(Last word of the title should be 生かつ- I caught the mistake )I finally started on my essay. I'd been putting it off for a while just because I thought it would be difficult. I did the draft while sitting in the food court at the mall, waiting for my mother to have her hair done. I'm the official driver for my parents right now, so I squeeze in homework time during doctor visits, etc.
I posted the first draft (mailed the final copy before I thought to scan it, but I'm glad I have the original draft for posterity). I already made some changes and corrections and translated it into English so I could mail it in to the instructor, but feel free to point out any glaringly horrible mistakes (if the comments box is long enough, haha!) so I can cross-reference with what I changed. It's in the mail now, but feedback would be helpful to my learning- which is far more important than my grades. Okay, that's a lie. It's equal. I really like good grades.
One limitation that was really frustrating was on the kanji and vocabulary that we could use. We were instructed to only use what was taught during the semester. The textbook is tailored to young college students who attend class on campus, not toward moms with kids who live in a house and take the class online. So a lot of the vocabulary that I needed (and wanted) to use was unavailable to me. But, I broke the rule and used こども even though it wasn't in the book. The kids are a big part of my life. It would be hard to describe my day without including them. I had a hard time explaining that I take them to school in the morning, since we haven't covered that verb yet, so I did my best with what I had.
Despite the rudimentary verbiage and the awkward grammar, I was very proud to have sat at a table, thought about my typical day in Japanese, and to have then written about the day- in Japanese. When I finished the draft, I wanted to stop the morning mall walkers and say, "Look what I can do! Can you read this? No! But I can!!" Luckily, I controlled the urge to do that, and instead just felt really happy to see a physical manifestation of my progress. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus. And he's gonna take you to Tokyo Disneyland.
I'm starting to think that the next time I visit Japan, I might be able to do more than just find the restroom.
I posted the first draft (mailed the final copy before I thought to scan it, but I'm glad I have the original draft for posterity). I already made some changes and corrections and translated it into English so I could mail it in to the instructor, but feel free to point out any glaringly horrible mistakes (if the comments box is long enough, haha!) so I can cross-reference with what I changed. It's in the mail now, but feedback would be helpful to my learning- which is far more important than my grades. Okay, that's a lie. It's equal. I really like good grades.
One limitation that was really frustrating was on the kanji and vocabulary that we could use. We were instructed to only use what was taught during the semester. The textbook is tailored to young college students who attend class on campus, not toward moms with kids who live in a house and take the class online. So a lot of the vocabulary that I needed (and wanted) to use was unavailable to me. But, I broke the rule and used こども even though it wasn't in the book. The kids are a big part of my life. It would be hard to describe my day without including them. I had a hard time explaining that I take them to school in the morning, since we haven't covered that verb yet, so I did my best with what I had.
Despite the rudimentary verbiage and the awkward grammar, I was very proud to have sat at a table, thought about my typical day in Japanese, and to have then written about the day- in Japanese. When I finished the draft, I wanted to stop the morning mall walkers and say, "Look what I can do! Can you read this? No! But I can!!" Luckily, I controlled the urge to do that, and instead just felt really happy to see a physical manifestation of my progress. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus. And he's gonna take you to Tokyo Disneyland.
I'm starting to think that the next time I visit Japan, I might be able to do more than just find the restroom.
P.S. Yes, my handwriting is pretty bad. But you should see my handwriting in English. There's a reason that I type everything. :)
2 comments:
konnichiwa! I am also preparing to write for my sakubun which is due 2 weeks from now. :-/ Glad stumbled upon your site. It's quite helpful. Arigatou gozaimasu!
Thanks for the nice comment! Good luck with your sakubun. I had a lot of fun with the assignment and there was such a feeling of accomplishment when I finished. がんばれ！
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