Adventures in Learning Japanese

Lang-8

2011-03-01T04:55:00.000-08:00

Recently I started using the Lang-8 account I signed up for ages ago. Basically you post a journal entry, and it gets corrected by native speakers. The idea is that you go and correct articles of your native language in exchange for corrections on the language you're looking for. You get friend lists as well, so if you are social, more people will see your entries on their friends feed as well as the public feed.

The corrections are done on a line by line basis. Usually you will get multiple people correcting your Japanese, and you can pick the corrections that make the mot sense to you, if there are more than one. Corrections usually come VERY quickly due to the amount of people using the recent post feed!

I've done 2 posts so far and continue to do more!

http://lang-8.com/20399

So go forth, and BE CORRECTED!

The great Tae Kim Adventure

2011-02-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided to now pick up on this whole grammar thing.

I was going through Japanese for Everyone, but decided to do a FAST run-through of all basic grammar. Thankfully there is a tae kim anki deck to ensure I retain all of the information that I learn :)

So far I have only finished the "basic grammar" section and I am about to move onto "essential grammar". The essential is still fairly basic, but I am surprised at how much I'm already picking up from this guide. It is well laid out, has great examples, concise explanations, what more can you ask for!

Recently I've tried doing more communication in Japanese since I'm cutting back on written reviews, and the results have been great, I am slowly working more and more topics into my online chats, and the increased grammar base makes it much easier to express my thoughts clearly!

I have close to 400 of the core2k sentences under my belt as well, the first 400 were considered the "basic" sentences so I know the difficulty will ramp up, but it's nice knowing I am almost 20% through a 2000 piece series! Feels like RTK all over again, but more useful :D

Anki Changes

2011-02-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

I've now entered the era of the smartphone and have seen first hand how useful these really are! I have a few apps great for studying, the number one being AnkiDroid ( for Android OS of course )

One problem I've had so far is that I was doing both reading and writing cards. The problem here is that it takes FAR longer to write out the half of the cards than the reading cards. While I want to be able to write, spending an additional 5-8 times as much time on the cards is a huge setback.

Put it this way, Average of 10 seconds per review, reading only, 60 cards will take 10 minutes to review. Now go ahead and put writing with them all. You now have 120 cards, and my average time was just over 30 seconds per card. This is an HOUR of reviews. If you only have an hour a day to dedicate to anki you're done, finished, finito. However, if you're doing reading drills ( kanji to kana and meaning ) you can cover TRIPLE the material in HALF the time.

Now you have time for an episode of your fave drama or anime, or perhaps some extra sleep AND you're able to read 3 times as much. Heck if you're real keen, you can spend the whole hour on material and cover 6 times the reps. ( I plan on doing a LOT of learning soon )

Seeing as how I've been averaging 30 minutes on this deck a day, I could have done the "same" in 5 minutes? :p

Now I see why people stop wasting their time writing all their reviews!

Perhaps the most IMPORTANT part of this change? Reviewing on the go! Since I needed a desk and a notepad to do my reviews earlier, ankidroid was USELESS! Now that I am doing reading drills only, I can do a few waiting in line for movie tickets, sitting on the bike at the gym, have 15 minutes at work on a break? DONE Now the age of the smartphone is able to keep me productive whenever I want :)

P.S. I still think SOME writing is essential, I'm going to try to write out all failed cards, all NEW cards, and all of my RTK reps :)

Til next time, keep those review piles clear, and good luck! :)

Betrayal

2011-01-27T00:34:00.001-08:00

iKnow / smart.fm started over 2 years ago as a free way to increase your vocabulary. They started out very strong but over time got messier, harder to use, and now they've decided to start charging people for the privilege of using their now broken interface.

I liked the way it quizzes you on learning words, but I can just use anki for similar benefit, just a little less "fun". There was a TONNE of user submitted material as well that will only be accessible through the new paid app.

They tried to combine a study platform with social networking, I liked seeing friends progress, commenting etc. but now that aspect of it is gone.

I'm not going to be subscribing. It might be worth the money for some people, but I'll save my dollars, use anki, and perhaps buy a new book.

Sources

http://www.tofugu.com/2011/01/26/smartfm-closing-down/

http://blog.smart.fm/en/2011/01/27/closing-the-smart-fm-service/

http://blog.smart.fm/en/2011/01/27/closing-the-smart-fm-service/

RTK done

2011-01-26T02:07:00.000-08:00

Well about a week ago I entered kanji #2042 into my SRS. 2 days ago I exported my progress from kanji.koohii.com to anki.

It feels good to be done the book, but it will take some time for my reviews to die down enough to be comfortable :)

I am doing a super quick runthrough of all the grammar and vocab from lessons 1-8 of JFE, and then will start Lesson 9. I am also entering steps 1 and 2 from smart.fm's Core 2000 Japanese lists. I am around 150 sentences in so far.

Progress is great, now back onto learning real Japanese ^_^

2/3 through RTK

2010-12-27T04:27:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here thinking to myself "Wow, I'm 2/3 through RTK. This is SOO much painless than the first time I ran through the book"

It turns out 2 years of non-use and I still need very little review to get me right back to where I was before. This simply shows how strong the method is. A good friend of mine is now starting RTK after seeing my success with it, but is likely doing the RTK lite option first. This simply goes through about the 1000 most useful kanji in the book first, and the primitive elements that make them up. This ensures the most gain in the shortest time. He will most likely finish the book at a later date after that.

I have entered 100 facts into Anki, for 200 cards, and am having fun memorizing the new words and compounds I am being exposed to. I have 300 more facts to go to be caught up with smart.fm. Once this occurs, and I am done RTK my decks will slow substantially and I can spend much more time on JFE :D ( which btw is now into lesson 9 )

Progress

2010-12-14T01:53:00.000-08:00

Almost halfway through this run of RTK, but I'm not just doing that. This time I am getting extremely high retention rates, it simply shows how WELL the system works. Even after all this time I can easily fly through 100 new kanji in a day no problem. I am going to pick the pace up a bit ( I was doing the smaller lessons in a day, but recently had the 130 and 96 kanji monsters recently ) and decided I'd love to be done with the book by new years clearing myself up to just do reviews.

I have "Mastered" Japanese Core 2000 steps 1 and 2 on smart.fm. This apparently covers all of their beginner level material. I started step 3 and BOY is it a huge leap, no wonder they call it intermediate. I've seen comments that step 4 is easier, perhaps I will do that one alongside it. Now I can enter this all into anki and slowly work through the newer, harder stuff.

Anki, I've obtained the core2000 deck with audio and pictures. It tests both production and dictation. This is good because I get to try reading the sentences, if correct, pass. For dictation, I can visualize what the kanji should look like, and usually write them out unless it seems pretty easy. Of course I need to understand the sentence in both cases as well. On all the tougher cards and ALL fails, the full sentence gets written out.

It will take me a while to get all the core2000 sentences I've completed into anki, but I'm learning more as I go. Core2k concentrated on one word, where I test myself on the entire sentence.

I am already seeing improvements in my reading, and once I have completed RTK I can concentrate more on sentences and JFE. I am currently on lesson 8 in JFE, and have gotten back there quickly. I've slowed down now to clear out all this other material I am working through. When I run out, there's always KO2001 :D

Til next time......

Wow it's been a while

2010-11-26T01:35:00.000-08:00

Well stuff happened life got in the way, and I got in a horrible mangled mess because some guy in a car hit me on my bike.

Hip surgery and some time off later and here I am at home studying again.

I am about caught up to where I'd abandoned my studies over a year ago and moving at a decent pace! At least 6 more weeks off, so I will take full advantage of them and try to MAKE SURE I keep reviewing this time to keep it all fresh :D

Wish me luck!

Back on Pace

2009-07-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I started going through RTK again about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and so far it's been great.

I had barely gotten through the book the first time when my study time was ripped away from me, but how quickly I am progressing the second time around just shows how powerful the method really can be, when properly utilized with an SRS ( Spaced Repetition System )

I have learnt to multitask quite well lately, right now I am writing this entry, Doing RTK reviews, cooking dinner, watching my twin daughter, AND moderating a chat forum ^^

Multitasking effectively, is key if you don't have enough time to dedicate to the cause ( Which we all know, is Japanese Fluency )

On another note my most recent order came in, and quite quickly I must say. I added "A Dictionary Of Basic Japanese Grammar" as well as the intermediate and advanced companions. I also recieved "Breaking into Japanese Literature" as well as "Exploring Japanese Literature"

Once I am done this runthrough of RTK I will have to experiment to see how I will continue on. I figure some combination of JFE, KAnji flashcards, a source of sentences putting Kanji into context and straight grammar input. Oh yeah, don't forget the SRS, love that thing!

I will let you know how things go
Until next time ^^

Sugoi desu ne

2009-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally finished with my internet/computer/time troubles.

It took a few months but I am back in the habit and here to stay.

Studying a language for fun while working full time and having young kids is somewhat crazy but hey, I love it :D

I am on my second round of RTK ( Remembering the Kanji ) and I am going to hit frame 500, around 1/4 through the book in about 6 days total, not bad for the second time around, I will be reading authentic material in NO TIME!

I will also update my books used soon, I ordered some dictionaries of japanese grammar by the Japan Times. GOOD STUFF

がんばります＾＾

To study, or not to study, that is the question

2009-05-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

I finally am back to working fulltime. Great for my family, not so great for study time.
If I only worked and did not have girls to watch as well it would be easy, full time working plus full time dad = not much free time.

The question is, do I spend what little free time I do have studying? or rotting my brain in front of the tv and on the internet....... we will see....

A Fresh Start

2009-03-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

I have just jumped through some hurdles thanks to the economy, moving, etc. etc. I have had to get used to working nights, had no computer for a month and a half and finally am getting used to my schedule again, and hope to finally get back into my study pattern. We will see.

I am restarting as much as I can to jog my memory, I am sure it will not be that hard, I will re-do heisig, then start iknow again and go through my textbook all over again. Now the question is, do I get my hands on some Grammar dictionaries? or some other Grammar source other than my textbook? ^^

Wish me luck ( Again )

A week off can hurt.

2009-02-14T03:03:00.000-08:00

I recently took off a week from Japanese Study. No reviews, no exercises, pretty well nothing at all. I barely even touched my computer. The reason for this? A few things. First of all, I got burnt out. Studying Japanese EVERY DAY gets to you. Secondly, I started a new job. Normally this would not be a problem. My new job is overnights. This is during my prime study hours. I am now forced to either study while my girls are awake and screaming, or be limited to about an hour of free time between them going to sleep and me leaving for work.

I get 2 days off per week perhaps to do new material, while my days working I will mostly review but I am not sure yet. With my regiment of Anki, Iknow and Revtk, this will surely get a little messy.

A week off of studying has thrown my motivation a bit, the more time you spend away from the language, the more addicting it gets not to look at it, and you lose progress as well. I am getting back on track again, but we shall see how things go for the next little while, I have some meetings about my financials coming up, plus I am moving again soon too. Fun stuff.

RTK Madness

2009-02-04T12:44:00.001-08:00

I have decided to take a little bit of time here to explain my RTK method and why I chose to go this route, and how it works for me.

First, the reason why I tried RTK. Remembering the Kanji is primarily focused on remembering a keyword meaning for each of the 2042 Kanji in the book ( including 1944/1945 General use Kanji ) as well as how to write each of them from memory. Heisig uses a component analysis method in order to achieve a fluid system to remember how to write them. You utilize a "story" method to tie the component parts with the keyword meaning.

A word of caution, the keyword meaning in English is a great tool for us learners to use, but there are a few kanji where the keyword is pulled out of thin air simply for memory/story purposes. This makes remembering it much easier but you will be using it differently in written Japanese. The nuance between similar words is not all that important either. I, me, myself etc are used with different nuances in Japanese than english, so as long as you remember how to write each of these, and can recognize them, you are doing fine.

Kanji.koohii.com , which is linked on the side of my blog, is a community based on the RTK methodology. You can share stories, primitive alternates etc. This is a great tool to both keep your motivation up, and find other stories that work better for you. I still made quite a few of my own, sometimes taking pieces of stories seen on this site. It is one of the reasons I made it through the book.

Many people want to learn the on and kun readings at the same time as the meaning and writing/recognition. I personally went against this method simply because of the effort required to be able to have a 50/50 shot of sounding out a word with a 50/50 shot at the general idea of the meaning ( if you are BANG on with everything ) just doesn't work for me. I would rather learn words/vocab and compounds together, which I am better at anyways. I always have been good at tieing a sound to a word, or kanji I know, my biggest struggle being the mess of meaningless lines known as kanji.

My personal recommendation is for someone to try out RTK using the method outlined above, not adding readings etc. to the Kanji. It takes long enough to finish the book as it is, and readings in isolation are quite useless. It's similar to learning words without a sentence to throw them into which I will get into another time ^^ Using another source afterward such as Kanji Odyssey 2001 or the FREE iKnow online learning platform after this will introduce words and compounds for the kanji in an order based on frequency and usefulness.

Good luck in your studies.

Computer Rebuild Hiccups

2009-01-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

I am usually on my computer several hours per day. This includes doing my Kanji reviews, moderating thejapanesepage.com chatroom which has proven to be a great source of help and advice as well. I am going to be using the iknow website to learn vocab, and anki for my reviews for grammar and vocab. Needless to say, my Japanese learning environment is very computer Dependant.

A couple of days ago I had an accident with my laptop, they are NOT designed for heave wear anymore. My last laptop lasted almost 5 years and still works, but lacking a power cord and current hardware, it makes things difficult. I am rough with my laptop yes, but with the abuse that one went through, being older hardware and still lasting I didn't think too much of it.

My current laptop is just over 6 months old, I have already replaced the hard drive once, and now it won't even start up. I would rather buy a better desktop than guess troubleshoot and burn more money. I needed a different temporary solution.

My dad had a slightly older desktop that he was going to chuck, so I scooped it up and threw in an old hard drive I had sitting around. Thanks to the older hardware, windows would be WAY too slow and I couldn't find my install cd's anymore either. Solution? TRY LINUX

Fedora 10 was the first distro i tried, being a total n00b I took the advice of someone and it proved WAY too unstable on my computer. It was also very difficult to get going as well. After a day and a half of messing around and getting frustrated I tried Ubuntu. An hour later I was running Ubuntu smoothly and started to setup programs and plugins I like to use, and now have everything set up for my Japanese learning environment.

Now I need to clear up my 750 tall review pile and 100 failed pile for Kanji reviews ( that is the cost of rushing the end of RTK 1 and then having your system fail )

Welcome to my Blog

2009-01-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

Due to popular request, I have decided to open up a blog to Show everyone my progress in my quest to obtain Literacy, and dare I say Fluency, in the Japanese Language. If you are reading this, CONGRATULATIONS in coming across my page, and thanks for coming!

I will post a list of my favourite online resources, as well as a list of my favourite books that I have either used, or know enough about to recommend to recommend.

Well, time will tell where we go from here, hopefully we have fun on the way there :D