Japanese Because...
Learn beginning Japanese little by little...
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Learn Japanese for free in NYC - ALESN's Japanese program
If you are in the New York City area, consider learning Japanese for free at ALESN (Asian Language Exchange & Social Network). I posted all the main information on my CantotoMando blog.
Class descriptions are HERE.
If you wish to participate in the Japanese class, please register yourself online by clicking the class descriptions link above. If you don't have an ALESN account, you need to create one. When you come to an ALESN class for the first time, you will fill out a YMCA form, become a YMCA Beacon member, and receive a YMCA card to get into the building next time. Don't worry, there is no charge for the class or to become a member. At certain times, maybe twice a year, ALESN will hold a pressure-free fundraiser for donations to support this wonderful program so if you enjoyed yourself a lot, please consider giving ALESN a donation.
Below is the revised schedule for the Fall semester.
Class / Time / Instructor
Saturdays
Classroom #1
Japanese I 4:30 to 5:30-Terry/Sophie
Usually, classes are taught by Yuriko, but she usually comes back to teach in January. Meanwhile, our awesome instructor Terry, along with Sophie will teach in the meantime. Classes are fun and interactive. To be honest, I didn't have any interest in Japanese before, but because the classes are so fun, I continued to learn Japanese and I started this blog. I owe it all to ALESN, its teachers, and its students.
I've taken this course twice already, but it's not enough. I want my Japanese knowledge to be ingrained in my head. I hope to post what I learned on this blog. This is a great time to start up this blog since I'm learning from scratch again.
For those who are attending, enjoy, have fun, and maybe I'll see you there.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Instructions for the Hanging Kusudama Origami Flower
Ah my first post!
I don't want my first post to be stressful so I decided to post my Kusudama origami project instructions here first! Have fun before we start learning Japanese!
I don't want my first post to be stressful so I decided to post my Kusudama origami project instructions here first! Have fun before we start learning Japanese!
Thanks to Helen Man and Tina Lee, instructors at ALESN. www.alesn.org
Original
Instruction information: http://zeybaaklini.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-do-origami-flower.html
A free PDF copy of the instructions I wrote below are also available at:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=BF8AED0897926D3C!549&authkey=!APqW3EDudizF0Qs
I took the liberty to research on Amazon.com for some interesting Origami papers.
I didn't buy these origami packs yet, but I like these as well:
An example is
shown on the right side with the left side untouched.
Release
the petals, making sure all of them make contact with the long piece of tape.
Then add the fifth or final petal.
In
another project, I used one flower on top and five flowers for the second
layer.
On July 19th, 2013, I create this simple flower bouquet out of newspaper paper to be used in a magazine photo shoot. I used straws for the bottom to create the stem.
A free PDF copy of the instructions I wrote below are also available at:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=BF8AED0897926D3C!549&authkey=!APqW3EDudizF0Qs
Materials Needed:
Square-shaped Origami
Sheets – I bought a 300-sheet pack from Michaels $9.99 + tax and used 43
sheets. Alternatively, you can use any type of foldable paper that is cut in a
same-size square shape.
Scotch Tape
Double-sided
Scotch Tape
(Glue
is optional if you don’t want to tape it)
I took the liberty to research on Amazon.com for some interesting Origami papers.
I really recommend:
I didn't buy these origami packs yet, but I like these as well:
Step 1: Creating
Creases
Fold a
square paper diagonally in half.
Step 2: Creating
Creases
Fold
the triangle horizontally in half.
Open
up the triangle again as shown in Step 1 and this time fold the sides of the
triangle to the top side. You will end up with a diamond shape.
From
the right tip, fold the right layer diagonally towards the right side and align
the bottom edge of the triangle with the bottom right side of the diamond.
Repeat with the other side.
Step 5: Folding
This part might be
tricky. Unfold the right side back to Step 1 and lift up the entire right flap
from the inside with your index finger. You can see that the creases are
already in place and your middle crease should be in the middle of the fold.
Push the paper back down on the side creases. The fold should look like a kite
shape.
Your paper should
look like this. The left side is still untouched, but the right side shows the
end result.
Repeat
Step 5 with the left side.
Ultimately,
your paper should looks like this after the completion of Step 5.
Step 6: Folding
Fold the right and
left tips downwards and make a crease on the top right and left sides of the
paper.
Step 7: Folding
On the right side,
fold the mini-upside-down-triangle horizontally in half. There should already
be a crease on the paper to guide you with the fold. Repeat this step with the
left side.
In the
example picture on the left, the right side is folded while the left side is
untouched.
Your
paper should look like this so far.
Step 8: Folding
Now,
with the middle crease of the diamond as our guide, lightly fold the diamond
horizontally so the right side of the diamond meets the left side. Hold it
together with your fingers.
Step 9: Taping
Tape the sides
together with a piece of scotch tape.
Alternatively, you
can glue the sides together.
You have made your
first flower petal!
Repeat steps 1-7
four more times to make a five-petal flower.
You can also make
a different number of flowers petals – It’s all up to you. In this instruction,
I will stick with a five-petal flower.
Remember,
you can make multi-colored petals or stick with one color per flower. You can
also decorate your petals. Be creative!
Step 10:
Assembling the Flower
Once you have five
petals ready, stick a tiny piece of double-sided scotch tape on one side of a
petal, preferably over where you previously taped.
Alternatively,
you can add some glue instead of using double-sided tape.
Step 11:
Assembling the Flower
Stick two petals
together by the inner sides. Tape the top inner sides of the petal together
with regular scotch tape to secure the flower.
Repeat with petals
three and four. Save the last petal for the next step.
Alternatively,
you can also use glue to glue the pieces together.
Step 12:
Assembling the Flower
When four petals
are completed, use a longer-sized double-sided tape and tape across the inner
sides of the petal. Ideally, all petals should be touching that piece of tape.
The fifth or last petal piece should fit snuggly in there.
Alternatively,
you can also use glue to hold the pieces together.
I found another
way the petals can be taped together easily. Lightly squish the four petals
together and then tape across with double-sided tape, leaving extra tape on
both sides.
You
have made your first flower.
Remember
to tape or glue the top sides of each petal to secure the flower in place.
Step 13:
Assembling the Flower
Repeat steps 1-12
as desired to make each flower.
When you have two
flowers, attach the two flowers together by using double-sided tape or glue for
the lower-half and regular scotch tape or glue for the top as if we were
sticking two petals together. Your two flowers should stick together like the
two flowers located towards the top of the example picture on the left.
To add a third
flower, tape or glue three petals together with the middle petal attached to
two petals of the first two flowers just like the example picture on the left.
Basically, you can
stick your flowers together in any creative pattern.
The example
picture on the left is what I did.
To make half of a
flower ball, I made three flowers for the top layer and then attached six for
the bottom layer.
You can definitely
make different combinations and be creative with how you attach each flower.
This is also an
optional step to use a piece of string to hang your Kusudara flower.
In my example, I
also attached a set of three Kusudara petals at the bottom to act as a hanging
charm.
Wallah,
you have a Kusudara flower!
Here are other versions of a Kusudara origami project
that my instructors Tina and Helen made using magazine paper.
The version in this instruction is similar to the
example on the left.
The example at the bottom has beads inserted and glued
into the middle of each flower and the Kusudara flower makes a great
centerpeice as well.
Remember, the larger the paper size, the bigger the
Kusudara flower.
Top view
I also made a bouquet with glitter and a stem with a plastic heart decoration or button in the middle.
Sorry for the blurry picture.I also made a bouquet with glitter and a stem with a plastic heart decoration or button in the middle.
On July 19th, 2013, I create this simple flower bouquet out of newspaper paper to be used in a magazine photo shoot. I used straws for the bottom to create the stem.
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