Goal and Activity Blog

おはよう、

My goals for Japanese are to:
1. Improve on fluidity and clarity. I can currently understand and pick out hiragana characters but I would like to be able to read them and speak them at an accelerated rate.

2. Improve on word pitch. Make sure that my words and sentence phrases have the correct pitch patterns too. Practice speaking new words in their correct speech patterns in class and outside class (for 10 minutes) M, W, and F. Use Suzuki-san/OJAD for help.

3. Obtain a more native Japanese accent. Both American and Chinese, I have a distinct accent that, when I speak Japanese, makes my Japanese sound unauthentic and foreign. I hope to speak greetings and our learned words more quickly and naturally.

Activity Goals for improving my Japanese:

1. Go to language tables at least twice a month to practice my Japanese with Makino-sensee and other Japanese peers/professors.

2. Record shadowing of textbook chapter audio sections (SAM). Submit one per week to Shibata-sensee.

3. Review previous chapters for 30 mins on both Saturday and Sunday prior to Monday's classes. Refresh on uncertain terms.

3. Listen to Japanese music for 15 minutes every other day and try to pick out words you know.

4. Study abroad this summer in Japan or do an internship/global seminar in Japan.

I look forward to accomplishing my goals and improving my Japanese!

じゃあ、また！

ちぇんさん
(Chen-san)

<Revised goals and activities>

Introduction: あたしわ。。。

はじめまして。ちぇんです。

わたしはがくせいです。いちねんせいです。せんこうはぶんがくです。

わたしはめりかんじんです。

TexasのHoustonからきましたです。

PrincetonのForbesです。

どおぞよろしく。

あのう。。。いまごごじゅうにじはんです。

おやすみ　なさい！

~Chen-san

Sept.16- 1st Post

こんばんは (Konbanwa)!

はじめまして(Hajimemashite), Chen-desu. どおぞよろしく(Doozo yoroshiku).

My full name is Lillian Chen, and as of now I am in Sato-sensee's 9:00 am JPN 101 class. I'm an "ichi nen see" (freshman) living in Forbes College (best residential college on campus)!

http://ysfine.com/princeton/forbesc11.jpg

I decided to study Japanese because of many reasons:

1. I visited Japan in the summer of 2014, specifically Tokyo and Hakone, and fell in love with the country (both the city and the countryside). Ever since I was young, I loved watching and reading Japanese anime and manga, and I loved learning about Japanese culture from movies, books, and through my visit to Japan. I would love to go back again and explore more Japanese cities as well as continue to study the language there (study abroad!). My goal is to be able to live sufficiently while in Japan and to communicate effectively with the locals. 

http://jeremyng.smugmug.com/Travel/In-and-around-Tokyo-Monjya/DSC6016/773011668_YL4UE-L.jpg

2. I also want to visit Japan in 2020 since the Olympics are being held there, and being able to speak the language/be a translator for other during my time there would be awesome!

3. Japan's tech industry is booming--tech and other businesses are growing extremely quickly and it's a ripe time to live and work in Japan. Since I want to do business and possibly live in Japan in the future, learning Japanese is crucial. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/technology/2016/07/22/103762674-masa-tech-large_trans++ulmngyk1nEPNRM5Qu5tZfhjq2OoU_OWxLPIobNmUt48.jpg

In this class, I'm excited about everything! Learning how to speak, read, and write Japanese. I love learning new languages and the Japanese characters, similar to Chinese characters, are so beautiful and fun to write. I am also excited to get to know and communicate with the other students in the class more, and hopefully, we will all study abroad in Japan together! はい (Hai)!

The first 3 days were difficult because I was torn between taking Japanese or some other language class like German 101, French 101, or Chinese 305. However, I finally (and happily) made the decision to stick with Japanese this year. The pronunciation of the words were sort of difficult, because the sounds and vowels are unlike any language I am used to (Chinese/English). I am looking forward to practicing more and becoming more familiar with the words we learned this week.

That's all for now. Looking forward to posting my next blog post for you all. じゃ、また (Ja, mata)!

Sincerely,

Chen-san