よつばと！

私はたくさん日本語のまんがを買いました。この本（よつばと！）は私は一番好きなまんがです。よつばはとてもかわいくて、おもしろいです。よかったら、よんでください！＾＾

てがみ

私は想像上の友達にてがみをかきました。

ニューヨーク！

私は週末にボールルームダンスのコンペティションをしにニューヨークにいきました。私とパートナーいっしょにコロンビア大学のちかくであそびて、とてもたのしかったです！

コロンビア大学

たくさんおいしいものをたべました＾＾

きれいな日没

（とてもじょうずですね）

クリスマスみたいな木、へへ

サンクスギビングのやすみ

私はサンクスギビングのやすみにともだちソフィのうちにいきました。かのじょは日本人です、だからいっぱいの日本りょうりをたべて、日本語をはなしました。私たちはソフィのうちでたくさんねて、たべて、あそんで、べんきょうしました（ほんとうに！）

私はたくさんしゃしんをとった（ソフィはいっぱいのしゃしんのなかにがいます、へへ）

ほらー

しちめんちょとソフィ。

マグロとソフィ！

私たちすしをつくりました；とてもおいしかったです！

うどんとソフィ！私たちおめんが大好きです＾＾

このやすみはとてもたのしかった！(*≧▽≦)

秒速5センチメートル

ああ、久しぶり！
わたしはあきやすみにたくさんねました、そしてにほんのえいがをみました。
新海誠の秒速5センチメートル(5 centimeters per second)をみました。へへーとてもすきでした。(◍•ᴗ•◍)

"It's been said that cherry blossoms fall at 5 cm per second."

I'd actually watched 5 centimeters per second once before in middle school (when I was young and immature) and hadn't really liked it because there wasn't much action. Revisiting it though, I found the movie much more subtle and poignant-- also Makoto Shinkai's art is pretty as always. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good (but sad!) animated movie to watch!

PE7: A Re-evaluation of Goals

Wow, half of the semester has already flown by!! I'd like to think that I've made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year (there are definitely things that I can do a better job of working on though hehe). I was able to go to Mathey language table every week but one, and to listen to Japanese music a few times a week. I wasn't so consistent in watching an episode of anime each week (I did watch 秒速 5 センチメートル over the break though!) or going to Shibata-sensei's office hours.

I feel like I've learned a lot of vocabulary and gotten more confident in speaking Japanese over the course of this half-term. Long vowels, pitches, and double consonants still trip me up often, though, so I'll have to work on those!! I definitely hope to go to to office hours more often (the times I did go were really helpful) to at least meet my original once every other week goal. 

いっしょにがんばります！ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ

ビデオブログ

A short dialogue between a cat and a fish 

ヽ(^‥^=ゞ)

                            (°)#))<<

リング

せんしゅうわたしとともだちいっしょにリングをみました。とてもこわいのえいがです。

The peer health advisor told me that she could hear us screaming from a few rooms away-- also my arm was sore a few days afterwards from clutching my friend's hand too tightly haha

(It was a seriously scary movie though ;//;)

*shivers* (`･/д＼･)

Red tree on campus like the one in the movie

リブアイ

With midterms and project deadlines coming up, I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to have these past few days; here's a little something from a while back, though!

My roommate was feeling a little down one day so I thought it'd be a good idea to leave her a little note with her favorite character on it. For those of you who've watched it before, it's Levi (リブアイ) from Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人)! I think it's really cute how much she adores Levi; she even cosplays as him and has a body pillow of him (≧∇≦*)

And the next day I found a response note stuck to my sketchbook haha~

げんきをだして~ 

ペンギンですよ！

( ˘▽˘)っ

これはきのうのひるごはん。わたしとともだちいっしょにみそしるとごはんをたべましたーほんとうにおいしいかった！

Food here is good, but sometimes I really miss my mom's cooking; I guess this is as close as it'll get for now though! ;u;'

♫♪♩

Hello~ Today I wanted to share a piano medley that a high school friend of mine made a while back! Please go check it out-- it's really nice to listen to!! C:

たい焼き！

Over the weekend my friend Vincent went to New York and brought back a big box of mini taiyaki (たい焼き)! They're little Tai snapper-shaped pastries-- if you've ever watched Kanon, Ayu's always munching on one. These ones had a custard filling and were incredibly delicious ╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )╯

かわいいでしょう。

She seems so happy!! 

σ(´し_｀〃)ゞ

A funny story:

Before visiting Japan this summer, my cousin taught me a few phrases in Japanese-- among them was the very useful “おてあらいはどこですか。”

However, while at a Tokyo department store, I remember getting my words jumbled together and instead asking the sales clerk “おふろはどこですか。” He gave me the strangest look and repeated “おふろ？” a few times before I realized that I'd asked for the bath and not the bathroom.

PEのゴール！

こんにちはみんあさん!! Here's a little reflection regarding ways in which I hope to improve (speaking-wise) this year in Japanese!

1. Fluidity/naturalness of speaking

• I tend to probe around in my head for a bit before finding appropriate words and phrases, so I'm hoping to become more familiar with how the language sounds in general so that I can speak more quickly/with less hesitation. 

2. Picking up on long vowels, double consonants, high/low pitches

• Ahhh this is actually such a struggle for me right now-- it's not so much of a problem when Japanese is being spoken slowly, but once it's up to regular (speedy) speed I find it really difficult to differentiate little nuances in length and pitch.

3. Conversing more easily, being able to carry a dialogue

• This goal is a little vague, but I see it as a combination of speaking/listening: being able to pick up and understand what others are saying and being able to reply as necessary.

I'll try my best!! >u<' 

To (hopefully) achieve these goals, I intend to:

1. Go to the Mathey language table once a week to talk to fellow JPN101'ers.

2. Visit Shibata-sensei's office hours every other week (to practice dialogue if I don't have any specific questions regarding pronunciation.)

3. Watch an episode of any anime once a week, shadowing a main character.

4. Listen/sing along to some Japanese music at least twice a week


That's it for now!
じゃあ、また！ (ノ*゜▽゜*)

よろしくね！

はじめまして。ワンです。カリフォルニアからきました。プリンストンだいがくのがくせいです。いちねんせいです。せんこうはまだわかりません。でもいまびじゅつとしんりがくがすきです。わたしはねことペンギンがとてもだいすきです。どうぞよろしく！ (*≧▽≦)

せんこう

I was struggling a bit to memorize the different majors, so in preparation for the quiz today I made a few illustrations! I thought that I might share them here haha ( ´ ▽ ` )/

Literature

History

Engineering

Management

Asian Studies

こんにちは！

Hello!! I'm Alice, or as my family knows me, PanPan (hence the blog name). I've read manga and watched anime since I was a wee child, and although I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture I had never really dabbled in the language until just this past summer. A few of my friends and I went to Japan for our senior graduation trip and made it a friendly competition to see who could learn the most spoken Japanese before vacation-- the competition (and the trip!!) were both incredibly fun, and the adventure of it all was reason enough for me to decide to take Japanese at Princeton. I foresee difficulties in grammar and in knowing when to use hiragana/katakana/kanji but am excited to learn more about Japanese language and culture-- please follow along and explore with me!

Me and a しか (deer) in Nara!

Tempozan Ferris Wheel (aka only the BEST thing ever)