Japanese, Swedish, and Polyglotism Language Log

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:59 pm

So, I did the Japanese oral interview. I think it went alright. My nerves only got to me maybe two times and made me mess up a little, and I didn't know what to reply only once, but I figured it out and continued. I think I got an okay score, seeing that this instructor doesn't grade too harshly compared to previous instructors I've had. I'll see the results soon. I can't really think how I could have done better. I did the best I could.

We completed another kanji quiz which I am confident I did well on. Also, the chapter 2 exam is Monday... So I'll be studying hard!

Progress report:
Japanese:
-2/3 chapters completed in Tobira (We've completed chapter 2, but the exam is Monday.)
-2/2 writing assignments completed
-5/7 vocabulary quizzes
-2/3 kanji quizzes completed
-1/3 chapter exams completed (I think the final exam is just the chapter 3 exam)
-1/2 oral interview left (these are my weakness... Half way done!!!)

In Swedish, we finished chapter 4 and took the quiz. Things are still going smoothly, but I'm not sure how many of the plural forms I am retaining. A lot of them are obvious to my mind and come naturally, but others are taking a bit more time.

Progress report:
Swedish:
-4/6 chapters completed in Rivstart
-4/6 chapter quizzes completed
-1/2 verbal exams left
-1/2 written exams left

More than half way done with the quarter~! I registered for next quarter's classes, and they are the same times that this quarter's classes are. So, my experience will be similar just with more advanced materials. Fun fun..
2 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sun Nov 20, 2016 2:59 am

This week was a rough one as I seemed to have come down with food poisoning so I had to miss a few classes. Before I got sick, I took the Japanese chapter 2 exam and thought I did really well on it. I studied all of the grammar thoroughly! Turns out, I did worse on this one than the last one, which I felt I did bad on. While I usually would think people that say this kind of thing just simply don't understand the material, I am confident I did understand a lot of it, but the teacher cranked up the strictness on her grading for some reason. Perhaps she expects more of us because we are more than half way through the course... Whatever the case, I think my resulting grade will be okay as long as I pass the final, and more importantly, I feel that I really am advancing in my Japanese skills, no matter what small mistakes are found on my exams.. I'll look over them and try to learn from them anyway.

On a side note, yesterday we took the 6th vocabulary quiz. Just one more left, but I am going to try and continue to study vocabulary over the winter break so I can keep up with next quarter's class.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I did pretty well on my oral exam, an 80%, and I also got a 100% on my kanji quiz, which made me really happy!

Progress report:
Japanese:
-2/3 chapters completed in Tobira
-2/2 writing assignments completed
-6/7 vocabulary quizzes
-2/3 kanji quizzes completed
-2/3 chapter exams completed
-1/2 oral interview left (these are my weakness... Half way done!!!)

In Swedish, we finished chapter 5 and will take the quiz on Monday. I hope that the verbal exam and written quiz are spaced out evenly so that I won't have to worry about cramming everything in last minute... We only have 2 and a half weeks of classes left.

Progress report:
Swedish:
-5/6 chapters completed in Rivstart
-4/6 chapter quizzes completed
-1/2 verbal exams left
-1/2 written exams left

That's all for now~
Last edited by Xelian on Fri Nov 25, 2016 1:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
1 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Fri Nov 25, 2016 1:19 am

We took the last vocabulary quiz in class yesterday, but we need to study more vocabulary in order to understand the rest of the materials for this quarter. So, I'll be doing that this Thanksgiving break.

We will be taking the kanji quiz, oral interview, and final exam all in the span of four days, and the final is on a Saturday. This is unfortunately typical of this university... The good news is, I got ahold of the criteria that will be on the oral interview early. It was in the course pack, but the teacher hasn't introduced it yet, and likely wont until last minute... So I'm glad I found it so I can prepare for it thoroughly this time. It looks like there will be 23 possible questions from which the instructor will ask a few, as well as a "role-play" situation, which there isn't much explanation on. I'm just happy all of the questions are listed.

As much as I love Japanese and am learning quite a lot, it is pretty stressful to be in such a high-standard class. I'm a mix thankful and also pretty frustrated most of the time. It's almost like hard work and passion for Japanese is not enough to get an A in the class. But... It is enough to learn from it at least, and I am expecting a B or B-, depending on the grading. I got B-'s in the 2nd year classes and those really were much harder than this class, so maybe it's not as bad as I think. Or maybe it is, I can't say haha... It feels like even though I work very very hard, the grade is almost always out of my hands.... Goodbye honors!!

I've been studying Japanese for 7 years, 5 in middle and high school, and two at university... But I usually just say I've been studying it for 3 because people expect me to be fluent already when actually I'm not. I'm not sure why I have this instinct, but when you're in middle and high school, there's not a lot of room to study a language, and that was 5 years of my time studying Japanese. Most of the people in my class started 3 years ago, as we are in 3rd year Japanese. I guess everyone just has their own path. I use to be proud that I had studied so long and hard, but now that I'm here it feels like I've done nothing, and that others have been much more efficient than me. Well, I suppose I should stop thinking too much about it and ranting, because I am learning a significant amount here and getting better everyday.

Progress report:
Japanese:
-2/3 chapters completed in Tobira
-2/2 writing assignments completed
-7/7 vocabulary quizzes
-2/3 kanji quizzes completed
-2/3 chapter exams completed
-1/2 oral interview left (these are my weakness... Half way done!!!)

In Swedish, we did the chapter 5 exam and will be finishing off the quarter much in the same way that my Japanese class is, although the final exam is not on Saturday (thankfully). We will be finishing off chapter 6 by next Friday, taking that quiz, and then cramming in the last verbal and written exams into a two day period the next week. Thankfully, I am doing fine in Swedish and have no doubt this will be no problem for me to finish off with an A and beginner knowledge in Swedish! ^^

Progress report:
Swedish:
-5/6 chapters completed in Rivstart
-5/6 chapter quizzes completed
-1/2 verbal exams left
-1/2 written exams left
3 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:18 pm

Hello everyone,

In Japanese we basically finished out chapter 3. We are having the kanji quiz on Wednesday, the oral interview Thursday, and then the final exam on... Saturday... I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared haha.. I have a lot of preparation to do and very little time to do it in. Hopefully I can pull through!!

Progress report:
Japanese:
-3/3 chapters completed in Tobira
-2/2 writing assignments completed
-7/7 vocabulary quizzes
-2/3 kanji quizzes completed
-2/3 chapter exams completed
-1/2 oral interview left (these are my weakness... Half way done!!!)

In Swedish, we've completed chapter 6 and the online quiz is due before Monday. We have the verbal exam on Wednesday and a final written exam on Thursday. Flipped of my Japanese class.

Progress report:
Swedish:
-6/6 chapters completed in Rivstart
-5/6 chapter quizzes completed
-1/2 verbal exams left
-1/2 written exams left

How unfortunate that I have to take 6 different tests, (not to mention another one for my Japanese linguistics class on Wednesday) all within the next week. Not looking forward to it, but I will do what I can. I should be fine on the Japanese kanji exam, and all of the Swedish tests, but the rest may be a bit challenging. Reminds me of midterms. I have to do this again two more times in the next two quarters. 6 points of high stress in a year... Maybe I can get use to it eventually. xD Well, I'm off to take the Swedish quiz and do some other work and studying... I'll be relieved the next time I post, as finals will be over. I will have three and a half weeks of break however!!! Quite a long break to do some fun things, but also to keep up with my studies.

Over the break I'm planning to..

- Talk with Italki friends (in Swedish, Japanese, and Korean... I've been gathering a few people to chat with lately)
- Make an intro video in Korean and post it on my youtube; and practice Korean as much as I can
- Learn as much Japanese vocabulary and grammar as I can in Tobira (I'll be aiming for chapters 4, 5, and 6)
- Write in my Japanese journal regularly (I do this every break and try to keep up with it during the school year too)
- Relax and probably play some minecraft and pokemon games.. Hehe... Finally.
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sat Dec 10, 2016 8:23 pm

Alright, I finished the quarter! Now I am just waiting on the final grades. We took the final Japanese exam earlier today. It was surprisingly less challenging than the two other exams. I don't doubt I did less than desirable however. I probably will be marked off for a lot of small mistakes again. I also completed the second oral interview. I did well on the "role play" portion, but for some reason scored very low on the "questions" portion. The description was... "Understands the questions and can correctly answer." I assume I just did not answer correctly on a lot of the questions, which makes me confused because I was certain I knew the meaning, and I thought I was logically answering them. It's concerning because I am not sure if I misunderstood everything I thought I knew well... All I can do is ask the instructor about it. It is possible that the grading was based on how well I answered the questions, as in, how correct my grammar was. I feel that I did understand the questions, just my grammar is not perfect when speaking. If it is just this, I am less worried as proper grammar will come with more practice and exposure.

I got nearly 100% on my final kanji quiz and 100% on my writing assignment at least!

Progress report:
Japanese:
-3/3 chapters completed in Tobira
-2/2 writing assignments completed
-7/7 vocabulary quizzes
-3/3 kanji quizzes completed
-3/3 chapter exams completed
-2/2 oral interviews

Swedish was fun and easy in the last days, I'm happy to finish it. It is weird how much more learning an Asian language here demands of you. It is weird to me that Swedish is easy. I think the teacher might even go too easy on us! I only got one point off for all the mistakes I made on the final exam. It seems she doesn't count points off for misspelling a word, which is really nice but most teachers here would have taken at least 5 point off of this exam for making spelling errors.. Anyway... I'm glad I scored so high, but it is so weird that this class has such low standards, but Japanese and Korean have such high standards....

Progress report:
Swedish:
-6/6 chapters completed in Rivstart
-6/6 chapter quizzes completed
-2/2 verbal exams
-2/2 written exams

Anyway, I'll probably update again on my final grades, (how I did on the Japanese final exam) and what I've been doing with my winter break as far as languages go.
4 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:37 pm

Hello! It is winter break and I have 3 and a half weeks to get a head start on my classes next quarter!! Yeaaahhh!!
I passed my Japanese final by the way ^^

So what I'm planning to do is see how fast I can get through the chapters 4, 5, and 6 in Tobira. I can't say how well this will work out, so I will likely end up prioritizing certain things over others in the book.

The goals are what I want to accomplish, the plan is what I would need to do in order to accomplish that before school starts again.

What my goals are (listed from most important to least important):
-Learn required vocabulary
The plan: Learn 1 set of 25 words every 3 and a half days (focus on one set from Sunday to Wednesday, start the next on Wednesday and go to Saturday)
-Learn the grammar
The plan: Learn 2-3 grammar points per day
-Read the readings
The plan: Read the readings and conversations for each chapter (one week = one chapter)
-Learn the kanji
The plan: Take the time to practice each chapter's kanji. (one week = one chapter)

So basically, I will be trying to complete a chapter each week. I don't know that I will learn all of the kanji during this time, as I already have an effective method during the school quarter that doesn't take much time, and I don't need much extra work on these.

What is realistic over the break:
So far I have made two sets of 25 vocabulary words for chapter 4. I think vocabulary is essential to understand the readings, and it takes a lot of time to memorize them so I am trying to learn them ahead of time.
Grammar is an issue I struggle with, so I'll be trying to work through those as much as possible.
Reading the readings doesn't take much time. I can just read them over as I learn the vocabulary for them, so at the end of this week, I will read the chapter 4 reading. The only thing that I might not have time for is the 会話文, but I will likely go back to them after I have finished the chapters, as the vocabulary for these is minimal and I can probably just make one extra set of flashcards to take care of those. Or I'll just skip it and work on it during the school year.

These are the things that are most important, so I think I will be able to accomplish at least learning most vocabulary and grammar points, along with reading the main readings. ^^

On top of this, I have decided to pick up the Korean Pimsleur again and will be going through units 5-12.

So, this is what my week will look like:
-Ch 4 Tobira
2 sets of vocabulary
18 grammar points
1 reading, plus 会話文 if there is time
Kanji, if there is time
-Pimsleur Korean
Units 5, 6, and 7
-Time to relax

I will be happy just to complete a single chapter entirely. But I hope to get further than that, as it really helps my work load when I get back into school and saves hours of stress from being too tired to study after classes... I was only able to get ahead one chapter and some of the second chapter during the summer, but I was busy during this time with other things as well as rejuvenating after a whole year of stress and depression. However, getting ahead on just this one chapter really set the stage for my success in the course.

So I think I can do a lot while I maintain a healthier state of mind.
It might be too much to accomplish, but I will let you know how far I get by next Sunday!!
1 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


Finnish?!
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=708
x 3280
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Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Elenia » Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:58 pm

Good luck! Lycka till!
1 x

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:30 pm

Elenia wrote:Good luck! Lycka till!


Tack så mycket! ^^ I will be brushing up on my Swedish when I have the time, and will continue it next quarter in school as well~!^^
1 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sun Dec 18, 2016 4:32 am

Hello again,
I didn't accomplish EVERYTHING for this week as I figured I should fit in some relaxing time. But, I did a few things I planned on doing.

What I did this week:
-Ch 4 Tobira
1/2 sets of vocabulary
3/18 grammar points

4/7 Japanese journal entries

-Pimsleur Korean
Unit 5

-Time to relax

I am going to be still working on completing the things I said I wanted to complete. I am thinking about cutting out chapter 5 however, as it's about food and I think it looks a lot easier than chapters 4 and 6. I'll want to at least go over the grammar points for that chapter.

Speaking of grammar points, more so than learning vocabulary, I think it is important for me to really ingrain the grammar. So I want to try and focus as much as I can on this.

I found the Korean pimsleur fairly boring and thus pretty hard to keep up with and learn the phrases... This may be because I am kind of tired of the pimsleur method. I really don't know what else to do for my Korean other than power through the CD's a few times and hope to retain something, which worked before. I don't know if I am able to force myself to listen to them anymore however, I truly don't find them engaging anymore. I hope that I can just take a few Korean classes next school year.

Anyways, I'll keep updating, and keep up with my schedule when I can ^^
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: Japanese and Swedish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sun Dec 25, 2016 2:06 am

This week was interesting, as I didn't do everything I planned to do, but I am still learning my target languages in a different way.

I've been searching for language partners on Italki, and I finally found a good one for Korean. We are planning to listen through an audio book together in Korean on Skype. He explains in English, which allows him to gain practice in English, and I listen to the book, repeat the lines, and try to understand the grammar with his explanations. We did a one hour session last time, but we may just do short sessions of reviewing the materials and only one to two hour long sessions each week when school picks up again. Much less boring than Pimsleur Korean, but on the flip side it is much more tedious... I feel like my Korean might not be advanced enough to improve by listening to such a challenging book... But... It's worth a shot and better than I would be doing otherwise (which would be basically nothing for Korean). Sweet new language project though, I'm really hoping we can continue it!

I also wrote in my journal in Japanese everyday this week. I think that's a new record for me!! XD.. I'd say that two of the journals are around a good length of 3 paragraphs. I hope to write 3 paragraphs every day, but sometimes it is okay to write a small paragraph if I'm busy studying. I'm planning to keep doing this for the entire break.

I've also started to study chapter 6 vocabulary in Tobira. I'm skipping the 5th chapter for now, as it has less vocabulary to learn. I will still try to learn as much as I can to get ahead for the class, but I think it is also a good time to start practical application of my Japanese. I've chatted with a few Japanese people from Italki over the break, and it's been fun, but no Skype conversations yet. Hopefully this week I can get at least one and try to practice Japanese!

I want to do the forum's TAC for next year's resolution, but I don't know if it is time to sign up yet!!

Anyway, I'll update next week! Merry Christmas~
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read


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