JAPN 302 focused much more on reading and writing than the previous three core Japanese classes. For example, this class had regular assignments where I would read about exchange students’ or previous students’ experiences on a particular topic and then write about my own experience with the topic in detail. Additionally, this class had assignments where I was given native content to read, such as announcements, and had to use context clues to learn the meaning of words that I was not familiar with. I also regularly completed grammar exercises that involved creating sentences relating to my real-life experiences. Finally, this class provided me with the opportunity to speak with native speakers, as in previous courses. Overall, I liked how this class focused more on providing topics to either write or speak about and gave me more freedom to create sentences and express my thoughts in Japanese rather than being confined to a few sentence structures taught in class.

JAPN 111からJAPN 301までのクラスより、JAPN 302で書くことと読むことを勉強しました。例えば、留学生や前にJAPN 302を取ったODUの学生の文章を読んで、同じのトピックについて私は書いていました。それに、ネイティブな知らせやサイトを読む宿題もありました。この宿題で新しい単語を覚えました。あと、授業で学んだ文法を練習するために自分の日常生活につて書いていました。このクラスに自由に表現することができて、良かったです。

Coursework Example/宿題の例:

RWPA3

This is an example of the final Reading/Writing Practice Assignment (RWPA) I completed for this class. For the first section of this assignment, I had to read a writing example on the topic by an exchange student studying at ODU. The topic for this assignment was about the aspects of college life that I like as well as those I don’t. Based on this example, I then had to complete various tasks pertaining to the contents of the example. These included rephrasing unfamiliar words, giving my thoughts about how the author feels about the topic they wrote about, and answering questions about my own life that relate to what the author said. By completing the first half of this assignment, I became more comfortable with the new sentence patterns that were recently introduced in class, which gave me more confidence in my ability to write about my own life in the second half of this assignment.

For the second section of this RWPA, I applied what I learned in class by writing about my own college experiences. First, I started by answering a set of five required questions and providing some additional details about them. I then received feedback from the instructor about how I could improve my writing and suggestions about how I could make my second draft clearer and even more detailed. Additionally, I had the opportunity to reflect in English on my first draft and the instructor’s feedback before writing my second draft. I found the reflection portion of this RWPA particularly helpful because it allowed me to think critically about my writing and identify specific areas for improvement. Because of this, I was able to express my thoughts and feelings about college life in Japanese more deeply.

これはRWPA（書く・読む練習）という宿題の例です。最初の部分はODUで勉強していた留学生が書いた大学生活ついて文章を読みました。それを読んだから、文章について質問をいろいろ答えました。例えば、「留学生がどんな感じをすると思いますか」とか「このフレーズは他の日本語で書いてください」です。この部分おかげで前に授業で学んだ文法を使いやすくなったと思います。

宿題の最後の半分に私は例みたいで自分の大学生活についても書きました。1つ目のドラフトは先生から5つの点について書きました。その後にせんせいは1つ目のドラフトを読んで、アドバイスしてくれました。先生のコメントを読んで、私はもっと詳しく2つ目のドラフトを書きました。ドラフトの後で書いたことについて英語で考えりました。「どこで間違いか」とか「どうやって書くのが得意になるか」を考えったので、もっと深くて、自然に日本語で書くようになりました。