Personal Project Report

Planning

Inspiration

As shown in the image above of an imaginary language I made when I was 5 years old, I have been
fond of linguistics since childhood. From the beginning, I’ve grown up in a multilingual environment with my
Swedish-German father and my Japanese mother. I have also moved around the world allowing me to get a
taste of different cultures throughout my life. Moving to Singapore – a country filled with immigrants – I had
the opportunity to learn Chinese and French in my school and got heavily influenced by friends of various
nationalities. My international journey continued onto Qatar a year later where the situation was kept
fundamentally the same: a country busy with immigrants and studying at an international school. So now, the
languages I learned accumulated to Japanese, Swedish, English, Spanish, and Arabic. While it would have been
easier if these were all Latin languages, this set included 2 of the most complicated languages to learn,
Japanese and Arabic. Hence, I had to figure out study methods, implement self-discipline, and retain an
interest in these cultures to grasp them. This was not an opportunity many children got and there was also my
pride in knowing them which sparked my pursuit to learn more languages. On top of these reasons, I genuinely
enjoy Japanese culture including manga or anime, hence I decided on learning Japanese.

Learning Goal

My learning goal is to master an upper-intermediate level of Japanese including learning 600 kanjis.
Upper-intermediate refers to the N3 level within the official ‘Japanese Language Proficiency Test’ standards,
essentially the capabilities of a 5th grader. However, I will not be starting from scratch. My prior knowledge
includes the N5 level (the most basic stage) which covers an elementary level of literacy and understanding.
I plan to reach the N3 level through self-teaching methods such as active recall with flashcards and aural,
visual, and verbal exposure to the language by December 20th, 2021. The reason behind choosing this topic
arises from my interest in learning languages.

Product Goal

To show my capability in the Japanese language, I will write and illustrate a children’s book in Japanese
directed at children from ages 6-8 but even older audiences who are reading children's literature to study
Japanese as a foreign language. With this product, I will be combining two more hobbies of mine: drawing and
writing fiction. This book will be purely made through digital mediums such as Fire Alpaca and Word for both

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illustrations and text and will be donated to the Japanese Embassy for avid readers. I plan to finish this book by
January 15th, 2022.

Global Context

This project ties into ‘personal and cultural expression’ because I am expressing my hobby of learning
languages as well as showcasing a global issue that I find important which is environmental sustainability. I will
use a creative approach to express this message which is the digital art within my product goal. My chosen
project will prove a very hard challenge to complete in the following 5 months because of the 600 kanji that I
have to learn. However, I understand that it is manageable because in the past I have learned 50 kanji within a
week.

Product Success Criteria

Category Criteria Details

Writing in a language which is • Use Japanese syntax and diction
appropriate and understandable for which is learnt by the age of 6-year-
young children. olds.
The story’s length should be easily • 25 pages, give or take.
readable.
Story It should have a catchy beginning. • Have the climax happen within 3
pages.
The story should leave the reader • Address how humans take trees for
with a meaningful message or moral. granted and should take better care
of them.
• The importance of honesty.
Illustrations should frequently • One per two pages
appear.
The graphics should have a sense of • Does not have to include
simplicity. background
Aesthetics
The font should be easy on the eyes. • Around size 16
The book should not look plain. • Do not have too much text on a page
• Make the overall appearance
colorful
It should be created through a digital • Options include Word for story and
medium. FireAlpaca for illustrations
It should include all the components • Includes a cover page with
Manufacturing
of the average children’s book. illustrations (p.1)
• Second title page with simpler
illustrations (p.2)
People from the embassy should be • One option is to display it on the
able to have easy access to it online. official website.
Function

My product is finished on time. • Finished by January 15th

Finalization My product is donated to the • By mid-February
Japanese Embassy in Qatar.

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Product Action Plan

Success Action How? Date State

Criteria

Research tips on writing a Search the internet for tips on November Done
children’s book. writing children’s books. 2021

Analyse the Japanese Compare the similarities and November Done

children’s books I have at differences in Kaguya Hime, Guri 2021
home. to Gura, The Ugly Duckling, and
the 7 Goat Kids.
Think of the morale of the Brainstorm global issues I find November Done
book/fable. important for kids to know 2021
Story about.
Write 1st English draft. See research document for how December 2021 Done
to write children’s books by
BookFox.co.
Write final English draft. Edit according to research/tips December 2021 Done (Late)
from the children’s books I
analyzed.
Start translating. Use prior knowledge. December 2021 Done (Late)
Check translations with Ask for feedback from Mom in December 2021 Done (Late)
someone else. terms of grammar and spelling.
Practice animal anatomy Watch youtube videos for December 2021 Done (Late)
(because the characters guidance. Make sure that I
are animals). specifically practice cartoon
animals, so the shapes won't be
proportional to real life.
Plan what illusts to do for Draw a storyboard and decide January 2021 Done
what page. which visuals are crucial for
explaining the story.
Draw cover page illust – Follow the same routine of: January 2021 Done
souffle and syrup. - Rough sketch 1
Illustrati - Rough sketch 2
ons - Outline
- Base coloring
- Play with hues
- Add shadows
- Final edits

Draw end page doodle – Follow routine above. January 2021 Done
just a hedgehog posing.

Draw page 3 – glowing Follow routine above. January 2021 Done

maple tree.

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 Find software for putting Ask peers that are experienced January 2021 Done
together the book. in creating ebooks.

Format the book. Draw a rough sketch, deciding January 2021 Done (Late)
what part of the story or
illustrations goes on what page.
Manufac Combine the illustrations Follow a youtube tutorial in case January 2021 Done (Late)
turing I need assistance assembling the
and story into the
software. book.
Donate it. Ask my mother to contact the February 2021 Not done
Japanese Embassy if I can donate
it for visitors who want to use it
to learn Japanese or actual kids.

Criteria B: Applying Skills

Learning goal: Mastering an upper-intermediate level of Japanese including learning 600 kanjis

Thinking Skills (Transfer Skills)

Throughout my personal project, I utilized transfer skills and prior knowledge in order to complete my
goal of persistently practicing Japanese until I make my way up to becoming an intermediate reader, writer,
and speaker. The first way I demonstrated transfer skills is when I used my knowledge of how to learn
languages in general and applied it to Japanese. As I mentioned in the ‘inspiration’ part of the report, my
international life has stirred me to want to learn languages, hence I had created a list of 40 methods one can
study a language which greatly facilitated the research phase on how I could study efficiently and in a fun way.

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From this list, I utilized ideas including singing and listening to music, talking to natives such as my violin
teacher, using mnemonics, translating, and changing the language within video games. A bit later when I was
studying the N5 (easiest) level of Japanese, I also created a habit of learning 5 kanjis a day through an app
called “手書き漢字ドリル1026” which is shown below. The method proved effective, so it became the main
method which I studied Japanese for the personal project.

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Self-Management (Affective Skills: Perseverance and Self-Motivation)

What stood out most to me as a person learning Japanese at an intermediate level was the
perseverance that was required. Perseverance can be loosely defined as consistently putting effort despite
facing difficulties, but to me, it meant sticking to my routine of practicing the kanji and my general literacy in
Japanese nearly every day. Two examples of exercises I did are as follows:

Example 1: Kanji Learning App (“手書き漢字ドリル1026”)

Every day, give or take a few such as during holidays, I practiced 5 kanjis which piled up to 600 by the end of
my personal project. This took a lot of perseverance however it was much more motivating when I had easy
access to this app through my phone as I could pull it up anytime such as waiting in a line, on public transport,
and more. To break down how the app works, there are 6 grade levels to choose from and after clicking one,
the respective kanjis for the selected grade are divided into groups of 5. This meant I could just tick off one row
per day. The exercise within each block was simply filling in the missing kanji.

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Example 2: Translating ‘everyday’ sentences

Translating everyday sentences was for general literacy including grammar and vocabulary. This particular
exercise employs the hypercorrection effect. The idea is that when I get feedback that goes against what I
expected to be the answer, I pay more attention – in other words, I become more motivated. Another aspect
that makes this exercise useful is that the language used is for everyday use, hence very crucial. Getting
answers wrong made me more alert than other boring exercises because how else would I communicate with
my Japanese acquaintances which I see weekly? Using motivating activities as the two above, I was able to pull
through and persevere throughout the Japanese part of the personal project.

The last example where I exhibited motivation as well as perseverance was when I met the sub-goals that I had
created for myself. Firstly, I challenged myself to pass the official JLPT N4 exam which tests beginner level
literacy including 100 kanjis which should’ve taken place on December 5th, 2021 but was cancelled.
Nevertheless, this short-term goal (in comparison to how long the PP is) helped me keep on track with my
language studies. The second sub-goal before mastering N3 (conversational level) was entering a Japanese
poetry competition hosted by the Japanese Embassy in collaboration with the Qatar Poetry Center. The poem I
wrote was submitted through the comment section on an Instagram post.
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Product goal: Writing and illustrating a children’s book in Japanese directed at children from ages 6-8.

Thinking (Creative Thinking Skills)

This skill was mainly involved during the story building and illustrating. Firstly, I used visual diagrams
such as storyboards to help me get a grasp on the stories structure including what part goes in what page. My
goal was to make a layout that was easy and pleasant for small kids to read which meant that I had to have
frequent drawings in the book as well. In the picture below, I divide and sort the story in a coherent matter as
well as locate where it’s best to have illustrations.

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Secondly, I had to think like
a small child to come up
with my morale which
involved answering
questions such as: “What’s
a relevant but simple global
issue that can be
understood by young kids?”
and “What is a message that
is important to me which I
can express through my
book?” To come up with
these new ideas, I also had
to create visual diagrams
such as mind maps or draw
rough sketches to see if I
could visualize the story so
that the message is clear.
The most important step
was making the characters –
which were going to be
animals – cute and appealing for children of the specified age and so I brainstormed ideas of what the
characters would look like with rough sketches as shown here:

Another thing this project taught me about creativity is the importance of sticking to one style of drawing for it
to not look disorganized. At the beginning of the drawing phase, I was very creative and experimented with
different styles – soft, rough, sharp to name a few. Here I practiced flexible thinking and developed multiple
opposing arguments, albeit I realized I had too many varying styles which made it look incoherent. Playing with

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 different styles, however, taught me
to create my own brushes or design
improvements to existing ones to
attain specific textures, another form
of creativity.

Research (Media Literacy Skills)

Whether it’s a normal book

or an e-book, in today's world, the
first place you would go is the
internet. Therefore, it requires digital
literacy to be able to correctly format
and produce the book in an online
medium, in my scenario a children's
book which includes illustrations. The
variety of media I used to compile my
book was Word for text, FireAlpaca
for illustrations, and PowerPoint for
the final product. Although Word and
PowerPoint were easy to maneuver
considering I use them for school, I
found it difficult to draw online.
Before this project, I had very little experience with digital art but after roughly a month, I managed to grasp
the different features available and use them to my advantage. A few such features were ‘Protect Alpha’,
‘Clipping’, and ‘Lock’ which improved my drawing speed after I grasped them because they were not realistic
abilities which I could do on paper. Aside from illustrating, I used digital literacy skills when locating, analyzing,
and using information from online networks to aid the story writing process. For example, BookFox is an
organization founded by John Fox in which there are a myriad of resources for writing fiction, even specifically
children’s books. It helped me decide on the length of the book, how fast the climax should occur, and how to
build an appealing main character. All in all, the media literacy skills I employed helped me to communicate my
ideas effectively to multiple audiences through my e-book, shown below as the PowerPoint version.

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Reflecting
Impact of the project on myself

After finalizing the product and looking back, I can see that my project has shaped me for the

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better in many ways. Starting with, a better understanding of the Japanese language and its intricacies.
Throughout the project and my continuous daily practices, my learning has amounted to being able to partake
in casual discussions and understand conversational level kanji, since my grammar and listening skills were
already honed from my half-Japanese upbringing. In total, I am able to recognize and write nearly 600 kanji
which will be a great help when interacting with the few Japanese people around me as well as forwarding my
journey of learning many languages. On this journey, I was also able to grasp a handy skill set for drawing as I
studied the core skills including shading, coloring, and anatomy which make up the base for beginner artists
like me. A noticeable feature on my drawings is the lack of perspective used, which leads me to decide my next
goal in drawing: perspective, which would have made the story more realistic and dynamic for the children
reading.

While I was able to persevere with my Japanese studies, I couldn’t keep up my motivation for writing
the report and hence I ended up having to do most of it in the last few months. However, to tackle this, I
pinpointed the reasons which caused me to lose motivation and figured out solutions. The first reason I
wanted to back out was due to the heavy workload of writing 15 pages of content. I realized I wasn’t putting
the task into context and that I will eventually have enough content to write about after completing my
process journal. Instead of being scared, I divided the report into much more manageable tasks such as ‘write
the first paragraph’ or even sometimes ‘write the first sentence’. Another bottleneck in my progress was my
learning style which, throughout this project, I came to realize was verbal learning and working. I recognized
this pattern after seeing myself taking mental notes through a video of me explaining more often than writing
it down. An effective solution to this was working together with some friends on calls to make it more
motivating for a verbal learner like me. In terms of self-discipline, I realized I must be more realistic with my
goals, specifically long-term ones. This is evident in how I marked a lot of steps in the action plan as ‘Done
(Late)’. This will be important to improve on because it will be a crucial skill in handling long term assignments
which will be more prevalent during the DP years as they will require a lot more self-discipline with less
guidance from teachers. As a solution to this, I would practice planning my schedules monthly and trying to
meet more frequent long-term goals.

With the help of this self-directed project, my communication has also improved in various ways.
Firstly, a very valuable lesson I learned from this project was presentation skills which I developed during the
PP exhibition. As I presented the same information over and over, I slowly started to present better after
noticing a few things. The first was how tired people were, which meant I had to make my talking concise as
well as take breaks to let the information soak in. Other points I considered after a few presentations were my
talking speed and eye contact. This was to make the huge load of information being presented more amusing
and understandable for the audience. However, the audience varied from 5th graders to adults so depending
on the people, I learned to regulate my presentation which involved the tone I spoke in – playful or
educational, the amount of detail I included, the vocabulary I used, and making personal connections if it
happened to be a person I knew. Lastly, I noticed improvement in writing fiction. I had to focus on making it
appeal to 6-8 year old's which turned out to be a more difficult task than I anticipated. This was because the
climax had to occur within the first 5 pages, only 3-5 sentences could be on a page, and the story had to relay
an important message according to my success criteria which was based on both primary and secondary
research. Nevertheless, by the end of the writing phase in my project, I was able to grasp both how to make
the story captivating and the specific diction used in most Japanese children’s books. To understand the art of
fiction, I did more careful observations of the most popular Japanese children’s books such as:

Kaguya Hime
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Guri to Gura

My Product

My final product was a 20-page Japanese children’s book consisting of 6 illustrations, directed at
children from 6 to 8 years old. The book shows the journey of a maple tree which provides the best maple
syrup in the world but starts dying when it gets exploited too much by locals. The story ends with the locals
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feeling guilty and planting a new magical sapling which relays the morale of how important it is to be
environmentally sustainable. I used the global context as inspiration to create a book that shows a personal
story of a group of animals taking care of nature; not overusing the resources provided by our planet for profit.

Evaluation of product against success criteria

Success Criteria Was it met? Why?

Writing in a style which is Yes All the vocabulary and the kanji that I used matched the
appropriate and capabilities of a child that is 6-8 years old and even has
understandable for young ‘furigana’ which is a reading aid consisting of smaller letters
children. that indicate the pronunciation of a kanji. After having the
story proofread by 1 Japanese adult as well as a beginner at
Japanese, I received the same feedback that the wording used
was appropriate for children.
The story’s length should Yes The story is 20 pages long which is within the recommended
be easily readable. length of ~25 pages. This is mainly based on the observations
of Kaguya Hime, Guri to Gura, and other Japanese children’s
books I had at my home.
It should have a catchy No The climax did not occur within the first 5 pages and instead on
beginning. the 8th page. Despite this, there were elements which made the
story catchy from the get-go such as the main character
encountering a glowing maple tree along with a vibrant
illustration on the very first page.
The story should leave the Yes According to feedback from people during the exhibition, the
reader with a meaningful moral of the story is clear and predicted to be impactful for
message or moral. children who read it. Environmental sustainability is one of the
most pressing problems in the world, therefore I believe it is
important for kids to learn about it from a young age.
Illustrations should No My book did not have an illustration every second page as per
frequently appear. the success criteria and only had 3 in total, excluding the front
and back covers.
The graphics should have Yes The style of art which I opted for in my book is soft including
a sense of simplicity. simplistic shapes, colors and no shading. For example, my
representation of the magical maple tree can be described as a
red cloud with branches and a glow from behind. Moreover, I
have made the limbs of the animals into simple nubs sticking
out of the body.
The font should be easy Yes The font I used is Yu Gothic – size 24 – which is a standard sans
on the eyes. serif type family designed to be highly readable and is a very
common typeface for any Japanese text.
The book should not look No It looks plain due to the lack of illustrations. This illustrates how
plain. starting the drawing phase in December was too late since it
didn’t give me enough time to practice the fundamentals of
drawing. Even though I could have put backgrounds for the
text, I thought it looked better without.
It should be created Yes For text, I used Microsoft Word, for illustrations: FireAlpaca,
through a digital medium. and for the final product: Microsoft PowerPoint. I believe I
adequately employed media literacy skills for both finding

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 usable software and using them to their full extent. This was
especially evident in the drawing such as utilizing the hue bar,
alpha lock, clipping, and more features to give my drawings a
clean finish.
It should include all the No My book had the front cover, inner cover, title page, and back
components of the cover. It is missing the copyright page as well as the official
average children’s book. publishing tags at the end of the book, hence it did not fulfill
the criteria. I decided not to include those pages because there
was simply no copyrights or publishing information to put.
People from the embassy No As it was never donated, many people do not know of its
should be able to have existence and do not have access at all.
easy access to it online.

My product is finished on No It was not handed in on time and the reason for this is because
time. I started the drawing part in December which was too late
since it didn’t give me enough time to practice the
fundamentals of art.
My product is donated to No It was never donated. To solve this, I could've printed a single
the Japanese Embassy in copy of the book with a QR code redirecting it to my eBook and
Qatar. donated that instead.

Conclusion

In general, I believe the product could have been improved to be of much higher quality through handling my
time better and enforcing better self-discipline. Nevertheless, completing this personal project taught me a
host of things that will prove useful skills to have in the future. Firstly, reaching the upper-intermediate level of
Japanese will provide many opportunities for me in terms of finding work since multilingual people are
becoming increasingly valuable with rapid globalization. Secondly, my digital literacy has vastly improved after
creating an eBook using over 3 software which is another valuable skill to have in our modern, digitalized
world. I have been able to extend my knowledge both on my topic and global context having expressed my
personal story through illustration as well as fictional stories in the language I love.

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