It's still pretty hot here during the day, and I find myself dozing off a lot. I have to mentally slap myself around a bit to get some motivation going.
Which brings us to the word that is the subject of this post: やる気 (yaruki やるき). やる気 means 'the will to do' something. It could also be translated as 'be motivated to do' something. It's a noun that combines the verb やる, to do, and 気, feeling or emotion.
やる気がある (やるきがある yaruki ga aru) = (you, or the subject of the sentence) has the will to do something
Usage example:
- 今日はやる気があるから、勉強がはかどる。 (きょうはやるきがあるから、べんきょうがはかどる kyou wa yaruki ga aru kara, benkyou ga hakadoru.
- Because I'm motivated today, my studying is going well.
When used as a question, the meaning changes a bit, to "do you want to do (something)?"
Usage example:
- アルバイトやる気がある? (あるばいとやるきがある? arubaito yaruki ga aru?) -- Do you want to work part time (or take that part time job?) (see more about arubaito)
やる気がない (やるきがない yaruki ga nai) - (you, or the subject of the sentence) doesn't have the will or desire to do something/can't get up the motivation to do something.
Usage example:
- 今日は暑すぎて、何にもやる気がない。(きょうはあつすぎて、なにもやるきがない。 kyou wa atsusugite, nani mo yaru ki ga nai) -- It's too hot today, I don't have the will to do anything.
やる気を出す (やるきをだす yaruki o dasu) - (you, or the subject of the sentence) gets (or attempts to get) motivated.
Usage example:
- やる気を出して、ジョッギングする。(やるきをだして、じょっぎんぐする yaruki o dashite, joggingu suru)
- (I will) get my ass in gear and go jogging.
やる気が出ない (やるきがでない yaruki ga denai)- (you, or the subject of the sentence) can't get the motivation going to do something.
Usage example:
- 作文を提出しなければいけないのだけど、なぜかやる気が出ない。(さくぶんをていしゅつしなければいけないのだけど、なぜかやるきがでない。 sakubun o teishutsu shinakereba ikenai no dakedo, nazeka yaruki ga denai)
- I have to hand in an essay, but for some reason I can't get motivated.
やる気 is a difficult thing, if you lose it or can't get it going.
Which brings me to the subject of this blog. I haven't really been updating it properly for a while now, partly because I have been really busy, but I am now officially going to take a break. There are plenty of good resources out there for learning Japanese online, and I don't think I have the 時間 (じかん jikan - time)or やる気 to get this site up to being a full fledged learning resource. I may relaunch it as a kind of commentary blog with some language thrown in - which it sort of is anyway. I have also been thinking about a full Japanese blog - if I decide to do that, I may just not have the time for the commentary with Japanese blog. We'll see.
In the meantime though, it's going on a break for a couple of months. If you want to be informed of its status, please follow me on Twitter, where I'll continue tweeting in Japanese sporadically. And my bento and food sites will continue as normal, sort of. I have a big deadline to meet in a few weeks also...which I'll explain somewhere eventually.
取りあえずはここまで。又いつかね!
Ahw, I love your posts. You gave the cultural background as well, where else was I going to learn about old guy smell? I'll miss you!
Posted by: kim | 2009.09.01 at 11:50 AM
i just recently found your blog, but i have enjoyed reading back through your archives. Good luck on your future endeavors :)
Posted by: Chad | 2009.09.01 at 06:19 PM
You will be missed! Arigato gozaimasu -_-
Posted by: Emma | 2009.09.02 at 03:47 PM
I will miss these language posts -- I am not officially trying to learn Japanese, but I enjoy the cultural commentary that you end up wrapping around those expressions -- but I certainly understand the need to put some projects on the back burner, so as not to spread yourself too thin (um, hello, mixed food metaphors!).
We'll be here waiting if you choose to pick it up again!
Take care,
Clotilde.
Posted by: clotilde | 2009.09.02 at 07:19 PM
Also, you mention that there are plenty of other sites to learn Japanese -- do you know of any that does something similar to what you're doing here, i.e. language notes with cultural vignettes thrown in? (This is not a case of "let me google that for you" though ;) -- I'd love to have you recommend one that you like, but if there isn't one I'll just go a-searching for myself.)
Posted by: clotilde | 2009.09.02 at 07:29 PM
Clotilde and everyone, I think I will restart this blog eventually, here or somewhere else (partly due to the response I've gotten) - I'm just too busy with other things for the next 2 months or so though ^_^; There are a lot of sites that have cultural vignettes, though not as far as I know with language notes, but one of my favorites is Watashi to Tokyo, written by a young Japanese woman called Mari. The J-List Sideblog has some language notes with his observations of life in Japan. There's Japan Probe and other sites too that give insight into life in Japan, albeit from a non-Japanese point of view.
Posted by: maki | 2009.09.02 at 09:26 PM
Just wanted to say that this is an awesome blog. I don't mind the intermittent nature of it, I think that makes it all the more precious. I get so excited when I see a new post. It is easy to just keep in our list of RSS feeds and see when something new has arrived.
It's wonderfully enlightening and thorough, but you totally mustn't feel its like a bind. This is all supposed to be fun!
Thanks so much for all your work on this, and perhaps just jot down things when something occurs to you! It doesn't need to be all polished!
Good luck with the deadline!
All the best
M
Posted by: urbancoconut.blogspot.com | 2009.09.07 at 03:10 PM
Thank you for wonderful blog. Your comments have made me really understand the meaning behind some japanese words. Even if you can't update anymore, please leave the blog here so we can read previous posts :) Take care!
Posted by: Sini from Finland | 2009.09.12 at 07:18 PM
Thanks for the recommendations, Maki, and happy bookwriting!
Posted by: clotilde | 2009.09.19 at 06:49 PM
Too bad you can't find the time to write posts here at the moment, I really enjoyed your language tips, they always help me a lot to understand the language.
At the moment I'm coping by reading the blog http://nihongodaybyday.blogspot.com but that also doesn't get updated to often.
I hope to read something written by you again soon... maybe something from your cookbook. ;)
Posted by: Haf | 2009.11.06 at 05:31 PM
I found this post useful - thank you!
最近、やる気を出して、日本語を勉強なしきゃ ^^
Posted by: dan | 2009.12.21 at 09:19 PM
This is the reason I love maki.typepad.cmo. Marvelous post.
Posted by: Alice | 2010.03.09 at 07:44 PM