発音(はつおん)が

こんばんわ。

Last week, 柴田せんせえ introduced us to the pronunciation exercise schedule we'll be following for the year. I'm very excited that we get to have such a organized process to practice an area of language learning that I think is often neglected. Below are some pronunciation and speaking goals I have set for myself and activities I intend to complete to help me reach those goals:

Goals:

Accuracy of Pitch and Intonation
I'm far from having memorized the correct up-and-down melody of words, but especially overall phrases with out my voice cracking or going into the wrong register. I need to utilize OJAD and other resources to invest more time in reviewing and repeating.

(╯•﹏•╰)　ツカちゃん。。。(╯•﹏•╰)

Pace/Speed
I've noticed that, partly because I'm not use to shadowing and trying to speak without awkward, wrong pauses, I rush through certain sections of my speaking (especially the back half of phrases and sentences) and not pausing and not breathing when I actually am suppose to be.

Confidence

I feel that [because I lack confidence] I often have breaks in my speaking and have a low volume, which in turn hurts the accuracy and expression of intonations and pronunciation of words. I think I can improve my confidence through more practice hours and having my be having my speaking affirmed or corrected by an authority (i.e. office hours).

きみなら できるよ！

Listening Abilities 

To become a better speaker, I need to be good at picking up on what the correct pronunciation is. But I think my listening could be better. For example, I need to definitely do more drills related identifying voiced consonants. 

Activities:

Production Practice

• Create a weekly phrase list of じゅ for shadowing (daily listening of example and practice before bed)
• Refer to OJAD for accuracy in tandem with weekly phrase list practice
• Do Nakama-related exercises as time permits
• Study vocabulary spelling and related rules in the textbook to improve memory of pronunciations

Speaking Opportunities

• Practice with Japanese friends over meals (光田さんをしゅんさんありがとございます)
• Attend the Japanese language table weekly (I live in Mathey so this should not be too difficult hopefully)
• Attend せんせえ's office hours twice a month with questions that came to mind during class and self-study.

Perception and Mimicking Practice

• Watch a Japanese film once a weekend and take down common phrases (then practice shadowing as well as recording independently then reviewing).

はなちゃんのみそ汁 a.k.a (个_个)

• Keep up with a new anime (TBA) and re-watch favorites (i.e. 鋼の錬金術師, 人狼, 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件). Become familiar with rhythm and intonation. Choose a scene with common phrase or interesting meaning to shadow.

 人狼。。。ヾ( •́д•̀ ;)ﾉ

• Listen to Japanese music with slow, good diction (上を向いて歩こう and so on) when doing readings for other classes.

..also Japanese vocabulary songs?

Japanese Vocabulary Songs Playlist

Reflections (Experience So Far)

• Even when practicing based on examples, I still feel very unsure about whether I'm actually saying certain words or phrases I naturally and accurately (i.e. ございます)
• I've noticed that I tend to get my intonations of words and sentences wrong more when speaking to someone as opposed to by myself. I need to be able to be less nervous and hopefully this comes as I take advantage of more face-to-face practice sessions.
• I should go to language table/office hours with more preparation so that I can make the most of my time.

結論(けつろん)。。。
I'm very excited to get started on what is the path to improve my 日本語会話(かいわ).

Wish me luck!

読んでくれてありがとう。

じゃあ、またね!