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.