The primary way I studied for Japanese tests was to use flashcards on Quizlet to test myself on the vocab we learned for each unit. When studying for the current unit, I would also look back on past units to refresh my memory on vocab we already learned. I usually tried to study at least a few days prior to the test, which helped me remember the vocab better than if I only studied the night before the test. To improve my study habits, I will try to start studying as soon as possible and make practice sentences to translate so that I can also test my knowledge of the different grammar points we learned.

When faced with ambiguity or setbacks, I seek help in different areas to advance the development of my ideas. 

When I am unsure of something, I will ask my peers/teacher for help, or find resources on the internet. By doing this, I can further my understanding of Japanese. For example, when I was studying for a test, there was a grammar point that I did not know how to use. I asked my classmate if they knew how to use it, but they were also unsure about it, so I asked my teacher for help. Because I asked the people around me, I was able to learn how to use that grammar point and increased my Japanese knowledge.

An example of something I have spent a lot of time learning about is Japanese grammar.

Japanese grammar is something that I struggle with, so I spent a lot of time trying to learn things like when to use certain particles and what verb form to use in different circumstances. Doing different worksheets in class has helped me learn this, as well as reading simple Japanese sentences online. I would also watch videos on YouTube; for example, I watched a video on when to use が or は. Translating practice sentences into Japanese given by my teacher in class has also been helpful in learning Japanese grammar. It allowed me to better understand grammar by comparing my translated sentences with how my teacher translated it

Some short/long term goals for myself include being able to read simple stories in Japanese and my plan to achieve them is to improve my vocab and slowly increase the difficulty in reading material.

One of my goals is to be able to read stories in Japanese. I want to start by reading children’s stories in Japanese and slowly work my way up into more advanced reading material. If I find vocab that I haven’t learned, I will look it up in a dictionary. If I can’t find its meaning even after looking it up, I will ask my teacher for help. Reading stories will help me improve my Japanese by showing me how others write in Japanese and exposing me to more vocab that I may not already know.

In the future, I plan on taking Japanese courses in post-secondary if I can, and I will try to read more books in Japanese.

If I could travel back in time, I would tell myself to try to look at how different vocab is used in sentences to learn when and how to use it. I would also tell myself to listen to native speakers so that I can improve my pronunciation and intonation.