In Japan 12 Jan 18 - 10 April 18

[SophiaMerlin_II]

BIG NEWS!
I finally got over my fear (at least a little bit) and I scheduled 3 lessons on italki with teachers.
The one for Esperanto is Friday night, the one for Japanese is Sunday night, and the Spanish one is Tuesday night.

To be honest, I really have no idea what to expect... I made sure to pick teachers that I'd actually be able to keep up with paying for. I was looking at something, and I realized that some people were paying to see a tutor more than once a week I mean, that sounds amazing, but given my budget at the moment, there's absolutely no way that I could have more than 5 lessons a month, which I thought would be a lot, but apparently not!

I think I'm going to have to get a job so I can pay for teachers/tutors (if I like them) and materials. And, you know, if I get a job, then I'll be a real adult, right? Is that how that works?


ENGLISH
I'm still right about 50 pages in 60 minutes. Slooooow. I'm now at page 200 for THUD!

JAPANESE
I finally got Crunchy Roll Premium. I'm definately getting my money's worth. Even if I only watch this series (336ep) in this month, that means I'm paying about 2 cents for each episode. 2 cents an episode? Talk about free...

I'm literally making leaps and bounds in my Japanese listening. My vocabulary isn't big enough to really understand the content of the words that I'm hearing, but Japanese no longer feels any faster than English, and I'm starting to hear where one word ends, and the next begins. I'm also realizing the pronunciation of some words.

I also, for some reason, decided I want to take the JLPT 4 in December of 2017. Oops?

[SophiaMerlin_II]

So everyone, I'm crazy and I'm going to sit for the JLPT N3 in December. I'm literally already anxious about it. But... I'm also really excited.

This is a horrible idea! But I love horrible ideas, so...

I'm gonna have to get a job in order to pay for a tutor and books. I'll be applying for work on Monday.

[smallwhite]

I'm crazy and I'm going to sit for the JLPT N3 in December.

It's not crazy! I think it's a very good idea for a Japanese learner to set a JLPT goal like what you're doing, because the test is affordable, the syllabus is crystal clear, the syllabus is practical and worth following, resources are abundant, fellow test-takers are everywhere so you can compare notes, support each other or at least make some friends... it's a language learner's dream come true.

When I saw your new thread title, my reaction was: Aww... I want to do that, too! Is Sophia trying to add fuel to my wanderlust fire or what?

(In Hong Kong where I normally live, JLPT costs about EUR40, French TCF about EUR75, and other European language tests EUR100-200 last time I looked).

Good luck and stay motivated!

[Rotasu]

Wait, are you taking N4 or N3? Your last two post say both of these xD Taking the N3 in Dec 2017 seems very possible at your level :3

Edit: Ok. I see you just changed the title of you log. Dec 16 huh... uhh you going to need to focus alot more on JP if you want to get to N3 by Dec, imo. N3 is a lot of information :s

[SophiaMerlin_II]

Wait, are you taking N4 or N3? Your last two post say both of these xD Taking the N3 in Dec 2017 seems very possible at your level :3

Edit: Ok. I see you just changed the title of you log. Dec 16 huh... uhh you going to need to focus alot more on JP if you want to get to N3 by Dec, imo. N3 is a lot of information :s

My previous plan was to do N4 in Dec 17, but I've decided (foolishly) to take N3 in Dec 16. So yeah... I'm gonna die or something, lmao

I'm gonna limit studies on everything else to 30min/day (combined)

[Sizen]

It's been a long time since I took the JLPT, and I only ever took the N1, but I don't see why the N3 shouldn't be doable. Plus, even if you don't succeed, the time you'll have put into studying to pass the test alone will have been worth your money. Not passing the test will not result in any real problems for you, by the sounds of it, so the stakes are low. If I were you, I wouldn't so much worry about being the best I can for the test (it's only a test!), but rather I would focus on making sure that I learn something, even a single word, every day from now until then. Who knows, maybe you'll even pass the test?

Or maybe I'm too laid-back and you need to put the petal to the metal...? Either way, it should be a good experience.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

If I were you, I wouldn't so much worry about being the best I can for the test (it's only a test!), but rather I would focus on making sure that I learn something, even a single word, every day from now until then. Who knows, maybe you'll even pass the test?

Or maybe I'm too laid-back and you need to put the petal to the metal...? Either way, it should be a good experience.

I'm not going to worry about it, really... not in an "oh my goodness" sort of way, but now I feel the need to do something. I've been learning a few words and bits grammar every day (Except for Monday, when I took a day off, and I plan to make a habit of taking Sunday or Monday off, it helped so much).

But somehow, now, it feels much more real. I'm excited

[Bao]

If you like magical realism, Isabel Allende is great, too. And, good ... no, not luck, perseverance!

[SophiaMerlin_II]

ESPERANTO
Nearly done with the 2nd portion of the tree on Duolinguo. I don't think I'm learning much. This of course is going to be on pause for quite a while. Maybe one "lesson" per day.

JAPANESE
I originally picked the show I was using because it was horrible and boring, but now that I'm about 150 episodes in, it's actually getting good and I find myself cheating and just watching it (removing the paper covering the subtitles).

「が」is sort of a sticking point right now. I don't really understand when it should or shouldn't be used. I'll give it a month. If it still doesn't make sense then, I'll investigate it on purpose.

I felt so proud when I recognized a word in an episode that I hadn't heard in over a year 「めがね」 or "glasses".

I really think this story is taking a turn for the better, honestly. I love the new villains. I'm going to have to watch this portion again in English.

---
I'm finally running out of the need to post here every five seconds. Should mean I get more work done and have more to show when I post. I love the logs out there where they only post once every week or two, because when you read it, you can really feel the progress that they are making. I don't think I'm a very inspiring person, but maybe I'll turn into one now. Haha. Who knows?

[dampingwire]

「が」is sort of a sticking point right now. I don't really understand when it should or shouldn't be used. I'll give it a month. If it still doesn't make sense then, I'll investigate it on purpose.

When to use が and when to use は is like knowing when to use "a" and when to use "the" ... quite often really tricky unless you grew up with the language! But I find it seems to get better as time goes on.

If you feel the need to investigate further then Naoko Chino's "All About Particles" does start out with an explanation of each (and then branches out into probably more than you need to know for N3).