I'm in!

It has been over a month since my last post. I guess I've been feeling a bit on edge or in a waiting pattern. Haven't felt too motivated to post.

Well in the past two weeks, plenty has happened. I turned in my first applications to grad school back in mid-December. I turned in my application to Penn State (the last one I submitted) on January 15th. I thought I would be waiting for a while. At least February for the first ones and probably March for the later ones. The actual due date for Penn State was Monday, February 1st. I received an email Wednesday the 3rd from the graduate coordinator asking for an interview. I had an interview via Skype the next Monday. Wednesday the 10th, I received an offer of admission to their graduate program. I was completely blown away by how fast everything happened. This past Friday, I made my official decision.

So this fall, I will be joining Penn State's Applied Linguistics PhD Program. I have received a graduate assistantship which will allow me to teach English to non-native speakers. It's a great school and Applied Linguistics at Penn State is a top notch program with great faculty, resources, and opportunities. I didn't let myself have a top choice school after I submitted my applications. I didn't want to be disappointed if I didn't hear good news from any of the schools. But once I received their offer, it wasn't hard to realize that Penn State was my top choice all along. When I first read the program's website, it sounded perfect for my interests. I went down the list of faculty and their interests and kept thinking, "I can see myself really enjoying studying that." And an added bonus is that State College is only 30 minutes from my parents house and much closer to most of my extended family. I knew finding a strong program in applied linguistics would require leaving the Atlanta area and my friends there, so I was hoping to be in a place close to family so I would have a support system nearby.

In seems some people aren't quite sure what Applied Linguistics is. Most hear "linguistics" and think it means grammar or rhetoric. Linguistics is the study of natural language. Natural language is what people speak and hear every day. Most of linguistics is focused on spoken language. Writing is a human invention and from a linguistics perspective is an inexact representation of spoken language (Of course from a literary perspective, writing is an a form of artistic expression is not attempting to represent spoken language). Written expression, rhetoric, and the grammar that most people are familiar with from grade school and high school are usually the purview of English departments. This is not linguistics.

Traditional linguistics focuses on studying and describing the nature of language: phonetics-physical sounds, phonology-mental sounds (we hear the 't' sounds in top, cat, butter, Canton as 't' even though they are all different physical sounds) , morphology-how meaningful bits of language get put together to make words, syntax-how words get put together to make sentences, semantics-meanings of words and phrases and how they work together, pragmatics-how the context of speech adds to its meaning. These form the main areas of linguistics.

Applied linguistics is just what it sounds like: applying knowledge gained by studying language to real-life problems and issues related to language. The most common application is usually in language education though there are many applications in technology, policy, and international relations. My area of interest is second language acquisition which basically investigates how to teach/learn a second language. You can read more about my interests on my website.

Needless to say, I am very excited about this opportunity. It's been a long time coming. I've always thought I would continue my education, but I wanted some experience. I'm glad that I waited because it has given me the opportunity to better determine my specific area of interest and present a solid graduate application. Wish me luck!

WE ARE!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! May this year bring you success and fulfillment.

明けましておめでとうございます！

Bonne Année tout le monde! Que cette année vous apporte du succès et du bonheur.

Off to Pennsylvania for Christmas

I'm driving back up to Huntingdon for Christmas. It will be the first time in about 6 years that everyone in my family is together for Christmas. Sometimes I would be abroad or my older sister would be stuck in Arizona working. It should be nice.

I'm excited about the possibility of a white Christmas. Sledding, skiing, snowmen, snowball fights. WOO! I'll be staying there until early Spring so I'll get some snow sometime.

今週またハンチングダン市に車で行きます。今年は六年間の久しぶりに私の家族のみんながクリスマスを一緒に祝います。楽しみにしています。

ホワイトクリスマスも楽しみに。スレッド、スキー、雪だるま、雪合戦。春の初めまでペンシルベニア州におるからその間に雪が降ると思います。

JLPT

明日日本語能力試験を受けます。頑張ります。

I'm taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test tomorrow. I'll do my best!

Thanksgiving Dinner

I spent Thanksgiving back in Georgia. I came back down a couple weeks ago so I could celebrate with my brother and sisters. My sisters and I went downtown to cheer on my brother at the finish line of the half-marathon. Then we spent the rest of the morning cooking and ate around 2. Then we played games all afternoon and into the night.

I will be in Georgia until about the 20th or so. My siblings and I are going up to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my parents and extended family. It's been a couple years since I've celebrated Christmas with family, so I'm looking forward to it.

Thanksgivingをジョージャ州に過ごしました。そうするのために二週間前ここに戻りました。朝マラソンのフィニシュで兄を見るために妹と姉とダウンタウンへ行きました。それから料理をしました。二時に食べました。夜まで一緒にゲームを楽しました。

二十日頃までジョージャ州にいます。ペンシルベニア州で家族とクリスマスを過ごします。楽しみにしています。

到着！

やっと両親の家に到着した。

アラナさんのところから月曜日の昼からフィラデルフィア市へ行きました。おじのジョーさんとおばのジュディーさんが市の近くに住んでいる。だからそこに泊まった。（本当にありがとう！）いとこのジェシーさんが犬のことに手伝ってくれた。犬が旅行で心配していた。

火水曜日にUniversity of Pennsylvaniaに行った。楽しかった。きれいなキャンパスだと思う。いい人がたくさんおった.

昨日午後三時ころに家から出て、ハンティングダン市を向かっていった。七時に着いた。めちゃ疲れたけど、父とビルを飲みにいった。

今日車から僕のものを全部出して、部屋にきれいに置いた。昼から仕事と勉強です。（ブログも、もちろん）

I finally made it to my parents' house!!

I left Alana's place Monday at about noon and headed for Philadelphia. My Uncle Joe and Aunt Judy live nearby, so I stayed with them. (Thank you so much!) My cousin Jessie really helped out with my dog. She'd been so anxious with all the traveling.

Tuesday and Wednesday I visited the University of Pennsylvania. I enjoyed my time there. It's a beautiful campus and everyone was so nice.

Around three in the afternoon, I left my aunt and uncle's house for Huntingdon and arrived around 7. I was super tired but I still went and had a beer with my dad.

Today, I got everything out of my car and organized my new room. And since lunch I've been working and studying. (And doing my blog, too, of course)

Jad's Journeys

A shout-out to Mr. Matthew James Wright, my town-mate in Japan. He's the one who came up with this current blog's name. I hope your still doing Takase-cho proud!

ましゅー•ジェームズ•ライトさんへ、ありがとう！日本に同じ町に住んでいた。彼はこのブログの名前を考えた。まだ高瀬町に住んでいる。がんばって！