I'll be Home for Christmas, You can Count on Me..

So, since I last wrote, I have endured two papers, two Japanese oral exams, and two Japanese written exams. I still have one more paper to write. So, whilst I procrastinate on writing yet another paper in such a short expanse of time (and since facebook is beign a brat and I can't do anything on it for the time being), I shall compose a list for you of words all family and friends are expected to know over the winter break. This list is of Japanese words that have entered my english vocabulary and are very difficult to delete.

A note about pronunciation. A=ah, I=ee, U=oo, E=eh, and O=oh. All consonants sound the same except r, which sounds kinda like a cross between an r and an l. a double vowel means that the sound is elongated. A slide is when a consonant gets a y sound before the vowel, such as kyo, which is like a ki and a yo smashed together into one syllable. Otherwise, syllables are made by combining one consonant and one vowel. ts and sh are considered one consonant.

And now that you're thoroughly confused, here is a list of words you must know before I return home.

Japanese Vocabulary List
おはよう - (ohayou) Good morning.
今日は - (konnichi wa) Hello (good afternoon)
今晩は - (konban wa) Good evening
何に？ - what? (usually said with a puzzled look)
どうして？ - why?
ちょっとまって - hold on a second
ちょっと - well.... (usually said when I don't want to do something but I don't want to tell you so)
すこし - a little
いつ？ - when?
いくら？ - how much?
今は何時？ - What time is it now?
何時？ - what time? (also can mean when)
だれ？ - who?
あの人 - that person... (usually said when I wish to start talking about some random person)
いてきます - said when leaving the house.
ただいま - said when returning home.
おかいり - said when a family member returns home (as a greeting)
じゃあ - then
じゃあ、まった - see you later
まった - later
そして - and
いこう - let's go
何にをしっている？ - what are you doing?
勉強している - I'm studying.
です - japanese verb whose closest english equivalent is the word "is"

That should be enough to get you started. Just so you'll know because we at Kansai Gaidai speak a very strange language of half-japanese and half-english. There will be a quiz the minute I step off the plane (not really). This list is mainly given to you so that if I suddenly say one such word as listed above, you won't give me a confused face. I hopes.

See you guys in less than a week!