Oct 27th, 2012 じゅうがつ にじゅうしちにち

こんにちは、

きょう、じゅうがつ　にじゅうしちにち どようびです。あきやすみ　わたしは　かようび　ニューヨークに　いきます。コロンビア大学に　いきます。わたしは　たべもの（food）をたべます。タイのたべもの、にほんのたべもの、ちゅうごくのたべもの、かんこくのたべものです。タイのたべものとにほんのたべものは　とてもいいです。じゅういちがつ　よっか　にちようびに　プリンストン大学のキャンパス　かえります。



Good evening,

Today is Saturday October 27th. 　This fall break, I will go to Columbia University, New York, on Tuesday. I go there because of food, Thai food, Japanese food, Chinese food and Korean food. Thai and Japanese food are really good. I will be back on campus on Sunday November 4th.

コロンビア大学 / Columbia University

ちゅうごくのたべもの / Chinese food

 にほんのたべもの / Japanese food

タイのたべもの / Thai food

かんこくのたべもの / Korean food

I'm so hungry. ロキのロキのダイニングホールでばんごはんをたべます。

Notes Because of the Sandy hurricane, NYC is flooded so I couldn't go to NYC and needed to stay on campus instead. Hanging out with friends and enjoying food on Nassau street are not bad at all. Besides, I can go to NYC basically anytime anyway.

もくようびに　わたしは　ポンヨをみました。／　I watched Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) on Thursday.
It was pretty fun. Japanese anime is the best!

Ponyo

Oct 19th 2012 じゅうがつ じゅうくにち

こんにちは。きょうはきんうびです。
せんばん　わたしは　さんじごろねました。
はちじごろおきました。
ロッキーダイニングホールで　あさごはんあさごはんをたべました。
シリアルをたべました。いいです。
ドーナツをたべませんでした。
わたしは　いつも　ロッキーダイニングホールで　あさごはんあさごはんをたべます。
じゅうまつ　ファイアストンとしょかんで　べんきょうします。
こんどようび　ごごしちじはんに　アレクサンダー·ホールのリチャードソンオーディトリアムで　オーケストラコンサートがあります。
さよおなら。

Good afternoon. Today is Friday.
Last night, I went to sleep at 3 o'clock.
This morning I woke up at 8 o'clock.
I ate my breakfast at Rocky dining hall.
I ate cereal this morning. It was good.
I did not eat donut today.
I always go to eat breakfast at Rocky dining hall.
This weekend, I will go to Firestone library to study.
This saturday, there is an orchestra concert at Richardson auditorium in Alexander hall at 7:30 PM.
See you later.

Oct 13th, 2012 じゅかつ じゅさんいち

I just watched My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) during TASA movie night at 10 PM. It was really fun and Mei was just too cute! I actually watched this anime once last year but at that time I didn't know any Japanese words or phrases yet. Although all the time I relied on Eng subtitles, I did recognize some words like おねえさん。I think watching this on Friday night is perfect for enjoying the film and "practicing" Japanese at the same time.

Oct 12th, 2012 じゅうがつ じゅうににち PE1:Reflection PE2:Goal

It has been three weeks since my PE1 has started. So, we will start a new PE, PE2, for another three weeks. I need to evaluate my PE1 and then set a "new" goal for PE2.

My PE1
Activities
- 1. Listen audio files and keep repeating after (any random words/sounds regardless of meaning and useful expressions in the textbook) 10minutes a day.
- 2. "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)
- 3. 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. 
- 4. Attend language table as much as possible (need to find more information about it though)

Reflection
- 1. I have been doing pretty well on the first one. I kept listening and repeating then listened again and repeated again and I have to admit that I did not know what I have been saying whatsoever (haha). Also, I usually do this everyday for 10 minutes but someday I am too busy to work on this. Hopefully next round I would be more disciplined.
- 2. I fail miserably in the second one. I cannot really hear what Chiaki is saying at all; he speaks too fast for me. So, I cannot really tell what he's saying so I cannot mimic him. Satanoka is better because he speaks more slowly but his voice is pretty soft so sometimes I can't really hear. To sum up, this is too hard for me right now. Good news, there are some conversation practices available with scripts! usually very very short ones which is good. I will try those first and then after a while I will comeback to Chiaki and Satanoka. 
- 3. I did this with Disney songs! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0kz6C8Hai0 One of the examples is When Will My Life Begin from Tangled. I ended up listening to them (while I was doing something else, just to be exposed to Japanese) only not singing along so I will assign a specific time just to sing a song! Isn't life sweet!
- 4. I missed the first Japanese table (にほんごテーブル)　because I had to go to Jeff's (our residential college's master) house but I did attend the second one. I will try to attend everyday. 

PE2: Goal
I need to speed up my speaking, practice the pitch pattern and pronounce し、ち　つ、す sounds correctly.
I want to be able to distinguish the long vowels from short ones and also "g" and "k" sounds like in か、が　こ、ご.

PE2: Activities

1. Listen audio files and keep repeating after (any random words/sounds regardless of meaning and useful expressions in the textbook) 10minutes a day.
2. Practice the short conversation practices online. 10minutes a day.
3. Listen to Japanese songs and sing along. 10minutes a day. 
4. Attend language table as much as possible. Hopefully once every week.

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




Ps. By now, I have already learned how to tell month, date and time. And also quite a few verbs like eat　たべます、 go　いきます, comeきます, watchみます, drink　のみます, readよみますand do　します.

October 6th 2012 じゅうがつむいか

Self-introduction video filmed in my dorm bedroom