Japanese, Swedish, and Polyglotism Language Log
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 11:35 pm
Hello again, long time no see.
Unfortunately I didn't update my previous "Tobira - Summer Japanese Language Log" after August, but I did continue my learning even so. I have been thinking a lot about Language Learners' Forum, so I'm back and plan to update this language log on my spare time.
Previous language log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2984&p=38960#p38960
Before I begin, I'd like to place a history of my language learning milestones thus far. This is essentially my language learning story, along with a kind of back-up of my HTLAL logs.
Spanish (First exposure)
??/??/02 - Started grade school in New Mexico. Many students spoke Spanish, and we had some hours which were spent learning some basic Spanish, but these were few and far in between. Most of my exposure was from hearing other students talk in Spanish.
Japanese (First exposure)
??/??/06 - Began taking Karate lessons. We learned how to count to 10 in Japanese, some other basic Japanese words, and some Japanese history. This intrigued me even as a young child. I took Karate for about 4 years.
Spanish (Beginner)
08/??/09 - Started school at a really bad middle school. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Spanish class, followed by the art class and then the English class. I had always excelled at English and art, and also did really well in my Spanish class. I had to stop taking Spanish when I moved to my new school, however, as they wouldn't let me take two languages at once.
Swedish (First exposure)
??/??/09? - My friend/neighbor exposed me to the Swedish electronic pop artist, Basshunter. His music is STILL my favorite, to this day.
Japanese (Beginner - Lower Intermediate)
09/07/10 - Began taking Japanese after transferring to a new middle-high school. I decided that I could always learn Spanish later, as I lived in New Mexico at the time, and thought, "Wow, the opportunity to take Japanese is so rare!" and so... I took Japanese here for about three years. I fell in love with the language and culture even further. After school and during the summers, I would study Japanese on my own. I studied kanji and wrote journals on lang-8 the most, and this helped me skip to a higher level Japanese class my second year.
08/??/11 - Skipped to the third level Japanese course. (still very basic Japanese, but higher than the second level).
08/??/12 - Prepared for the Japan trip that was happening at the end of the school year. I studied Japanese really hard in the fourth level Japanese course they offered.
05/22/13 - My first trip to Japan. We stayed for two weeks, and I couldn't have been more ecstatic. We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Okayama, and Tottori.
Korean & Mandarin (First exposure)
09/27/11 - My friends exposed me to K-pop. I decided to start learning Korean after discovering Korean dramas. I mostly watched youtube videos, tried to learn hangul and some basic phrases. I started looking at the "How to Study Korean" website on July 28th, 2013, but didn't get past the first few lessons. I also met someone who spoke Chinese. I got interested in Mandarin after doing some research on the languages in China, and listened to a few Pimsleur tapes.
Japanese (Lower Intermediate - Intermediate)
07/??/13 - Came back from Japan and took a Japanese 111 class at the community college during the summer. The instructor let me skip the first week of the course because I was in Japan. I found this class to be extremely easy. What was important though is that I memorized a good amount of vocabulary from the Genki I book from taking this course.
08/??/13 - I was accepted to a dual credit program, and was taking most of my classes at the community college for high school AND college credit. This unfortunately meant that my Japanese progress was slowed, as my work load got more intense. The college offered up to 2nd year Japanese, but due to lack of interest from students, only classes 111 and 112 were offered while I attended. I took 112 the Fall semester, and completed Genki I.
Bulgarian (First exposure - Beginner)
10/??/13 - Met an American who was half Bulgarian. We became close and I started to learn the language when I learned that his mother was fluent in it. I spent some time with the Bulgarian community around my city. But, the majority of my learning was online and on my own time with the FSI program (starting cyrillic on April 2nd, 2014, UniLang on July 7th, 2014 (completed), and FSI on July 26th, 2014.) I also studied briefly in the summer of 2015 (Bulgarian Language for Foreigners on YouTube). This friend and I have gone our separate ways, but I still have interest in the language (and also it's Russian roots).
American Sign Language (First exposure - Beginner)
08/25/14 - I decided that since I knew I was interested in languages in general that I could take an ASL course. They also cancelled the Mandarin 101 class I was planning to take (due to lack of enrollment from students), so I couldn't start any studies in Mandarin. The ASL course was challenging, and I didn't expect an A, but I got it. I only took sign language for 4 months, but I enjoyed it and would definitely continue at some point.
Big Language Learning Steps
09/07/14: Joined HTLAL as "Techan" and began writing language logs. My first one was a Bulgarian, Japanese, and ASL log, (08/17/14) focusing on "input" and "output" as I called it, which lasted for around 16 weeks.
02/07/15 - This was around the time of my crazy polyglot experience. Main focuses: Japanese-Korean-Mandarin-Bulgarian-ASL-Swedish -- Moderate focuses: Arabic-Armenian-German-Russian -- Barely focused on: Vietnamese-Greek
Here's my silly video I made about learning languages, I MOSTLY talk about my own experiences, Benny Lewis, and Laoshu, but I am discussing, not necessarily agreeing with Benny Lewis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie51nqD_hcw But I believe this video is a big step in my realization of my passion for language learning.
03/19/15 - Accepted to the University of Washington. I had to choose between this college, UC Boulder, and University of Hawaii at Manoa. I chose UW because of it's prestigious East Asian Linguistics & Literatures program.
Korean (Beginner); Japanese (Intermediate to Upper Intermediate)
09/27/15 - Started taking Korean 101. I wasn't able to sign up for Japanese 211 because of testing and registration complications. I wrote a language log on HTLAL titled "Genki II - Autumn 2015". I had to study chapters 13, 14, and 15 on my own for the Japanese 211 final in order to get into Japanese 212, as I wasn't allowed to register for the course. My last post of that language log is as follows: (12/15/15) "Fantastic news --- I passed the final and got into the 212 Japanese class!!! I did it!"
01/04/16 - Started taking Korean 102, but had to drop it a few weeks into the course. I took Japanese 212, with a bit of struggle as I was depressed during this time with little motivation and a severe case of oversleeping (particularly during winter), but I still learned exponentially. We got through chapters 16-19 in 10 weeks.
01/28/17 - Officially majoring in Japanese.
04/??/16 - We went through the entire Genki II book in Japanese 213 (save the last chapter). Here's my language log on it, which is here on LLF: http://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2549
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Hindi, Tibetan (First exposure)
06/18/16 - Started learning from "Tobira" over the summer. I gained interest in Hindi and Tibetan over the summer, Hindi due to eating out at Indian restaurants a lot, and Tibetan due to going to a meditation event at a Tibetan Buddhism temple. I only started to learn the Hindi alphabet. I am planning to study these two languages at another time. Here's my language log for it, on LLF: http://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2984
NOTE This current language log starts where this (linked) language log ends. What is written as follows was added in after starting this current log.
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Beginner)
09/27/16 - Began the year with Japanese 311. Great teacher, lots of cool materials from Tobira, and no more depression!
09/27/16 - Started taking Swedish 101, due to interest not only in their badass pop music, but also their politics. I hate politics, but whenever I hear about Sweden's politics, I'm pleasantly surprised. I also think it's a really interesting language to learn, as it's a language close to English.
01/03/17 - Started taking Japanese 312. Still with Tobira, starting at chapter 4. Still at an upper intermediate level with Japanese.
01/03/17 - Started taking Swedish 102. Making some big strides in the understanding of basic Swedish.
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Beginner - Lower Intermediate)
02/??/17 - BI/TRILINGUAL DREAMS... I started dreaming Japanese and Swedish A LOT. It's almost like something in my brain clicked and realized that the two were actually languages, strangely enough. I'm not sure if it was the Swedish that triggered the Japanese, or if the Japanese triggered the Swedish, or if just taking the classes everyday in partial immersion was the cause, but I dreamt about hearing and understanding both at around the same time, possibly even in the same night. Though, the Swedish at first wasn't coherent, it was just a bunch of jumbled words that sounded like Swedish. Dreams are really interesting! I think this is the point that I could really tell that my bi/trilingual/polyglotism was actually real. I was very excited when having dreams like this became the norm.
03/27/17 - Started taking Japanese 313. Still with Tobira, starting at chapter 7. Still at an upper intermediate level with Japanese, but definitely coming to a point where I will get to some advanced material (though I won't be considered advanced to many until I can solidify my Japanese with real-life immersion).
03/27/17 - Started Swedish 103. Swedish is finally getting hard. We're getting to some intermediate materials, but I still can't say that I am "intermediate" with Swedish, so I'll settle with "lower intermediate".
05/03/17 - Officially minoring in Swedish.
6/??/17 - Completion of Swedish 103, Japanese 313.
6/14 - 6/28/17 - TRIP TO KYOTO, JAPAN. I practiced Japanese with native speakers everyday for 2 weeks~
Spanish (Beginner - Upper Beginner)
??/??/17 - Interest in Spanish arises
6/??/17 - Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Upper Beginner - Lower Intermediate); Spanish (Upper Beginner) - Did some dabbling with these
Arabic (First Exposure - Beginner)
2/09/15 - Interest in Arabic began while I was on my polyglotism rampage in 2015. I studied the alphabet and wrote it all out, but didn't get far with it.
9/04/17 - Interest in Arabic rekindled after taking a DNA test. Working on the alphabet, and working on finding more resources~ Interested in going to a middle eastern store at some point.
(NOTE: I am starting with the classical language but will be moving on to Egyptian Arabic and possibly other dialects too)
Some Summer Dabbling and Planning (Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Arabic)
6/??/17 - Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Upper Beginner - Lower Intermediate); Spanish (Upper Beginner) - Did some dabbling with these
7/01 - 9/04/17 - Not a lot done but some significant Memrise in Spanish and some Japanese dabbling
9/4/17 - Interest in Arabic rekindled (from the beginning of 2015). Also studying some Japanese and Spanish. Created the "speed-memorization technique" but am still refining it at this point.
9/9/17 - Creation of my very own "Bullet Journal for Language Learning" (My inspiration is from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT605QsOSNA) I'll be using it to track my days of language studying, my language goals, and, instead of disorganized posts, write a weekly/monthly summarizing post here.
The Final Stretch - Japanese (Upper Intermediate - Lower Advanced); Swedish (Lower Intermediate – Upper Intermediate)
9/27/17 – Started Japanese 431 (Readings in Modern Japanese Literature) a comparatively worse Japanese class. Also started Swedish 201.
12/20/17 – Completed Japanese 431, Swedish 201.
1/3/18 – Depression slowly became unbearable again. Started Japanese 432 (Readings in Modern Japanese Literature pt 2) which was the absolute worst class I have had in my entire life. I almost didn't pass that one. Also started Japanese 471 (Classical Japanese) which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Swedish 202.
5/9/18 – Completed Japanese 432, 437, and Swedish 202.
5/26/18 – Began Japanese 472 (Classical Japanese pt 2) and Swedish 203. Depression ensued and I finally sought medical help. With the stress of this being my final quarter at University, I was dragging myself through and didn't really enjoy much of anything.
6/5/18 – Completed my first original translation of an excerpt in the Classical Japanese text, 枕草子. Completed Japanese 472 and Swedish 203.
6/9/18 – Officially graduated from UW with a BA in Japanese Linguistics and a Swedish Language and Literature Minor. This language log will be graduating with me.
Here is my next language log:
Dec 2016 & 2017 Resolutions
√-Joining the East Asian Team here on the forum (Japanese B2; Korean A2; Mandarin beginner)
√-Taking Japanese 312; Swedish 102
√-Taking Japanese 313; Swedish 103
√-Studying Korean with a language partner
-Getting down the basics of Mandarin and Spanish
10/16/16:
This year at university I am taking 3rd year Japanese and am using the "Tobira - Gateway to Advanced Japanese" textbook, and also am using the "Power up your Kanji" and "Grammar Power" workbooks alongside it.
I am also taking 1st year Swedish and using the "Rivstart A1-A2 textbok" and "Rivstart A1-A2 övningsbok".
Taking on two languages at once is something a lot of my advisors in school and people around me have discouraged, especially when I tried to take Korean alongside Japanese. Turns out I should have listened to them, as I dropped Korean during the second quarter of my studies. However, I do plan to try again next year, as there were many more factors to why I dropped that class than that it was "confusing" or "challenging".
As for this year, I'm really doing well taking both Japanese and Swedish so far. We are 3 weeks into the quarter, so I can't say that I won't have struggles later, but for now things are looking good. Japanese, being a language I have studied for 7 years now, is something I'm familiar with and am getting better at everyday that I use it. Swedish I have found is very close to English, and so I am learning it quickly and with ease.
In Japanese, we've almost finished the first chapter of Tobira and will be moving on to the second chapter soon. All the hard work learning vocabulary over the summer has definitely paid off; I got to spend the time getting adjusted into my new apartment instead of focusing on learning vocabulary. Although I haven't learned many vocabulary past chapter 2, I am going to try and learn vocabulary before we do the lessons for the chapter, as it is very helpful in understanding the content, on top of getting me ahead in the class.
In Swedish, we've gotten to the 3rd chapter, and are learning numbers finally. We learned basic questions and answers for everyday conversations already, along with other useful vocabulary. (I think that some of the vocabulary in the Rivstart is questionably useful, but it is something at least). I'm also learning useful vocabulary outside of class by watching lyric videos of Swedish music. I am yet to find anyone who speaks Swedish on campus, but I am looking for someone to speak with.
So this language log is essentially just a diary of what I'm doing in class and outside of class to improve my language learning. Some people say that learning languages like Swedish is useless, but I really think that it gives me something useful every time I study a language, no matter how useful/not useful the language is in a career setting.. Any support on this topic?
What I'll be covering this quarter:
Japanese:
-Ch 1-3 in Tobira
-2 writing assignments (We've already completed 1)
-7 vocabulary quizzes (We've already done 2)
-3 kanji quizzes
-2 chapter exams
-2 oral interviews (these are my weakness)
Swedish:
-Ch 1-6 in Rivstart
-6 chapter quizzes (We've done 2 already)
-2 verbal exams
-2 written exams
I will update this language log weekly-ish. Thanks for reading~!
Unfortunately I didn't update my previous "Tobira - Summer Japanese Language Log" after August, but I did continue my learning even so. I have been thinking a lot about Language Learners' Forum, so I'm back and plan to update this language log on my spare time.
Previous language log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2984&p=38960#p38960
Before I begin, I'd like to place a history of my language learning milestones thus far. This is essentially my language learning story, along with a kind of back-up of my HTLAL logs.
Spanish (First exposure)
??/??/02 - Started grade school in New Mexico. Many students spoke Spanish, and we had some hours which were spent learning some basic Spanish, but these were few and far in between. Most of my exposure was from hearing other students talk in Spanish.
Japanese (First exposure)
??/??/06 - Began taking Karate lessons. We learned how to count to 10 in Japanese, some other basic Japanese words, and some Japanese history. This intrigued me even as a young child. I took Karate for about 4 years.
Spanish (Beginner)
08/??/09 - Started school at a really bad middle school. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Spanish class, followed by the art class and then the English class. I had always excelled at English and art, and also did really well in my Spanish class. I had to stop taking Spanish when I moved to my new school, however, as they wouldn't let me take two languages at once.
Swedish (First exposure)
??/??/09? - My friend/neighbor exposed me to the Swedish electronic pop artist, Basshunter. His music is STILL my favorite, to this day.
Japanese (Beginner - Lower Intermediate)
09/07/10 - Began taking Japanese after transferring to a new middle-high school. I decided that I could always learn Spanish later, as I lived in New Mexico at the time, and thought, "Wow, the opportunity to take Japanese is so rare!" and so... I took Japanese here for about three years. I fell in love with the language and culture even further. After school and during the summers, I would study Japanese on my own. I studied kanji and wrote journals on lang-8 the most, and this helped me skip to a higher level Japanese class my second year.
08/??/11 - Skipped to the third level Japanese course. (still very basic Japanese, but higher than the second level).
08/??/12 - Prepared for the Japan trip that was happening at the end of the school year. I studied Japanese really hard in the fourth level Japanese course they offered.
05/22/13 - My first trip to Japan. We stayed for two weeks, and I couldn't have been more ecstatic. We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Okayama, and Tottori.
Korean & Mandarin (First exposure)
09/27/11 - My friends exposed me to K-pop. I decided to start learning Korean after discovering Korean dramas. I mostly watched youtube videos, tried to learn hangul and some basic phrases. I started looking at the "How to Study Korean" website on July 28th, 2013, but didn't get past the first few lessons. I also met someone who spoke Chinese. I got interested in Mandarin after doing some research on the languages in China, and listened to a few Pimsleur tapes.
Japanese (Lower Intermediate - Intermediate)
07/??/13 - Came back from Japan and took a Japanese 111 class at the community college during the summer. The instructor let me skip the first week of the course because I was in Japan. I found this class to be extremely easy. What was important though is that I memorized a good amount of vocabulary from the Genki I book from taking this course.
08/??/13 - I was accepted to a dual credit program, and was taking most of my classes at the community college for high school AND college credit. This unfortunately meant that my Japanese progress was slowed, as my work load got more intense. The college offered up to 2nd year Japanese, but due to lack of interest from students, only classes 111 and 112 were offered while I attended. I took 112 the Fall semester, and completed Genki I.
Bulgarian (First exposure - Beginner)
10/??/13 - Met an American who was half Bulgarian. We became close and I started to learn the language when I learned that his mother was fluent in it. I spent some time with the Bulgarian community around my city. But, the majority of my learning was online and on my own time with the FSI program (starting cyrillic on April 2nd, 2014, UniLang on July 7th, 2014 (completed), and FSI on July 26th, 2014.) I also studied briefly in the summer of 2015 (Bulgarian Language for Foreigners on YouTube). This friend and I have gone our separate ways, but I still have interest in the language (and also it's Russian roots).
American Sign Language (First exposure - Beginner)
08/25/14 - I decided that since I knew I was interested in languages in general that I could take an ASL course. They also cancelled the Mandarin 101 class I was planning to take (due to lack of enrollment from students), so I couldn't start any studies in Mandarin. The ASL course was challenging, and I didn't expect an A, but I got it. I only took sign language for 4 months, but I enjoyed it and would definitely continue at some point.
Big Language Learning Steps
09/07/14: Joined HTLAL as "Techan" and began writing language logs. My first one was a Bulgarian, Japanese, and ASL log, (08/17/14) focusing on "input" and "output" as I called it, which lasted for around 16 weeks.
02/07/15 - This was around the time of my crazy polyglot experience. Main focuses: Japanese-Korean-Mandarin-Bulgarian-ASL-Swedish -- Moderate focuses: Arabic-Armenian-German-Russian -- Barely focused on: Vietnamese-Greek
Here's my silly video I made about learning languages, I MOSTLY talk about my own experiences, Benny Lewis, and Laoshu, but I am discussing, not necessarily agreeing with Benny Lewis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie51nqD_hcw But I believe this video is a big step in my realization of my passion for language learning.
03/19/15 - Accepted to the University of Washington. I had to choose between this college, UC Boulder, and University of Hawaii at Manoa. I chose UW because of it's prestigious East Asian Linguistics & Literatures program.
Korean (Beginner); Japanese (Intermediate to Upper Intermediate)
09/27/15 - Started taking Korean 101. I wasn't able to sign up for Japanese 211 because of testing and registration complications. I wrote a language log on HTLAL titled "Genki II - Autumn 2015". I had to study chapters 13, 14, and 15 on my own for the Japanese 211 final in order to get into Japanese 212, as I wasn't allowed to register for the course. My last post of that language log is as follows: (12/15/15) "Fantastic news --- I passed the final and got into the 212 Japanese class!!! I did it!"
01/04/16 - Started taking Korean 102, but had to drop it a few weeks into the course. I took Japanese 212, with a bit of struggle as I was depressed during this time with little motivation and a severe case of oversleeping (particularly during winter), but I still learned exponentially. We got through chapters 16-19 in 10 weeks.
01/28/17 - Officially majoring in Japanese.
04/??/16 - We went through the entire Genki II book in Japanese 213 (save the last chapter). Here's my language log on it, which is here on LLF: http://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2549
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Hindi, Tibetan (First exposure)
06/18/16 - Started learning from "Tobira" over the summer. I gained interest in Hindi and Tibetan over the summer, Hindi due to eating out at Indian restaurants a lot, and Tibetan due to going to a meditation event at a Tibetan Buddhism temple. I only started to learn the Hindi alphabet. I am planning to study these two languages at another time. Here's my language log for it, on LLF: http://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2984
NOTE This current language log starts where this (linked) language log ends. What is written as follows was added in after starting this current log.
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Beginner)
09/27/16 - Began the year with Japanese 311. Great teacher, lots of cool materials from Tobira, and no more depression!
09/27/16 - Started taking Swedish 101, due to interest not only in their badass pop music, but also their politics. I hate politics, but whenever I hear about Sweden's politics, I'm pleasantly surprised. I also think it's a really interesting language to learn, as it's a language close to English.
01/03/17 - Started taking Japanese 312. Still with Tobira, starting at chapter 4. Still at an upper intermediate level with Japanese.
01/03/17 - Started taking Swedish 102. Making some big strides in the understanding of basic Swedish.
Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Beginner - Lower Intermediate)
02/??/17 - BI/TRILINGUAL DREAMS... I started dreaming Japanese and Swedish A LOT. It's almost like something in my brain clicked and realized that the two were actually languages, strangely enough. I'm not sure if it was the Swedish that triggered the Japanese, or if the Japanese triggered the Swedish, or if just taking the classes everyday in partial immersion was the cause, but I dreamt about hearing and understanding both at around the same time, possibly even in the same night. Though, the Swedish at first wasn't coherent, it was just a bunch of jumbled words that sounded like Swedish. Dreams are really interesting! I think this is the point that I could really tell that my bi/trilingual/polyglotism was actually real. I was very excited when having dreams like this became the norm.
03/27/17 - Started taking Japanese 313. Still with Tobira, starting at chapter 7. Still at an upper intermediate level with Japanese, but definitely coming to a point where I will get to some advanced material (though I won't be considered advanced to many until I can solidify my Japanese with real-life immersion).
03/27/17 - Started Swedish 103. Swedish is finally getting hard. We're getting to some intermediate materials, but I still can't say that I am "intermediate" with Swedish, so I'll settle with "lower intermediate".
05/03/17 - Officially minoring in Swedish.
6/??/17 - Completion of Swedish 103, Japanese 313.
6/14 - 6/28/17 - TRIP TO KYOTO, JAPAN. I practiced Japanese with native speakers everyday for 2 weeks~
Spanish (Beginner - Upper Beginner)
??/??/17 - Interest in Spanish arises
6/??/17 - Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Upper Beginner - Lower Intermediate); Spanish (Upper Beginner) - Did some dabbling with these
Arabic (First Exposure - Beginner)
2/09/15 - Interest in Arabic began while I was on my polyglotism rampage in 2015. I studied the alphabet and wrote it all out, but didn't get far with it.
9/04/17 - Interest in Arabic rekindled after taking a DNA test. Working on the alphabet, and working on finding more resources~ Interested in going to a middle eastern store at some point.
(NOTE: I am starting with the classical language but will be moving on to Egyptian Arabic and possibly other dialects too)
Some Summer Dabbling and Planning (Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Arabic)
6/??/17 - Japanese (Upper Intermediate); Swedish (Upper Beginner - Lower Intermediate); Spanish (Upper Beginner) - Did some dabbling with these
7/01 - 9/04/17 - Not a lot done but some significant Memrise in Spanish and some Japanese dabbling
9/4/17 - Interest in Arabic rekindled (from the beginning of 2015). Also studying some Japanese and Spanish. Created the "speed-memorization technique" but am still refining it at this point.
9/9/17 - Creation of my very own "Bullet Journal for Language Learning" (My inspiration is from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT605QsOSNA) I'll be using it to track my days of language studying, my language goals, and, instead of disorganized posts, write a weekly/monthly summarizing post here.
The Final Stretch - Japanese (Upper Intermediate - Lower Advanced); Swedish (Lower Intermediate – Upper Intermediate)
9/27/17 – Started Japanese 431 (Readings in Modern Japanese Literature) a comparatively worse Japanese class. Also started Swedish 201.
12/20/17 – Completed Japanese 431, Swedish 201.
1/3/18 – Depression slowly became unbearable again. Started Japanese 432 (Readings in Modern Japanese Literature pt 2) which was the absolute worst class I have had in my entire life. I almost didn't pass that one. Also started Japanese 471 (Classical Japanese) which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Swedish 202.
5/9/18 – Completed Japanese 432, 437, and Swedish 202.
5/26/18 – Began Japanese 472 (Classical Japanese pt 2) and Swedish 203. Depression ensued and I finally sought medical help. With the stress of this being my final quarter at University, I was dragging myself through and didn't really enjoy much of anything.
6/5/18 – Completed my first original translation of an excerpt in the Classical Japanese text, 枕草子. Completed Japanese 472 and Swedish 203.
6/9/18 – Officially graduated from UW with a BA in Japanese Linguistics and a Swedish Language and Literature Minor. This language log will be graduating with me.
Here is my next language log:
Dec 2016 & 2017 Resolutions
√-Joining the East Asian Team here on the forum (Japanese B2; Korean A2; Mandarin beginner)
√-Taking Japanese 312; Swedish 102
√-Taking Japanese 313; Swedish 103
√-Studying Korean with a language partner
-Getting down the basics of Mandarin and Spanish
10/16/16:
This year at university I am taking 3rd year Japanese and am using the "Tobira - Gateway to Advanced Japanese" textbook, and also am using the "Power up your Kanji" and "Grammar Power" workbooks alongside it.
I am also taking 1st year Swedish and using the "Rivstart A1-A2 textbok" and "Rivstart A1-A2 övningsbok".
Taking on two languages at once is something a lot of my advisors in school and people around me have discouraged, especially when I tried to take Korean alongside Japanese. Turns out I should have listened to them, as I dropped Korean during the second quarter of my studies. However, I do plan to try again next year, as there were many more factors to why I dropped that class than that it was "confusing" or "challenging".
As for this year, I'm really doing well taking both Japanese and Swedish so far. We are 3 weeks into the quarter, so I can't say that I won't have struggles later, but for now things are looking good. Japanese, being a language I have studied for 7 years now, is something I'm familiar with and am getting better at everyday that I use it. Swedish I have found is very close to English, and so I am learning it quickly and with ease.
In Japanese, we've almost finished the first chapter of Tobira and will be moving on to the second chapter soon. All the hard work learning vocabulary over the summer has definitely paid off; I got to spend the time getting adjusted into my new apartment instead of focusing on learning vocabulary. Although I haven't learned many vocabulary past chapter 2, I am going to try and learn vocabulary before we do the lessons for the chapter, as it is very helpful in understanding the content, on top of getting me ahead in the class.
In Swedish, we've gotten to the 3rd chapter, and are learning numbers finally. We learned basic questions and answers for everyday conversations already, along with other useful vocabulary. (I think that some of the vocabulary in the Rivstart is questionably useful, but it is something at least). I'm also learning useful vocabulary outside of class by watching lyric videos of Swedish music. I am yet to find anyone who speaks Swedish on campus, but I am looking for someone to speak with.
So this language log is essentially just a diary of what I'm doing in class and outside of class to improve my language learning. Some people say that learning languages like Swedish is useless, but I really think that it gives me something useful every time I study a language, no matter how useful/not useful the language is in a career setting.. Any support on this topic?
What I'll be covering this quarter:
Japanese:
-Ch 1-3 in Tobira
-2 writing assignments (We've already completed 1)
-7 vocabulary quizzes (We've already done 2)
-3 kanji quizzes
-2 chapter exams
-2 oral interviews (these are my weakness)
Swedish:
-Ch 1-6 in Rivstart
-6 chapter quizzes (We've done 2 already)
-2 verbal exams
-2 written exams
I will update this language log weekly-ish. Thanks for reading~!