September 22nd, 2012

My PE (not Physical Exercise but Pronunciation Exercise) to "perfect" Japanese pronunciation

I have learning English since I was young but I have actually been speaking English in everyday's life since last year. I do have a slight accent (judged by my roommate), indicating that I am not a native English speaker (I am glad that it's just "slight.") So, it is impossible for me who has been exposed to Japanese for less than 2 weeks to out of the blue speak Japanese as if I were a native Japanese speaker. I need to practice, practice and practice.

Right now, though I am getting better, I have difficulty differentiating (not in Math) the ち "chi" and し"shi" sounds, す "su" and and つ "tsu" sounds because if I were to write those two pairs sounds in Thai, the first ones I would write down "ชิ" and the second ones "ซู" so they are the same in Thai. However, after I've been listening to the audio multiple times (and visited Shibata sensei office once), I start to be able to tell them apart yet not always accurate. 

Goals on pronunciation
- I need to improve my accuracy on the pitch and the rhythmic patterns because if I pronounce the pitch wrong, listeners will misunderstand what I'm trying to say. It's very crucial.
- Right now my speaking speed is really slow, I need to improve that.
- Also, because I can't even tell those two pairs apart yet, I can't pronounce them also. I need to work on that as well.

How??? Activities!
- Listen audio files and keep repeating after (any random words/sounds regardless of meaning and useful expressions in the textbook) 10minutes a day.
- "Shadow" a Japanese character. For me, shadowing means I watch Japanese series/animes and then follow one character. Whatever he says, I will repeat after, so I will eventually have native prosody. 10 minutes a day. (If the series are too enjoyable, I might end up watching the whole episode)
- Listen to Japanese songs and sing along. Sato sensei played うえをもいてあるこう(上を向いて歩こう^?) literal meaning "(I) will walk looking up" also know as "sukiyaki" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wp0YIr6j7Lc&list=PL89550DAE1FCD4B5C to us in class and inspired me to think about listening to Japanese song. 10minutes a day. 
- Attend language table as much as possible (need to find more information about it though)

Goals, activities, how long are the practices a day are subject to change. 

The characters I'm considering are Shinichi Chiaki, from Nodame Cantabile (のだめカンタービレ) and Satonaka Kensuke from Haken no Hinkaku (ハケンの品格) 

    

Shinichi Chiaki, from Nodame Cantabile

Satonaka Kensuke from Haken no Hinkaku 

September 21st, 2012

はじめまして。ワンサヌワトです。
Bangkokからきました。わたしはいちねんせいです。Princetonだいがくです。こうがくです。
どうぞよろしく。

Confused?
Translation: How do you do. I am Chatarin Wangsanuwat from Bangkok. I am a freshman at Princeton University. I am majoring in Engineering. 

See you later!
Note Red indicates Katakana; most foreign names are written in Katakana.
 いちねんせい means freshman.
if you are not a freshman;
sophomore: にねんせい
junior:　さんねんせい
senior:　よねんせい
graduate student:　だいがくいんせい

September 17th, 2012

Why did you decide to study Japanese?
My professor, Sato sensee, asked me this question on the very first day of class. Unprepared, I answered what came first to my mind. "Japanese is pretty big in Thailand after Thai, English and Chinese. And I tried Chinese once when I was very young and it did not turn out well. Besides, I've watched some of Japanese series and I like them a lot so I hope that one day I would be able to watch the whole series without subtitles." My answer was okay cause if I were to answer it again I would probably say the same thing.

We basically have classes everyday Mon-Fri at 9 to 9:50 so we've already had three classes. I am excited about that exotic-sound sentences Sato sensee projects. He has to tell us what they mean every time and I am excited that soon enough I will be able to speak that exotic-sound sentences as well.

Right now, I can introduce myself in Japanese and some greetings.
What I said when I was introducing myself were
ハじめまして   Hajimemashite
ワンサヌワトです Wangsanuwat (my last name (in Japanese Last name=first name weird right?)) de su
どうぞよろしくDoozo yoroshiku
Meaning: How do you do. My name is Wangsanuwat (I wish I had shorter last name.) Nice to meet you.
You can introduce yourself also using these sentences.

Of course there are some difficulties happen in the first three classes. Not only because JPN 101 is indeed the first class in my Princeton career but also the first language class I've ever taken officially besides Thai and English. I am taking my third language (Japanese) in my second language (English) so that should be challenging. I'm still doing fine though.

So... That's it for today. See you later!