ホグワーツへのてがみ

ハリー　ポターさん、

 前略。　よいお年を！ 昨年は大変お世話になりありがとうございました｡　お手紙ありがとうございました。ご無沙汰しております。家族一同元気にしております。

最近はお元気ですか。何をしたいですか。　私のプリンストンの生活はとても楽しかったです。毎日、私はいつも泳ぎに行くと本を読んです。私は非常に忙しかった。あなたは忙しいのですか。あなたのグリフィンドールの友人がよくやっている？ すっかり冬らしくなってまいりましたが、いかがお過ごしでいらっしゃいますか。 

ポターさんのふゆ休みはいつですか。ハミオニサンとローンサンによろしくお伝えください。

お返事お待ちしております。

 では、また。草々。

 イー

PE3 Goals

Pronunciation Exercise Goals 3

I need to practice speaking more fluidly. I realize that I am choking a little because I forget my vocabulary. I want to focus on learning my vocabulary much more diligently because I recognize this to be why my sentences don't come out as fluently as I would like them to.

I need to remember to add my に　particles to my time units in my sentences. There are so many time when I miss this particle.

I need to focus on getting my tenses correct. I think in present tense, so I often forget to conjugate my endings to represent past events in the correct tense.

PE2 Reflection

PE 2 Goals
Shadow the beginning introduction of the Seven Samurai movie trailer.

I shadowed the beginning of the Rashoomon trailer for my PE2 exercise. I think I was able to get the flow of the dialogue much better because I had the script in Japanese in front of me. I knew I could get every syllable while following the recording. I also liked how I could emphasize the right elements because I had the English translation in the YouTube video. I think I had good speed and was able to emulate the intonation of the narrator. 

I want to be able to speak with emphasis. I like the dialogue of the old Kurosawa trailers because it harkens back to an old era of Japanese speaking instead of many of the new era TV shows and dramas where people seem to speak in a more “cute” and high-pitched manner. I think there is an element of Japanese language that one can emulate that shows a certain confidence and mastery. I would like to find more recordings and practice shadowing that type of Japanese. 

Pronounce one Japanese tongue twister perfectly.

I practiced this easy one:

 Kisha no kisha wa kisha de kisha shita.

貴社の記者は汽車で帰社した。

However, I got interested in what were some other Japanese tongue twisters and found the top ten here:

1) 生麦生米生卵

なまむぎなまごめなまたまご

namamuginamagomenamatamaga

2) 東京特許許可局

とうきょうとっきょきょかきょく

tookyootokkyokyokakyoku

3) 赤巻紙青巻紙黄巻紙

あかまきがみあおまきがみきまきがみ

akamakigamiaomakigamikimakigami

4) バスガス爆発

ばすがすばくはつ

basugasubakuhatsu

5) カエルぴょこぴょこ三ぴょこぴょこ合わせてぴょこぴょこ六ぴょこぴょこ

かえるぴょこぴょこみぴょこぴょこあわせてぴょこぴょこむぴょこぴょこ

kaerupyokopyokomipyokopyokoawasetepyokopyokomupyokopyoko

6) 隣の客はよく柿食う客�

となりのきゃくはよくかきくうきゃく�

tonarinokyakuhayokukakikuukyakuda

7) 赤パジャマ青パジャマ黄パジャマ茶パジャマ

あかぱじゃまあおぱじゃまきぱじゃまちゃぱじゃま

akapajamaaopajamakipajamachapajama

8 ) 坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた

ぼうすがびょうぶにじょうずにぼうずのえをかいた

boosugabyoubunijoozuniboozunoewokaita

9) スモモも桃も桃のうち　桃もスモモももものうち

すもももももももものうち　もももすももももものうち

sumomomomomomomomonouchi momomosumomomomomonouchi

10) 隣の竹やぶに竹立てかけたの誰�

となりのたけやぶにたけたてかけたのだれ�

tonarinotakeyabunitaketatekaketanodareda

Make sure that my particles are not said separately from the object or verb that they are supporting. Speak more fluidly across prepositional phrases and other units within one sentence (stop faltering mid-sentence).

I tried to take notice of this during my classes to pronounce お　fluidly and not detached from my object. These particles are very similar to how Koreans use particles in the Korean language. I think that mindset helps when I speak Japanese. 

わたしのあきやすみ

わたしは先週、秋の休暇をとった。わたしはアフリカに行ってきました。

わたしは選挙の暴力に関する研究を行った。楽しかったよ。わたしは写真撮影をするのが好き。私は多くの写真を撮りました。

 せんしゅうあまつわたしはろくじごろおきました。　しちじごろあさごはんをたべました。　ごぜん8じからごご7じまで、わたしがインタビューを行った。わたしは多くの人にインタビューを行った。わたしはソマリアの選挙について彼らに話を聞いた。 

ソマリアにおける民主主義があります。 わたしわげつようびごぜんいちじごろりょうへかえりました。　7時間後、わたしはにほんごのクラスを持っています。　たいへんですね。

My Schedule

せんしゅうまつ土曜日にくじに朝ご飯おたべばした。
じゅうじはんにほんおよみました。

そしでえいがをみました。どんなえいがをみましたか？　YouTubeのえいがをみました！

さんじにべんきょうしました。　こんしゅうきんよびにテストがあります。
どんなテストがありますか？　日本語のテストがあります。　たいへんですね。

ごごくじにりょうへかえりました。
ごごじゅういちじにパチイでばんごはんを食べました。　チズをたべました。たいへんですね！　そしでびーるをのみまあした。　

Where Did I Get My Blog Title?

Yowayowacamera.com is one of my favorite sites to go see the creativity of a Japanese girl who loves to take pictures of her levitating.

This girl's name is Natsumi Hayashi. 
She lives in Tokyo with two cats. Her photographs are mainly levitating self-portraits (and cats not levitating).  yowayowa is a Japanese term meaning "weak" or "feeble."
Since I'm yowayowa, it's really heavy to carry SLR cameras around.

She introduces herself in Japanese as well:
よわよわカメラウーマン = 林ナツミです。
CANON EOS 5D Mark II (重い)で
本日の浮遊シリーズ(セルフポートレート)と
日々のできごとを記録しています。

「よわよわカメラウーマン日記」はリンクフリーです。

I like to think of her setting these pictures up and having someone or having a timer take the pictures. There is a certain degree of choreography that is deliberate for every levitation that looks so effortless.

Pronunciation Exercise Reflections

PE 1 Reflections
My goals for PE 1 were:

Be able to mimic the intonation of a male Japanese speaker.

Be able to speak with a rhythm that is fluid across sentences as opposed to individual mora units.

Be able to distinguish the aspirated and non-aspirated consonant sounds

Be able to distinguish the long and short vowels.

I feel like my rhythm for Japanese sentences have gotten better and my intonation has improved. Shibata sensei noted that I should be wary of properly hearing the differences between aspirated and non-aspirated sounds like "k" and "gg" because I speak Korean as well. With our vocabulary learned thus far, I have been able to distinguish these sounds. 

Since my goals were broader for PE1, I cannot definitively say that I have accomplished them albeit I have improved in all noted areas. I will try to make much more concrete goals for PE2 that are accomplishable.

PE 2 Goals
Shadow the beginning introduction of the Seven Samurai movie trailer.
Pronounce one Japanese tongue twister perfectly.
Make sure that my particles are not said separately from the object or verb that they are supporting.
Speak more fluidly across prepositional phrases and other units within one sentence (stop faltering mid-sentence).

My Actual PE Shadowing Exercise

This homework was the longest that I've ever spent on Japanese 101 homework thus far. Finding the right clip that was the right speed for me to repeat was incredibly hard.

I ended up with a trailer for one of my favorite movies, the Seven Samurai by Kurosawa.

Enjoy.

This is Genki Sudo

The band is amazing. I want to find 5 Asian friends and practice the slow walk move for Halloween.

This clip is entirely filmed in Seoul!

Shadowing Exercise

If you can do your Shadowing Exercise perfectly with this clip, I will give you 5 dollars.

Self-introduction

Self-introduction

自己介绍

はじめまして。いです。　わたしはあめりかじんです。　だいがくいんせえです。　どうぞよろしく。　わたしはすひおたべるのがすき。　わたしはしゅくだいがすきでわない。　さよなら

Japanese Goal Statement

My ultimate goal regarding Japanese language acquisition is to be able to speak to Japanese businessmen, government officials, and academics on a wide range of topics including politics, economics, sciences, and history.

To reach this level of Japanese, I need a solid foundation of pronunciation, reading, writing, and listening.

Through Japanese 101, I hope to gain this solid foundation so I can continue to learn Japanese at Princeton and beyond.

I am particularly keen on being able to mimic the Tokyo accent in Japanese. I will focus my efforts on the shadowing exercises and speaking in class.

I am also interested in being able to build a large vocabulary. I will focus my efforts in class on memorizing key words that relate to topics in politics, economics, sciences, and history.

I am hoping to be able to listen and understand at a greater level than my speaking, writing, or reading. I plan to make sure I understood every word and phrase used during drill/class time by my teachers and classmates.

Goals:
Be able to mimic the intonation of a male Japanese speaker.
Be able to speak with a rhythm that is fluid across sentences as opposed to individual mora units.
Be able to distinguish the aspirated and non-aspirated consonant sounds
Be able to distinguish the long and short vowels.

Methodology:
Shadowing exercises with Japanese movies, TV shows, and dramas.
Repeating sentences that my Japanese instructors say during class.
Attend Japanese Tables

Why Japanese?

Hello classmates! I'm very excited to start this blog and track how my Japanese improves, as well as use it as a compilation of the strange and wonderful elements of Japanese culture. I want to learn Japanese because I want to be able to travel Japan and perhaps even live there for a couple years. Think of being able to see and understand everything going on here.

I first became interested in Japanese due to a manga I watched called Cowboy Bebop. There was a movie made from the series a couple years ago. 

I started saying words like 素晴らしい and ばかな to my friends. Soon we were all watching Japanese anime. 

The hardest part for me in the past couple of days is the daily repetition of studying a language. It will be nice to 

get in a groove very fast and be able to see nice ROIs. Do you have any suggestions of how to memorize characters?

Japanese 101 Begins

Hello world!
こんにちは世界