Self-Introduction in Japanese

みなさん、こんにちは。これは私のブログです。私の名前はAlfred Tsaiです。私はコロンビア大学の一年生です。中国人です、台湾の台北から来ました。 
  
どうぞよろしく！

Reflection on Japanese Study

The title of my blog (學而時習之) is inspired by the first selection found in The Analects of Confucius. In English, the selection translates to "Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?" The ideas and philosophy of Confucianism are perhaps an appropriate cultural connection and linkage between the Chinese and Japanese peoples. 

Indeed, having entered the fourth week of studying Japanese as a freshman student at Columbia University, I can say that learning a new language involves many ups and downs--joy, surprises, disappointment, and challenges. The First Year Japanese course has been intensive and challenging thus far. It includes rigorous study of vocabulary words and phrases, grammatical and sentence structure, hiragana and katakana, speaking and listening, and Japanese culture and traditions. I hope that I will get better in Japanese, one step at a time.

My native land of Taiwan has had a special historical and cultural relationship with Japan. Ming Chinese loyalist Koxinga (1624-1662), who expelled the Dutch and established the first Han Chinese government on Taiwan, was born in Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan to a mother of Japanese descent. Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was ceded to and occupied under the Japanese Empire. As Japan's first overseas colony, Taiwan saw vast improvements in its economy, industry, and public works. Japanese culture and tradition have also left a lasting imprint and legacy in Taiwan. Former President Lee Teng-hui grew up during the Japanese rule of Taiwan, graduated from Kyoto Imperial University in 1946, and was heavily influenced by Japanese thinkers. Even following Taiwan's retrocession to the Republic of China in 1945 following the Second World War, Japan has remained the ROC's important strategic ally and economic partner. For example, Japan is Taiwan's second largest trading partner, and the number of direct flights between Taiwan and Japan has increased by 45 percent in recent years. Moreover, in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake, Taiwan provided over $252 million in combined relief and aid, the largest monetary contribution from any country or region in the world. The signature of a Japan-Taiwan fisheries agreement in April of this year has marked a new milestone in the friendship and cooperation between the ROC and Japan in pursuing sustainable peace and shelving controversies in the East China Sea. May Japan and the Republic of China on Taiwan continue to strengthen their friendship and jointly contribute to the furtherance of the core values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in East Asia and around the world.

It is a sincere wish of mine to further my proficiency in the Japanese language and develop an appreciation of Japanese culture and traditions. I yearn to gain greater accuracy and fluency in spoken and written Japanese communication.