Andrew's Japanese Blog

 こんにちわ！ にほんごがすきです。I have absolutely loved learning Japanese this semester. It was especially fun to travel to Japan with Aliferisさん. It was cool that I could read bits and pieces of some of the signs, and I could speak in Japanese at stores or in restaurants. I want to go back! I want to continue learning Japanese on my own once I graduate! Aliferisさん and I were talking about how studying for the N5 language exam could be a good goal to keep us motivated. I will miss this class. It was my favorite language class. Japanese is tough and very different than English, but the class was a fun environment, and it helped a lot that we spoke a lot in every class. Also, I wanted to share that I am in a painting class, and for my final project, I painted two locations I visited while I was in Japan: Hakone and Tokyo! I really enjoyed making these paintings because I got to reflect on my trip and paint my favorite landmarks I observed. I just finished the paintings today. I am excited to hang ...

 わたしはきのうのばんにシカゴにいきました。それから、きょうのけさにシカゴでアルバイトをしました。せんしょうのかようびともくようびにアルバイトしました。かようびにチカゴでしました。でも、もくようびにアパートでしました。きょう、ごごごじごろノテルダムにいきました。ジミジョンスがすきです。だから、ジミジョンスのサッヌイチュをたべました。ばんごはんのあと、べんきょうしました。いま、バスケトバルをみます。

 さくらまつりで、うたをしました。おんがくやコメヂアをみました。あと、おかしをたべました。さ くらまつりがすきです。 I enjoyed the event! It was cool for me to see the advanced Japanese students speak in between the performances. They are extremely proficient! The acting was also funny.

 イースターやすみ： わたしはごぜんじゅういちじごろをきました。それから、Aliferisさんといつしゅにコンサートにいきました。Aliferisさんはべんきょうをしました。でも、わたしはべんきょうしませんでした。ゲームがすきです。だから、まいんちゲームをしました。 AliferisさんとRocky（わたしのイヌ）はスマホをみました。

 わたしはすいようびにはちじごろうちにかえります。もくようびにアルバイトをします。Aliferisさんはきんようびにわたしのうちにいきます。コメヂがすきです。だから、きんようびにShane Gillis をみます。どようびにうちにばんごはんをたべます。でも、にちようびにレストランでばんごはんをたべます。げつようびとかようびにアルバイトをします。かようびのごじごろアパートにかえります。

  I found this picture from the official Pokemon website. I notice some Katakana such as "Pokemon" ポケモン, or the title "Mega" to the name of a pokemon. I notice some hiragana words, some are describing the names of an attack or a description, which makes sense since these are not usually "made up" words. One of the attacks is "Flare Magic" in katakana, which I think is cool.

  My spring break was fantastic, I had a wonderful time in Japan! My favorite thing was the temples, they were so pretty. I enjoyed the food a lot, too. The best thing I tried was beef sashimi in Kyoto. One of the silly highlights was that I got to see a capybara in Tokyo and pet it. まいにちあさごはのたべます。 よくいちじにねます。 ときどきクラシコをききます。 あまりとしょかんでべんきょうをしません。 ぜんぜんしゅこどうでひるごはをたべません。

  こにちわ！わたしはごぜんじゅじにおきます。じゅじはんごろアパートであさごはんをたべます。じゅいちじにクラスにいきます。しょくどうがすきじゃないです。だから、あまりひるごはんをたべません。はちじごろアパートにかえります。よくごぜにちじごろねます。

 こにちわ！Here are some things I like: わたしはAliferisさんがすきです。 Nick is my roommate, and he has been one of my best friends since freshman year. わたしはpickleballとtennisとCarlos Alcarazがすきです。I really enjoy playing pickleball and tennis with friends, it is such a fun sport (even though I am not that good)! I also like watching professional tennis. Carlos Alcaraz is my favorite player because it is so impressive how good he is for how young he is, and he is a fun player to watch. I am not sure if pickleball or tennis is popular in Japan.

 はじめまして。わたしのなまえわAndrewです。わたしのせんこうわすうがくです。よねんせいです。にじゅうにさいです。わたしのしゆつしんわAmerikaのShicagoでせ。しゅみわおんがくです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

  This weekend, I re-listened to one of my favorite jazz piano albums, "Scenery" by Ryo Fukui. This kind of felt like cheating for this assignment because the music is all instrumental (no Japanese language). However, Ryo Fukui is Japanese, and I did a little research on him. Ryo was based in the Japanese city Sapporo, and he owned a jazz club. It fascinates me that he started teaching himself piano at age 22! He learned piano so late in life, yet he was an incredible pianist. It is cool to listen to jazz music from a Japanese piano player because most jazz is produced in America. My favorite songs on this album are "It Could Happen to You" and his rendition of "Autumn Leaves." I love jazz, especially jazz piano, so I have listened to this album before. I know that jazz is popular in Japan, and I want to visit a Jazz club with Nick when we go to Tokyo over Spring Break. This album definitely got me in the mood to learn more about jazz in Japan!

Nick and I watched two videos together. The first was a travel blog in Japanese. We watched it with English subtitles because we are still very new to learning Japanese. It was fun because whenever we heard a word we knew, such as "please" or "hello," we both pointed at the TV and got excited! It was also interesting to hear full sentences in Japanese and to see some beautiful landmarks. After watching the video, we also watched a Hiragana practice video for fun. Even though we have not learned all the characters yet, it was good practice, and we had a good laugh trying to figure out some of the words during the video.

Welcome to my blog! I am studying Japanese for two reasons. First, I am traveling to Japan over Spring Break, and I want to be able to communicate with people and know how to say basic expressions. Studying Japanese makes me more excited about the trip, and I will have a better experience in Japan knowing a little bit of the language. I am also taking Japanese because I want to take something fun in my last semester of college. I strongly disliked Spanish in high school, mainly because it was so grammar-heavy and I did not see the value in learning it. I want to have a positive experience with a language class, and it is fun to start fresh with something new. I am motivated to learn because of my Spring Break trip. こんにちわ ください こんばんわ ありがとございます