Tuesday, September 28, 2010

たいへんまです?Just kidding, life is good!

So, we are almost a month into the new semester, summer weather is behind us and everyone is settling down into their school routines, what a perfect time to learn how to talk about our daily schedule using 日本語!Actually, one of my favorite things about being a がくせいis that my schedule is different everyday.  Each day is its own little world, with tasks and goals that I can (hopefully) check off as having accomplished each night。 おわります。 But, in general, and of course in order to practice my 日本語, here is my schedule:

わたしは まいばん ろくじ に おきます。ごぜんはちじ から ごごじゅじ まで べんきょうしますです。 ごぜんいちじ なます。Of course in that time I also やすみます、including ひるやすみ。 I also like to try to get some exercise, so when としょかんやすみますI either take advantage of the opportunity to exercise, or, perhaps in reality more often, ねます。

I have really enjoyed the last few weeks getting to know people in the class and I look forward to many more sessions of helping each other in our 日本語の学習.

ありがとうございました。

Monday, September 20, 2010

こんにちは

はじめまして、わたしはDanです, あめりかじんです、にじゅごさいです、ころんびあだいがくのがくせいです。どぞよろしく。

Hi everybody, nice to meet you.  My name is Dan, I'm American, 25 years old and a student at Columbia University.  Why am I studying Japanese? Well, I am a graduate student in Chinese history, and scholars in Japan have, over the past many years, produced much groundbreaking research in the field.  I am studying Japanese to, hopefully at some point, read their work.  So far, I am finding studying Japanese to be a difficult, yet rewarding, adventure.  Memorizing Hiragana has brought back memories of the many many pads of paper I went through as an undergraduate when I first began to learn Chinese.  The pace and immersion style learning of the Japanese language program here has been a bit of a shock, but something that I am sure will in the end be of great benefit.  I look forward to the continued struggles, and hopefully a few successes, of first-year Japanese.