Why I chose Japanese class...

Hello. My name is Tae In Ha. I am a student from Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Science studying Industrial Engineering: Operations Research. One particular reason why I am taking this course is because of my interest in the Japanese culture. I am a fan of several popular Japanese anime such as Naruto and One Piece. I have read their manga and watched their shows for several years now, and it would be exciting to be able to actually understand them in Nihon-go. I have also taken some courses at Columbia studying the contemporary civilization of Japan as well as the various religious traditions that have originated from there. It would be exciting to be able to read Japanese for my studies.

What I find most difficult learning Japanese is the handwriting of the Hiragana characters. Even after practicing many times writing the symbols, I still have a hard time maintaining a consistent way to write them. That is, the way how almost every character requires me to gradually lift my pencil at certain points is hard to maintain. I expect to overcome this as I learn more about it throughout this semester.