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私は日本語がだいすきです！

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Although most English speakers view Japanese as an incredibly difficult language to learn, taking Elementary Japanese 1 has been very insightful and I now feel motivated to learn it as a second language. I feel that I have a very solid foundation to continue learning, and I plan to take Elementary Japanese 2 (pending approval with my master's program), as well as self-study for the JLPT N5 language exam. Also, the opportunity to travel to Japan will be something that I remember for the rest of my life, and I hope to go back in the future, potentially with the ability to hold a conversation! When I compare my study of Japanese to my past study of Spanish, the best way to describe it is that something feels different. This is not to say that learning Japanese is easy, but rather that it does not feel tedious. I enjoyed doing the homework, which is not something I can say for most of the classes I have taken at ND. Ever since I was little I remember being fascinated by Japanese cultur...
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きんようび

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 こんにちは！ せんしゅうのきんようび、わたしははちのにほんじんのこうこうあいました。それから、アパートでベーゲルつきりました。とてもおいしい！そして、べんきょうしました。わたしはべんきょうするがすきじゃないですが、にほんごがすきです！ごぜんにじごろねました。
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さくら まつり

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 こんにちは！ さくらまつりがすきでした。わたしはコンサートをみました。わたしもおんがくをはなしました。コンサートのあとで、たべものをたべました。 I really enjoyed seeing the more advanced Japanese classes perform. Since I want to continue learning Japanese and plan to take Elementary 2 after this course, I enjoyed seeing the progression in skill that is possible with continued studying. It was motivating to know that the hard work does pay off. I also liked that the performance gave our class a chance to connect further, and it was fun working as a team to learn the song. みなさな、ありがとうこんにちは！
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シェンギリスがだいすきです！

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 こんにちは！ わたしはブルックスさんのうちにいきました！きんようびのよる､シェンギリスのコンサートにいきました。どようびに、がっこうにかえりました。それからにちようびに、わたしはえいがをみました。 ありがとうございます！
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Easter やすみ

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こんにちは! I recently watched the Japanese movie Grave of the Fireflies, which follows two kids named Seita and Setsuko as they struggle to survive fire bombings and famine in Japan at the end of WW2. This is without a doubt the saddest movie I've ever watched, and it truly highlights the devastation of war and its effects on civilians. While history tends to focus on the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the fire bombings of many Japanese cities like Tokyo and Kobe were just as destructive. After recently traveling to Tokyo, it is difficult to imagine how at least half of the city had been destroyed by firebombing. I highly recommend this movie, although it really is extremely sad.  
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カタカナ

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こんにちは！ I find it very interesting that Japanese borrows so many words from other languages. In many cases, it is possible to guess what a word will be in Japanese by just thinking of the pronunciation in terms of katakana. For example, bus is simply バス, instant coffee is インスタントコーヒー, and Kit-kat is キットカット. Although Kanji still seems necessary to fully understand written Japanese, knowing katakana is a major help.  When walking through Tokyo, I noticed that katakana was used significantly more often than hiragana on buildings and signs. In fact, even English seemed more common than hiragana. This makes sense as katakana is typically used for company names, especially for foreign companies.
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Spring Break

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 こんにちは! For spring break, I traveled with Andrew and our other roommate to Japan. We spent 3 days in Tokyo, 3 days in Kyoto, and did a day trip to Hakone and Mt. Fuji. Although most people seemed to understand English, I enjoyed practicing my Japanese when at restaurants or shopping. Andrew and I got some funny reactions when we went beyond the normal こんいちは and あっりがとございます. At first, Tokyo looked like any other major city. However, a few things quickly stood out to us. First, the streets were perfectly clean. It was interesting walking down busy streets that had no litter anywhere. Also, the streets and especially the public transportation were very quiet. No one would talk on the subways and buses, so we were constantly paying attention to our volume and correcting each other. Even though we were careful to follow all of the social etiquette, such as no eating or drinking while walking and no jaywalking, we still had people staring and watching us which we are not used to. We also ...
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