In Japan 12 Jan 18 - 10 April 18

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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Tue Jun 07, 2016 12:50 am

This is a short update, I'll post more of a real recap tomorrow.

I'm about 64 hours into my AV experiment, about halfway done with my first series. What I am watching has become much closer to comprehensible input. Even when I "cheat" and watch with subtitles, I'm more able to focus on the Japanese. My listening exercises are paying off and I'm better and better able to pick out verb forms and particles. I feel like I'm making absolutely insane progress when compared with the effort I'm putting in.

But this update is really focused a bit more on something else. I want to focus on habits. I'm not very good at creating habits, and I'm not good at challenges. I've been watching my AV for 16 days now, and I'm completely on track. I was supposed to finish episode 192 today, and I did. It's a weird and proud feeling.

And I sort of bring this up because of all the things I've been trying and not really keeping up with, as well as my desire to compete in the SRS challenge. But 10K cards and 20 Months is a large commitment. I have the desire, but not really the will to do 17 cards a day. I'm avoiding even learning Kanji, even though I need to.

I don't need to be so intense. I would do better to learn one kanji everyday, than I do from repeating the same 15 kanji over. And over. And over again. And the more I learn, the more I realize I need to go back to basics and learn radicals and katakana first. ..

There's so much to learn and I'm pretty overwhelmed by it, I don't know what to do really, for the most part. I feel I make the most progress when I plod through rather than rushing. As long as I do my AV, I learn my grammar point, and try to read a little, I am making progress at lightning speed. I know it's basically the language version of beginner's luck, but it feels like the progress you make those first few months in the gym, when you can see and feel your body changing.

I'm so happy.
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:02 pm

Work
Monday I applied for a job (as promised). My motivation is to be able to afford study materials (and also somewhat so I can make sure I don't spend all day studying).

Yesterday I recieved word of my interview and had to scramble around to get a haircut and find clothes for work.

Today I'm going in for my interview. I'm not very concerned about it actually, I'm pretty much certian that I'm going to get it. It's answering phone calls. I have a lot of experience doing that, for someone my age.

My boyfriend works there and I find that to be a huge concern. I've already told this fact plainly to the hiring manager. There are two departments, and I am aiming to work in the other department. If it's a situation where I would be regularly expected to work with him, I'll have to decline the offer or give my notice. I don't feel like that type of situation is appropriate in a work environment. I take work extremely seriously, and I don't want to have to deal with the repercussions if he expects me to treat him differently because we work together.

JAPANESE
Overall
I was feeling very blue and exhaused again yesterday, so I too the day off. Other people might not consider them essential, but for me they are. I actually caught up on my AV goal yesterday, which is cool, because it was the very first day that I was on schedule. I didn't even meet my own goal on day 1! Quite a bit of what I watched last night was actually comprehensible input. If I ever need to beat a rival into a pulp and save a friend in Japan, I've pretty much got the vocabulary covered for that.

Is ~25 weeks really enough time to study for this exam? How many kanji do I "need" to know? If I can finish all the Harry Potter books by the time of the exam, and I finish the textbooks I'm playing with, and learn the Kyouiku Kanji, I think I'll consider myself "ready" for the N3 exam.

Tutors and Lessons
I'm trying to turn my mental gears and approach my lessons differently. Because of the crazy speed at which I am learning things (in my opinion), I need to be sure to make the most out of all the tutoring time I have to reinforce vocabulary, kanji, and grammar. I'd like ask my tutors also for some sort of small reading assignment that they can quiz me on when I next meet with them.

What I need to prioritize
  • Learning katakana
  • Learning radicals
  • Preparing for my tutoring: Coming up with questions to ask, trying out sentences with new vocabulary, trying to use new grammar points

SPANISH
I ended up missing my Spanish tutoring because I was running around trying to find clothes.

I had stopped doing my Spanish grammar work, but looking at it now, that's silly. I'm literally covering just the smallest little bit of grammar every day, so there's no need to stop. If something is difficult or hard, I can just do it multiple days in a row. You might remember that I bought that Magic Treehouse book the other day. I did, in fact, read the first chapter some time back. I underlined all the words that I didn't know while I was reading the chapter, then defined them. After that, I put them into Anki and I am working on 5 of them per day. When I finish learning them all, I'm going to go back, read chapter 1, and then repeat the same process for chapter 2. Since I'm not focusing on Spanish, I find that this is honestly the best idea. It's slow, true, but it is progress, at least a little bit at a time, just enough to do every day.
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dampingwire
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby dampingwire » Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:06 pm

SophiaMerlin_II wrote: How many kanji do I "need" to know? If I can finish all the Harry Potter books by the time of the exam, and I finish the textbooks I'm playing with, and learn the Kyouiku Kanji, I think I'll consider myself "ready" for the N3 exam.


How many kanji? I think the first 600-700 they teach in Japanese schools is about the right mark. The 教育漢字 kanji covers about 1000, so that should be more than enough.
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新完全マスター N2聴解 : 94 / 103新完全マスター N2読解 : 99 / 177
新完全マスター N2文法 : 197 / 197TY Comp. German : 0 / 389

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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Sat Jun 11, 2016 5:51 pm

Tired as hell... not getting much done, but enjoying new job... So tired.
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:15 pm

Not much (any) progree since last post. Maybe I will need to update everyday in order to keep on track. It's been so long since I last worked (4 years) and I'm terribly exhaused from it all. But I started this job for a reason, and I need to keep that in mind instead of getting consumed by work.

It's a paperless workplace, so that presents its own challenges. I can study during lunch break and thats mostly it. But I still feel this was the right choice. Especially because I can get so much overtime.
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Wed Jun 15, 2016 4:52 am

made more flashcards, but didnt practice any

watched 2 episodes (40min)

---
I am getting more used to my schedule. tomorrow will be better
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: From 0 to hero: JLPT3 on 3 Dec 16

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:19 am

20min AV
no studying
−−−
have a lesson tomorrow
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: One Step at a Time

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:43 pm

Wow, it's been forever since I last posted, my job really got in the way. I was doing a lot of overtime.

As far as my AV experiment: I ended up getting about 90 hours into it, and it was working REALLY WELL actually! At the beginning, it was SO FRUSTRATING, but by the end of it, I could understand a good quarter or so of the dialogue. I have only watched a bit of media since then, (maybe 15 hours) but was just doing it for the enjoyment factor, and not actually trying to understand it at all, using subtitles.

I don't understand what most people (non-learners) have against subtitles. Maybe they don't enjoy them because their reading speed is slower than mine? I understand the meaning in English, and just hear the tone of voice in the audio, for me there's no conflict, and I hardly ever remember if something was actually in English or not. The only reason I know it isn't, is because I know I never watch the dubbed version XD.

I have done almost nothing language related while I was not posting. It's a shame really, because I could have done a lot in the last 9 months or so, even if it was only a few hours on the weekend. Oh well, done is done, and I'm back in the saddle again. I'm going to resume the great AV experiement because I was honestly getting such great results from it previously, even though I was watching something I really never enjoyed in English.
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: One Step at a Time

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:52 am

From your first post:
SophiaMerlin_II wrote:“Le retour de Pitoer Guerre” (movie)


Do you mean Le retour de Martin Guerre?

Nice movie :) if that's the one you mean.

http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/emissions/doc-24-midi-pyrenees-et-languedoc-roussillon/actu/martin-guerre-le-retour-au-village-c-est-samedi-7-mars-2014-15h25.html
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SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: One Step at a Time

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Sun Apr 30, 2017 3:16 pm

PeterMollenburg wrote:From your first post:
SophiaMerlin_II wrote:“Le retour de Pitoer Guerre” (movie)


Do you mean Le retour de Martin Guerre?

Nice movie :) if that's the one you mean.

http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/emissions/doc-24-midi-pyrenees-et-languedoc-roussillon/actu/martin-guerre-le-retour-au-village-c-est-samedi-7-mars-2014-15h25.html


Probably is. That little list up front at the end of that post are things from other people's logs that look interesting and I don't want to forget about. I've just copy and pasted them as far as I recall.
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