じゅうがついつか(10/5) の アクティビティ(activity)

Welcome to げんきに日本語（にほんご） (Learn Japanese with full spirit !).
Today, we are going to learn how to type Japanese on a computer and make a blog post. Please do Activities 1-4 below.

 (If you do not finish all of the activities in class, the remaining activities must be completed for homework due the next day.) 

1. Read about the blog activity (5 min.)

• Please read "ブログかつどう(Blog Activities)," which explains the purpose of this blog activity.

2. Create your blog (15 min.)

• Please read “How to Create Your Blog Account” and create your own blog. Try to come up with a unique blog title. Avoid an ordinary title such as "My Japanese Blog."

• Once you have created your blog, click on "View blog" located in the top left-hand corner, and then send your blog's URL (e.g., example.blogspot.com) to your instructor's gmail address:
• みぞぐち せんせい：mizoguchisensei@gmail.com
•  つだせんせい：asamicolumbia@gmail.com
• まつい せんせい：kyoko.loetscher@gmail.com
• おかもと せんせい：mukuokamoto@gmail.com

3. Type up your first composition or さくぶん１,  and post it on your blog. (30 min.)

• If you do not want to use your real name, you may use a pseudonym. If you have questions or technical problems, we encourage you to help each other. Instructions for how to change the language setting to Japanese on Apple computers can be found on today's handout, "How to type Japanese words in Hiragana and Katakana."
• After writing your self-introduction, form a group of 2-3 students and peer edit your self-introduction. (e.g., Is the hiragana typed correctly? Is it grammatical?) 
• To make the font size bigger, press the “Apple/command” key and the “+” key together (For PC users, press the “Control” key instead of the “Apple/command” key).

• After everyone in your group has read and corrected each other’s self-introductions, click on “Publish,” which will allow your post to be published on your blog.

4. Make a New Post in English (10 min.)

• Write in English about why you chose to study Japanese, 
what you are excited about, and/or what you have found challenging after the first four weeks of Japanese class.

How to Create Your Blog Account

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com and create your blog.

• Do you have a Google account? If so, go ahead and log in. If not, create your account first.
• Please log in to your personal Gmail account (NOT LionMail). If you have logged in to LionMail, you may need to sign out of it. Your LionMail account is completely separate from your personal Gmail account. 
• In order to receive comments from as many people as possible, please select "Settings," then "Comments," and choose either "Registered Users" or "Users with Google Accounts" under the "Who can comment?" section.

• If you wish to learn more about how to type Japanese, check out the links under "にほんごとコンピューター(Japanese and Computer)" on the right-hand side.

2. Send your blog address (URL) to your instructor.

• Click on "View blog" located in the top left-hand corner, and send the blog’s URL address (e.g. example.blogspot.com) to your instructor.
• Should you have trouble creating your blog or finding your blog address, please notify your instructor immediately.

3. Post a blog entry regularly.

• If you have no idea what to write, try one of the suggested topics below.

I can read Japanese!
I'm speaking Japanese!
Reasons I am studying Japanese
My dream
My Japanese friends
Japanese grammar vs. English grammar
Speaking vs. Writing
Listening vs. Reading
My daily schedule
I have no time to study!
I spent so much time studying, but..
My hobbies
My classmates
What I like/dislike about Japan or Japanese
Daily news
Japanese writing system
Kanji
Japanese vocabulary
Favorite lab exercise
Vocabulary quiz
My favorite Japanese TV show, movie, or anime

• You can also use pictures and videos!

(Evaluation)
Your blog assignments are part of your homework.

ブログかつどう(Blog Activities)

Blog Activities:

Welcome to our blog community! For this class we would like you to keep a blog because it provides a place to communicate with your classmates and other people outside of class.

People use language for various purposes, but one of the main reasons we use language is to communicate with other people. While you can engage in many different forms of communicative language activities in class, class time is limited, so it is impossible to engage in all types. Using a blog as a communication tool will engage you in another form of authentic, real-world communication. Though a blog can seem daunting, this is something that you shouldn’t wait until mastering  a language to do, but rather is something that should be started right away from the very beginning of your learning a language. This will also help you track your own improvement in Japanese as you see your own expressions and explanations become more complex.

* We will share links of your classmates' blogs as well as blogs of students in other sections, other levels, and other schools, so you can exchange comments with those people as well.

* We know that your current command of Japanese language may still limit your ability to convey your thoughts fully, but we also encourage you to convey your intended meaning by utilizing other resources such as pictures and videos. Remember that people utilize not only language but also other means of communication such as tone of voice, music, body language, pictures, colors, font styles and font size for communication.

For the course requirement, you will be graded on the four entries scheduled on your class schedules. However, we would like to encourage you to post as many additional entries as you like in order to improve your communication skills. This blog will be a place for you to express yourself in Japanese, get feedback on your language skills, and interact with students from across different levels and different schools. We hope you enjoy it!