Something that I did well during this assignment was being thorough in each mini lesson and assignment. I’d focus on the content and found that I could often understand most of what was being said without the need for translation. What I could work on for the future is consistency and being able to study for a smaller period of time every day rather than all or nothing.

Some skills I have developed to make my creative activities better are collaborating with others to brainstorm more ideas. I am able to communicate with my peers in a responsible and professional manner, give my input and also listen to their opinions to better my creative activities. When faced with ambiguity or setbacks, I reflect back on my past actions to advance the development of my ideas. If I ever find that I’m stuck with something, I will go back to the beginning and work my way through everything to see what I could change. This often helps me figure out what went wrong and allows me to continue after I’ve resolved everything. Some short/ long term goals for myself include continuing to develop a consistent study plan, not only for Japanese but for other subjects as well. My plan to achieve this is setting a specific time every day to review and study. To keep myself accountable, I can ask my friends to accompany me to the library or cafes to study so that I’ll feel pressured to be productive.

To continue my Japanese language acquisition, I’ll try to consume more Japanese media through things like music, shows, and also trying to read more books by Japanese authors. If I could go back in time, I would give my past self the advice to be more diligent in consistently studying, rather than waiting until last minute to study more. I believe this would’ve greatly helped with retaining what I’d studied rather than it going in one ear and out the other.

With how many counters the Japanese language uses, there are just as many pros and cons. On the upside, many counters are a great way to keep things organized, as a specific counter is used for specific things, such as counters that are based on the shape of the object being counted. This results in less confusion in conversations. However, a con with so many counters is that they can be difficult to learn, especially in languages that aren’t as specific with counting.

Counter Examples:

〜つ Counter: One of the most common counters that is used for almost anything, from shapes to thoughts.

個 Counter: Also very common and close to つ , but can only be used for things that have a boundary (physical things)

円 (えん) Counter: The unit of Japanese currency. Used to count the amount of yen.

曲 (きょく) Counter: Literally means song. Counts songs/music.

片/枚 (ひら) Counter: Used to count small, flat things that flutter in the wind, such as petals and confetti.

If there was a counter that I wished existed in English, I wish it would be a counter like 振り (ふり), which is used to count the back and forth motion of objects, such as a dog’s tail wags or a can’s shakes. Instead of having so many specific counters for specific items, it would be a lot simpler to just have one counter for everything that is doing essentially the same motion.

Although there are many counters that can get confusing, I believe that Japan should continue to use the counters they have now. Every counter has remained for a reason, as Japanese can be a very nuanced language at times and having many specific counters allows one to be able to be as specific as they want with their words. In English, it would be difficult to suddenly stop using the specific counters we have, as they all have a slightly different meaning. Changing such a big thing about Japanese language would be incredibly difficult to do and would require years of adjustment that won’t go over well with older generations.

Throughout the semester, I often utilized resources such as Quizlet to memorize vocabulary. I also always made sure to ask questions when I was unsure about something. However, I did lack consistency in my studying as I would sometimes go a few days without reviewing, so to improve my Japanese study habits, doing daily studying, even if only for 15 minutes, would be greatly beneficial.

Throughout the course, I developed communication and collaboration skills to improve my creative abilities. By collaborating with others, I was shown other perspectives and given ideas that I would have never thought of, which made our projects better. A project I did well on with a group was our Want project, as I got to make a video with my groupmates that we all had fun making and were pleased with. I celebrated this small accomplishment by acknowledging what I had done well and reflecting on what could have been better so that I improve for next time. A short-term goal I have is to continue to study Japanese consistently so that I don’t forget everything before I start Japanese 12. My plan to achieve this is to devote at least 10 minutes of studying a day, as well as consume more Japanese media such as videos, shows and books so that I can continue to improve.

I will continue learning Japanese through various forms of media, as well as participating in competitions such as the Japanese Speech contest and Japan Bowl.

If I could travel back in time, I would want to tell my past self that it is worth it to study consistently. I often broke up my studying into big chunks every once in a while instead of a little bit of studying every day, which did not help with storing what I’d learned into my long-term memory, as I’d often forget what I’d learn after a few days when the unit no longer focused on it. Doing daily studying would greatly improve my ability to retain information and recall it when I need to.