Revised Video Blog Dialogue

Revised dialogue:

わたしのなまえはヤンです。プリンスツンだいがくのいちねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはぶつりがくです。ニュヨークのマンハッタンからきました。はははボスニアからきました、ちちはオランダからきました。おんがくはすきです、ファゴットとピアノとサクソフォーンとアコーヂオンをします。しゃくはちをまなびます。

Goal Statement

I want to improve my intonation and my accent when I speak - my goal is to sound like a native speaker, even with a limited vocabulary or knowledge of grammatical structure.

To work on these things, I will go to しばたせんせい's office hours and also listen to recordings in Japanese and practice shadowing them - I think that intonation is my most important goal and that developing a Japanese accent can only come once I have some basic understanding of proper intonation, as while I will need to continue learning intonations as I learn new words I will hopefully become better at recognizing intonations from speech and perhaps any patterns I might pick up on. From my experience learning French, developing a proper accent is a long process and is thus a long-term goal for me, however I want to be conscious of my pronunciation early on as to develop good habits.

I think that listening to recordings and shadowing will also help me with rhythm and speed, which I could also certainly work on, and are obviously necessary to develop an authentic accent.

I would also like to improve my reading speed - I think the best way to go about this is simply to read the dialogues in the textbook, and similarly I can improve writing speed through the textbook exercises.

Video Blog Dialogue

わたしのなまえはヤンです。プリンスツンだいがくのいちねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはぶつりがくです。ニュヨークのおおきいりんごからきました。おかあさんはボスニアからきました、おとうさんはオランダからきました。おんがくはすきです、ファゴットとピアノとアコーヂオンとサクソフォーンをします。しゃくはちをまなびます。

Why am I studying Japanese?

There are a number of reasons why I have chosen to study this language, here they are in no particular order.

I have always been interested in Japanese culture - it's one of those that fascinates me as it has many unique elements, while also drawing some parallels with other societies. I really felt like I was in a foreign country while visiting some of Japan's temples, castles and じんじゃ, yet I also felt at home when taking off my shoes before entering the room, a usual custom in Bosnia and many other countries. I'm also interested in traditional Japanese music - I am (slowly) learning to play the しゃくはち so that I can add this music to my repertoire.

I certainly owe my interest in part to some Japanese friends and acquaintances, who sparked my curiosity as they were always willing to share some knowledge about their language. I also took some courses at the Tenri Institute in NYC during high school, which introduced me to the basics of the language and further stimulated my interest.

I cannot discuss my interest in Japan without mentioning the food - おいしいです！I really appreciated that during my short trip to Japan this past spring, I had the opportunity to try the local cuisine, not just the すし and てんぷら that is so popular outside of Japan. It's also worth noting that they may have better Belgian ワッフル than Belgium itself.

To seal the deal, Japanese could prove useful in my intended career path - I am a prospective physics major, and the country is home to a number of laboratories and perhaps the next big (linear) accelerator, as well as a strong educational system, technology companies and a space program.

It's unfortunate that I didn't really learn the languages of my parents, however there is always the opportunity to do so as I am surrounded by so many resources in my family - I can't say the same about Japanese, and so I am very happy that I have the opportunity to study it at university. どうもありがとうございます！