Reflections, Goals,and Activities 2

I am truly blown away by how much I have improved in Japanese since I started this course. Of course before I took the class, I knew very little Japanese, but in the course of only a few months, I can already hold up a short conversation in Japanese with a native Japanese speaker! Because I can easily see the results of my studies in Japanese, I have a motivation and drive to continue studying it everyday. Over the past few months I have improved my Japanese not necessarily though pronunciation but vocabulary and fluency. I am more confident in my Japanese and am eager to speak to anyone who will listen to me. My vocabulary has expanded and I can hold up longer sentences where as before I could only say simple short phrases. I am super excited by my improvement in Japanese and am looking forward to my the challenge ahead! がんばりましょう！

My pronunciations continue to be pretty accurate for the most part. I will continue to check my pronunciation with my professors but other than that my most important challenge continues to be to learn the right intonations for future words. I can pronounce all the characters in the alphabet, all I need to know is the right inflection for phrases. This will be a continuous goal in my studies!

As for other goals and activities, I said in my last reflection that I wanted to go to the Japanese language tables more often. I began going to some Japanese language tables but I hope to go to more! I went to the advanced level Japanese table once and actually had a lot of fun so I think I will stick with that one since it is at Forbes and that is where I live. I also mentioned watching more anime and watching RAW versions of anime in my previous goal statements. As for new anime, I have already begun a new series Shingeki no Kyojin and I love it! Sadly I waste a lot of time watching instead of studying but it is worth it. I also began to notice that rather than before, where I would only read the japanese subtitles of animes, I am now picking up more Japanese words from the actual dialogue and not having to read the subtitles. I want to continue to see how much I can understand without reading the subtitles as I continue in my studies and hopefully try and watch an episode without subtitles in the future!

じゃあ、また
ー車

なら燈火会です(nara light festival)！

こんばんは！Here is another day during the summer at my home in 名古屋 (なごや).

はちがつじょうににちに　ぼくは　じょういちじはんに　おきました！

そしてばんに奈良(City of Nara)で　まつりがあります！なら燈火会です(nara light festival)！

しんかんせんに　いきました！

By the time we got to Nara, it was very dark! But it was time to watch the light festival where 10,000 candles illuminate the area around Nara park and its surrounding temples. These ancient Buddhist temples have been left relatively untouched through the years. 

しんかんせんで　なごやから　ならまで　３０じぷんくらいかかります！

そして わたしのかぞくは　ならこうえんのまえのレストランにたべました！すごいおいしいですよ！

this is the steps to the restaurant we ate dinner at. 

my brother eating some bread at the restaurant.

そしてまつりにいきました。まつりは　ならこうえん　であります。There was a lot of deer. And the deer were very friendly! There was a shop where you could buy rice cakes to feed the deer. My brother and I did that a lot. :3

leaving the restaurant

まつりはじょういちじにおわりました。しょうしてわたしはうちにかえりました。じょうにじにねました。おやすみなさい！

New Song: Hotari no Hikaru by Ikimono Gakari!

Here's me singing another one of my favorite songs!!! 

OMG まだまだ！I just found me singing this song when I was in 9th grade! actually it's so embarrassing I decided not to post it on here. Ill post the real song though so you can compare and tell me what you think!

Shingeki no Kyoujin Review

Reflections and Thanks

First, I want to start by saying みなさん、どうもありがとうございます! for voting for me in the Best Video Blog contest. I do feel a little guilty that I won because part of the reason why my pronunciation is so advanced is because Japanese was my first language. Therefore I recognize certain sounds and patterns such like that of a native speaker without actually knowing any Japanese whatsoever. たいへんですね。Although my pronunciation is above par, I am in the same boat when it comes to everything else like vocab and grammar. Thus, I hope to tackle the journey of the Japanese Language with you all in the coming months and offer you my knowledge of Japanese pronunciation if you need it!

日本のなごやでいちにち

みなさんこんばんは！これはわたしの "A day in Nagoya, Japan" です！

まいにち、あさじょういちじごろにおきます。たいへんですね。

あさごはんをあまりたべません、でもひるごはんをいつもたべますよ！

わたしのキッチン

ひるごはんのテブル

そして、わたしのおとうととあそぼします！

そして、わたしとおとうととよくべんきょうします。

よじごろによくこうえんにいきます。

そしてしちじごろにレストランでばんごはんをたべますよ！

おととはぱんをたべます

とてもおいしいです！

わたしのおとうさんとおかあさん

でんしゃにはいります、そして、うちにかえります。

じょういちじごろにねます。おやすみなさい！

ユラユラ by Hearts Grow

This is a very early song from the original Naruto opening soundtrack. For Naruto anime fans, this should bring back some really nice memories. The first Japanese song I fell in love with, Yura Yura was the spark that lead to my continued pursuit and passion of Japanese music. This song is very dear to me. じゃ、どうぞ！

Gagaku Concert!

こんにちは！きょうががくのコンサートにいきました！I really enjoyed the traditional Japanese music! My favorite instrument was the Sho, which sounded like or organ and played chords throughout all of their pieces. The Sho player must have had a lot of breath support to hold out those notes so long wow! The sound of the Sho throughout all their pieces put me in a very ephemeral state of mind. While complementing the sound of the Japanese flutes, it also served as the backbone of the flute section while still sounding unique and important. The handout says that the Sho represents the transcendence into heaven and the sound of the Sho (at least for me) truly put me in a heavenly or spiritual comma. Here is a picture of me with the Gagaku performers!

Totoro Slippers

Remember when we talked about となりのトトロ？Here are my slippers!

2 songs for you!

こんにちはみなさん！I have two songs for you today!

In 2009 Kuraki Mai, a famous pop star in Japan released her album All My Best! This is one of her most popular songs and also my favorite one of her songs. If you watch Detective Conan, it is the 40th ending song!

Next, I have a special love for those Japanese artists who can add a bit of English into their songs. Inoue Joe is a Japanese American rock musician who was born and raised in Los Angeles, California!

His song Close, was featured on the 4th opening song of Naruto: Shippuden! Listen to the chorus at 1:17 where he speaks flawless English!

Kana Nishino! 10/9/13

Hi Guys!

  Here is a great song by Nishino Kana again who was singing in the collaborative piece with Nerdhead Below! This song is called たとえどんなに.

Here is the picture of the front cover of her album. The album title is also the song title and I recommend you buy this album online! Although nothing compares to the hard copy ^.^

Listen to my cover of Boku wa Kuma by Utada Hikaru!

Goals and Activities!

Well here goes! Here is my new Japanese semesters resolution.

1) Pronunciation and Fluent-ness
       In terms of pronunciation, I feel like because Japanese was my first language, I have a good natural sense of intonation. Basic areas such as prosody, word pitch, rhythm and pause seem to give me no trouble. However because of a decade of not speaking Japanese, my English may have crept in somewhere. I think (and my sensei's can correct me if I am wrong) I am at the point where the only corrections I have to make are very small and nit picky areas. With the current vocabulary I would say my pronunciation has little to no problem. Again if there are problems I can't hear them. However as I begin to learn more and more vocabulary which I have not encountered, inflection and pitch will be more and more important. Thus my main goal with pronunciation is to make sure my inflection (such as flat and then up or flat and then down) is right for new vocabulary ahead.

2) Activities
       I have a lot of work to do in terms of activities. First off, I would like to make a consistent effort to go to a language table at least once a week! I see a table at Forbes all the time but I never go and I don't know why! Another way to really improve my Japanese is to truly listen to the Japanese anime rather than relying on the subtitles. I already watch ALOT of anime and because I can read much faster than I can understand Japanese, I only stare at the subtitles for information. One big thing I can do now that I am beginning to learn Japanese is to listen more to the Japanese and then use the subtitles only when I don't know what something means. That way even when I cam enjoying my favorite shows like Bleach and Naruto, I can also be learning Japanese! I hope soon to watch RAW versions of anime without the subtitles!

Have you guys ever heard of J-pop? Heres one of my favorite J-pop songs by Kana and Nerdhead!

This song follows the simple modern pop style of a melodic chorus and a rap-ed verse! Listen to Kana's sweet and gentle voice compliment Nerdhead's strong and firm rapping! すごいよ！

みなさんこんにちは！
So I decided that hopefully everyday, I will post one of my favorite Japanese songs for you all to listen to!

Most of the songs that I find are from the opening and closing songs from some of my favorite anime shows. This one is called Sen No Yoru Wo Koete by Aqua Timez which means "After a Thousand Nights". I found it at the end of a Bleach movie!

First day exploring Japan-わたしのいちにち

After our dinner at the Japanese Denny's we stopped by a cute bakery! Look at these cute edible pastries! 可愛い！

 Next we stopped by a 100 Yen Shop. and no, not the dollar stop the 100 Yen shop.

 My favorite section of the Japanese Supermarket was the ramen section. Look at the variety!

 The cosmetics section had this famous Japanese brand called Gatsby. Thought it was cool so I bought it! I wonder if its like the movie!

 My grandma and my brother sipping drinks.

 And of course....me and my brother looking silly!

Overall the day was great! can't wait to see what the next day holds? You just have to wait to find out!じゃまた！

Summer in Japan

One of my favorite things about Japanese culture is the food! I discovered that in Japan not only are the authentic foods delicious but even the American restaurants have tastier menu options!
This is a picture of a Denny's in Nagoya Station my family went to for out first dinner in Nagoya!

 Here is some of the delicious menu items at the Denny's! You can't find this is America!