Goal Statement for Cycle 2

My goal:

By looking at my Cycle 1 reflection and my oral midterm comments I know that I want to improve vastly on my pronunciation fluency. I also want to decrease the amount of long pauses in my speech. I want to work on not stopping to think so much about what I want to say that way conversations will seem much more natural. When we watched the video of the students doing their UStream project I was amazed at how their pitch and intonation matched that of native speakers. I want to gain something close to that when I preform my project.  

Activities:

Visiting office hours with Sato Sensei was extremely helpful, therefore I will make it a habit to sign up for office hours at a particular time each week and will treat this time as a mandatory practice time. I am also going to visit Japanese table every single week of this cycle because I know it helps me to deal with conversation. In my last cycle I found the CD hard to follow at times so instead I will say the dialogue out loud. Wolens san, my partner for the oral exam had certain phrases memorized very well due to the fact that he repeated them over and over again. Over the course of this cycle I want to submit at least 2 shadowing exercises and in addition to Sato Sensei’s office hours I want to meet with Shibata Sensei at least once and talk about pitch. Also to remind my self of my short-term goal I will keep a printout of the Princeton in Ishikawa in my Japanese folder along with one at my study desk to remind me that by working hard I can be given the chance to experience something I could only dream about. 

わたしの あきやすめ

わたしは　ここに　いました。わたしは　としょかんで　べんきょうしました。まい　ばん　ごごくじに　ねました。わたしは　えいがを　みました。うちに　かえりませんでした。わたしは　フレスノから　きました。フレスノ　 りつぱなまち　です。

Over fall break I stayed here in Princeton and was very surprised when it started snowing. It was the first time I had ever seen snow O_O. The break was very relaxing primarily because there was no class. Just being able to legitimately do nothing was such a stark contrast from the normal everyday life of a Princeton student. It seems like every single day people are always so busy with all the different classes and activities, it was nice to see a lot of people slow down and relax.

I didn't go back to my hometown of Fresno over fall break. Initially I was ok with the decision but as the week carried on I missed my family more and more. I am definitely going to see them over winter break since I will be traveling back for Christmas and New Year.

Coming back from fall break and seeing my midterm grade I really want to take my Japanese to the next level by figuring out different ways to study and visiting office hours frequently. Thus far I feel as though I have been giving the class everything I have but I keep falling just short of what I want to achieve. Therefore by pushing myself and studying even more I want to reach my goals.

P.E. Reflection Statement

During cycle 1 I completed most of my plan but I don't think I was as efficient as possible. In these past weeks I've learned what works for me and what doesn't. I  definitely need to go to office hours with Sato Sensei at least once a week and work with Shibata Sensei on my intonation and pitch. When I got my written midterm back felt a little disappointed because I made many silly errors on it and I know I can do better. In high school I was so used to studying on my own and learning the material but with Japanese it is all about getting as much help as possible. Going into the second half of the semester I am going to get more help in every aspect of the course since I have the determination I just need to take advantage of the resources I have.

I felt that the oral exam went well. Wolens san and I practiced very hard for it and I felt that in the situation we did a great job with both the rehearsed and impromptu portions of the oral exam. I think that they were moments with awkward pauses. I could have had several reserve questions on deck to alleviate this. Fluency was an issue for me since I think I'm practicing the speaking portion enough. I think if I practice saying the words and phrases we learn I can get better. Also there were many starts and stops in my part of the presentation and I know that can be fixed. Overall I think I did a good job but I am no where near meeting a real Suzuki san and having a conversation with him/her since I need more practice.

わたしは しゅうまつ

こんにちは

きんようびに　えいがを　みました。どようびに　べんきょうしました。にちようびに　しゅくだいを　しました。きょう　ごぜん　ろくじはんに　おいました。　はちじに　あさごはんを　たべました。　はちじはんごろ　クラスに　いきます。ごご　じゅうにじはに　ひるごはんを　たべました。こんばに　midtermsの　べんきょうします。

Goal Statement

My goal:

In this cycle, I want the hesitation in my voice to drastically diminish. I want my intonation to be recognizable. I want to be able to easily dicern pitch patterns in words, phrases and sentences. Also I want to get better at preforming double consonants and long vowels.

Activities:

I will listen to the CD everyday and follow along. When doing any and all homework I will read aloud. I will listen to the shadowing 5 times first before even saying anything then record it multiple times until I am comfortable. I will visit Language Table and sign up for at least one office hour with my sensei. 

にほんご

ありがとうございます

はじめまして　Sidhuです　いちねんせいです　わたしわ　ふぉるにあです。　

どぞよるしく

Japanese 101 My First Week

I am incredibly excited to learn Japanese because I have always loved the Japanese people, culture, traditions, and food. Not to mention that the country of Japan is incredibly beautiful. I want to study and eventually gain a proficiency in Japanese because I want to study abroad in Japan. I want to study here because my entire life I have been bombarded by Western culture this and Western culture that. I want to submerge myself in something completely different from anything I have ever experienced before. Also, when I visit Japan I don't want to be led around by a tour guide and have a translator, I want to get hands on with ever area in Japan, meet the people, taste the cuisine, and see everything the country has to offer. My tentative major is the Woodrow Wilson School for policy, I hope to use my future expertise in Japanese to work in foreign policy with other countries primarily Japan. I am very excited about this class and the mass of knowledge I have yet to gain.
おはようございます