Blog Reflection (5/6/16)

I think I definitely have achieved a lot of my goals for this academic year!

1. I can speak Japanese with a faster speed and more natural/quick conjugation while speaking. I could still work on speaking casually though.
2. I think that I am pretty accurate now at identifying pitches when listening to native speakers speak, and I think I can replicate a majority of what they say, even if I don't understand it.
3. I definitely can get by in Japan with the stuff I have learned this year!
4. I can write the basics, which as mentioned above, would allow me to survive.

I think this year set a good basis for what I will be doing with Japanese in the future (whether to continue in Korea or not)!

日本に行ったら、何をしたいですか (5/2/16)

私は日本に行ったら、したいことが託さなりますよ。大阪に住んでいる友達と会って梅田スカイビルに行きたいですよ。

大阪に有名なシェフがたくさんあるので美味しい食べ物を食べたいです。そして大阪の酒はとても有名だそうです。買い物をするのが好きだら、アメリカ村にも行きたいです。そして、なんばパークスにおくじょうていえんがありますから、そこにも行きたいです。

好きな季節 (4/14)

私は夏と秋が大好きよ。夏はとても暑いけど、授業がないのでゆっくり出来るんですね。例えば、去年夏休みに友達と会いに香港に行きました。今年の夏やすみに韓国に行く予定でした。というのは韓国にいたことがありません。一年間ぐらい韓国で留学をするのでたくさん準備をしますね。来年韓国で勉強するのが楽しいと思いますね。

今年の夏休み (3/22/16)

私は今年の冬休みに韓国に行ったり中国で両親と会ったりします。韓国語を勉強しに韓国に行きますよ。韓国のパーティーと食べ物はとても美味しいそうです。韓国に行ったことがないので、たのしみにしています。そして、一年間に勉強したことにしましたね。私は後年にアジアに住んでいたいから、中国や韓国がわかるなら、楽々住んでいられますよ。韓国へ行くのを楽しみにしています。

PE 6 Reflection (3/21/16)

In the first half of the semester, I think some changes need to be made, but many things could definitely stay.

So far:

1. I can now speak in plain form which will be helpful if I am talking to closer friends who speak Japanese as well. It would be more comfortable and logical to speak in plain form since we would be of similar age.
2. I think that I'm slowly getting better at conjugating in my head the plain form style, and the speed at which this happens is increasing.

Changes:

1. 100% need to start going in every week for listening comprehension and speaking practice.
2. Improve speaking and conjugating certain grammar structures to plain form such as んです→の. 
3. Need to work on trying to get accustomed to Japanese people speaking quickly and sometimes slurring words. Also need to work on general listening comprehension.
4. Work on listening parts of mock tests (with professors).
5. Work on figuring out the tricky grammar parts such as そう思います、どう思います。
6. Figure out the differences between Chinese and Kanji (ie. avoid accidentally writing in simplified Chinese on tests...、『春』)

I would say that I wish I had spent more time on listening comprehension practice this first half of the semester, but I guess this motivated me to at least start practicing. I think for me, 1, 4, 5 are the most important things I need to correct this semester.

私の兄弟 (2/25/16)

父と母と弟がいるので、私の家族は四人家族です。私は弟が一人います。弟は１８歳だから、高校生です。私より弟の方が背が低いです。弟は頭がいいとおもいるから、まい火曜日と水曜日にプリンストン大学に授業を聞きに行っていますよ。私の家族はプリンストンに住んでいるから、よくうちに帰ってゆっくりします。弟は話すのが好きだから、よく高校でディべートをしますね。

中休み (2/4/16)

私の中休みはとても面白くてよっかたです。月曜日にすがくのクラスでプレゼンテーションをしました。そして、木曜日に私は友達とニューヨークに行って韓国の料理を食べて買い物もしました。服をかってデザートを食べました。ニューヨークにスケートをしに行きました。ここの下にしゃしんがありますよ。先週はは雪が降り出するので寮にいてゲームするのが好きなので一日中ルームメイトとゲームをしました。金曜日と土曜日と日曜日にたくさん勉強しました。

Semester 2 Goals (2/4/15)

Woo. So JPN 101 has already come to an end, and I think I would like to revise my goals and methods for this semester.

Goals:

1. Since I'm planning to study abroad next year, I would like to figure out the logistics of continuing Japanese with the professors in charge of study abroad programs (Sato sensei?)
2. I would like to improve the speed at which I speak and also reinforce grammar concepts such as conjugating to て-form and plain form speech styles.
3. The biggest thing that tells the difference between a native Japanese speaker and a learner is the pitch and intonation, so I would also like to more closely remember the pitch and intonation of the new vocab words.

Methods:

1. To achieve my goals, I think that I will take some extra time to review for placement tests and perhaps learn a bit more grammar for when I study abroad.
2. To improve speed, the only way to do this is to practice speaking. So in order to accurately speak faster, I would need to talk to a native Japanese speaker. An easy solution would be to go into Shibata sensei's office hours more often.
3. Again, going to Shibata sensei's office hours just to practice would be helpful in learning the right intonation for each new word.

Goals (1/8/15)

These are my goals from the beginning of the year that I will address.

Goals:

1. By the end of this academic year, I would like to be able to understand and speak basic Japanese so that I could survive in Japan.
2. I want to be able to replicate what a native Japanese person says even if I don't really understand the meaning. 
3. I want to achieve a good enough basic background, so that I can start exploring different areas of Japanese language (vocab, grammar) or culture on my own free time.

Plans:

1. Since I'm not too interested in anime, I plan to watch one or two episodes of a Japanese drama every week in order to practice my listening comprehension and pick up more colloquial expressions.
2. When I search up names of Japanese shows or any other content, I will try to switch to the Hiragana keyboard to practice my spelling and help distinguish tricky phrases こんにちは（Wrong: こんいちわ）
3. I plan to spend 30 minutes to an hour every day studying Hiragana and Katakana or memorizing and using vocabulary.
4. Since intonation and pitch patterns can be complicated, I will visit Shibata sensei once or twice a month to correct any errors that I might not notice.

じゃね！

1. Goals:  I think that after this semester, I definitely understand enough Japanese to survive in Japan, although perhaps not exactly comfortably. For the second part, through the PE activities, I can now replicate what a native person says to a large degree although there are definitely parts that I think are still too quick. I think with the basics of the plain form, I think I can definitely continue learning more basics in my free time.
2. Plans: I didn't really get a chance to extensively watch any dramas, but I was able to pick up some colloquial expressions through the days where people could ask words that they wanted to know and through some friends teaching me it. Now when I type, I don't have errors such as こんいちわ, so part two was accomplished fairly well. As for 3, I did spend those 30 min to an hour studying almost every day to prepare for class. As for 4, I did not really go into office hours due to a fairly busy schedule plus not having many questions about intonations, but I will try again next semester to be more proactive.

It was a great semester! じゃ、また！

私のふゆ休み (1/7/16)

私の冬休みはよかっですが、宿題がたくさなりました。今までまだ宿題があるので大変ですよ。冬休みに服を二枚もらって嬉しいです。そして、冬休みなので、ともだちとプリンストンであって喫茶店にコーヒーを飲みに行きますが、お金がないので、コーヒーを飲みませんでした。残念ですね。それから友達のうちへ行って料理しました。中国と韓国の料理をしました。美味しいでした！