Introduction

I have started learning Japanese recently and tried doing so by learning phrases, however I thought that if I could learn how to read and write in one of the the Japanese alphabets I would learn a lot faster. However I started learning Hiragana on and off since around June of 2012 and didn't really learn much as I was not consistent and ended up forgetting most of what I learnt. I then really committed to learning Hiragana in order to make a booklet for my personal project. I started learning a little in the Summer and have so far learned most of the alphabet with the exception of some letter which I need to go over and revise. I will use this journal to track my progress of making that booklet I can not however write any journal entries for when I was learning the alphabet as that was a while ago and I do not remember the dates. Below is my official goal statement.

Goal

My goal is to fully learn Hiragana one of the three Japanese alphabets and then create a booklet in order to help other people that might share the same interest as me in learning this alphabet. The reason I am creating this booklet is it will not only help me to better ensure that I have a full understanding of the alphabet but will also help others in Qatar Academy if they are interested in learning Hiragana. I also have a goal for the future which is the reason I am ensuring that I learn the alphabet now. By the time I graduate from high school I want to have fully learned Japanese and by learning Hiragana I will improve my pronunciation as well as help me pick up words and phrases a lot faster and easier if I could read them and write them.

It all started in 6^th grade when a friend of mine introduced me to anime which is Japanese animation and I really liked However I wanted to learn more about the country from which it originated from. That country was Japan I was absolutely captivated by Japanese culture and Japanese technology and because of my intrest in global politics I definitely understood how huge of a country Japan is and the importance of its technological advancements are to the rest of the world. Slowly I got dragged into wanting to learn more about Japan and understand it better and I think the best way to do that is from the people themselves and I could connect with them across the globe with the help of their beautiful language. And that Summarizes exactly why I decided to use the personal project as a stepping stone to help me achieve my larger goal in the future.

         I have selected this topic because I want to share my interest with the students with me in Qatar Academy I want them to see the beauty I see in the Japanese language, culture, advancements. I want them to be able to see how wonderful it is. One way to accomplish that would be to introduce them to the language and keeping in mind my own skill level, I will create this booklet and hope to have it displayed in the library as well as have an E-copy so that everyone and anyone can access it.

         This project will best be developed within the context of Approaches to Learning. Approaches to learning are all about the methods we use to learn and how we learn something that is why for my project in which I create a booklet. My product the booklet will be based on my own tips and knowledge and how I learned, as well as methods and practice sheets that I feel are more efficient than the ones I used when I myself was learning Hiragana.