7/29

Today in class, we did a lot of reviewing- which was much needed for me. I'm really glad we did a few kanji exercises- when we read aloud in class, I feel like I retain kanji better. It was fun to watch the dialogue skit too- on Monday, I will present mine since I had no time to do any homework while I was gone. The listening exercises were really fun too. The most difficult part of today's lessons was probably the kanji exercises. If I keep practicing the kanji we have learned, then I'm sure I'll get the hang of it by the time we have our quiz on Monday!

7/27 & 7/28

水曜日＆木曜日に日本語クァスをやすんだ。～ないでください　と　～のがすきです　のれんしゅうにこなかた。みんなはかんじをぜんぶならた。

このしゃしんは水曜日にとった。うまがかわいかった！

7/26

火曜日に、ふたつのあたらしいぶんぽうをならった。
～といっていました。
～とおもいます。
あたらしいかんじわ：仕、事、電、と　車。
文のかきのときわたのしかった。じぶんでしたら、ちょっとたいへんだ。でも、ケラスでむずかしくなくて、わたります。
私わかんじをかくのが下手た。いつも、かんじをわする。あたまがいたくなる。この専門の週末、たくさんべんきょうする。

7/25

Today, our class took the kanji quiz for Chapter 7, learned U-Verbs, Ru-Verbs, and Irregular Verbs from Chapter 8, the short-form for grammar, and the first 4 kanji from Chapter 8.
うーVerbs：あめがふる、あらう、いう、いる、おそくなる、おもう、きる、つくる、もっていく。
るーVerbs：じろじろめる、はじめる。
Irregular Verbs：うんてんする、せんたくする、そうじする、りょうりする。

SHORT FORM:
Present Affirmative:     (long-form) ---> (short-form)
     Verbs: 　　ーます　→　　dictionary form of verb
     いーAdj.：　　－です　→　　just take off です
なーAdj.：　　　ーです　→　　－だ
noun＋です：　　－です　→　　－だ

Present Negative:     (long-form) --->  (short-form)
     Verbs:
                うーVerbs：　verbs ending in -あ、い、え、お sounds　→　　end in -あない sound
                               verbs ending in ーうsound →　　end in　－わない
るーVerbs：　ーる　→　　－ない
Irregular Verbs：　する＝　しません　→　　しない
              くる＝　きません　→　　こない
             ある・いる＝　ない！
     いーAdj.：－ありません　→　　－ない
なーAdj.：　－ありません　→　－ない
noun＋です：　－ありません　→　　－ない

When asking a question, か can be omitted.

Kanji: 員、新、聞、作。

The most fun part of today was learning a new form of grammar that doesn't make us sound like 2nd graders. Also, learning about kanji was interesting. Learning about each individual part of the characters can be helpful when trying to memorize them. It's really cool that these letters have been around for centuries and people still use them- I would like to learn more about them some day. It would be awesome if sometime I could take a class on writing kanji with like, ink and parchment- but I don't think such class exists at Kent.
The most difficult part of today was trying to remember the long forms of various words. The exercises we did in class were very helpful and I think the exercises in the work book will be too.

7/21

今日、ともだちといっしょに日本語クラスにいきました。＿＿＿（に・へ）＿＿＿に（行く・くる・かえる）をならった。そのあと、レビユーをしました。この金曜日に大きいテストがあります。ほんとうにこわいです。漢字もならった：帰と入。今日、てがみをかいたとき、とてもたのしかった。私の日本語は毎日ちょっとずつじょずになります。今日の一番むずかしいれんしゅうは文法でした。いつもわすれます。今晩、アーパトでべんきょうします。一人だから、たくさんべんきょうができます。私の日本語はまだじょずじゃありません。でも、たくさんしっているかんじがします。あたまにふるいとあたらし単語と文法があります。

7/20

Today in class, we learned how to join sentences with て。The first noun or adjective changes, and the last noun or adjective is normal. いーadjectives must change by taking off the い　and adding くて、except any words ending in いい end in よくて。なーadjectives change by simply adding で。We also brushed over joining sentences with が。Lastly we learned 4 more kanji: 校、毎、語、＆文。
I had the most fun translating the letter in our book- it was kind of challenging with all the kanji, but I liked it.
The most difficult part of today was remembering all the kanji that we had learned. It's hard to remember how each character is used in different words, but I think that writing the letter for homework will help a ton.

7/19

この火曜日、わたしの日本語のクラスわこれをならった：Verbs, adverbs, etc. (　うたう、かぶる、しる、しっています、しりません、すむ、はく、ふとる、ふっとています、（めがねを）かける、きる、つとめる、やせる、やせています、けっこんする、が、なにも＋negative、～にん、ひとり、ふたり、べつに＋negative、もちろん、よかったら.)  How to a) describe an action in progress or b) describe past events connected to the present. Verbs are conjugated when i) describing a continuous state, ii) an activity is going on for some time, and iii) there is a change from one state to another that is instantaneous. (ex. 今、私はべんきょうしています。私はけっこんしています。）Verbs that usually show up in this form are: もっています、しっています、ふとっています、やせています、きています、おきています、すんでいます、つとめています。Lastly, we learned 四 more from Chapter七 :　社、父、母、高。
今日のいちばんれんしゅうは：having to translate sentences from 英語ーー＞日本語 in the ～ているform. I like exercises like that because it's like a puzzle and it also helps me quicken my thought process when actually trying to speak.
今日のむずかしいれんしゅうは：remembering how to conjugate verbs in the other forms! Everything is slightly starting to blend together. No fear, I will be practicing all week. I might practice by writing random things in 日本語。　

よんこままんが

(This took a few hours to figure out- sorry!)

7/18

月曜日：We began with our kanji quiz, learned new vocab for Chapter 7 (nouns and adverbs), how to describe someone, how to count people, and the first four kanji for Chapter 7. The most fun part of today was describing people in pictures- to help me fall asleep I watch shows like Family Guy and King of the Hill, so it made me laugh. The hardest part was trying to stay awake without coffee. I have the coffee maker all ready to go for tomorrow morning, so it's all good. Also, tomorrow I will post this blog by 12:00- my apologies.

Minus the Bear のバンドーは五にんおとこのひとがいます。
Jake Snider はしゃつがくろいです。
Alex Roseはかおのかみがながい。

7/15

Today in class, we had a quiz over ~てください、～てもいいです（か）、＆～てわいけません。Honestly, I didn't study last night because my good friend was going back to Spain in the morning so we spent as much time together as possible. I think I did well though. After the quiz, we learned how to join 2 verbs by using the て-form for all the verbs except the last- which should be normal. We also learned how to explain a reason or cause by using ～から、and how to offer assistance by using ～ましょうか。After that, we did some learning exercises to practice directions, and then we reviewed kanji for Chapter 6.
Practicing directions with the map was a lot of fun- it was actually pretty challenging to remember all the directional words. The hardest part of today was probably recalling the kanji that we learned. I hadn't really had time to study kanji as much as I would have liked to this week. This weekend, I'm definitely committing to study time and practicing my kanji!

P.S. I will try to upload my 4koma manga, but I'm technically challenged so it might not be uploaded tonight.

7/14

きょう、we took a quiz over the rest of Chapter 6 vocab, practiced conjugating verbs in the てー form, and learned more new stuff!
We learned how to 1) ask someone to do something (～てください。）2) give/ask for permission (～てもいいです（か）。）and 3) how to deny permission (～てわいけません。）
We also learned new Kanji:　 学、外、＆　国。
The best learning exercise today was charades. It was really たのしい！
The hardest part of today was still remembering the verbs and conjugating them. I think I remember nouns and adjectives better than verbs- for some reason I could remember how to say てがみ but I can never remember けす。I think I will make flashcards for the verbs- they seemed to really help when I used them for the vocab on today's quiz. I hope that works because usually flashcards don't help me with studying, and I'm not sure how else I can memorize these words.

7/13

Today, we had a quiz over Chapter 6 verbs, reviewed those verbs in the てー form, learned the rest of the vocab for Chapter 6, 4 more Chapter 6 kanji, and learned about よんこままんが。
We learned: おかね、おばあさん、おふろ、かんじ、きょうかしょう、こんしゅう、しみんびょういん、つぎ、テレビゲーム、でんき、でんしゃ、にもつ、ページ、まど、よる、らいしゅう、らいねん、たいへん（な）、あとで、おそく、～から、けっこうです、すぐ、ほんとうですか、ゆっくり、分、先、生、＆　大。
The most interesting part of today was being able to create our own よんこままんが。Also, doing activities out of the workbook was fun and helped me remember our vocabulary better. We also learned that 生 alone can stand for "draft beer."
The most difficult part of today was our quiz. I didn't get to study for it as much as I would have liked last night, so I planned on waking up early to study- which didn't happen. Today, I am putting in more time towards studying during the day so I won't be freaking out tomorrow.

7/12

今日、あたらしい単語をならった。
（あそぶ、えそぐ、おふろにはえる、かえす、けす、しぬ、すわる、たつ、たばこをすう、つかう、てつだう、はいる、もつ、やすむ、あける、おしえる、おりる、かりる、しめる、つける、でんわをかける、わすれる、つれてくる、＆もってくる。）
We also learned how to conjugate verbs into ーって form. This occurs when you are either, making requests, giving/asking permission, stating that something's forbidden, or when forming a sentence that describes 2 events or activities.
With  る-Verbs:　るー＞　って
With う- Verbs: 　う、つ、る　ー＞　って
　　　　　　　む、ぶ、ぬ　－＞　んで
　　　　　　　く　－＞　いて　（いく　－＞　いって）
　　　　　　　ぐ　－＞　いで
　　　　　　　す　－＞　して
With Irregular Verbs: する　－＞　して
　　　　　　　　くる　－＞　きて
Lastly we learned some more chapter 6 kanji: 口、出、右、＆左。
Doing some of the activities in the book was fun- the one where we had to figure out where to go from the station was like a game, kind of. The most difficult part of today was remembering which verb was which and how to conjugate it. If I keep quizzing myself then I'll get it down, hopefully I can at least get the verbs by tomorrow because we will have a quiz!

7/11

Introduction About Myself:

私のなめはマリアです。
私は日本語をべんきょうします。１／２　日本人です、でもちょうとをはなしません。
はたちです。
私のせんもんはかんごです。
Cuyahoga Falls にすみます。
どうぞよろしく。

Reflection:
Today in class we did a run down of everything we learned in Elementary Japanese I in about an hour and a half. Then we learned all of chapter 5's kanji and kanji for North, South , East and West. I still have to practice and complete my homework. The most enjoyable part of class was learning new kaji- it was also the most difficult because there were a lot of characters to be introduced to. If I practice tonight and tomorrow, I believe that I can get all the new kanji down.