Project by: Brianna Adu-Kyei (12th Grade)
Project Advisor: Preethi
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Karyn

Description of the Project:

This year will be the culmination of the time I’ve spent studying throughout high school. I realized I wasn’t ready to move forward completely; my knowledge base ran wide rather than deep. So now I’m aiming to make sure I have a strong foundation before I try to progress too quickly. I will continue to assign myself weekly homework and take quizzes.

T2 Final Update:

Final Update:

A bit delayed, to be sure, and my sincerest apologies for that. Looking back on this trimester, I realized EXACTLY what I’d been doing wrong—my idea of conversational… wasn’t very conversational. Sure, I could hold my own while chatting for a few minutes or so, but I’d constantly be flipping back and forth between the dictionary and HelloTalk, frantically hoping the bits and bobs I picked up wouldn’t be misconstrued. I also recognized why I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere: I needed to make it as much like a legitimate, regular class as possible. So, I decided to scrap that and return to the fundamentals, practicing grammar and speech. I did this by working with a textbook and workbook set I obtained, called Genki.

Additionally, meeting times have changed to Mondays as well, since Preethi could no longer be available on Wednesdays. And finally, I only now realized I needed to update stuff weekly. Overall, I am still having fun, but workload has been a real challenge this time around. I’m hoping to get a lot done over break.

2018-2019 T3 Reflection

This trimester, I tried to focus on listening comprehension. I used several resources, such as this playlist on Youtube and the Chrome web extension, Language Learning With Netflix. I found that for the first playlist, which seemed to be from the 80s did not help. Its length and simple, context-based approach (which in theory was supposed to help you follow even without subtitles) were promising but ultimately felt frustrating to work with, and I ended up hitting a lot of walls given that I had to pause every frame in order to figure out which kanji that was up in the corner or try to sound out a word or name. Going back to the 80s thing, I also worried that my speech would be outdated, like some dad saying “Groovy” and “Tubular” around his kid’s teenage friends. (Fortunately, my language exchange partners thought my antiquated expressions were cute.) It was, in short, a flop.

On the other hand, I LOVED LLN. I already watched a lot of foreign shows on Netflix and elsewhere, and I regularly used captions to make sure I caught everything even in English, so for me, switching to the extension was very easy. LLN’s auto pause after each line was great, and I liked how even if I couldn’t read it, I could literally copy paste it into an online dictionary I kept tabbed. It told me when characters were speaking, and for how long. It told me what parts are directly translated, and what is an approximation. For a nerd like me who likes to take things apart to see how they worked, these functions were the best thing to happen to me in a long time. In short,  I would die for this extension, and you can pry it from my cold dead hands. I’m still rewatching shows I know well enough to ignore and focus only on the subs, but I think I’m coming along.

My forays into listening comprehension were really to help me become familiar with HOW sentences are made, what sounds weird and what sounds natural, pitch and tone, and all those myriad things that natives don’t even think about. I feel that I am starting to crack the code, just a little bit, and now that classes are over, I can fully spend my days learning (and lazing). I also want to move into my ultimate goal for this project over the summer, by reading children’s books. I wanted to gain some level of fluency, or more comprehension/communication/what-have-you and I think reading stories and having them also read to me would help. (Maybe an audiobook would help me get the best of both worlds…)

2018-2019 T2 Reflection

This is what I have done so far:

I’ve compiled a number of notes detailing conjugation, terms, and other new vocabulary words I’ve picked up while talking with my Language Exchange buddies. I am continually challenged by the dense structure, but recently I’ve tried my hand at basic translation towards the end, with the understanding that quantity, and therefore practice, is better than quality at this point. As for my favorite part so far… I’d have to say, word nerdery? As in, stuff like having to identify what the agent of a sentence is and that it’s not always the subject of a sentence, which I’d never consciously thought about before. Funnily enough, the hardest part has also been word nerdery, what with all the conjugations and then realizing they change based on the listener and relative status and how the sentence structure is literally the inverse of English, and I STILL don’t know what an appositive is for the life of me.

I’m having fun learning though!

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2019-2020 T2 PROJECT PROPOSAL

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

This year will be the culmination of the time I’ve spent studying throughout high school. I realized I wasn’t ready to move forward completely; my knowledge base ran wide rather than deep. So now I’m aiming to make sure I have a strong foundation before I try to progress too quickly. I will continue to assign myself weekly homework and take quizzes.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?

This is including both critical thinking and courage, because it was kinda rough to realize my growth had stagnated somehow. In order to complete my project, I have to be more honest and realistic with myself about where I am and where I can reach by the end of the year.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?

I still think I like the idea of a poster, walking viewers through sentence construction, origin, and a little bit of reading with that new knowledge. I already have a draft done. I’d like to demonstrate by reading a children’s book, like I wanted to be able to when I first started out.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?

Originally, I’d planned to . But now, I’m aiming to finish Genki 1 and start Genki 2 by the third trimester at the latest. I try to get through a unit a fortnight, and some sporadic quizzes, but maybe I think I should increase the frequency this time around.

When do you plan on meeting?
Mondays

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2019-2020 T1 PROJECT PROPOSAL

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

This year will be the culmination of the time I’ve spent studying throughout high school. I am now moving from the theoretical to the practical, wherein I will be actually using what I’ve learned. I want to do this in order for me to move forward in my language skills and become more comfortable. I will still be doing various assignments Preethi gives me if any, as well as writing down slang and new cultural tidbits I’ll pick up from my friends.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?

This will require quite a bit of courage, since observing and practicing by yourself is rather different from being an active participant in conversations. It also requires me to be creative in finding workarounds for what I don’t know or how to explain something without just falling back on English.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?

I think I like the idea of a poster, walking viewers through sentence construction, origin, and a little bit of reading with that new knowledge. I already have a draft done. I’d like to demonstrate by reading a children’s book, like I wanted to be able to when I first started out.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?

I think some quizzes every two weeks or so would serve as clear markers of my progress and weak areas. I plan to meet with Preethi every Wednesday afterschool, which would also serve as times for me to grab a quiz and fill it out. I’d like to talk to people on HelloTalk at least thrice a week, if not more often (given these are friendships I’m cultivating).

When do you plan on meeting?
Every Wednesday

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2018-2019 T3 Project Proposal

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

Since freshman year, I’ve been studying Japanese both independently and as an Honor’s Project. This year, I would like to continue where I left off and focus on more complicated material, as well as a short review of particles and other previously learned concepts. I want to learn Japanese because I find it interesting, both linguistically and just because of the challenge it poses.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?

In order to get a strong foundation in such a differently-constructed language, it would take a lot of critical thinking and analysis to find the best way to study and understand, as well as creativity in being able to shift my understanding of how languages are “supposed to work” from Eurocentric to a broader worldview. Moreover, it takes dedication and courage, because Japanese is generally very hard and labor-intensive for non-native speakers.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?

The end goal of the project for this trimester is to get a strong foundation in grammar and conjugations so that I can move on to vocabulary. I feel like this project has more stock in my personal growth and understanding rather than the community at large, since culture and the frame language creates isn’t easily understood without time and effort. That being said, an understanding of a way of thinking that simply isn’t always there in English and being able to think outside the box would allow me to take new and unconventional points in my academic journey. In terms of sharing my knowledge, I would be happy to do an analytical talk about the linguistic structure of Japanese and what features and traits it has that English does not and vise versa.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?

Mini-goal posts could be finishing a specific section of my Genki textbook(s) and then testing with assessments my Project Advisor, Preethi, gives out. I’d also work on practice translations and understanding of sentence structure.

When do you plan on meeting?
Every Tuesday?

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2018-2019 T2 Project Proposal

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?
Since freshman year, I’ve been studying Japanese both independently and as an Honor’s Project. This year, I would like to continue where I left off and focus on more complicated material, as well as a short review of particles and other previously learned concepts. I want to learn Japanese because I find it interesting, both linguistically and just because of the challenge it poses.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?
In order to get a strong foundation in such a differently-constructed language, it would take a lot of critical thinking and analysis to find the best way to study and understand, as well as creativity in being able to shift my understanding of how languages are “supposed to work” from Eurocentric to a broader worldview. Moreover, it takes dedication and courage, because Japanese is generally very hard and labor-intensive for non-native speakers.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?
The end goal of the project for this trimester is to get a strong foundation in grammar and conjugations so that I can move on to vocabulary. I feel like this project has more stock in my personal growth and understanding rather than the community at large, since culture and the frame language creates isn’t easily understood without time and effort. That being said, an understanding of a way of thinking that simply isn’t always there in English and being able to think outside the box would allow me to take new and unconventional points in my academic journey. In terms of sharing my knowledge, I would be happy to do analytical talk about the linguistic structure of Japanese and what features and traits it has that English does not and vise versa.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?
Mini-goal posts could be finishing a specific section of a grammar book and then testing with assessments my Project Advisor, Preethi, gives out. I’d also work on practice translations and understanding of sentence structure, and try to complete 500 sentences every 2 to 3 weeks.

When do you plan on meeting?
Every Tuesday?