七人の侍

せんしゅうのしゅうまつえいがをみました。なまえは七人の侍（しちにんのさむらい）です。In English, the film is called Seven Samurai, directed by 黒澤明（くろさわ　あきら）. The DVD cover is below:

The film follows a small farming village as it seeks to hire samurai in order to defend itself from an eminent bandit raid. We are successively introduced to the...you guess it...seven heroes who embark on a heartwarming mission whose only rewards are meals and self satisfaction. とてもおもしろいです！いちばんえいがです！I have heard tons of great things about Kurosawa in general, in particular Seven Samurai and Rashomon, but the film exceeded even my high expectations! Despite being THREE HOURS in length, at no point did the thought "I am watching a film." cross my mind; which is to say, I was entirely engaged for the duration of the movie.

The story, while seemingly simplistic at first, actually ties in many subplots that elicit a whole spectrum of emotions and responses. Kurosawa elegantly shows class divides and social biases plaguing Japanese society during the time period, but never loses sight of the select few who truly understand honor and responsibility beyond war and rank. The samurai come from a variety of backgrounds, but in coming together for the village reveal their own perspectives and philosophies. Kurosawa also neatly touches upon gender biases, coming of age, and the psychological effects of loss, all the while presenting the issues in ways that the audience can relate to and understand. Amazingly, Seven Samurai's messages and commentary do not seem any less relevant despite nearly 60 years since its filming.

What struck me the most was one of the final lines spoken by the head samurai, explaining his opinion of a "loss". The remark echoes a statement he makes early on in the film, and sheds an entirely different light on his experiences and our understanding of his past.

The action sequences, however, are understandably simplistic compared to modern technology and cinematography. I found myself wondering why certain characters were dead if all that had happened was a simple jab to the leg, but this is hardly a flaw that detracts from the overall film.

All in all, I greatly recommend the film to anyone who hasn't seen it yet, and urge those who have to watch it again!

じゃあ、ね！

Shadowing Cycle 1 Reflection

In the first cycle of shadowing practice, I was able to follow my plan for the most part and practice some form of shadowing (almost) every day. Thanks to the great feedback I've been receiving, I now know that I need to work on the length of my vowels and special moras (especially double consonants and double vowels). My speed and fluidity needs work, but overall I feel fairly good about my progress. The experience has been excellent and I look forward to doing more practice in the near future!

The midterm oral with メイさん was fun! おもしろいでした。しばたせんせい played a すずきさん from にほん, そしてだいがくいんせいでした. メイさん and I performed the dialogue fluently and without any major hiccups, and we both felt pretty good about it afterwards. However, I do feel that I need to work on impromptu responses and being able to act naturally even when presented with unexpected situations and questions. Other than that, our flow was good and our expressions made the dialogue feel smooth.

わたしのせんしゅうまつ

こんばんは、

せんしゅうまつはしゅくだいをしました、それからえいがをみました。宮崎 駿 （みやざき　はやお　さん）　のえいがでした。えいがは魔女の宅急便 （まじょのたっきゅうびん） Kiki's Delivery Service でした。ほんとおもしろいでした！

こんしゅうわたしはにほんごをべんきょうします。らいしゅうにほんごのテストがあります。それから、みやざきさんのえいがをみます。Shadowing おします。

じゃあ、また。

Shadowing!

こんにちは。

After doing a number of shadowing exercises, I feel that both my pronunciation and listening have slightly improved.

My biggest problems are with long moras: when the recording is at a pace that challenges my ability to keep up, I sometimes fail to prolong long moras as necessary; sometimes I prolong regular moras unnecessarily.

In terms of pitch and intonation, I've found numbers to be tricky and have yet to grasp a reliable pattern depending on the situation. In general, though, I think my intonation is acceptable, but could certainly use improvement to sound more natural.

じゃあ、ね。

Shadowing Goals: Cycle 1

What I Want
To pronounce various mora such as ふ、し and つ more accurately, particularly at higher speeds.

How I'll Achieve It
I will do shadowing daily for 5-10 minutes, along with finding time to shadow various animes I may watch.