わたしのしゅうまつはおもしろくありませんでした

じゃ、ちょっとおもしろいでした。クラスと金曜日にニューヨークのMuseum of Natural Historyへいきました。はくぶつかんは７９ストリート(79th Street) のちかてつのちかくにありますから、わたしはちかてつでいきました、それからあるいていきました。はくぶつかんだいたいおもしろいです。わたしははくぶつかんがとてもすきです。金曜日のごごににほんのStudy abroad info sessionへいきました。

土曜日と日曜日はあまりおもろくありませんでした。わたしはべんきょうしました。えいごのほんをべんきょうしました。それからにほんごをべんきょうしました。それからともだちとべんきょうしました。それからひとりでべんきょうしました。

たくさんべんきょうしました。

きょうもたくさんべんきょうします。だいがくのせいかつですね。

Cool Resource: Japanese Hover Dictionaries

I highly recommend downloading Rikaikun (if you use Google Chrome) or Rikaichan (if you use Firefox). These are hover dictionaries: when you turn them on and hover your mouse/pointer over a Japanese word, several possible definitions will pop up. These dictionaries even recognize conjugated verbs, and will give you the definition of the verb in the infinitive, plus will tell you what the conjugation is (e.g., polite past). I also like these a lot because if you hover over kanji, they show you several possible readings for that kanji. This is super helpful when a webpage includes kanji that I neither know the meaning of nor know how to pronounce! An icon for Rikaikun (the dictionary that I use because I have Chrome) will appear to the right of the address bar in Chrome, and this is probably similar in Firefox. You just click on the icon to turn the dictionary on and off, which I find very convenient. (Sometimes you need to wait several seconds for it to load, so if nothing happens immediately just know that that's normal.) The impression that I get is that these are more reliable and more comprehensive than dictionary sites like Babylon, which often give only one possible definition.

Here's Rikaichan: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rikaichan/
And Rikaikun: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rikaikun/jipdnfibhldikgcjhfnomkfpcebammhp?hl=en

(Also, they're free!)


And then there is, of course, えがおでにほんご's list of useful links, which I'll drop here as Part Two of this Public Service Announcement:

http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/Portal_e.aspx
http://language.tiu.ac.jp/    (Reading Tutor)
http://nihongo-e-na.com/eng/   (Japanese study help and resources--listening practice, quizzes, etc.)
http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/language.html     (LOTS of links to further resources)

Happy studying! :)