Final PE Reflection

Throughout this semester, I have enjoyed taking Japanese 101 and learning the basics for this language. While I still feel like I have a long way to go in order to feel comfortable speaking and writing Japanese, I have accomplished many goals that I set for myself through PE exercises. 

At the beginning of the course, there were components that I was hoping to improve on - flow, pronunciation, intonation, and listening. For the most part, I feel like I have made progress on all four. In terms of flow, I still take a while to think about what grammar points I will need to use in order to express what I want to say, but I have gained the muscle memory to say certain expressions more naturally. I haven't had many opportunities to practice speaking Japanese with others, so I think this still will need continuous work. I think I have grasped pronunciation completely. Intonation, however, is something I will always be working on, especially while learning new vocabulary and new grammar. However, despite not knowing exactly the patterns of intonation that will apply to any sentence, no matter what words are in it, I think I have definitely improved, just through practice. Starting up watching anime again has helped my listening skills. I notice now that I can recognize some words and phrases, which is a large improvement from the beginning of the class. Overall, I will work harder to make these improvements last. I am glad to have taken this class and look forward to 102 next semester. Thank you!