Author Archives: reinan

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I’ve never taken a linguistic class before, so these lessons were refreshing, exciting and challenging. Throughout this class, I learned not only the language mechanisms of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, but also general linguistics. Learning new things I didn’t know is so interesting. Besides, it is also interesting to observe other students’ reactions about things that I already know.

As for how to proceed with the lessons, it is a good way to discuss with the small group in the class, and share some students’ opinions. These ways help me to find out things I was not able to understand, and it gives me a good opportunity to know other people’s ideas. I sometimes couldn’t talk with neighbors about our ideas because I was afraid to make mistakes and bother them with my poor English. Although this class will be over soon, I’ll do my best to talk with neighbors more without being shy in order to not waste this precious opportunity. Also, in regards to research papers, authentic research is effective to know the real opinion from native speakers. I was able to get a lot of information, such as specific examples and the latest information through authentic research.

The most interesting topic was the power of language, like in the example of the article about Amy Chua. Although in the reading, it was written that saying garbage doesn’t decrease their children’s self-esteem, I personally think that saying that will have an effect on their children’s self-esteem, even though children know their mothers are not serious, and that they love their children. For example, some research revealed that self-esteem of young Japanese people is lower than that of other countries young people. In Japan, modesty is considered a virtue, so many parents tend to say something bad about their children when introducing their children to others. It can be said such tendency might have something to do with the result of research. I would like to learn more about this topic.

It was so interesting to learn about East Asia from the viewpoint of an American university student. What I learned in this class would help my research. I like this class so much and I would like to take a class similar to this one. Thank you!

Blog 2

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I found two examples. The first example I have is a few games from East Asia. I found them at the Mills International Center in the EMU. The one in the lower right is a Japanese traditional card game. It is called “かるた(karuta)”. The interesting thing is that the word, karuta, is originally from Portugal, not Japan. A similar game that uses clam shells in the Heian era is thought to have existed before Japan interacted with Portugal. This game and other European card games merged around the late 17th century and became a way of playing today. “五子棋(wuziqi)” and”象棋(xiangqi)” are traditional Chinese games and these are also famous in Japan. “街コロ(Machi Koro)” is a relatively new game, and we can see one of the writing systems of Japanese, Romaji. Since it is written not only kanji and katakana, but also Romaji, I think it is an English version and not an original version.

 

The second one is some magazines that I found. I also found them at the Mills International Center in EMU. From left to right, thetitles of the magazines are “(读者duzhe)”, “MEN’S NON-NO”, “25ans”. 25ans uses all three types of Japanese writing: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Also, it contains English words such as “ON” and “OFF”. Recently in Japan, I have often seen such cases that simple words are written in English. Another interesting thing is the word in the upper right, “御美脚(omiashi)”. The correct kanji is “御御足”, but it is also good, it is a polite way to say “legs”. In Japanese language, changing suffixes are not the only way to show politeness, but also changing a noun into a polite one is another way to show it.

 

I think that the reason they have these games and magazines is that they would like East Asian students to remember their home countries and relax, and have a lot of students get an opportunity to know East Asian culture. I think these things have an influence on promotion of international exchange.

 

So far, I like this class, and time really does fly when I am in class. In regards to the learning process, I think it is a good way to learn a wide range of topics by reading first, and then cover in depth on a specialized topic with lessons and iClicker questions. I’m able to double-check the lecture point through this learning process. It is especially interesting to learn each basic structure and sound system of Chinese, Korean and Japanese. It was difficult for me to hear the difference between the Korean words that GE 김현지 교수님said. So, I’d like to learn how much influence is the number of vowels in a first language on accuracy of pronunciation of another language. I really look forward to the rest of the class!

 

 

Hello Class!

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Hello! My name is Reina Nishigaki ( in Chinese Character, 西垣玲奈). I am an exchange student from Japan and I’m going to stay here for a year. My major at my university in Japan is Law, mostly because I am interested in international laws. I became interested in this topic when I learned about the important roles of international laws for international relations and issues, especially issues of East Asia. To comprehend the international laws, I need to know more about international perspectives and perspectives from other fields. By acquiring a comprehensive basic knowledge, I’m able to study international laws from a multi-faceted viewpoint to further enhance my research. So, I would like to learn Political Science, International Studies, East Asia Societies and of course English, at UO. I’m not good at English, so please teach me English!

 

In my free time, I like playing tennis, exercising and listening to music. I often listen to K-pop songs. I like Korean and Chinese culture. I visited Korea this summer. I went to Gyeongbokgung wearing a hanbok. I had a great time in Korea. Next time, I would like to go to China.

I’m interested in the international relationships among China, Korea and Japan. They have similar culture, but nowadays the international relationship among them is not good because of historical problems. Especially, regarding Japan and Korea, it is said that they are mutually “close but distant countries”. I really want to solve the tension between them and improve their international relationship. Therefore, I’d like to learn about these issues in terms of not only international laws, but also history and politics.

 

So far, I enjoy this class. It is especially interesting to learn the history behind the Japanese language from the viewpoint of an American university student, because there are a lot of things I didn’t know, even though my first language is Japanese. I think the teaching method in this class is effective. Using iClickers is new for me, but it is helpful to know which part of the lesson that I don’t understand. Also, the readings and quizzes before class helps me to prepare for the lesson. Since there are so many technical terms, reading is a little challenging for me. However, the contents are very interesting. I look forward to learning more about East Asia!