Video Self-Introduction

Introduction in Hiragana

こんばんは。Robert です。

わたしは がくせいです。わたしは　よねんせいです。わたしのせんこうは　こうがくです。アメリカじんです。 
わたしのじゅっじんはテキサスのオースチン (Austin,Texas) てす。

じゃあ、また！

Hajimemashite!

Hajimemashite!

Waguespack desu.  Yonensee desu.

I decided to take Japanese for a number of reasons.

In high school, I studied Latin.  While taking Latin has its benefits (including understanding the Latin roots of many English words and being able to read many of the classical works of western literature in their original language), Latin is unquestionably a dead language.  All through high school, I had a nagging desire to study a language that you can actually speak, not just translate.  I also wanted to try a non-European language, in order to experience a grammar and a perspective that hadn't intermingled with English culturally and linguistically for hundreds of years. 

But why Japanese?  Honestly, probably like many people today, I became interested in the Japanese language because I like anime and manga.  It would be very cool to be able to understand what is being said in anime without the aid of subtitles.  But hopefully this class will also give me the opportunity to develop a broader and deeper appreciation of Japanese culture beyond anime and manga, acting as a bridge to its unique history, literature, cinema, music.

When I mention to my friends and family that I’m taking Japanese, the universal reaction is some comment about how difficult the language is for English speakers to learn.  I’ll admit the purported difficulty of Japanese is rather intimidating, a looming specter that I wouldn’t have to face if I had signed up for such "easy" languages as German or Spanish or French instead.

But so far, I am enjoying Japanese, and it is too early too tell if this is too difficult for me.  The only thing with which I'm on unsure footing at the moment is pronunciation.  At this point, I’m a little confused as to why hajimemashite is pronounced more like hajimemashte and itashimashite more like itashimashte, for instance.  Surprisingly, the “pitch” of Japanese words, something I predicated would be really difficult, is actually not too bad yet, although it probably gets more difficult if you aren’t repeating immediately after the instructor.

Nevertheless, I’m excited for the challenges ahead.

Ja mata!