Friday, January 8, 2016

Reflections at the End of the Semester

ヾ(@⌒ー⌒@)ノこんばんわ

Now that we're done with the fall semester it's time to look back on my goals and activities and to see how I did...


Goals:
  • To achieve basic conversational fluency
    • I'm still working on this (slowly...)
  • Natural pronunciation
    • My pronunciation has definitely improved but I still have a ways to go.
  • To be able to read hiragana and katakana at a reasonable pace (I read super slowly right now)
    • Yes!
  • To familiarize myself with the sounds of the Japanese language
    • Yes! (For the most part)

Activities:

  • Practice pronunciation at least once a week with friends who know more Japanese than I do
    • This hasn't been happening as often as I'd hoped (mostly because it's hard to coordinate schedules)
  • Pick a new Japanese song every week to listen to repeatedly and attempt to learn some (if not all) of the lyrics
    • Yea this didn't happen :( I did listen to Japanese music but I never sang it (couldn't find any slower songs that I liked)
  • At least 30 minutes of daily vocab study
    • Yes! But I think I should ramp it up more for the next semester.
  • Practice reading passages of hiragana and katakana at least twice a week for 15 minutes
    • I've done this every once in a while, but not as often as I'd hoped.


I'd say overall I accomplished my goals maybe 75% of the time? So not perfect, but I'm working on it. Here's to having more success next semester!


じゃ・また ~~~ヾ(^∇^)

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

ふゆやすみのけっこんしき



ふゆやすみに 私のあねは けっこんしました!

12月20日に アーカンソー川で けっこんしました。



私と あね いっしょに はなたばは つくりました。


 たくさん コールドですが きれいなでした。



これは、私と 私の姉妹で あります.  私は くろの ドレスを ちゃくよう します。

Thursday, December 17, 2015

A Letter to My Host

So this was an exercise we did in class, and also my first time writing vertically.

Sorry if I have bad handwriting! (⌒-⌒; )


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

センクスギビングの休み



こんばんは。

先週の週末は センクスギビングの休みでした。 

私は ひこうきで おばのうちに いきました。テキサスに あります。 b(⌒o⌒)d

私は 少し べんきゅしました。 そした たくさん ねました。 

私のかぞくと いっしょに センクスギビング りょうりを しました。たいへんなが たのしかったです。

先週の二曜日は プリンストン大学に かえりました。 

そして しゅくだいを しました。( ̄、 ̄;)

さようなら。 ~(=^‥^)ノ

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Reflection and Revised Yearly Goals

ヾ(@⌒ー⌒@)ノこんばんわ

Now that we're midway through the fall semester it's time to look back on my goals and activities and to make adjustments where necessary..


Goals:

  • To achieve basic conversational fluency
    • I'm still working on this (slowly...)
  • Natural pronunciation
    • My pronunciation has definitely improved but I still have a ways to go.
  • To be able to read hiragana and katakana at a reasonable pace (I read super slowly right now)
    • My hiragana reading is infinitely better but I need to devote some more time to Katakana
  • To familiarize myself with the sounds of the Japanese language
    • I guess? Honestly don't remember what I meant by this. Maybe long vowels and doubled consonants, which I have an easier time with now.

Activities:

  • Practice pronunciation at least once a week with friends who know more Japanese than I do
    • This hasn't been happening as often as I'd hoped (mostly because it's hard to coordinate schedules)
  • Pick a new Japanese song every week to listen to repeatedly and attempt to learn some (if not all) of the lyrics
    • Haha no... I haven't tried this at all >.< I really would like to but I have no idea where to start looking for simple songs. Especially since I don't really like JPop and a lot of the music I've found is way too fast for me to attempt. Any suggestions?
  • At least 30 minutes of daily vocab study
    • This really needs to be happening more. I'm probably getting a couple hours a week (maybe 20 minutes a day?) but it isn't enough. Definitely need to improve on this.
  • Practice reading passages of hiragana and katakana at least twice a week for 15 minutes
    • Haven't done this >_<


For the rest of the semester I'd like to devote more time to vocab study and reading. I think I'm definitely on the right track to achieve my goals (even though I have been lax about the activities) so I guess this is just me recommitting myself to trying harder to work towards it everyday. Here's to hoping that things only get better.


じゃ・また ~~~ヾ(^∇^)

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Goals for the Year!

ヾ(@⌒ー⌒@)ノおはよう


Goals:


  • To achieve basic conversational fluency
  • Natural pronunciation
  • To be able to read hiragana and katakana at a reasonable pace (I read super slowly right now)
  • To familiarize myself with the sounds of the Japanese language


Activities:


  • Practice pronunciation at least once a week with friends who know more Japanese than I do
  • Pick a new Japanese song every week to listen to repeatedly and attempt to learn some (if not all) of the lyrics
  • At least 30 minutes of daily vocab study
  • Practice reading passages of hiragana and katakana at least twice a week for 15 minutes



じゃ・また ~~~ヾ(^∇^)