[Columbine]

Originally Posted by mirandatothemax

Thanks so much! If I have any more questions I'll be sure to post them here and not in a new thread. I don't have a Japanese dictionary yet but I'll have to get one asap! I think my book is just called Tanaka? Or at least that's all it says on the cover in Hiragana and it's pale blue and yellow. I can't find any information on it online for some reason.

(I can't use characters on this computer right now so I have to spell things out in English)

So for #4 is "when: kyoono gogo" (this afternoon?) correct?

and for #2 would the place/activity be watashino tanjoobi pa-ti-? Because if I didn't include "watashi" it wouldn't be clear that it was my birthday party, right?

Have a look in the inside cover; if you can find an ISBN number or the authors name, that might help.

きょうのごご should be fine.

yes, it's probably best to use わたし　there, you need to put one more particle in though: わたしのたんじょうび＿＿＿＿パーティ　

Originally Posted by mirandatothemax

Since my teacher is super azn and made the English sentence "I meet with my friend at Everett Mall this weekend" do you think she meant "I met" instead? The sentence makes more sense in past tense right?

It does, or else something like "i plan to~", but I think best to stick with what's written there. and keep it in the present.

Originally Posted by mirandatothemax

I know saying watashiwa at the beginning of everything is redundant but I think since I'm learning such basic sentence structure my teacher wants me to include it. So "I met with my friend at the Everett Mall this weekend"

good, just checking! You'd be surprised how many people don't know this.

I can kind of think of 3 ways to say specifically 'this weekend' but I don't know if they'd be something that would have come up in class yet or not. Stick with what you know, you can always ask your teacher for embellishments later.

Originally Posted by mirandatothemax

So I'm getting confused with the beginning since I'm trying to start with "watashi" and not just the time. I know more Japanese than we've learned in class so it's really confusing for me to try to separate what I've learned in class from words I knew previously from living in Japan!

Ok, Columbine's tip- Japanese sentences can break up like little lego blocks. わたしは is almost like a complete little phrase by itself, so in these super-simple sentences, you can put it almost anywhere and it shouldn't upset the grammar at all. Saying わたしはXじに〜is fine. so is Xじに、わたしは〜

Watashiwa shuumatsu ni Everett Mall de tomodachi to aimashita?　

Originally Posted by mirandatothemax

We haven't learned how to say "with" or use to/ni in that context, so would there be any other simpler way to put this or is this the most basic way?

Hmm, there you've got me. Your teacher could be angling at something in particular, but I don't know what it might be, and I can't think of another way to put it. check your book again and class notes; it might be in there, but she forgot to teach it.