Wednesday, May 10, 2017

PE Reflection: さいご

Let's look back at my aspirations and compare it to my situation.

Speaking:
  1. Fluency in speech.
  2. Office Hour 
  3. 日本語のテーブル
  1. Polite speech has become more fluent, but casual speech is still very hard to do quickly. I have become a little more aware, especially through the スピーチ assignments, of my errors in pitch. Awareness is the first step to improvement, right? 
  2. I went to Office Hours occasionally, and the times that I went were very helpful, in an informative sense (I did not spend much time practicing). As many people say, Spring Semester is certainly jam-packed. I should not make excuses; I simply did not prioritize office hours. 
  3. At 日本語のテーブル at the beginning of the year, I did not talk much at all. So, I never practiced speaking. What しばた先生 taught me during office hours one day was to intentionally talk, to bring up conversations that I have the ability to speak about (and to not have long silent pauses in my speech, but to continually make filler noises while I am talking). That lesson, combined with a bit of familiarity with まきの先生 and some other 日本語の学生, allowed me to utilize Japanese tables for much more speaking practice.
Listening:
  1. 日本語のテーブル - Understanding. 
  2. Memorize Poems
  3. TV
  1. I continue to slowly understand the conversations at language table better. It helps to understand the commonly used grammar points that we are learning in Nakama 2. 
  2. + 3. I did not memorize any extra poems outside of the PE assignments, and I did not watch any TV. It is hard to do things that are not for grades when a graded deadline for another class is on your tail. Again, I should not make excuses. I did not prioritize this extra exposure to the Japanese language. 
I am progressing. I am so happy to see this progress. 先生、ありがとうございました。

Sunday, May 7, 2017

夏休み

夏休みにプリンストン大学に八月までいます。ここで物理学(ぶつりがく)のけんきゆうをする予定です。

プリンストンにいるためにアパートをさがしておきます。どこかキャンパスに歩いて行ける所はいいですが、じてんしゃで行ける所もだいじょうぶでしょう。そんなアパートがなったる、電車で行ける所がいります。

Image result for knowledge of the holyそれに、本が読みたいリストを作っておいています。たくさん休みに本を読みたいです。去年の十一月から読みたい本を夏休みに読むつもりです。学期(がっき)に授業がない本をあまり読みません。神さまをよく知りたいから、たくさんキリスチャンの本を読みたいです。

もちろん、来年の日本語の授業ために夏休みに日本語を勉強しておくつもりです。日本語が大好きだから、楽しいでしょう!