Self Introduction:

みなさん、

はじめまして。わたしのなまえはColsonさんです。あめりかじんです。Princetonだいがくのよねんせいです。にほんごのいちねんせいです。ArizonaのTucsonからきました。わたしのせんこうはけいざいがくです。どうぞうよろしく！

First (English) JPN 101 Post

おはようございます,

I was not entirely certain that intro to Japanese would be an appropriate course for me. Most Princeton students treat language courses as a heavy burden required of them in order to graduate. They work dutifully to finish their required years and then happily move on to the remainder of their curriculum without thinking any more on the matter. For me, languages are a passion. Much of my free time is spent either reviewing or learning new aspects of foreign languages. Even in the case of Japanese, I had some limited (very minor) experience with the language.

However, I was not sure that starting a new language in a classroom setting at the onset of my senior year was the most prudent decision. Not only are language courses at Princeton very demanding (as are most seniors' other classes and thesis responsibilities), but also I was limiting the potential future of my academic training in the language. In the end, I decided to at least attend the first few classes because of the simple fact that "I love languages." I enjoy the process of learning them, I enjoy the way many of them sound, and I enjoy discovering the culture of a group of people through the indirect method of studying the way they communicate. This was enough to get me interested in the class and to attend the first session. What got me to stay was something I find very prevalent at Princeton University: the enthusiasm and teaching methods of the instructors. While these methods are incredibly varied, you can tell that many professors at this school take their jobs very seriously, but not at the expense of their passion for the subject. It's very evident that they love what they teach and that enthusiasm is inspiration for the students. It motivates us to work harder. I was very impressed by the teaching methods of Sato sensei and I'm excited to experience further lessons in the class and the way he brings his peppiness and enthusiasm to them! Thank you for reading my post.

しつれいします

P.S. As a final note, to completely address the prompt, the thing I found most difficult in the first couple days of class is the practicing of writing Hiragana. Learning new characters is difficult for me, but less so because of the recognition and memorization, more so because of the mechanical difficulty of replicating them on paper.