PE: Cycle 3

すみません！ This post is two days late! I completely forgot to post after 金曜日’s class.

As for my progress during this second Cycle, I think my pronunciation actually improved substantially though unfortunately not via the strategies I had planned. Highlighting steps on my list appears to not make me pay more attention to them L. But I did speak with my father in Japanese much more than I did during the first cycle. In addition to speaking with him on the phone in Japanese, I spoke with him in Japanese over much of Thanksgiving break. I was surprised with how well I was able to communicate with him! As was he! He told me (in Japanese and I was able to understand him!) that he is very happy that I am able to speak to him in Japanese FINALLY.　I notice his accent less and less actually, but I think his intonation etc. is pretty close to my own actually, which is good. I guess that makes sense since my pronunciation instincts are based on the Japanese I heard him speaking when I was growing up.

I did the shadowing exercise that was required of our class and was surprised by how natural I sounded, actually. I was pretty good at speaking at a natural pace with good intonation and pitch. There were a few things that I need to improve on (still opening my mouth more, and not distorting a couple of vowels) but actually what I realized is that I need to work on listening as much as speaking. The pace of the exercise took me off guard and I would like to be more comfortable with it next time around. I did not do any extra shadowing exercises.

I listened to NHK podcasts but not as many as I had planned and didn’t usually had a chance to do it while in my room. I will try to follow through on this during Cycle 3. I did listen to a number of Japanese songs… I have not yet downloaded any because I realized I’m not sure how, short of purchasing them, which I can’t do. So I’m going to continue listening on YouTube and to an old 80s JPop CD that I have in my room already.

Cycle 3 Pronunciation Goals:

1.     Continue working on not being timid with pitch and intonation (fluctuate!)

2.     Continue improving vowel length (open mouth more, don’t swallow sounds), particularly when speaking fast

3.    Continue noticing and incorporate pitch/intonation to connote meaning (subtleties of expression/connotation)

4.   Improve ability to listen and understand fast-paced speaking so that you can imitate this speed in your own speech.

Strategies:

1.    Continue speaking with my father in Japanese once a week. Try to use my new vocabulary/grammatical structures when doing so and pick up the pace of conversation. Ask him to speak to me in Japanese exclusively so that I get a sense of how fast he speaks and learn from it.

2.    DO THE EXTRA SHADOWING EXCERCISES ONLINE.

3.    Listen to at least one NHK podcast in your room each week so that you can practice speaking and imitating out loud.

4.    Keep listening to Japanese songs on YouTube and off of your 80s CD.

5.    *New Tactic: Add these strategies to your weekly to-do list instead of posting above your desk!