As I mentioned in my first post here, I took Japanese on something of a whim. Which is not to say that I woke up one morning thinking to myself that I ought to take a notoriously-difficult language for reason whatsoever, but that I fell in love with the language and culture while traveling in Japan and couldn't stop myself from learning more. Here, then, are the few things I want to see improve as I continue to learn Japanese.
1. I want someday to read Japanese literature in the original language. Strange though it may sound, I'd rather sit in a darkish room by a lamp reading a Japanese book than chat with the local grocer in his Kansai dialect; the latter is certainly fun, but language-learning for me equals, more than anything else, literature-reading. To this end I plan to devote considerable effort to my reading and listening–– not at the expense of my writing and speaking, though. I have already borrowed a mostly-hiragana children's book from Sato Sensee's small library, and hope to spend a few hours a week reading through it, even if I have to use Google Translate to figure out what the words mean. As I progress, though, I'd like to challenge myself by reading actual literature. We'll see how doable that is, though!
2. About those Kansai grocers: I'd also like to talk to them, too. I'm hoping to spend my summer in Japan, traveling and catching Pokémon and reading Zen tracts and whatever, and of course talking to actual people in their actual language, especially in those country towns where my English will be of no use at all. I hope to speak in Japanese whenever I can, multiple times a week, for absurd durations–- even if that means talking to myself, out-loud or in my head, as I wander around Princeton's campus and the streets of wherever-else-I-find-myself.
3. I also want to be able to understand the various animes and J-pop divas (Pamyu pampyu!!) that my friends and I have been obsessed with since high school, at least (in this I am sure I am not alone!). I want to watch episodes of Line Offline (a favorite) at least once a week, and will continue listening to excerpts spoken or recorded Japanese, even if I don't understand it, if only for the exposure. This website (https://jclab.wordpress.com/) has lots of fun audiobooks that help ease one into Japanese sounds, and the more I learn the more I understand, so it's a fun way to track proficiency.
4. I want to understand every single word of this song:
4. I want to understand every single word of this song:
....and I want to be able to dance like the singer, though I suppose that has less to do with Japanese language learning than the above. Toward this end, though, I will listen to this song (and watch the video) every waking moment of my entire life, from the minute I finish writing this till the minute I take my very last breath, except those spent with the Sensees in Frist 307. (Pic related, it's the dance seen round the world!).
