Day 9-10: こんばんは。大学はながながじかんをかかる。I will try to post daily (excluding weekends of course). Can't promise anything around exam weeks though.

I got my first test back! 95.5%! Doesn't seem so bad at first until you learn that A- is a thing at Notre Dame and a 94% would be an A-. 

Well, today was bad in another way. We had to follow a script a couple of words long for introducing ourselves which seems easy until put on the spot and have to do it from memory.

Mine went something like this:
はじめまして。
私はワスワ二チです。
タイ人です。
一年生です。
せんこうはかがくです。
どぞうよろしく。

じゃあ、また

Day 8: こんばんは。First test is over! ばんざい！ It really wasn't so bad. I was the last to finish, but that is probably due to the fact that I wrote in ひらがな rather than in ローマジ which ぶせ先生 strongly recommended the whole class do. We'll see how my crazy decision affects my grade soon.

じゃあ、また。

Day 7: こんばんは。Today was mainly a review day. I did learn a few new phrases such as (Japanese word)って なんですか to ask for the English definition of a Japanese word.

The most interesting part though was outside of class. I found out that 何 (what) has two pronunciations なに and なん which are dependent on the context which I apparently will learn from experience. Though なに and なん do have patterns based on the particle that comes after. 何が would use the なに version while 何で and 何と would use the なん version.

On another note, FIRST TEST TOMORROW! I finally managed to memorize the differences between きいてください, みてください, かいてください, よんでください, and いってください and even their kanji (which I personally feel is easier). Unfortunately, I neglected other expressions like (English word)は にほんごで なんと いいますか. More studying:(

じゃあ、また

Day 4: こんにちは。I finally met はなぶさ先生, the lead instructor for our Japanese class. Today's class was taught by her. It turns out the first test is on TUESDAY! My first test at Notre Dame! Today was a review, but I still cannot remember the difference between きいてください, みてください, かいてください, よんでください, いってください.

For some reason, the kanji versions for those commands (聞く、見る、書く、読む、言う)  seem easier to remember. Oh well, guess like it's intense studying time.

じゃあ、また

Day 3: こんにちは。私は日本語(Japanese)書かない(not write)。I still cannot really write Japanese. It will probably take a few weeks before I know enough words and grammar to write anything above baby sentences. 日本語 and 私 are some of the very few kanji I actually know.

Today was quite difficult for me. Reading the hiragana was no problem, but remembering and pronouncing Japanese expressions are painful. しつれいしました (don't know the kanji) meaning farewell in a very polite manner (not literally though) was something I struggled to pronounce. THERE ARE TOO MANY SYLLABLES! This is the proper way to say farewell to a せんせい, but unfortunately, when Fuse-sensei said さようなら to me, all I could remember was さようなら.

On a good note, the bowing part for Japanese was very easy to adapt to, probably thanks to the large amounts of anime I watch.

じゃあ、また

Day 1-2: こんばんは(it's night time now). On the first day, I was introduced to my instructor Fuse-sensei. The first day was intense, for me that is. Fuse-sensei started the class speaking in Japanese. Although I am somewhat familiar with the language from my anime and manga pastime, I could not understand most of the words he said. I self-studied written Japanese in the past during the height of my anime and manga addiction so hiragana and katakana were not difficult, however, having never met a Japanese person before, I had absolutely zero skills in speaking and listening.

I learned greetings such as おはようございます, こんにちは, and こんばんは. When the class ended, I had issues switching my thoughts back from Japanese to English for the rest of the day.

The second day (today) was similar in a way, but we just learned a lot more vocabulary and some hiragana. Today, I learned something astonishing, I have been writing hiragana and probably katakana too in the wrong way. It turns out printed and handwritten Japanese hiragana are different. This will take some time to adapt to.

じゃあ、また

Introduction: こにちは.  私はワスワニチ・ポール「Paul Wasuwanich」です。My last name is apparently painful to pronounce so if you can read katakana, try pronouncing it that way, it's the same minus the "i" in the "chi."

First off, I am Thai. I lived my childhood in Bangkok, Thailand and then moved to Orlando, FL before high school. At the moment I can speak only two languages enough to converse, Thai and English. I learned Latin and some Ancient Greek in high school, but only well enough to read with a dictionary.

Currently, I am studying Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame and for reasons relating to anime and manga, I am also studying intensive Japanese.

This blog will be a diary, a progress tracker, a writing practice, and a place to rant about the difficulties of learning Japanese.