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.

作文コンテストのけっか

みなさんがえらんだいちばんいい作文は...

１ばん　ベク「つりの旅行」
２ばん　テギュ「さばくのまち，エアーズロック」カタリーナ「よねんのじかん」
　　　　アシュリー「はじめてじてん車にのりました」
　　　　バク「中学生の時のうんどうかい」
３ばん　ポーター「たいせつなレスリングのしゅん間」
　　　　バーディー「七年前に」

ベクさんは４月１３日の春まつりで，作文をはっぴょうします。みんなでおうえん（cheer up）に来てください！

クラシックのコンサート

私の２年生の学生が来週の土曜日にコンサートをします。時間があったら、行ってください。私は行きますよ〜♪

くわしいこと (details) は、ブログを読んでください。

日本のCM

今日のクラスはどうでしたか。日本語で自分の意見を言えるように、これからも練習しましょうね。

さて、今日みんなで見た日本のCMや、他のCMのリンクです。

Ben・StillerのCM
Appleの"Hi, I'm Mac"のCM
Natalie PortmanのCM
KFCのCM

みなさんも面白いCMを知っていたら、教えてください！

作文（さくぶん）コンテスト

クラスメートが作文を読みました。Wimbaでろくおんしました（record) 。みんなのろくおん（recording) を聞いて、とうひょうして (vote) ください。

• いちばんよかった人のなまえ
• にばんめによかった人のなまえ

をEメールでおくってください。いちばんよかった人は、４月１３日（金）の春祭り（はるまつり）のFinalに出ますよ！

Don’t you want to be notified when your class blog is updated or when someone comments on your blog?

みなさん、おげんきですか。ヘルプデスクの　おざわみどり　です。
How was your spring break? I hope you enjoyed it or at least could make yourself relaxed.

This posting is a tip on your blogger life.

1) If you want to be notified when your class blog is updated, use "Posts" feed URL.
2) If you want to be notified when someone comments on your blog, use "Post Comments" feed URL.

Section 1
What are the "Posts" feed URL and "Post Comments" feed URL?
1)"Posts" feed URL
Go to the top page of your class blog, and scroll to the bottom of the page. You will see "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)." Click on "Posts (Atom)." The URL of the page that loads is the "Posts" feed URL (The appearance of the page depends on which browser and/or browser version you are using). For your class blog, the "Posts" feed URL is http://ichi06.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
* If you are an Internet Explore user, please read the note below.
2)"Post Comments" feed URL
A "Post Comments" feed URL is set up for each post. To get the "Post Comments" feed URL, go to the top page of your blog and click on the post for which you want to be notified if comments are added. The following example shows how to find the "Post Comments" feed URL using our class blog. On our class blog, there is a posting called "さくぶんコンテスト：べんりなウェブサイト." If you want to be notified when someone comments on this post, use the "Post Comments" feed URL. The "Posts" feed URL explained above does not detect comment updates. It only detects post updates. But if you want to know comment updates, click the title of the post, "さくぶんコンテスト：べんりなウェブサイト." You will jump to "さくぶんコンテスト：べんりなウェブサイト" post page. At the left bottom of the page, you will see Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). If you click "Post Comments (Atom)", it will lead to another page. The URL shown on that page is the "Post Comments" feed URL.
*If you are an Internet Explore user, please read the note below.

Section2
How can I use the "Posts" feed URL and the "Post Comments" feed URL to receive notifications?
The easiest way is to use Google reader.
Step 1) Go to the Google reader website, http://www.google.com/reader
Step 2) Sign in to Google Reader
Step 3) After signing in, you will see the "Add subscription" menu in the left frame. Click it.
Step 4) You will see "Enter a search term to find feeds or paste a feed URL."
Step 5) Enter (type or paste) the "Posts" feed URL or the "Post Comments" feed URL that you have already retrieved through the procedure outlined in Section 1 above. Click the "Add" button.

This convenient notification function is called "site feed." Google reader provides only basic functions. If you want to know more about this function, please read the information at http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=8927
The advantage of Google reader is that you don't need to install any software, but the disadvantage is that Google reader takes longer than other software to display updates. It depends how fast you want to receive update notifications. There is a variety of software that supports the site feed function, including some freeware. You can find software information at http://www.atomenabled.org/everyone/atomenabled/index.php?c=5

If anyone has a special recommendation for software, please leave your comments on this blog.

************Note for Internet Explore users***************
Even though you click "Posts (Atom)" or "Post Comments (Atom)," IE doesn't automatically jump to another page. You need to retrieve the "Posts" or "Post Comments" feed URL manually. Right click on "Posts (Atom)" or "Post Comments (Atom)" and select "shortcut copy." When you paste it into a notepad or word, then you can see the URL.
**************************************************

If you have any questions about the site feed function or how to set it up, please let me know by sending email to helpjpcu@gmail.com

ヘルプデスクの　おざわみどり　より

さくぶんコンテスト：べんりなウェブサイト

さくぶんコンテストがあります。いいさくぶんを書いて、上手に読むことができた人は、春まつりではっぴょうします。そして、いちばんよかった人はしょうひんがもらえます！

がんばってください！

べんりなウェブサイト：

• げんこうようし (composition paper) のつかいかた：http://www.hnet.uci.edu/eastasian/japanese/Courses/J1abc/J103-04/Compositions/Useofgenkoo.html
• げんこうようし (PDF)：http://buna.arts.yorku.ca/japanese/genko/genko400_ver.pdf