I think I mentioned in an earlier post the Momotaro story that I found written in hiragana. I've been practicing my reading with the story and so far it's going....well....umm....sort of great? The story is divided into 12 pages, so today I read the first page to my language exchange partner. He didn't disconnect the call or fall off his chair laughing (that I know of), so that's a good thing. But, he did tell me to practice. So I've been practicing. I even was bold enough to record myself reading a portion of the story. Listening to that was an exercise in humility!
I had delayed "Project Momotaro" because I initially thought that I should understand the vocabulary and grammar better first. But, that seems less important as I pore over the pages and do my best to figure out the word breaks and pronunciation. It has actually turned out to be an excellent activity and it's very exciting when I recognize a word or phrase. So now, I am working on reading the story aloud. My goal is to be able to read it smoothly enough to record it for my children to listen to. Luckily, they don't speak Japanese, so they won't be uber-critical of my mistakes.
Reading a children's story seems to be something simple, but in this case, I might as well be walking to the moon. It is difficult and tedious, but unquestionably good practice. So, wish me luck, Momotaro! I will try to be as brave as you! Maybe one day, after lots and lots of practice, I'll be so bold as to post my completed audio here. Maybe.
I had delayed "Project Momotaro" because I initially thought that I should understand the vocabulary and grammar better first. But, that seems less important as I pore over the pages and do my best to figure out the word breaks and pronunciation. It has actually turned out to be an excellent activity and it's very exciting when I recognize a word or phrase. So now, I am working on reading the story aloud. My goal is to be able to read it smoothly enough to record it for my children to listen to. Luckily, they don't speak Japanese, so they won't be uber-critical of my mistakes.
Reading a children's story seems to be something simple, but in this case, I might as well be walking to the moon. It is difficult and tedious, but unquestionably good practice. So, wish me luck, Momotaro! I will try to be as brave as you! Maybe one day, after lots and lots of practice, I'll be so bold as to post my completed audio here. Maybe.
0 comments:
Post a Comment