Salutations all lovers of Japanese, sushi, and Sony!
It is I, Fiona, again. This weekend, I finally mastered Hiragana. It
feels awesome to be literate in another language, especially Japanese
since I've been wanting to read/write it for the longest time (since
moving there when I was eight months old I guess :D). Now all I need to
learn is katakana and kanji! Hopefully Kanji will come easier because I
know Chinese. BRING IT ON!
Anyway, it has been an
incredibly crazy and hectic three weeks at Columbia. Quite frankly, it
feels like Japanese class is the only class that offers me order in this
vast sea of chaos and freedom that is college. Japanese class is a
comfort because we can actually see steady growth and improvement. At
the risk of sounding cliched, I look forward to learning Japanese
because all the new things we learn actually assists us in unlocking a
new world. I mean, Literature Humanities should help too, but nothing is
as concrete or tangible as the rewards of studying Japanese.
EDIT (ON 10/10/2011):
Ok so I am supposed to edit my blog to correct any violations I have
made on the Blogging Constitution we compiled on the minnatonihongo
blog. And as flawless as I thought my blog was, I realized I don't have
any visually attractive pieces of aestheticism! ENJOY!
 |
| This is what my backyard looked like when I lived in Tokyo. |
 |
| Just a random aside: IT IS TAIWANESE INDEPENDENCE DAY! 10/10/2011. A hundred years of democracy! |
 |
| Above is what the view from my room was like. |
 |
| ...just kidding about those two pictures. But the ABOVE really is my "backyard," In Hiroshima, I lived near the city palace, which is what the picture is. I used to go biking with my parents here all the time. |
 |
| And this was where I went to elementary school, the Hiroshima International School. |
I agree! Our Japanese class is also my most ordered and organized class at Columbia so far. Even though it is sometimes tough that everything we learn in Japanese class is cumulative, it is very rewarding. Instead of reading a book and forgetting about it a week later (like in Literature Humanities), we practice everything we know in different contexts throughout our studies. Yay Japanese class!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you- Japanese class is a much-needed source of order during the hectic first few weeks of college. Although the daily vocab quizzes can be a little stressful, at least I feel a real sense of progress and growth. Recognizing and reading Hiragana is so exciting! I find little snippets of it on my Japanese snacks, and it's so cool to be able to read it! Katakana will make it easier too, though. yaay!
ReplyDeleteWhat's nice about Japanese being everyday is that what we are learning gets quickly reinforced and built upon. As tiring as it is getting up every morning for a 9 am class I am glad that we have it every day!
ReplyDeleteI finally can read and write Hiragana well too! I know how you feel, learning something completely new is really rewarding, and in a way more satisfying than what we're learning in other classes. I hope your schedule stuff gets less chaotic!! My sleep schedule has definitely been chaos.
ReplyDeleteこんにちわ。
ReplyDeleteわたしいはイデラ（いでら）です。
I'm in the Japanese class at 2:40. I have the same thoughts about how awesome Japanese has been over the past weeks. My last post was about mastering hiragana and how nice it is to finally be able to read and write in Japanese. You're lucky kanji will be easier for you. I'm pretty nervous. (:
こんばんは、ウォレンスです。プリンストン だいがくの がくせいです、にねんせいです。
ReplyDeleteI am jealous that you know Chinese! We got a taste of Kanji this week and just the number of brush strokes alone intimidates me. I suppose the only attitude one can have when wrangling with such a challenging language is a positive one though, so keep it up.
Good luck with にほんご 101!
はじみえましてフィオナさん！
ReplyDeleteあなたのブログロわすてくです！I love your photos of Japan. I can't believe you just took them looking out your window!
I hope that school isn't too stressful for you. I love Japanese class because it is a chance to be silly and laugh with people about how difficult this language is to learn. たいへんですね！It will get better.