It has already been 一学期 since the start of my 日本語の挑戦. 時間が本当に早いですね。Below are some reflections I have on the progress I made during semester 1 and how I hope to improve in the future:
Progress Made:
Accuracy of Pitch and Intonation
While I believe overall phrase-level intonations have improved, pitch is an area where I still struggle (i.e. the Prosody Listening Exercises) especially at the word-level.
Pace/Speed
Over time, based on my own reflection and on feedback from しばたせんせい, issues with awkward, wrong pauses and rushing are an area where I seem to improved significantly and the speed of my speaking is generally more natural.
Confidence
The volume at which I speak has definitely improved, which is a good sign in terms of confidence and I believe I've been willing to be confident and stretch the use of my Japanese (i.e. use of new vocab). However, when in actual, non-guided conversation situations, my confidence in speech is still shaky.
Listening Abilities
To become a better speaker, I need to be good at picking up on what the correct pronunciation is. I have definitely improved (reflected in my test vs. midterm listening sections) in identifying parts like voiced consonants. However, I believe I'm still to slow in processing what I've listened to.
JPN102 PE Plan:
Production Practice
- Refer to OJAD for accuracy while doing extra shadowing exercises from databases such as the poems in kizuna311
- Invest more time into existing PE exercises
- Do Nakama-related exercises
Speaking Opportunities
- Attend the Japanese language table weekly at Mathey-Rocky as well as the other residential college locations to challenge myself and stretch my command of the language
- Attend せんせえ's office hours with more of a focus on conversation and more practice
- Go to office hours for free conversation sessions
