元気(genki)

こんばんは！(konbanwa)
元気ですか？(genki desu ka)
わたしわ元気です！(watashi wa genki desu)

あの、今日わげつようび (ano, kyou wa getsuyoubi) so I went to school all day...
でも、(demo,) that's a good thing too! I was practicing 日本語(nihongo) a lot more than I have been lately! And I've been more motivated!

This is because one of my Professors is fluent in 日本語！(nihongo)
I'm very 元気(genki) because he said that he would help me if I was having trouble learning! ^-^
He even lent me some children's books that are predominantly in hiragana and katakana, and since I can read those writing systems relatively well, I'm working on expanding my vocabulary! ^-^ I was so happy when I could understand かあさんねずみ (kaasan-nezumi) as mother mouse! XD I guess it's a big achievement for me since I've worked on the writing more than I have my vocabulary. ^-^

I also made a new friend recently and I was super happy when I found out that he is interested in 日本語(nihongo) as well!!! XD So we can practice together and I can talk about 日本語(nihongo) nonstop and I won't get weird looks! ^-^

I'm pushing on with my mission to learn 日本語(nihongo) to fluency by the end of the year! I wish everyone out there who is learning a language or working towards any kind of goal the very best! がんばってください！(ganbatte kudasai!)

Thank you for reading! ありがとう！(arigatou) I'll write again on きにょうび！(kinyoubi)
さよなら！(sayonara)

Haha!

I found some of my earliest notes for 日本語！(nihongo)
I wanted to share them, so I'll type them up for you. Just a warning, they're pretty random. And yes, I originally started learning words and then switched to hiragana and katakana.
I can't guarantee that all of these are right also, mainly because I don't feel like looking them up right now, but I think they came from an old Japanese-English dictionary I have somewhere...
 ^-^;

lovable or cute ->kawaii, kawairashii
dark(color) -> kurai
sweet -> amai
Christmas -> kurisumasu
cherry(tree) -> sakura
cherry(fruit) -> sakurambo
chocolate -> chokoreto
chocolate bar -> ita-choko
chocolate milk -> choko-miruku
chocolate shake -> choko-seki
choir -> korasu
candy -> (o-)kashi, kyande
cafe (coffee shop) -> kohii-ten, kissa-ten
cake -> keki
random -> yatara (na)
randomly -> yatara ni
music -> ongaku
My my! My goodness! -> sore wa sore wa
like (is fond of) -> ... ga suki desu
favorite -> dai-suki (na)
-----
kigae -> a change of clothing
kiki -> crisis, critical moment, emergency
kiku -> chrysanthemum
kimi -> you (familiar)
kino no ban -> last night
---next page---
kuroi-black
kasshoku-brown
akai-red
enshoku-orange
kiiro-yellow
midori-green
aoi-blue
murasaki-purple
haiiro-grey
shiroi-white
momoiro-pink
makka-deep red

You can really tell what my priorities were when I was younger... ^-^;

Anyways, before you even think of using these, check them for yourself. Like I said, I'm not sure if all of them are correct. I guess the reason I'm posting all of these is to show you, my readers, where I started learning from. (Which was copying down words I found interesting and/or cool.) If I can help someone who wants to learn Japanese but is unsure how to start figure out how to start, that will make me very happy! I don't think you have to know where to start, you just have to jump in somewhere and run with it!

... I'm also posting these as a motivation to myself. When I copied these words down a few years ago, I didn't know hiragana or katakana or any kanji at all! I could only introduce myself very poorly in Japanese. Lately (as in the past week or so) I have become discouraged in my learning... I look at kanji and my eyes seem to glaze over and I would rather look at English, something I understand; something within my comfort zone. But I will never learn Japanese if I never step outside that protective bubble around me. Finding these words has given me motivation to study seriously again! And I promise to try my best even when I don't feel like it or want to!

Also, I'm sorry for not posting regularly these past few weeks. With my school starting again and an influx of projects outside of school, I have been slightly overwhelmed and very sleep deprived. I hope to post regularly again soon and I will try my best!

Thank you for reading! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
I'll see you again soon I hope! バイバイ！(bye bye)

Insanity!

Hello(こんばんは)! If you hadn't noticed, today(今日) is not Monday(月曜日) and my last post was not on the Friday(金曜日) before that. I managed to get in two(二) posts last week, so this is the one(一) to make up for Monday(月曜日).

Not that anyone is keeping track or anything like that, it just bugs me. (By the way, that is my most often used phrase(句). ^-^)

So, I have lots of projects I'm working on right now. Some are artistic and creative, some are musical, some have to do with languages, and some are for school. I hope I can tell you more about them soon, but I haven't gotten much sleep so I'll have to tell you later.

みんなさん、ありがとうございました！Thank you for supporting me and reading my blog all over the world! I am very grateful and I will continue to work hard always! バイバイ！

Something I tried today!

カステラ！(kasutera)

 ^-^ I had to look up what it was:

カステラ- a Japanese spongecake that came via Portugal from Spain in the 17th century. Sweet and airy, usually with a honey flavor.

I tried it for the first time today! It's so yummy!!! XD

Thank you, Shoko! ^-^

So cute! かわいい！

Music I'm listening to this week so far:

Just Be Friends-piano.ver-

嗚呼、素晴らしきニャン生

パラジクロロベンゼン

Thanks for reading this irregular post!!! ありがとう！(arigatou)

Headache and Nico Nico!

こんばんは、みんなさん！(konbanwa, minna san)

... headache... hurts... DX

So, this weekend, I joined a website called ニコニコ動画. (nico nico douga)
Well, I know less Japanese than I thought I did... 0.o

I CAN'T READ ANYTHING!!! T.T
(Well, I can read the Katakana and Hiragana, but that's all... I can't make out any of the sentences or what any of the buttons do or... ya, I'm hopeless...)

Well, I have been working on Kanji. I got through... 130(?) or so reviews in the past few days. (This doesn't mean I know them by heart, it means that I looked over them and wrote them out a few times...)

Well, school started again, but it looks like I will have plenty of time to spend working on Japanese this semester. ^-^ I'm glad!

Oh, I haven't done a random 日本語(nihongo) dictionary word in a while! Maybe I'll do one next time if I remember. XD

Ok, my headache hurts a lot worse than it did when I started typing this, so I'm going now.

^-^ Thank you for reading! I'll see you again!
ありがとうございました！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu. sayounara)

School

Hello everyone!
How is life?

So, this week I got to spend some time with one of my best friends and we had so much fun!!!
I didn't work on many Kanji, but a lot of stress went away, so I'm feeling better than I was. I'm also very happy that school is starting again!!!
My classes start on Monday! So hopefully I can find more time for Kanji and less distractions... My life is very full of distractions.

Anyways, I made it my goal to become fluent in Japanese this year (or as fluent as I can become in a year... ^-^; ) so I'm working hard! And I will continue until I meet my goal!
I heard somewhere that it's good to see the Kanji as it is used or as you hear it. That's why it's good to use audio books and such, but I tend to not read as much as I should, so I take this advice with music. If a Japanese song that I like has the lyrics in the video then I will watch the words and see if I can follow along. This song is one I recently tried this with. I could pick out some of the characters like 中(naka) and 雨(ame) and 朝(asa)! It made me happy that I could recognize these and some of the other Kanji in the song! Actually, I didn't know the pronunciation of 中(naka) and 朝(asa) until I saw them and heard them together, so it's actually very helpful to learn pronunciation! ^-^

Well, I still have a lot to learn, so I was thinking about practicing more kanji before I go to sleep tonight...
Oh! I learned a new word! I still have a hard time remembering it on occasion so I have it on my computer to remind me of what it is. I think that having little notes out to help you remember new words is good for practice as well.

So, that's all I can think of to talk about right now... Thank you for reading and I'm sorry I didn't use much Japanese. I really should because it's practice and 'practice makes perfect'. Oh well. ^-^
ありがとうございます！！！(arigatou gozaimasu) さようなら！(sayounara)

あけましておめでとう！(akemashite omedetou)

Happy New Year! ^-^

こんばんは、みんなさん！(konbanwa, minna san!)
It's a new year, so let's do our best!

This year has begun with questions of what I want to do in the future. To be honest, I don't know anymore. I know I want to learn Japanese and go to Japan, but other than that everything is up in the air.

Just another reason to work hard on learning 日本語！(nihongo)
Speaking of learning 日本語、I received some presents from one of my friends in Japan for Christmas this past year. You can check out her blog here, she's really cool!
So, among the presents she sent was a Japanese magazine (Popteen) and The Strawberry News! So I've been trying to read these! I can read most of the Katakana and Hiragana parts and I'm picking out a few of the Kanji! I'm so happy!

I'm excited and hopeful for the new year. Please support me this year also! I'll do my best!

ありがとうございました！(arigatou gozaimashita)