When I went home for winter break I attempted to impress my mother with my grasp of Japanese. After mumbling out a few short, incoherent sentences that required all of my available brain cells, she looked at me and said, "That sounds horrible. You aren't pronouncing ANYTHING correctly." I stopped speaking to her in Japanese after that. Instead, I practiced on my 90 year old Grandma. She had more time on her hands (she's 90, what does she really have to do?), so she was more patient with the barrage of questions that I threw at her after I would complete a response in Japanese.
Upon completion of this blog project I hope to become more adept at fluctuating the intonation of my words when speaking in Japanese (Thanks, mom). Having these sounds ingrained quickly will surely help me in the future as a Japanese student. Along with this, I hope that I learn a few new phrases that I haven't been taught in class. Being an autonomous learner is the only way I will carry the language skills I learn in college into my future life.
Finally.....What does communication mean to me? It is more then just having someone watch or listen to you. Communication is about conveying an idea, concept, or emotions (not just words) with the intent of accomplishing a specific task. In our blog project, communication will be based upon effectively sharing our podcast's theme with our viewers through words, emotions, and images.
=D Your story is really interesting! And I agree with you that communication is about sharing ideas. Hope your podcast goes well!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your idea about communication.
ReplyDeleteI am really excited to see your group's podcast!!
なかうちさんの話はおもしろいです！
ReplyDeleteDuring my winter break I also tried to show off my Japanese speaking skills to my father, especially when we went to ミツワ マーケット。I asked one of the clerks where the wasabi was in the market, and my dad ended up laughing at me (of course he was just teasing me). Similarly, I ended up practicing with my grandma as well since she has more patience.
In regards to communication, I think you developed a clear and concise definition. I agree that it is important to convey ideas (and etc.) with a goal or message in mind.
がんばって！
lol! Asking a store clerk huh? That was pretty brave of you. I would probably have written my question down, gone over it in my head once, and then stuttered it out.
DeleteAre you Japanese? I didn't realize your name was Akiko Iwamizu.
Hahaha おもしろいですね！I lived in Japan during my elementary school days, and I have home videos of me going ペラペラ in Japanese...it's so sad that I don't understand what six-year-old me once said! Anyway, I agree with your view on communication, that ultimately you know if you communicated well if a native speaker can understand you. がんばれ！
ReplyDeleteI think the same things! I wish I still had that mushy, sponge-like brain today. Japanese class might be easier if it hadn't lost some of that plasticity!
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