てがみ

山田さんへ、
はじめまして。クリーガーです。とうぞよろしく。私はプリンストン大学の学生です。なつに日本にエクシチェンジプログラムでいきます。山田さんのかぞくは私のホストファミリです。私のせんせこうはわかりません。でも、日本語が好きで、日本がたのしいので、アジアけんきゅうが好きです。あなたのかぞくはどうですか。おことのことおんなのこがいますか。いぬがいますか。どこにすんでいますか.
よろしくおねがいします。
クリーガー

Reflection Statement and Goal Statement 3

I'm much more satisfied with my second PE Cycle. I ended up, at least twice a week, watching the show ひぐらしのなくころに and got through quite a bit of the first season. I would usually try to shadow the characters for the first 5-10 minutes and then would stop and just watch the show. I think shadowing with anime is much better for me than trying to do it with shadowing exercises, simply because the motivation of getting to watch TV (often as a study break to other work) made me much more consistently do the shadowing.

As for my third PE Cycle, I think I'm going to continue what I'm doing, since it is working pretty well. I'm not sure whether it is because of the shadowing or simply because of my increased familiarity with the language as the semester progresses, but I do genuinely feel that I've become a better Japanese speaker. By the time the next cycle is over, I will have probably finished ひぐらしのなくころに. I'm not sure what I'll be doing afterwards, but I'll be sure to update the blog with my final thoughts on ひぐらしのなくころに and perhaps start watching something new.

秋休み

あきやすみにおにいさんのうちにいきました。きんようびにロ-ドアイランド の プロビデンスにでんしゃでいきました。プロビデンスのバンドをみました。ブラウン大学のクラスがありました。パーテイーがありました。かようびにでんしゃでプリンストンにかえりました。すいようびからにちようびまでしゅうくだいがありました。

Goal Statement 2

I was a bit disappointed with my ability to practice shadowing everyday. So to fix the problem I'm going to, time forbidding, schedule a time everyday at which to watch an episode of anime, picking a character each time to follow. By rewarding myself with a study break when I work on shadowing, I think I'll be more consistent. I'll also add a variety to the shadowing that the book exercises and labs lack.

I think that by being more thorough with my shadowing my practice will show better in drill section and in my familiarity with the language. I look forward to putting more time into Japanese on a daily basis.

Reflection Statement

I am a little bit disappointed with my first cycle. I told myself I would do a few minutes everyday but it ended up being more like once a week for a longer period of time. I shadowed using the “Let’s Speak Japanese” dialogues, as well as the book dialogues. It was difficult to keep up with the people speaking, as they spoke as fast as possible rather than what I feel would be normal conversation. When I practiced with Japanese videos and anime (ひぐらしのなくころに is my favorite right now) I found that this was less of an issue. Even though I wasn’t as consistent as I would’ve liked, I still think that I’ve become a better Japanese speaker over the course of the first cycle.

As for the oral midterm, I think Yujie and I did pretty well. We spent a lot of time writing and organizing our material, but that may have been one of our weaknesses as well because when we strayed away from the script (to answer Suzuki-san’s questions or if we messed up), there would be some hesitation as for what to say. However, besides a few errors with tenses, I think we did a good job facilitating the conversation.

毎日のルーチン

ごぜん七時四十五分：おきます。

ごぜん八時：シャーワーを浴びます。

ごぜん八時二十分：あさごはんをたべます。

ごぜん九時：にほんごのクラスにいきます。

ごご十二時：ひるごはんをたべます。

ごご四時：しゅうくだいをはじめます。

ごご六時：ばんごはんをたべます。

ごご七時：しゅうくだいをはじめます。

ごご十二時：ねます。

Goals

My goal is to make my voice sound more Japanese. I think I am pretty good with vowels and Japanese pronunciation, but what really sets apart the great speakers of Japanese (as a second language) is the precise intonation and rhythm with which they speak. To try to master that I will be doing shadowing exercises, imitating native speakers, for 10 minutes every day. I hope to master the subtleties of Japanese speech. o(^^o)(o^^)o わくわく

First Exposure to 日本の文化

The first time I was exposed to Japanese culture as a child was when my dad gave me a casette of いさおとみた, a famous Japanese composer and one of the pioneers of electronic music. It was his arrangement of The Planets, by Gustav Holst. If you haven't heard any of とみたさん's work, I'd highly recommend checking out this album. It's chilling, spacey, and way ahead of it's time (it was released in 1976). I think Japanese music, both traditional and modern, is enjoyable and fascinating.

Introduction

はじめまして。わたしのなまえわクリイガアです。プリンストン だいがくのいちねんせいです。アメリカじんです。ニュージャージーからきました。どうぞよろしく。

JPN 101!

I am so excited to study 日本語 this semester. I have always loved Japanese culture and food and even got to visit in 2006 with my family for a few weeks but did not have the chance to study it until high school, when I went to the Princeton Community Japanese Language School. Every Sunday morning I would get early to go to class at 9:00 A.M. I love how Japanese, although being a very different language from English, is so organized and phonetic. Every once in a while we would get to partake in some traditional Japanese food, or go to the school's children's book sale, or look at somebody's photo album from a recent trip to Japan. Learning about the culture made the language even more interesting and meaningful. Unfortunately I had to drop out after a few years to focus on my work at high school. And so here I am a few years later, taking Japanese at Princeton. Can't wait to study it again!