Kida's Japanese Log

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Kida_4000061
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Languages: English (N), Japanese (beginner/ lower intermediate), & French (Very Basic & mostly forgotten)
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Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Kida_4000061 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 8:54 pm

I have learning Japanese for awhile almost 6 years, but no where near fluent. I decided to to weekly updates in hope that it will keep me on track. I have briefly looked in other languages. I also started working through Spanish very slowly with the only reason to work through workbook, Spanish the Easy Way, so I am only an absolute beginner.

My language learning background:
I have been interested in languages since middle school, but I did not start learning a second language until high school. I took one year of French during high school and I really enjoyed the language and the culture. I would not take another language until my first year of college, which would be the second semester of beginning Japanese. I taught myself what I missed over the christmas break, and I did alright, but by end class I did not like textbook or the course. After that I decided to continue Japanese through self study.

Japanese
Major accomplishments:
-Learned that Kanji were made up radicals
-Completed Human Japanese and Human Japanese intermediate
-Completed the Core 2k step one on Anki (decided to drop SRS after that)
-Complete Beginner's Japanese Script aka Read and Write Japanese Script
-Learned how conjugate Japanese verbs.

Ongoing projects/ study:
-Meet with a Japanese study group for 1.5 hours ever week (started after I finished the Japanese class)
-Transcribing Real Japanese in Kana and Kanji from Romaji (3 of 13 chapters? done)
-Cutting out the giant pile of Kanji Cards (Finished 1st Grade and about 3/8 through second grade)
-Going through Beginner's Japanese Script again (3 of 10 chapters complete)

Long Term Goals:

-Pass JLPT N2
-Complete the transcription of Real Japanese
-Read the piles of books of my shelf
-Cut out all the flash cards about 3,000 cards
-Transition to all Japanese

My Japanese Level:

I am at pre-intermediate level when it comes to understanding. I am able to read very simple short stories and can read most of the 1st grade Kanji. I can write proficiently up to N4 Kanji, currently working on N3 Kanji. When listening, I can pick up short sentences, phrases, and words here and there. Speaking is my lowest with only able to speak simple sentences.

My method:
I mostly learn through trial and error. I do not use SRS at the moment, but I do use flashcards and short lists from time to time. I also keep two notebooks for unfamiliar grammar and vocal that I encounter, but I do not study them just write in them. I do shadowing for speaking practice, but haven't done it recently. I prefer hand ons and visual learning. I also practice writing using an app KanjiBox with KanjiDraw.
2 x
Real Japanese Transcription: 5 / 13
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs: 0 / 2
The Loom of Language: 3 / 12

Rotasu
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Rotasu » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:24 pm

Welcome Kida!!

I look forward to watching your journey :D
Have you found that just exposure and writing vocabulary down, has helped you learn new words?
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kujichagulia
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby kujichagulia » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:19 am

ようこそ! I think your story is very similar to mine. I was in Japan for nine years and only got to a high beginner level before I decided to start getting serious about learning Japanese about three or so years ago. I also studied a year of French in high school and two at university, but hardly remember any of it!

I'm still trying to get better at learning Japanese, but let me know if I can help you out with anything.
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Kida_4000061
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Kida_4000061 » Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:42 am

Rotasu wrote:Welcome Kida!!
Have you found that just exposure and writing vocabulary down, has helped you learn new words?

Yes, it has helped because I am able to put words back into context.
kujichagulia wrote:ようこそ! I think your story is very similar to mine. I was in Japan for nine years and only got to a high beginner level before I decided to start getting serious about learning Japanese about three or so years ago. I also studied a year of French in high school and two at university, but hardly remember any of it!

I'm still trying to get better at learning Japanese, but let me know if I can help you out with anything.


We are very similar, the only major difference that I can see is that I have not been to Japan, yet. I have also forgot most of French as well. The only things that I remember are the french alphabet song, how to ask how are you, and a song for conjugate verbs in French.

Do have any suggest for books that are easy to read that are not preschoolers?
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Real Japanese Transcription: 5 / 13
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs: 0 / 2
The Loom of Language: 3 / 12

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kujichagulia
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby kujichagulia » Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:29 pm

Unfortunately I don't have any good, easy books to recommend yet - I just started reading books myself - but I really enjoy the Hukumusume website. It's full of different kinds of Japanese and international fairy tales and folk tales, as well as some other stuff. The site is only in Japanese, though.

What I like to do is go to the link above and click on the big banner in the middle of the page that says 今日は何の日. Then I navigate to today's date. For example, it's February, so I click on 2月. Then it shows me some sort of calendar, and I click on today's date (which is the 22nd right now). Hey, the 22nd is Cat Day (猫の日)! I just asked my wife why today is Cat Day, and it is because 2/22 can be pronounced like にゃんにゃんにゃん (two-two-two). にゃん is equivalent to "meow" in English.

Anyway, that will take you to the 2月22日 page. On that page, you can see a lot of information about February 22nd: about Cat Day (so, I didn't have to ask my wife after all!), and some other interesting trivia. That is interesting, but what is also interesting is on the left side of the page, if you scroll down a bit, there is a section called 2月22日の童話・昔話. There is a list of six different types of fairy tales and folk tales Hukumusume chose for that day. The types are:

きょうの日本昔話 Today's Japanese folk tale
きょうの世界昔話 Today's world folk tale
きょうの日本民話 Today's Japanese folklore
きょうのイソップ童話 Today's Aesop fable
きょうの江戸小話 Today's Edo period tale (Edo is the old name for Tokyo, but the period roughly refers to the time in Japan between 1600-1868.)
きょうの百物語 Today's ghost story

So you have six different stories you can read every day. It should keep you busy for an entire year. The stories are usually short, so it's good for people starting to read stuff in Japanese. I wouldn't recommend it to absolute beginners, but high beginners can read it with some effort, and it's really good stuff for low intermediate learners. Of course, that assumes you are interested in folk tales. I wasn't at the beginning, but the language is simple enough and the stories are sometimes interesting.

Oh, and a lot of them come with audio, so you can listen to the story while you read it. It's good for listening practice.

I hope that helps!

EDIT: Some people around the Internet recommend books from a publisher called Aoitori Bunko. They are novels aimed at kids around 12-14 years old. I read a sample, and the Japanese is definitely accessible to someone who is at least a low or somewhat mid-intermediate learner (B1). All the kanji have furigana written above them as well. The downside is, at least in the sample I read, there are definitely young teenage themes: girls head-over-heels in love with boys, and that kind of stuff. You know, 12-year-old social life. If you can deal with that, it might be interesting. I'll give them a try sometime in the near future.
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Kida_4000061
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Kida_4000061 » Sat Feb 27, 2016 10:31 pm

kujichagulia wrote:Unfortunately I don't have any good, easy books to recommend yet - I just started reading books myself - but I really enjoy the Hukumusume website. It's full of different kinds of Japanese and international fairy tales and folk tales, as well as some other stuff. The site is only in Japanese, though.

So you have six different stories you can read every day. It should keep you busy for an entire year. The stories are usually short, so it's good for people starting to read stuff in Japanese. I wouldn't recommend it to absolute beginners, but high beginners can read it with some effort, and it's really good stuff for low intermediate learners. Of course, that assumes you are interested in folk tales. I wasn't at the beginning, but the language is simple enough and the stories are sometimes interesting.


I have never heard of this site. I bookmarked it, and will take a look at it when I have the time. Thank for the recommendation.

Kida_4000061 wrote:Ongoing projects/ study:
-Meet with a Japanese study group for 1.5 hours ever week (started after I finished the Japanese class)
-Transcribing Real Japanese in Kana and Kanji from Romaji (3 of 13 chapters? done)
-Cutting out the giant pile of Kanji Cards (Finished 1st Grade and about 3/8 through second grade)
-Going through Beginner's Japanese Script again (3 of 10 chapters complete)

Update:
I made a mistake of how far I was along in Beginner's Japanese Script. I was only 2 of 10 not 3 of 10 chapters in the book.

This week, I did go through more of the Beginner's Japanese Script. I complete all of chapter 3, which was numbers, and I have one activity left in chapter 4, the theme is actions. The last activity requires extra work, so I have not finished in it. Cutting out Flash Cards as been going smoothly, I will be done with 3rd grade Kanji by the end of today. Also, I picked up a copy of Strategies for Reading Japanese by Setsuko Aihara to improve my reading ability. I received it, yesterday, and the book came with the original pamphlet from 1992, a xerox of a page from Japanese Kanji Dictionary?, and the original owner study schedule, which is interesting to me. I plan start on when I have time to get to it. The book look quite helpful for reading.

Goals for Next Week:
-Finish 4th Grade and start 5th grade Kanji
-Try start some Breakthrough Japanese or Perapera Penguin mini lessons. (They are technically the same thing.)
Extra for if time permits:
-Continue transcribing Real Japanese
-Start reading Strategies for Reading Japanese
-Continue reading the Thunder Spirit/God's Jewel, a short story, from Auzora Bunko (Finished the first paragraph)

For those that are interesting in reading Thunder Spirit/God's Jewel: http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000906/files/42648_22960.html
1 x
Real Japanese Transcription: 5 / 13
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs: 0 / 2
The Loom of Language: 3 / 12

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Kida_4000061
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Languages: English (N), Japanese (beginner/ lower intermediate), & French (Very Basic & mostly forgotten)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2190
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Kida_4000061 » Sun Mar 06, 2016 3:29 am

Goals for Previous Week:
-Finish 4th Grade and start 5th grade Kanji (I almost finished 4th grade (4 pages away), and also took 2 days off)
-Try start some Breakthrough Japanese or Perapera Penguin mini lessons. (I did not do any of it.)
Extra for if time permits:
-Continue transcribing Real Japanese (Nope.)
-Start reading Strategies for Reading Japanese (I thought about it, but didn't do it.)
-Continue reading the Thunder Spirit/God's Jewel, a short story, from Auzora Bunko (Nope.)


On top of flash cards, I tried the JCAT sample and realizing that I didn't know very many words. I also consider translating a keyword from the 僕だけがいない街 website. Also, I looking for advice for learning vocabulary without SRS because I realized my vocabulary is lacking.

On side note, I did buy a french book called the First Two Years of French.

Goal for Next Week:
-Finish the last of 4th Grade and start 5th grade
-Come up with a strategy for learning vocabulary
--Start reading Strategies for Reading Japanese
0 x
Real Japanese Transcription: 5 / 13
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs: 0 / 2
The Loom of Language: 3 / 12

Rotasu
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Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2015 3:40 am
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Rotasu » Sun Mar 06, 2016 5:49 am

Yay someone else that knows what JCAT is xD

Reading Strategies (Vocabulary Acquisition without Anki)

From another log:
Rotasu wrote:I used Audacity to cut out the long pauses within the first 6 lessons.

Yay another reading focus JP learner!
-throws links at you-:
How to Read Visual Novels in Japanese in 2 years time
Reading Strategies (Vocabulary Acquisition without Anki)
Read Your Level Dont know if still updating
Arcane Secrets! (or one man's language learning story)
JCAT Free JP language test. People that took JCAT
It's all about you (How are you learning Japanese?)
The Great Chokochoko Library Some simple things to start reading with


Right now for vocabulary, I'm testing out Flashcard Deluxe using the short term goal mode. I study the words when I want to but I usually only go through a deck once then move on :3
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Aozora
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Aozora » Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:31 am

kujichagulia wrote:
EDIT: Some people around the Internet recommend books from a publisher called Aoitori Bunko. They are novels aimed at kids around 12-14 years old. I read a sample, and the Japanese is definitely accessible to someone who is at least a low or somewhat mid-intermediate learner (B1). All the kanji have furigana written above them as well. The downside is, at least in the sample I read, there are definitely young teenage themes: girls head-over-heels in love with boys, and that kind of stuff. You know, 12-year-old social life. If you can deal with that, it might be interesting. I'll give them a try sometime in the near future.

I just got a couple books from Aotori Bunko and a few more from Kadokawa Bunko (Tsubasa Bunko? www.tsubasabunko.jp), and they do all have furigana. I found a few fantasy genre ones, so if you look around you should be able to find some that aren't 6th grade romance stuff ^^;
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Super Challenge Books: 14 / 100
Super Challenge Films: 63 / 100

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Kida_4000061
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Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:17 am
Languages: English (N), Japanese (beginner/ lower intermediate), & French (Very Basic & mostly forgotten)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2190
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Re: Kida's Japanese Log

Postby Kida_4000061 » Sun Mar 13, 2016 7:36 am

Rotasu wrote:Yay someone else that knows what JCAT is xD

Reading Strategies (Vocabulary Acquisition without Anki)

Right now for vocabulary, I'm testing out Flashcard Deluxe using the short term goal mode. I study the words when I want to but I usually only go through a deck once then move on :3

I have never look at Flashcard Deluxe. I'll take a look at it.
Aozora wrote:I just got a couple books from Aotori Bunko and a few more from Kadokawa Bunko (Tsubasa Bunko? http://www.tsubasabunko.jp), and they do all have furigana. I found a few fantasy genre ones, so if you look around you should be able to find some that aren't 6th grade romance stuff ^^;

That is good hear. I am not a huge fan of the romance genre. I'll take look at them. Since, sometimes I can find Japanese books on Amazon US for reasonable price.

Goal from the previous Week:
-Finish the last of 4th Grade and start 5th grade (Finished 5th grade, yesterday, and started 6th grade today.)
-Come up with a strategy for learning vocabulary (Did some of that, and thinking about some of them out. Thanks for the links, Ratasu!)
--Start reading Strategies for Reading Japanese (Started chapter 1 and still have 2 sections left in chapter 1)


I, finally, started Strategies for Reading Japanese, so I am going to give my first impressions.

My first impressions of the book was it is going to a quite useful book and can't wait to read more of it. I did have some little nitpicks about what I read mainly not having desu included with dearu and da and the naming for adjectives: Adjective (~i Adjectives)and Adjectival Noun(~na Adjectives). The only other problem that I had was the romaji would make it confusing for beginner to understand what particles the author was about talking. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it, and found the examples helpful(they were in romaji) to understanding what the author talking about.

I will do a full review once I finished the book.

On a side note, the Japanese book for my birthday has yet to show up. It is a picture book of life skills? called せいかつの図鑑(ずかん) lit Life Picture Book. There is kanji for せいかつ. It is 生活.

Goals for next week:
-Complete Elementary School Kanji.
-Finish and take notes on chapter 1 of Strategies for Reading Japanese.
-Try out some vocabulary strategies

ISBNs for books mentioned:
Strategies for Reading Japanese: 978-0870408946
せいかつの図鑑:978-4092131842
0 x
Real Japanese Transcription: 5 / 13
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs: 0 / 2
The Loom of Language: 3 / 12


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