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。