My dream

My dream is to be able to understand Japanese enough to watch an anime or Japanese movie without subtitles, and understand everything.  I think that would mean that I understand enough to hold a complex conversation, or be able to travel Japan and understand everyone who talks to me.  I also think that would help me understand the culture better, because I would be viewing it in the original way it was created, in Japanese.  This way I'd be interpreting the ideas based on their Japanese meanings, not English meanings.
 I also want to watch Japanese game shows.

Studying Japanese

I chose to study Japanese because the language seemed very fun to learn and speak, and also because I am very interested in the culture.  Japanese culture has very detailed history, and learning the language will help me understand the culture. I am excited to be able to have a conversation in Japanese, and be able to speak with a friend at UCSD who is learning Japanese. After the first two weeks, I find it difficult to remember all the hiragana characters both in writing and reading.

Self Introduction

はじめまして、 

ブライアンです。どうぞよろしく。Columbiaだいがくのがくせいです。Oaklandからきました。アメリカ（あめりか）じんです。まついせんせいのがくせいです。おなまえは？