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For my senior independent project, I am partnering with Fernando Arroyo to complete an introductory study in the Japanese language as we plan to visit the country over the summer. We are working with Miranda Ayres and Ace Furman, two St. Stephen’s alumni who did the Japan exchange program while they were at the upper school. They will provide us with instruction as well as insight into the culture as well as the language as we continue forward with our studies. Once we are done with the alphabet, we will follow the lesson plan of Genki I, a foundational book used across the world in Japanese instruction.
WEEK 1
This week, Fernando and I officially began our work on Japanese. At separate intervals over the past few months, we have (minimally) studied the language as this has been an interest of ours for a while. Consequently, as we began reviewing the alphabet last Wednesday, we realized that it came easier for us, which was incredibly helpful considering how different it is from the English alphabet. For instance, the Japanese alphabet is divided into two parts: Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana is associated with words that originated in the Japanese language, while Katakana is utilized to bring words from other languages into the Japanese writing system. For example, coffee is kohi (コーヒー).
This week I had to visit colleges so I had to get creative with how I studied. I downloaded the app Kana so that I could have access to the entire alphabet just in case I didn’t have my notebook with me. But even then, that didn’t stop me from littering page after page worth of characters as I engrained them into my memory (photo on right). Thankfully, considering how basic the material was, there were an array of Quizlets for me to choose from that would give me the characters fast and shuffled, something that hand held flashcards wouldn’t have been able to provide. Some of my favorites were this hiragana one and this katakana one. As you can tell, Hiragana and Katakana are similar, but different enough to still make the acquisition of 92 new vocabulary words a chore and a frustration.
To top off my written studying I thought it would be wise to begin working on listening comprehension. So, with only Japanese subtitles to aid me, I began a Japanese Television show called Old Enough! (it's on Netflix) where 3-5 year olds have to do a chore for their parents all on their own, whether that is go to the grocery store or make some orange juice for the entire family. And before you freak out, Japan is a surprisingly safe country so a walking, talking, grown-up baby walking to the store would not be the Child Protective Services (CPS) issue that it would be in America.
Looking back, this week has allowed me to appreciate the nuances of the Japanese alphabet that make it entirely unique from other world languages. With this in mind, I'm truly amazed at how the tiniest bit of instruction in an unfamiliar topic such as Japanese is able to open up a world to me that otherwise I would've never seen.
WEEK 2
This week was a little different from usual and Fernando and I had to make some last minute adjustments that we weren't expecting.
The theme of Lesson 1 revolved around introductions and common phrases such as "goodnight" and "hello". It also delved into specifics like majors and occupations as a form of an introduction. Soon, though, as we started learning the vocabulary, we realized how difficult this might be. Words like senkoo (major--せんこう) and daigakusei (college student--だいがくせい) seemed so far removed from any Latin influence and that it was intimidating at first. However, through willpower and probably a good dose of stress, we were able to memorize all of the vocabulary words so we could work on solidifying the grammar.
The grammar was about as basic as you can get with sentences such as "Hello, I am Liam" (Konnichiwa, watashi wa Liam desu) and "What is your major?" (Senkoo wa nan desu ka). An interesting fact we discovered is that the "su" at the end of "desu" is not pronounced with the "u", making it sound like "des". You can hear me say this in the audio recordings I attached in the links above.
Conveniently using each other for much needed speaking practice, we were able to ace the test Dr. Furman and Ms. Ayers gave to us. If anything, this taught us that the initial pace of 1 lesson a week, was completely unrealistic and that if we wanted to make real progress in the next 6 weeks we would need to double if not triple the amount of material we learned. Looking ahead, it's exciting to consider how much progress we will make by speeding up our pace, and if anything, that thought prepares me for what's next to come.
To finalize this week, we decided to start using Duolingo as an accompanying app to our textbook studying, for it will introduce us to vocabulary we might not have seen, while providing the auditory element the textbook can't provide.
WEEK 3
Chapter 3 proved to be our hardest challenge yet, and that isn't even considering the removal of the Latin alphabet. As shown above, in the first photo, which is of Chapter 2 vocabulary, you have the pronounciation written out whereas in the Chapter 3 vocabulary you are expected to know Hiragana and Katakana. Instead it's replaced with Kanji, a character in the Japanese alphabet that represents an idea or a set of hiragana/katakana. On the right is the Kanji for "Love".
Continuing forward, we're finally introduced to verbs and the present affirmative and negative tenses. In simple terms, we learned how to say words such as Ikimasu, which means "I will go", and Ikimasen, which means "I will not go". Along with this we learned three new particles: de, ni, and wo. Each of these goes alongside the introduction of verbs, respectively being used to indicate place, to indicate going or time, and to indicate the direct object. Finally, we wrapped up the chapter with time words, such as "today" (kyou), "every night" (maiban), and the question "when" (itsu).
Thankfully, we were able to ace our test through diligent studying all throughout Monday and Tuesday. Looking back, I'm amazed that we were able to memorize over 100 vocabulary words and learn a new element of speech only in one week. Ultimately, this proves to me that if you keep pushing your limits even when you're unsure, you'll make progress in ways that you never would've imagined.
This week Fernando and I attempted speeding up our pace, something we were wary about, despite having planned it the week before.
We started on Lesson 2, a chapter where Mary, the woman our textbook follows, goes to the store to buy food, objects, and other daily things she needs to live as an exchange student in Japan. We learned sentences such as "Kono tokee wa ikura desu ka" (Literally, "This watch is how much?") and "Sono booshi wa sanzen en desu" (Literally, "That hat is 3,000 yen"). As you can see, we were introduced to the words that point, such as "this" and "that". I was surprised how the words were just as similar in Japanese as they are in English, which unfortunately makes memorizing them frustrating to say the least.
Lesson 2 was surprising in how difficult the vocabulary was to memorize, but thankfully, the grammar turned out to be pretty self-explanatory. It mainly consisted of uses for the words that Point, as well as incorporating questions and sentence emphasis. For instance, adding "Yo" (よ) at the end of a sentence makes it affirmative while adding "Ne" (ね) makes it uncertain). Even then, because of the seeming randomness of the vocabulary, we were unable to start on Chapter 3 until Sunday, putting us behind schedule for our Tuesday check-in.
WEEK 4
This week, Fernando and I tackled Lesson 4 and the vocabulary of Lesson 5. This week would prove to be more useful than we previously thought.
Lesson 4 follows Mary going on a date with Takeshi, but in the process they get mixed up and go to two different restaurants. Through this we are introduced to vocabulary regarding relative location, such as "ue" (on top of), and "tonari" (next to). We also learned common buildings and locations within cities, such as "otera" (temple).
To expand upon the topic, we also added the element of time. First we learned how to say the days of the week, and then we were introduced to the past tense. For "desu" (is), the affirmative past tense becomes "deshita" and the negative becomes "jaanakattadesu". In terms of verbs, the past affirmative becomes "~mashita" and the negative becomes "~masendeshita". We simultaneously learned the particle "mo", which is to insinuate that someone or something did it "too". For instance, "I went to the supermarket, too" (Boku mo suupaa ni ikimashita).
Two more items we learned, "~takusan" and the particle "to" both proved to be extremely useful to our learning. "Takusan" adds value to a noun similar to the word "many" or "a lot". "To" acts as the word "and" in situations such as "I went to Tokyo and Kyoto" (Tokyo to Kyoto ni ikimashita).
To finish out this week we learned the vocabulary for Lesson 5, which is our first introduction into adjectives. Simple ones such as old (furui), quiet (shizukana), and good-looking (kakkoii) make up the majority of the words.
As I look back at the past year and consider my own experiences, I honestly think that the most important piece of advice for future seniors is to not rest your entire future on what college you go to. While it most certainly will help to go to a well-funded, prestigious school, it won't matter if you squander your time there or pursue something you aren't passionate about. What's more important is to take your free time seriously and find the things that you truly love. This is why I highly encourage post-fall seniors to find a hobby or interest that maybe you've put aside for the sake of school and just do it. Who knows? Taking that extra time to try out the guitar or learn a new language might change the course of your life. With the free time to finally do it, you might as well.
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