3 Day Projects (2019-2023)

[Teango]

Health comes first

October and November were intense - a colorful blur of kids' birthday parties, play dates, and piñatas. Then there were the ravages of Halloween and Thanksgiving, martial arts extravaganzas, the continuing onslaught of viruses, and a small host of family emergencies that came out of left field. Nevertheless, I continued to follow my health protocols for 2023, and was able to tackle every new and old challenge life threw at me.

So while I didn't get around to much language learning these past couple of months, or indeed this year, I did make a radical upgrade to my overall health. Through clean balanced nutrition, paced exertion, and greater emphasis on personal recovery (as part of a package of more wholesome lifestyle choices), I've managed to more than halve my sick days, eradicate full-scale relapses, and kick all meds to the curb for over a year...for the first time in 30 years!

I naturally entertained grander language designs at the start of the year. For instance, I planned to study each language to high proficiency at a time, starting with Japanese. And I had, somewhat naively, hoped to have developed proficiency in several of them in this manner by now. However, whereas my health has comparatively skyrocketed (and still has a long way to go), my languages have yet to take off.

And besides, this "one language to fluency at a time" approach didn't really work out for me anyhow. It will come as no surprise to those who follow my posts that I love engaging with lots of languages, much as I love an eclectic range of musical genres and artistic styles. And my original intention with 3 Day Projects was to have fun and enjoy bitesize language projects on the basis of what I want to do and excites me, when I'm ready and well enough to do it, and this is exactly what I wish to return to again. When I'm ready...

[Teango]

OK New Year, amigo mío...ready or not, here I come! But first, a brief reflection on my two big goals for 2023: health and languages.

Last year was really all about getting back to good health. And thanks to my secret ingredient (healthful nutrition - excuse the pun), this was a resounding success! What started off as a small hopeful project, ended up snowballing beyond expectations into something life-changing. It took many months and multiple setbacks to start noticing real progress, but now I'm feeling better than ever (disregarding recent holiday overindulgences) and am ready to pick up the gauntlet for new challenges.

As for languages, I totally dropped the ball and let it career down and out of sight into the rocky valley far below. Beyond minor dabbling in Japanese, I managed to do very little at all. И всё.

So how about 2024?

Well, I realize it's a bit of a cliché, but I want to get into shape. The general plan is to hit the gym and start the long and winding climb up Mount Fitness. Increased strength, flexibility, and stamina are top of my agenda. After all, with two young kids in tow, I'll need all the help I can get to keep up with them.

And as for languages, my goal is pretty much the same as it was for 2023: Learn and improve an insane number of languages! I have a few interesting ideas that I've kept on the back-burner for years, and I'd like 2024 to be the year I finally put them into motion, if health and providence permit. Of course, that's a big IF. I've also signed up for Spanish at university to add to the potential chaos.

Anyway, that's the general plan. And as always, I wish everyone who drops by here success, fortune, and adventure in their projects and life in 2024 too. May it prove a great year for us all!

Ke aloha,
Teango

[Teango]

Yes, the time has finally arrived. I've relaunched 3 Day Projects on a brand new blog for 2024!

Thank you so much for following me while I pilot tested my approach and tinkered around with a colorful tapestry of languages here. I'm excited to embark on a new journey now, in a new blog, with novel ideas and resources in my knapsack, and the prospect of exciting new directions and adventures.

I hope to see you there.

Ke aloha,
Teango

[willyw]

Japanese #25 (7h)

• Completed second wave of reviews for Chs. 1-6 in Genki I.
• Revisited supplementary kana and kanji sections for Chs. 1-6.
• Watched 3 videos by Onomappu.
• Chatted with an AI for a couple of hours in mainly Japanese.

This marks the completion of my second stroll through Chs. 1-6, with just one more promenade to go. Each successive review is substantially faster than the next, and a lot of words just need a gentle nudge to reawaken them from their slumber. I wish I could say the same of katakana and kanji, but they need some serious ancient Book of the Dead resurrecting! Ye gods and little pharoahs, it's shocking how many of these I've forgotten in under a mere year of inactivity!!

I'm picking out some phrases while listening now, and I've also started chatting (texting) in Japanese with ChatGPT, which has been a motivating and positive experience overall. I initially hung out with GPT-3.5, which was an unmitigated disaster (I should have heeded emk's warning there). In stark contrast, however, GPT-4 was excellent. It managed to infer what I needed given my bottom of the barrel A1 level of Japanese and responded accordingly. It's still tough-going at such a basic level, but it's much easier when accompanied with kana-only transcriptions (as my kanji sucks at this point) and English translations. Most importantly, AIs don't seem to mind at all if I make a plethora of mistakes, deliberate for aeons, or take my leave for a few hours and return to the dialogue later. Chattobotto-san is a most patient and accommodating fellow!

Hi Teango, I am interested in if you progressed chatgpt and Japanese.

For my type of learning, I would like to design a prompt that goes like this:
1. you are a native japanese tutor
2. you ask me a question about today/yesterday/tomorrow
3. that question will include any of the following japanese verbs (I list them here)
4. you will read the japanese question out loud (maybe show kana but no kanji)
5. you show romaji to help with my pronunciation but do not read romaji
6. you show the english translation but do not read english
7. You wait for my answer
8. you review my answer and provide feedback

[MorkTheFiddle]

Hi Teango, I am interested in if you progressed chatgpt and Japanese.

For my type of learning, I would like to design a prompt that goes like this:

3. that question will include any of the following japanese verbs (I list them here)

I especially like the fact that you request the use of specific verbs. Useful for any language, I would think.

[Teango]

@willyw
フォーラムへようこそ (fōramu e yōkoso)！ I haven't dabbled in Japanese since September 2023, but I do have every intention to return to my studies in 2024. I think it's cool that you're carefully thinking through what you want out of chatting with a bot, and formulating your instructions in more specific and interactional terms. Personally, I've found that the best way to craft a suitable prompt is through generous amounts of trial and error. Eventually, with any luck, you'll find a script that works more or less consistently well for you (a golden ticket, if you will ). Good luck with your adventures in 2024!