旅行の思い出: Travel Memories

みなさん、

     このブログポストのトピックは私の好きな旅行の思い出 (My Favorite Travel Memory)です。

まずはじめに、みじかいIntroductionです (but first, a small introduction):

     私は中国人ですから、子供の時によく中国に旅行しました。両新はHangzhouから来ました。HangzhouはZhejiang州の中のまちです。今、両親はテキサスに住んでいます。けれども、おじいさんとおばあさんはまだHangzhouに住んでいます。家族の家のちかくに有名な湖があります。名前は "West Lake" (にし湖)です。とてもきれいなので、みなさん旅行をしに行った方がいいです。

     Because I am Chinese, when I was small, I often traveled to China. My parents are from a city called Hangzhou. Hangzhou is a town in Zhejiang province. Right now, my parents live in Texas. However, my grandma and grandpa still live in Hangzhou. There is a famous lake nearby my family's house called West Lake. Because it's extremely pretty, you should go travel and visit there too!

     6年さいの時に私と両親はHangzhouに三週間旅行しました。母は計画をたてて、ひこうきの切符を予約しました。ひこうきにのるのは１４時間かかったんです。ながすぎだと思います。

     Hangzhouについた時におじいさんとおばあさんの家に泊まりました。毎日、朝ごはんと晩ごはんに食べたりょうりは家族の作ったものです。昼は出かけましたが、外のレストランに食べに行きました。その間にもHangzhouのちかくのいい景色と有名なたてものでかんこうしました。その間にたくさん歩いたから、足がちょっと痛かったけど、テンションが高かったです。

     When I was six years old, my parents and I traveled in Hangzhou for 3 weeks. After my mom made the plans, we reserved plane tickets. The plane ride was 14 hours, and it felt so long!

     At the time we got to Hangzhou, we went to stay in my grandparents house. Every day, the breakfast and dinner meals we ate were my family's home-made ones.  For lunchtime, we went out and ate at outside restaurants. Also at this time, we went sight-seeing in Hangzhou's nearby beautiful sceneries and famous buildings. Because we walked a lot, my feet sort of hurt, but my spirits were still high during that time!

     Hangzhouにたくさんのことをしました。たとえば、中国のおてらに行ったり、安いいりょうひん店に買いに行ったり、美味しそうな中華料理を食べたりしました。それから、いろいろなこうえんでしんせきとあそびました。旅行がぜんぶとてもたのしかったと思います。もう一度行きたいですから、来年の夏休みの旅行の予定をもうたてています。

     There was so much we did in Hangzhou. For example, we went to Chinese temples, shopped at cheap clothing stores, and ate delicious Chinese good. Furthermore, I played with my cousins in various parks. All in all, I thought the trip was very fun. Because I wish to go again, I am already planning next summer's trip to China. :)

PPE Concert + Joe Hisaishi

みなさん、
こんにちは！昨日の晩はリチャードソン　ホールで　PPEのコンサートに行きました。The theme of the concert was "Wanderlust." I thought it fit in perfectly with this week's new chapter on "Travel Plans."

コンサートの音楽の中が一番好きなうたは「Spirited Away theme song」です。とてもゆうめだから、ちょっとないた。

If you haven't watched Spirited Away or listened to the soundtrack for it, 下のリンクをクリックしてください。

Also, here are some other famous songs from Studio Ghibli, a famous Japanese animation company that produces many great movies such as Howl's Moving Castle, and Castle In The Sky

みなさん、Studio Ghibliのえいがを みましたか。どのえいがが一番好きですか。
コメントして下さいませんか。

New Cherry Blossom Starbucks!

みなさん、

I recently found out that Starbucks has released a new Sakura flavor themed beverage and drink-ware for this year! したのウエブサイトがチェクをしませんか。http://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/02/03/starbucks-japan-unveils-new-lineup-of-sakura-beverages-and-drinkware-for-2017/

新しいコーヒですが、おいしいそうですか。This is a new flavor, but does it look tasty?

さくらのコーヒはとてもきれいですけど、コーヒをあまり読みません。I don't drink coffee so I might not like it, but I know some friends who might. 

What do you think? Would you try such a drink?  

Midterm Reflection

こんにちは、
Midtermはちょっとむずかしいと思いました。でも、テストよりMidtermの方がやさしいです。While I thought the Midterm was hard, it was better than the first test this semester. Unfortunately,  I made a lot of careless spelling and particle errors on the Midterm. While the Midterm overall was not as great as I had hoped, I studied really hard. There was also not a lot of time to finish the long test and I am glad I was able to get through the end (I was rushing on the last section though). I also know I can do better on the final, especially since there will be more time for checking. I will continue to work hard and try my best again this quarter!

Some key areas I need to improve on:
1. Careless mistakes. I need to make sure to check over my spelling and particles in the Dict-a-conversation part.
2. Working on the listening section. In both my test and midterm, my listening section was the weakest. It is still hard for me to catch all the words, especially since they are now spoken at a faster speed. I will continue to practice with the textbook listening activities and going to office hours.
3. Noun modification. In general, plain forms and particles for nouns.
4. Tense. Be sure to account for past tenses.
5. Speed. Get faster at writing.

Some areas I improved on or did well in:
1. Reading comprehension. My speed of reading is very fast too.
2. Particles/Grammar! I finally got this section all correct (first time ever!)
3. Casual speech

I do not know the results of my oral exam yet but I think I also practiced a lot for it and felt fluid speaking. I might have made a small error with "ne" and "yo" (for some reason, it's very instinctive for me to end with ne instead of yo. But overall I think I challenged myself to talk a lot and speak quickly, to use different kinds of grammar and to be accurate with my particles, and to have correct intonation. I liked having the oral after the written part because I felt like the written part prepared me better for the oral.

リリアン・チェン

4th Quarter Goal Revisions

こんばんは！
Here are my revised goals from spring semester:

1. Go to Sato-sensee's office hours twice a week. さとう先生のオフィスに火曜日と木曜日に行きましょう。
2. Go to Shibata-sensee's office hours once a week to review Thursday's PE shadowing assignment + practice speaking. 
3. Write in blog two times a week to practice/review the Japanese we learned in class (ie. grammar, vocab, sayings, etc).
4. Go to Japanese Table once a month
5. Review past Japanese grammar/vocabulary on weekends.
6. *optional* Learn about famous Japanese locations/ monuments

While I did a good job to go to office hours twice a week with さとう先生 and sometimes once a week with しばた先生, I think some of my other goals were a bit lofty.

I was able to continuously post in my blog, although not always twice a week. Some weeks had more posts while some weeks had none. I will continue to make an effort to post twice a week because it is very fun and good practice to do so. 

I also will try to stick to a new goal of going to 日本語ターブル once a month.

I will have to drop my goal of listening to Japanese podcasts. While I will continue to listen to the soundtracks of きみにのなわ and Miyazaki's films in my free time, I will have to find more effective ways of practicing listening and speaking, like doing the workbook listening activities when I review on weekends. I will also have to shorten my review sessions on weekends. 

I've also added a goal of researching famous Japanese locations/monuments. I want to do this culture activity because I want to create vector graphics of these places on Illustrator (since I am trying to improve my skills in Illustrator as well). I think this would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

YukiKitchen Website

みなさん、
下のおもしろいウェブサイトをチェックしてください。かわいい日本のベジタリアンのりょうりがあります。とてもおいしそうです！

http://yukitchen.com/

http://yukitchen.com/vegan-ramen-with-a-pola-bear/

何が一番おいしそうですか。何が一番かわいいと思いますか。コメントをしてください。

Nassau Sushi Restaurant Review

こんにちは！

ナッソーストリートの日本のレストランの中でNassau Sushiが一番おいしいと思います。去年と今年三回レストランに行きました。

昨日は友だちとNassau Hallの前で会って、いっしょにNassau Sushiレストランに晩ごはんを食べに行きました。

昨日の朝はハーフマラソンをしたので、とてもたべたかったです。かんこくのりょうりをちゅうもんしたけど、Tofu Stewがからくなかったです。おいいしそうだったから、ごはん二つやたくさんやさいを食べました。友だちは大きいすしと"Ohmu"ライスをちゅうもんしました。友だちと話して、楽しかったですよ。

みなさん、ひまな時にNassau Sushiに行きましょうか。

Spring Break 春休み

今年の春休みはとても楽しかったです。

土曜日から木曜日まで、ジョキングクラブ の友だちとNorth Carolina のOak Island ビーチに行きました。くるまで　9時間ぐらいかかります。ドライブの時間がとてもながくて、たくさん寝ましたよ。

Oak Island の天気がいいですが、ちょっと寒くて、毎日晴れですね。うみはとてもきれいだったけど、とても寒いと思いました。

毎あさは友だちとジョギングをしたり、ギターをひいたり、ゲームをしたりしました。うだうのとジョギングが大好きです。晩はいっしょにりょうりを作ったから、おいしそうなごはんを食べました。

そして、よくえいがを見たり本を読んだりしました。１日に7時間ぐらい友どちと話しました。さいしゅうびにたこ上げをして、ちょっとさびしかったです。ビーチはさようなら！

私の家族は...

こんばんは！

Watch the above video to learn more about my family. Hope you enjoy it! ビデオをみてください。

じゃ、また！

Japanese Songs! The Power of Youtube

こんばんは！

今日は日本語のじゅぎょうにうだうを聞いてるので、これブログポストの中もうだうがあります。一うだうは "Counting People" うたうです。にうだうは "Learning Japanese Vocabulary"うたうです。りょうは忙しくて、たのしかたです。聞いてください！

いっしょにうだいませんか。

In class today, because we listened to a Japanese song, I decided also to put songs to this blog post! The first one is a song to help you remember the "counters" for number of people. The second one is just a fun, catchy song that has lots of Japanese vocabulary (some words we don't know too) to help you learn and remember new vocabulary. Please listen and sing along!

Valentine's Day Edition: I love my family!

みなさん、

ハッピーバレンタインデ！Happy Valentine's Day!

今日は私はりょうしんにでんわをかけました。父と母がとても大すきです。でも、りょうしんはテキサスにするんでいるので、あまりあっていません。

In light of Valentine's day, I called my parents today. I love my mother and father very much; however, because my parents live in Texas, I do not get to see them often. 

私の家族は３にん家族です。兄弟がいないので、一人っ子です。でも、たくさんしんせきです。いとことそぼとそふに中国住んでいる。私はちょっと会いたいです。

A little bit about my family and me:

There are 3 people in my family: my mom, my dad, and I. Because I have no siblings, I am an only child! (さびしです). However, I have many relatives. My cousins, grandma, and grandpa live in China. I sort of want to visit them. 

みなさんは家族は何人ですか。兄弟がいますか。何人兄弟です。Don't forget to tell them you love them today and wish them all a happy valentine's day too! 

FUN FACT:

Japanese Eating part II: Manners Matter!

日本語の文化：Japanese Eating Manners!

Alongside knowing what typical Japanese-style meals are like, it's good to know what is considered "good" table manners when eating out or in a host-family's house in Japan.

Here are a few pointers when eating in ホーストファムリのうち or 日本語のレストラン：

• Remember, it is custom for Japanese people to say いただきます(I humbly receive) before a meal and ごちそうさでした (It was a feast) as signs of respect.

• Wipe your hands and face with a steaming hot towel おしばり。

• Don't stick your chopsticks up in the air!

• Don't hold the same piece of food with another person

• Slurp your noodles :) 

Here's a video that shows these mannerisms in more detail!

じゃ、また！

Semester 1, Week 1, Post 3

What's In a Japanese Style Meal?

こんばんは！

In light of our Chapter 9 topic [Restaurants and Invitations], I wanted to write about typical Japanese meals (日本ごのりょうり).
Traditional Japanese breakfast and Western breakfast are very different.
日本語の人はあさごはんよく味噌スープやたまごやごはんやよりやさかなや食べます。
Japanese people usually eat miso soup, rice, egg, and fish in breakfast.
ひるごはんをよくおべんとうやランチ食べます。
During lunch, Japanese people usually eat from bento boxes or lunch sets.

ばんは大きごはんを食べます。よくてんぷらとさしみとすしを食べます。Dinner is the largest meal. Japanese people often eat tempura, sashimi, or sushi.

それから、日本語のごはんはヘルシーって、カロリーがひくいですから, とても好きです。
日本語のごはんはおいいしいです。今、食べものがほしいです。
Because Japanese food is healthy and low calorie, I really like it. Japanese food is so tasty, I really want to eat it now!

じゃ、また！

P.S.今週の金曜日にEdo (Witherspoon Street の日本ごのレストラン)にZee groupmatesとばんごはんを食べに行きます。とてもうれしいです！

Friday of this week, I will be going with my Zee groupmates to Edo, a Japanese restaurant on Nassau street, to eat dinner together. So excited!

Semester 1, Week 1, Post 2

New Semester, New Goals! (Week 1, Post 1)

こんばんは！

それは新年です。私は新しいGoalのがあります。This semester, I will learn from my mistakes last semester and work even harder this semester to become more fluent in Japanese.

Below are my goals for writing, speaking, listening, and extra cultural understanding:

Goal #1: Write in blog two times a week to practice/review the Japanese we learned in class (ie. grammar, vocab, sayings, etc). One post should contain something about Japanese culture; the other can be about anything I want that utilizes new vocabulary, new grammatical phrases, and old grammatical phrases that I have learned.

ブログ毎週三から七まで書いて、日本語をべんきょうします。
Additional types of blog posts:
-new Japanese vocabulary I learned outside of class
-funny Japanese videos
-good anime/manga suggestions
-describing cities in Japan/popular places in japan
-food critique on Japanese restaurants

Blog post contents:
-Keep them short (<10 sentences, or ~2-3 paragraphs)
-Should mostly be in Japanese (can be at most half in English)
-Include new Kanji that we've learned

Time commitment: 20 minutes for each blog (1 hour total per week minimum).

Goal #2: Review workbook homework before due dates (receive extra help):
Go to Sato-sensee's office hours twice a week: 12-12:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays

さとう先生のオフィスに火曜日と木曜日に行きましょう。

Time commitment: 15-30 minutes each meeting (30-1 hour total per week).

Goal #3: Improve speaking (become more natural, have more accurate pitch patterns, practice speaking new vocabulary and grammar) and listening:
Go to Shibata-sensee's office hours once a week to review Thursday's PE shadowing assignment + practice speaking. Fridays, time TBD.

Time commitment: 15-30 minutes per week.

Goal #4: Listen to Japanese podcast. 15-20 minutes a day--walking to and from Japanese class.  

日本語のポッドキャスト毎日15分聞きます。

Time commitment: ~2 hours per week.

Goal #5: Review Japanese on weekends. Review powerpoints/notes and summarize on blank sheet of paper (for midterm and final exam). Finish any extra "Listening Activities" and "Workbook Activities" on weekends. If have questions, check with Shibata-sensee/Sato-sensee during weekly office hours.

週末に日本語をたくさんべんきょうします。

Time commitment: 1-2 hours.

Total time commitment: ~5-6 hours/ per week (extra)

Ultimately, I want to be at a place where I can speak Japanese confidently and without hesitating in between phrases/sentences. I hope to have a thorough understanding of Japanese grammar/particles/conjugation so that I can speak and write with as much accuracy as possible. Lastly, I find Japanese culture fascinating, beautiful, and interesting so I hope to learn as much as I can about it.

日本語の文化はとても忙しくって、きれいです。私は日本語が大好きです。

PE Final Reflection

みなさん、

First of all, すみません。I apologize for not achieving what I promised about blogging consistently over winter break (冬休み). Due to a health condition, I was unable to really focus on studying and practicing Japanese throughout the break. This unfortunate situation has made me nervous for the upcoming final, but I will still try my best to do well (to myself: がんばって！）

   

For my PE goal, I honestly did not accomplish all that I set out to do. Due to the demands of schoolwork, sports, extracurriculars, and personal and family health issues, I had a lot on my plate and ended up unable to handle all the goals and expectations I put on myself. I did listen to some Japanese music (Jpop) and rewatched a little bit of anime (1-2 episodes?). I spoke over break a little bit as well with Japanese classmates through Skype. I also tried teaching my parents some Japanese phrases. However, I could have done a lot better with keeping up with my goals each week and trying to practice speaking Japanese more often.

Despite some let-downs, I do think I learned a lot this semester about how I learn Japanese best and what I need to improve on. With the help of PE exercises, I have gained a better fluency in speaking, listening, and using correct pitch patterns. While I have much room to improve, I will do my best these several days to prepare for the final oral exam. I am not expecting much given the hard health and mental obstacles I faced this first semester, but I do want to give it my best shot. My ultimate goal, though, is to speak as closely to a natural speaker as possible. Therefore, next semester, I am determined next semester to practice more using Nakama related exercises, to go to Shibata sensee's office hours for pronunciation as much as I go to Sato sensees's office hours, to write Japanese phrases on the blog more, to do extra workbook practice and review the textbook chapters weekly.

I would love to write more, but I do have to study for three more finals. すみません、私は今日本語しけんは　べんきょうします。じゃあ、また！

リリアン　チェン