おめでとう？

十二月間私は日本語を勉強していました。

And in that time, I have learned about 1100 漢字, with some 200 more still in my "currently learning" list on Kanji Study, so the end is in sight.  I've started ruling out remaining ones that aren't in the common use but are used for proper names or not much at all.

I was able to read ジャックと豆の木 (Jack and the Beanstalk) on Wasabi with only occasionally looking at the translation for a word.  Admittedly I've reviewed it a few times and had vague memory of some words it uses a lot.

Haven't turned the corner I keep hoping for, though, past which reading is more fun than work.  I can almost feel it with ジャック, though.

Next up:  Japanese Graded Readers.  I've ordered the first.  I'll let you know.

ラーーー、七月四日で

七月四日私の家族は博物館に行きました。恐竜（きょうりゅう、dinosaur）の博物館です。

息子は日本語を習いますから、彼のため(behalf)に日本語のphrasesのリストを作りました。(I'm embarrassed to say how long it took me to get the right conjugation of 作る there.)  These were the phrases:

スーは食べることができます。I know I'm assuming you have rikaikun/rikaichan going, and know some vocabulary like 食べる and 博物館, but sentence patterns are harder, so: This says

Sue, the famous T. Rex from  South Dakota.  (We didn't actually see her, but we did see a couple of T. Rex-like monsters.) 車のなかにスーの音楽を 聞きました。 私達は大好きです。

スー    は         食べる こと が でいます.
Sue   as-for     eat     thing           can                or
Sue can do the eating thing:  Sue can eat.

 (こと, "abstract thing," makes a verb usable as a noun, and dictionary-form-verb こたができます, "can do verb," is a common construction, I think.  Rosetta finally got funny doing this.  猫 （ねこ, cat）は走るができます。猫は読む（よむ, read) ができません。)

スーは私たちを食べることができます。
スーは私たちを食べたい。
だめです！ 
食べない！ 食べない！(Yes, that's not right, but we'll correct it later.)
きょうりゅうが大好きです。

息子はリストを書きましたが、we didn't actually say the more complex ones that much.  We did say, however:  スーです！食べない！食べない！