End of the Year Reflection!

今晩は！

This year was really amazing. I learned so much about Japanese language, culture, and history throughout the course, and looking back on a time when I didn't know any Japanese, this is amazing thing.

I accomplished a lot of goals I had for the end of the semester. I started going to Japanese table and office hours again which really helped boost my speaking proficiency. I also started watching more shows and attempted to read more in Japanese in order to improve my reading, listening, and writing comprehension. All in all, this has been a great experience. 

Looking on to the future, I can't wait to expand upon my Japanese knowledge. I want to be able to read well in Japanese, so I'm going to try to study vocabulary and Kanji throughout the summer. Hopefully it will be a great and productive summer!

じゃ、まったね！

いちばんすきな日本の本！

今晩は！
ぼくの一番好きなほんのタイトルは ”きんかくじ”です。”きんかくじ”はみしまゆきおの本です。
こちらはみしまさん。”きんかくじ”はとてもおもしろくていいです。本の中できんかくじです。きんかくじはてらです。とてもきれいですよ！みしまさんはとてもゆめいな人でした。でも、みしまさんの本はもんだいさく（controversial)です。みしまさんの本はとてもゆめいですけどみしまさんはかなしいです。みしまさんはこくすいしゅぎしゃ（ultra nationalist)ですからみかど（emperor)が大好きでした。でも、日本のせいふ（government)はきらいでした。とてもおもしろい人です。


どんな一番好きな本ですか。

一番好きなえいが！

こんいちは！

私の一番好きなえいがのタイトルは"ロード・オブ・ザ・リング"です。とてもきれいでいいです。”ロード・オブ・ザ・リング”の中でおもしろいプロット。そして、たくさんおもしろい人がいます。

これは"Fellowship of the Ring".Fellowshipの中で九人がいます。アルゴンさんとサムさんとフロドさんとメーリさんとピペンさんとギムリさんとガンダルフさんとレゴラスさんとボロミルがいます。とてもつよいグループです。フロドとサムはホビットです。ホビットは高くないです。そして、ホビットのうちはとても小さいです。メーリさんとピペンさんもホビットです。サムは一番好きなキャラクターです。サムはとてもひくいですけどとてもつよいですよ。二番好きなキャラクターはガンダルフです。ガンダルフもつよいです。でも、ガンダルフさんはウィザードです。マジカルがあります。

じゃまった！

春休み！

今晩は！
春休みに私はニューヨーク帰って、家族と会いました。私のかのじょも私のうちに行きました。かのじょとユダヤのたべものを作りました。食べ物のなまえはチョレント（Cholent)です。チョレントはstew.チョレントにまめとポテトがあります。そして、たいていにくもあります。


これはvegetarian Cholent.
ユダヤ人はシャバットにチョレントをよく食べます。これのチョレントにポテトとまめとズッキーニがあります。とてもおいしいです！

（こちらはわたしはチョレントを作ります）


（チョレントににくがあります）
みなさん、ユダヤのたべものをたべましたか？

PE6: Reflection

今日は！！
Looking back upon my earlier post there are MANY things I need to do. I think I should keep my goals: Go to Japanese table, office hours, watch Japanese shows, and just speak/read Japanese whenever I can. But now I need to achieve them. The first half of this semester was very hard, it brought new challenges in my life that I struggled with. But now that I've gotten into the swing of things I should be able to reach my goals. I want to go to office hours at least once a week while simultaneously blogging about Japanese films and television.

I hope this will be a good end of the semester!
じゃまった！

私の兄！

こちらは私の兄です。兄のなまえはジェイクです。二十三さいです。兄は日本語とフランス語と中国語が分かります。そして、ドイツ語と韓国語とヘブライ語がちょっと分かります。これのしゃしんに、兄は日本にいます。きょねん、兄は日本とたいわんとニューヨークへ住んでいました。日本のえいがと中国のえいがが好きです。りょうりをするのがとても上手です。そして、ジョギングが上手です。

じゃあまた！

私の一番好きなたべものです！(Essay Post)

みなさん、こんばんは！
私の一番好きなたべものはすしです。すしはとてもおいしくていいです。すしの中で一番好きなさかながまぐろです。まぐろはとてもいしいです！おとろもおいしいです。
これはまぐろです：
これはまぐろすしです：

おとろのなかであぶらがあります。
サーモンもとてもすきです。サーモンすしはおいしいですがちょっとたかいです。でも、私の一番好きなレストランにたかくないすしセットがあります。私の一番好きなレストランのなまえはYukaです。とてもいいですよ。
じゃまった！

PE Goal for the New Semester!!

みなさん、こんばんは！！

The first thing I want to mention is how excited I am for this semester! Last semester I learned a lot about tone in Japanese pronunciation. Earlier on in the year I didn't know that Japanese had any kind of sound structure, but was merely just a phonetic language with basic pronunciation. But after learning about tone and doing the PE exercises I feel like I have a good grasp on it. That being said, there is much I can improve upon, especially speed. In order to successfully improve my speed in talking and comprehension, I need to go to office hours and the Japanese tables regularly. I also want to continue doing the "anime shadowing" exercises which are very fast. If I can get to that level of speed then I will be content.

Until next time!

じゃまった！

Final Reflection!

こんばんは！
While I did not fully achieve what I was expecting, I still feel like I have accomplished a lot of my goals for this part of the semester. I went to the Japanese table almost every week, I spent more time on Kanji, I started watching new Japanese Anime and live action films, while still looking back on the older films that I loved. I could have, however, gone to office hours more often to converse with one of the 先生 and there isn't really an excuse for that. I also wanted to have written more film reviews. All in all, this was an amazing semester. My interest in Japanese has soared and I can't wait to dig deeper into this beautiful and expressive language and culture. Excited to begin a New Year!
あけましておめでとうございます！

サム

ふゆやすみ！

今日は！ふやすみはとてもよかったです！
ふやすみにかぞくといっしょにうちへかえりました。ぼくのうちはアパートです。かぞくでごにんひとがいますがアパートにへやがいつつあります。それから、あにふたりといっしょにえいがをみました。えいがのなまえは˾Revenant̚です。えいがはとてもよかったです。それから、レストランでばんごはんをたべました。たべものはおいしくてやすかったです。ははといっしょにデパートでプレセントをかいました。チョコレートとほんとVINYLをかいました。VINYLはとてもきれいですが、ちょっとたかいです。

あけましておめでとうございます！

私のてがみ

サンクスギビングのやすみ！

サンクスギビングのやすみはたのしくておもしろかったです。私のかぞくといしょにニューヨークにかえります。おいしいばんごはんをたべました。そして、たくさんパイとイスクリームをたべて、おちゃとコーヒーをのみました。それから、あにゲームをあびました。かぞくを見て、私はうれしいです。

PE 7 Reflection!

I improved greatly in Japanese and I think I followed my original plan for Japanese learning very well. I went to the language table every week and I went to office hours a couple of times as well. I should have gone to office hours more and I will try to do so in the future.

In terms of speaking, I definitely improved in speed, however, sometimes my Japanese can sound very unnatural. I need to speak with more emotion and feeling.

In terms of updating my goals, I will continue to go to the Japanese table, but my goal of going to the Forbes Japanese table every Monday was a bit extreme. I will try to go there at least once a month, but I will continue to go to the first year Japanese table every week.

That's all for now!
じゃまった！

わたしのビデオブログ！！

Japanese Film Post #2--ようじんぼう

こんばんは！
Recently I started re-watching my favorite Japanese with the intent on focusing on tone and accent. I started out with a film that was (and is) actually very popular in the United States as well. The title of the film is ようじんぼう and it was directed by Akira Kurosawa. This film is the first part of two, and is about a ronin who wanders into a village split between two gangs. The ronin, played by Toshiro Mifune, sizes both of the gangs up and decides he can take both of them on. Akira Kurosawa's films were my first introduction to the Japanese language and Japanese culture/ media, that is why this film holds a special place in my memories. Though it is an old film and the Japanese language has no doubt changed in many ways since both the time the film came out and the time period it takes place in, it is still a fascinating experience to focus on the way the actors talk.

Thats all for now!
じゃまった！

My Goal For Learning How to Properly Speak Japanese!

こんにちは！
I thought that it might be good to set a goal for the year in terms of learning and studying Japanese. I've already compiled all of the vocab we've learned into Quizlet flashcards and I will continue to do so throughout the year. When I review the flashcards I will repeat each word out loud not just read them in my head in order to remember how they sound. I want to also figure out which words I have a difficult time pronouncing for me to bring up at office hours or in class.
I will go to office hours at least once a month and I will go to the Japanese table every week. I am also interested in going to the Japanese table at Forbes once a week. While at the Japanese

I will start to re-watch my favorite Japanese films starting with よじんぼ and move on to more modern films. I will try to pay attention to the phrases and vocabulary they use in all of them as I am also interested in the way the Japanese language has changed over the years. I also want to try to get into anime. I have not seen many, but it might be a good idea to re-watch the ones I've already seen ("Fullmetal Alchemist", "Steins Gate", "Cowboy Bebop") as they will be familiar to me and it might be easier to pick up on the way the voice actors talk.
For everything I watch, I will try to copy their pronunciation as well as remember the pitch they use and the context that they use it in.

In terms of daily study, I hope to be able to work on Japanese vocab and/or pronunciation for at least an hour and a half per day.

Thats all for now!
じゃまた！

Japanese Film Post #1

こちらはくろさわあきらです。くろさわさんは日本人です。えいががとてもいいです。そして、わたしのいちばんすきなえいがはくろさわのえいがです。このえいがのなまえは"Seven Samurai"です。

Introduction

はじめまして！ぼくのなまえはシャルツです。いちねんせいです。ニューヨークからきました。ぼくのせんこうはまたわかりません。にほんごのえいががだいすきです。どうぞうよろしくおねがいします！

Post #1: Starting Japanese 101

Hi there! My name is Sam Schultz and I'm from New York City.

Ever since I was little my dad would show my two older brothers and me the Japanese films that he loved, from Akira Kurosawa to Takashi Miike. My oldest brother ended up studying East Asian Civilization and Languages at U Chicago and convinced me to start learning Japanese. I want to be able to watch the Japanese films I love such as "用心棒 (Yojimbo)", "椿三十郎 (Sanjuro)", "七人の侍 (Seven Samurai)", and "東京物語 (Tokyo Story)" in Japanese without the use of subtitles.

I'm extremely excited to start learning vocabulary to help me with comprehension. I am also excited to start conversing with others in Japanese. From these first lessons I can see that Japanese language is deeply linked to the history and culture of Japan which I am very interested in.

Something that I am worried about is learning kanji. The stroke order/ style of it seems far more intense than the hiragana and katakana.

I wish everyone a happy new year at Princeton!がんばって!