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Last Blog Post! :(

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 I'm happy to say my second semester taking Japanese at Notre Dame was even more enjoyable than my first, even though there was a slight increase in the difficulty of grammar topics and kanji covered. This was due to the practicality of the stuff we were learning; now that the basics of hiragana, katakana, and simple tenses were out of the way, we could start ordering food and making plans to meet up. Since I'll be in Japan for my first time less than a month now for my semester abroad, the material seemed more relevant than ever, and I was eager to absorb as much as I could this semester before I went. I thought the pace of the material was good, not too fast as to give us enough time for each topic to set in through repetition. I struggled a bit more to keep up with the homework compared to Elementary I, but this was completely on me and my lack of time management. I'm excited to learn plenty of Japanese over the next 5-6 months, both in my next class and the real world!
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Blog Post #11

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  サンクスギビングはどうでしたか。どこで、だれと、何をしましたか。 サンクスギビング の やつみ、私 は Dallas に いきました。おじのへやでばんごはんをたべまし た。私のかそくといとことおばとおじがいました。それから、ともだちとコンサートにいきました。だから、やすみはとてもたのしかったです！
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Blog Post #10

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What do you think kyudo is? If you already know something about it, please write it down.  I would have no knowledge of what kyudo is, but I heard ふせ-sensee refer to it as "The Art of the Bow," which kind of spoils the main topic of this activity. I'd assume there's the obvious metric of accuracy involved, as well as some more subjective, cultural measures of skill such as form. What do you think you need to do to become good at kyudo?  I know archery generally requires strong arm and back muscles, especially when using heavier bows that need a shocking amount of force to pull back. Muscle memory, formed over lots of consistent practice, requires dedication and a mind that's focused on improving slowly but surely, which are traits helpful for mastering most physical skills. What questions would you like to ask our guest kyudo teacher at the event? - What was the most impressive shot you've seen someone make? - What's, in your opinion, the biggest factor th...
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Blog Post #9

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 For this blog post, I wanted to write about my time watching the first few episodes of Vinland Saga, a historical anime that is set in Medieval Europe during the time of the Vikings. I've read the manga before, and enjoyed the strong character writing and detailed art, so I figured the show was worth watching after putting it off for a while. Our main protagonist, Thorfinn, is still a young boy during these first few episodes though, as the story follows his whole life and his relationship/view of the world.  There were plenty of historical/old-timey words that were used that I couldn't see coming up too often in the classroom or in casual conversation, such as "slave, siege, viking," some of which were katakana loan words that didn't sound too far off from their english counterparts. Basic sentence structure stood out to me in places ("blank" は "blank" です）, and some other verbs/nouns we've covered, like 人 and 大きい. I can't wait to have...
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Blog Post #8

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 あきやすみ は、どうで したすか。なにをしましたか。 私のあきやすみはまあまあつまらなかったです。しゅうしん に いきませんでした。Dillon Hall で とても ゲーム をしました。ちょっと べんきょをしました。でも、一ともだちとあそびました。だから、あきやすみはたいへんじゃなかったです！ 
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Blog Post 7

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 For this Japanese video blog post, I'll be covering my viewing of Ponyo, one of my favorite Ghibli films, and an incredibly special one to me at that. It was my first Ghibli film, and perhaps anime, when I watched it for the first time as a child on my cousins' farm around early elementary school age. I have fond memories of watching it around the campfire on a projector screen, and I'm happy to say it was just as good all these years later, with the beautiful depictions of marine life and the majesty of the ocean still holding up. It follows the free-spirited Ponyo as she escapes her home in the sea and crosses paths with a boy named Sosuke, and all the ensuing chaos that follows as magical/supernatural forces are thrown out of balance. This might've been my first time watching this movie with the original Japanese audio; however, since I am quite a fan of Studio Ghibli's high-quality English dubs. The voices were obviously slightly different from what I remembere...
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Blog Post #6!

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 For this Japanese watching blog post, I'll be discussing my experiences watching episodes 1151 and 1152 of One Piece. The Egghead Island Arc is wrapping up, and the Strawhat crew is barely managing to escape the 5 immeasurably strong Gorosei thanks to the help of their allies, the giants and the Vegapunks. The most notable thing that happened in these episodes was Bonney realizing that Luffy was the reincarnation of Nika, the Sun God she'd been hoping would save her throughout her sad, tragic life. She's able to then channel that energy herself, gaining power she wouldn't have otherwise had, using her Future-Future Fruit to distort her future to "the one where I'm the most free" and gains similarly absurd Gear 5 powers as Luffy. It was incredibly cathartic to see her rise up against Saint Saturn, the evil demon who'd been causing her suffering, and finally be able to strike back against him thanks to our protagonist.  Language-wise, I felt that I was ...
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