The Japanese 311 course was aimed to improve Japanese speaking and listening skills through a variety of course work including the video project linked below. During the class we also had two talk abroad assignments and a three week long podcast with a native Japanese speaker. The overall goal was to strengthen comprehension skills and communication skills with Japanese language knowledge I already had. Before this class, I had actually developed a fear of speaking Japanese. This class immensely helped me overcome that fear and I am extremely grateful for the experience. I learned important communication skills like そうですね、そうですか、はい、and other aizuchi. Along with building the skill of rephrasing and most importantly I became more comfortable just speaking Japanese. I have gained a new perspective on learning languages, before I was riddled with the constant fear that I am terrible at speaking so I should not speak at all. I have now learned that it is okay to be learning and that sometimes it can be embarrassing but there is beauty in learning.
Video Project
It is titled “おもしろピザリア” meaning interesting pizzeria. In this project, I was the chef of the interesting food (that has gained worldwide attention) and is being interviewed by Treasure Booker and Sharice McClain. In the video project, we were tasked with creating a scene utilizing interview style language, incorporating new conversation skills, and aizuchi.