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。

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。

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！

両親が来た

週末はスペシャルな週末でした。というのは両親が来ましたから。両親があまり来ませんけど、先週末はグリークラブのコンサートがあったから、両親がコンサートを見に来ました。

コンサートはすごくよかったよ。

 コンサートの前の晩には両親とフーリハンズで食くじをして、トマス・スイートでアイスクリームを食べました。月曜日の朝、両親に「さようなら」と言いました。まだ二か月ぐらい後に会う予定です。まだ会わない時に勉強したり、けんきゅうをしたりして、がんばりたいです！

Midterm Reflection, and Revising My Goal/Activity Statement

二学きは六週間おわった？？？早そうだね！

It seems like it passed by very quickly, but it has been a good semester so far for Japanese. What has helped me a lot: 日本語のテーブル！A couple times I even went three times in one week! For weeks I had seen no progress, but now I can see how my speaking and listening are both much stronger.

Speaking:
++ It is becoming more natural for Japanese to roll out of my mouth. Some phrases and phrase-endings, come out automatically, such as "～かった", or "～ですね". It's fun!

++ I memorized half of 雨ニモマケズ when I shadowed it for PE, and I often quote it to myself throughout the day.

-- FLUENCY: I still have a long way to go in fluency. I often pause, stumble, stutter, and grope for words when I am in conversation. This is a big problem, still.

-- PITCH: The professors have told me that my pitch is unstable a lot when I talk--I change the way I pronounce the same word when I am talking. This is something I don't recognize in myself when I talk, so I need more practice with OJAD or with careful listening to native pitch patterns.


 
Listening:
++ At the dinner tables, I am able to understand much more of what people say, maybe about 50% of what I hear. The repeated patterns I recognize more now, and I am able to sort out some of the inflections from the stems much more automatically now.

-- I have not practiced listening to Japanese materials at all, such as audiobooks or TV shows.

+- I still do not understand many things at what people at language table say when they speak quickly or use words I do not know, but this is giving me practice with trying to understand the general meaning of what they are talking about.

**********************************************************
Revisions on the Goal/Activity Statement
**********************************************************

• Area 1: Fluency in Speech 

I will focus my speaking practice efforts on 日本語のテーブル 

(2 to 3 times per week)

I will plan out when I can fit office hours into my schedule 

(Especially ask about pitch pattern-practice)

• Area 2: Listening and Understanding 

  Go to 日本語のテーブル

Look for poems to memorize

祖母に行き

私はミシガンから来ました。家族はミシガンの東の方にすんでいますが、祖母はミシガンの西の方にすんでいます。

東の方から西の方までくるまで三時間ぐらいかかります。中学と高校の時、一年に四回ぐらい家族と祖母に会いました。
春休みに祖母に会いたかったです。一人で祖母に会ったことがありませんでした。でも、一人でくるまで祖母へ行きました。
ミシガンの真ん中にスプリングアーバー大学があります。私の中学の時から親友がスプリングアーバー大学にいます。そして、祖母と会う日の前に親友と会って、りょうで寝ました。

それから、朝祖母と朝ごはんを食べました！クラカーバレールで食べました。祖母と話して、よかったです。

ケニアの友達

Goals and Activities: A New Semester!

やった～！I completed a semester of Japanese 101. Now, onto my goals for Japanese 102...

• Area 1: Fluency in Speech
  I have come a long way from September with fluency, but it's only upwards from here. I want to remove the painful pauses that plague my prosody. So... 

 

I will practice conversation throughout the week.
(日本語のテーブル, Meet with Students, Office Hours, etc.)

I will shadow fluent speech. 

(PE, Japanese Audio Book, etc.)

•  Area 2: Listening and Actually Understanding It
  Last semester, I never followed up with watching Japanese TV. It is entertaining, but I couldn't convince myself that it was worth the time. So, as strategies...

 

During homework, I will first listen before reading the script.
(PE, Lab Exercises, etc.)

I will find a group of friends to watch Japanese stuff

(Old Movies, etc.) 

• Area 3: Kanji
  I love learning kanji. If I have the time this semester, I may start up again on Wanikani (a great online program from Tofugu for learning kanji). If not, I will just learn the textbook kanji.