日本のスーパー（すーぱー）はどこですか

If you would like to try Japanese groceries, there are some good stores.

• JAS Mart: Broadway between 110th and 111th St. / St. Marks Place between 2nd & 3rd Ave

• Sunrise Mart: Stuyvesant St. at 3rd Ave.

This web site lists more: aozora NYC: http://www.aozoranyc.com/food/grocery/manhattan.htm

Happy Shopping!

What is a good blog?

I would like all of you to tell me what constitutes a good blog? Please give your thoughts by posting on your blog by Wednesday, September 26 (tomorrow). Then, please read your group members' posts and comment on them (agree? disagree? etc.)

Your comments will serve as a guideline for you at the end of the semester when your own blogs and those of your classmates’ will be evaluated.

What do you think about learning Japanese so far?

Well, we've studied Japanese for 3 weeks so far. Have you been enjoying the experience? Or maybe frustrated? Please share your thoughts on learning Japanese, our Japanese class, etc. by writing about them on your blog. Either English or Japanese is OK, but please make sure that everyone can understand.

How to Put YoutTube Videos on Blog

Switzer-san asked me how to put (embed) YoutTube videos on his blog. Maybe you already knew it, but I thought such "how-to" would be useful to others who don't. So, I decided to put it on this class blog.

1. Go to YouTube and find a video you want to post on your blog.
2. On the right side, you should see the information about the video you chose. Among them is "Embed". Copy the code.
3. Go to the section where you create a new post on Blogger. Click on "Edit Html" at the upper-right corner. Paste the code you got from Step 2.

When you publish your post, the video should be embedded in your post. You can also post your own videos. Use Blogger Help to learn how to do it.

ありがとう

Here's the video we watched in class.

ありがとう by いのうえようすい・おくだたみお

Communicate with Others in Blogs

Have you finished creating your blog? How about posting the first entry? It's not as difficult as you might have though, is it?

Now, let's interact with other "bloggers"! Please visit your group members' blogs and leave comments. Don't forget to reply to the comments you received!

You're also encouraged to explore the Japanese-language learners' blogoshpere---there are students like you who are using blogs to communicate in Japanese.

• Columbia's First-Year Japanese: http://nihongofall07.blogspot.com/ (Sato-sensei & Nazikian-sensei's sections)
• University of Virginia 1st year students' blog project: http://uvajapanese102.blogspot.com/

You'll find more links to blogs by upper-level students (including my 2nd-year students). Look for the links under "にほんごのクラス (Other Japanese Classes).

Computing in Japanese

Do you want to make your computer Japanese capable? Do you want to type in Japanese characters, not roma-ji? If so, visit useful sites listed on the right side of this blog. There are tons of good online resources available, so take advantage of them!

If you have your own favorites, please send me URLs. I'll add them to the link list to share :-)

Labeling Posts

Organize your posts by adding a label/labes to them! It's easy to do.

1. Write a post.
2. Enter a label/labels in a box at lower-right corner of the space where you type the post. Once you create labels, you can just click on "Labels" and choose from them next time you want to use them.

If you need more help, search Help or ask your classmates!

First Post

Once you finish creating your blog, why don't you introduce yourself in Japanese? If you can type in Japanese, please do! Roma-ji (or romanized Japanese) is also OK. Then, tell everyone something about you (English is OK, of course)---why you decided to learn Japanese, your first encounter with Japanese, the best way you think to study Japanese, etc. Non-Japanese topics are also welcome!

にほんごでブログをしましょう: Blogging Project

Welcome to First-Year Japanese I! How's your study so far? Fun? Exciting? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? Whatever you feel, you're not the only one who feels that way---I bet many in our class agree with you.

In this course, we will share our learning experiences on blogs. I would like to have spaces besides the classroom where we all can express ourselves, support each other, ask questions, etc. You can write about anything (well, as long as it's legal), for example, activities you do after class, what you would like to do in Japanese, and even suggestions/complaints about our Japanese class.

So, the main objective of this blogging project is to communicate with others by:

• Expressing your thoughts, feelings, opinions etc. to others (me, classmates, Japanese students in other schools, Japanese-speaking people) in Japanese and/or other languages of your choice).
• Responding comments using the "Comment" function on blog.

This blog links to your blogs and your classmates' so that you can see what others think and feel about their learning process or just simply what they're up to.

I'm interested in your experience as a language learner: what you feel, how you see it, what you think about it, etc. Please feel free to write about whatever you want to share with the readers of your blog. Jut don't forget to make a post once a week and visit others' blogs (your classmates' blogs, my blog, and blogs by students from different schools). Also, take advantage of the "Comment" function to interact with others.

Remember, you are encouraged to express yourself about any topics in any language. The sky is the limit!

To begin the project, create your own blog. Here is how to do it:

1) Go to http://www.blogger.com to open your blog.

1. Select "Settings" from the top tabs. Click "Formatting" and select any language you like for "Language" so that you can display information such as time and date of your post in the language of your choice.
2. In order to receive comments from as many people as possible, please select "Comments" and choose "Anyone" for "Who can comment" section.
3. You may want to know when someone left a comment to your blog. Go to "Settings" >> "Comments", scroll down to "Comment Notification Address", and type e-mail address to which you want notification to be sent.
   
4. If you want to know how to type Japanese, please click the link listed on the right side.
   

2) Send your blog address to me (mf2249@columbia.edu).

• If you have trouble opening a new account, please let me know.
• If you already have a blog and if you can use Japanese, you do not have to open a new account.
  

3) Post a blog entry once a week.

• Here are some inspirations for your blog topics (they are just suggestions, so write whatever you want!)
• I could read Japanese!
  
• I spoke Japanese!
• I went to Japan!
  
• Why I study Japanese
• My Japanese friends
• I'm confused! Help!
• My secret study tips
  
• My daily schedule
• Japanese restaurants in town
• My hobbies
• Japanese music, dramas, food, anime, manga
  
• What I like/dislike about my Japaense class
• What I'd like to do in my Japanese class
  
• My favorite websites
• My classmates
• Japanese grammar
• Japanese vocabulary
  
• Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji
• My favorite language lab exercises

4) You are also encouraged to visit others' blogs. Links to other interesting blogs can be seen on the right-side of this page. (they include links to other Japanese learners' blogs!)

If you want to discuss linguistic errors (spelling, vocab, grammar) in your posts, please feel free to come to see me. We can take a look at your posts and work on correction together.