Well that is my best translation, hopefully there are not too many mistakes.

Japanese 原稿用紙 (Japanese Writing Aides)

While writing my previous post on translating a simple hand written Japanese letter (here), I was chatting to a Japanese friend.  I mentioned that I found it very difficult to write in vertical Japanese writing style.  My friend told me that I should not worry and that I would soon get used to writing in the vertical style.

I have no doubt that this will turn out to be true.  To prove the point my friend mentioned that Japanese have their equivalent of lined practice writing paper, which they use to practice their vertical writing skills.

Update: There sheets can also be used college students and various other purposes.

These writing sheets are called 原稿用紙[げんこうようし/genkouyoushi]. See picture below.

Japanese Children's Vertical Writing Practice Sheets - Genkou Youshi

With these sheets you start writing from the extreme righthand topmost position and characters get written down the sheet and then you move leftward by one column and repeat the process.

If you want to practice writing using 原稿用紙 then the link below has various examples and formats that you can download in pdf format.

http://www.sousakuba.com/genkouyousi/

It should probably have been obvious to me that the Japanese would have their own methods of helping themselves practice writing and keep things formatted, just as we in England do with Lined Notebooks for horizontal writing practice.

They also support horizontal writing though they are generally used for vertical writing.  They allow writers to practice the writing of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji, depending on the format used.

They will certainly be useful to me when I get around to doing some writing practice.

If you wish to get more information on 原稿用紙 see the Wikipedia link below.

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Genkou Youshi

This was a short post but, I thought that it would be useful to highlight these sheets.

My writing is so bad that personally I need all the help that it is possible to avail myself of!

Catch you next time.