日本語一筋 [JP]

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Yuurei
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Yuurei » Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:32 am

I enjoy reading your log too o/

I just don't often find time to comment on things, because if I (regularly) commented on all the logs here that interest me, I'd have no time to improve my language skills anymore :lol:
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:54 pm

Last Sunday, I met up with a friend who I hadn't seen in 3 years. Truth be told, I wish we had more chances to see each other, but he's been studying in China for the past four years and he hasn't been able to make it to Alberta the last few times he's been back in Canada. Anyway, we basically talked for 8 hours straight about Asian languages, politics, history and philosophy, and I was in heaven. Where I live, I don't get to have conversations like that very often, and it just reminded me how much I like to be surrounded by people who are much more knowledgeable than myself. It was also highly motivating because he is living proof that it's possible to learn a category IV language and use it at an academic level. I've only ever managed to achieve the same results with a category I language.

I grilled him on a lot of questions regarding his experiences in China, but I also took the time to ask him about his Mandarin. He's an all around easy going kind of guy, and that attitude is reflected in his language study habits. For him, Mandarin is a tool for learning more about the world, and while he definitely wishes to improve his Chinese even more, he seemed confident that that will come as long as he stays interested in the world.

I still feel that I'm processing a lot of what we chatted about as I find myself thinking back to the conversation a lot, but most of all, I'm feeling a sort of calm motivation to push on. It's amazing what a person can accomplish, but what's more incredible is what a hardworking and self-motivated person can accomplish.
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:08 pm

In exactly one week, I'll be starting some prep courses before the actual school year begins, so my time is limited. And in these conditions, one might think I'd be thinking about reducing the amount of time I spend studying every day so that I can keep my routine sustainable. And I am. But another part of me has been deep into Indo-European linguistics lately and certain ideas have been fermenting in the back of my mind: why not tackle some classical languages? The urge to study Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit has been growing over the past couple years and the more I read about Sanskrit, the more I feel my self-control waning. I will not be indulging myself quite yet, though, and not even in the foreseeable future. I simply won't have the time to do it, but perhaps a couple years down the road...

Anyway, on one hand, I've been working on developing a habit of reading the news in Japanese. I've been working through one to three news articles every day and I'm starting to wonder why I didn't do this earlier. I read the news in Japanese somewhat regularly last summer, but I was forcing myself to do it because most of the articles didn't interest me all that much. This time around, there's been plenty of interesting material to cover: UN working groups on nuclear disarmament; trilateral talks between China, Japan and South Korea; South/East China Sea controversy; signs that North Korea has rebooted its nuclear projet; etc. Needless to say, the vocabulary gains have been great. But more importantly, I think I should be able to keep this tempo.

On the other hand, I'll either have to reduce the amount of anime I'm watching or care less about stopping for every unknown expression I encounter, or a mixture of both. I just don't see myself being able to juggle 10+ anime on top of my other Japanese "studies", plus classes, homework, actual work, keeping contact with French daily, taking care of myself and having a social life. Like I said, I can be a bit apathetic, so this is a lot for me. ^^; Luckily, there aren't that many anime I want to watch next season... Then again, that's what I thought this season too, and I ended up watching more than I thought I would. Either way, there's a figure skating anime, so YOU KNOW I'M ALL OVER THAT, SON! I'm also getting super excited for the second season of Euphonium. The hype is real.
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Mon Dec 12, 2016 5:57 am

Four more exams and I'm a free man... At least until January. ^^'

I haven't really posted here in a while because I've just been so busy and so 1) I haven't had time to post, 2) I haven't done much of note anyways. So while my Japanese might not have improved all that much, my knowledge of chemistry, calculus, statics, programming and economics has seen a great increase. Next term it'll be more chemistry, more calculus, dynamics, linear algebra and optics! I think I'm going to have to stop working part-time in January if I want to have some sort of normal, sane life. Second term promises to be even more demanding and while I like money, I value a healthy lifestyle more.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my new-found freedom starting the 16th at noon. I'm definitely devoting my holidays to Japanese as I've come to miss it quite a bit. I need to get caught up on my anime too; I've only watched Yuri!!! on Ice and Sound! Euphonium season 2 this season. In all honesty, I don't really know what else has aired this season besides Keijo (Oh Japan...), so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Don't have much else to say for now. I've got an exam to write tomorrow, and I just got done writing another practice final, so I just want to go to bed at this point.
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby vonPeterhof » Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:28 pm

Aside from the series you mentioned (including Keijo - don't judge me :D ) I've really been enjoying 船を編む, an adaptation of a novel taking place in a publishing company, focusing on a subdivision compiling a new Japanese dictionary. It's got lots of interesting linguistic tidbits, relatable working adult characters, down to earth relationships, very detailed character animation as well as some very pretty colouring work on the sky from time to time.

Among other shows that I think are worth recommending is 3月のライオン, which is equal parts sports drama about the game of shogi, domestic slice of life comedy, and introspective character study about depression and other psychological issues. The use of the notorious visual gimmicks and excesses that characterize Studio Shaft house style Is somewhat subdued, but whenever they are employed it's very effective.

フリップフラッパーズ can be recommended purely for the animation spectacle, as well as for unpacking all the subtextual clues. ガーリッシュナンバー is both an unusually sarcastic parody of the modern-day anime media mix through the eyes of the voice actresses/idols and a sincere character study of young adult issues (it's written by the author of 俺ガイル, if that says anything to you). 戦国鳥獣戯画 is a series of comedic shorts with Sengoku-era figures reimagined as talking animals, featuring an art style reminiscent of Japanese traditional art and line delivery so naturalistic it almost sounds unscripted (I found the first episode hilarious, but the others rely on the knowledge of the historical context a little too much for my liking). And finally, there are a couple surprisingly solid Sino-Japanese collaborations, To Be Hero and Cheating Craft. They're both off-beat comedies with half-length episodes and frequent animation experimentation, with the former relying on the contrast between gross out humour and occasional heartwarming sincerity, and the latter on the ridiculousness of its premise and parodies of anime clichés. Both very much YMMV.
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:26 am

@vonPeterhof You da bomb. Now my watch list is looking pleasingly not barren. And hey, I watched the first episode of Keijo. I ain't knockin' nothin'. I just love Japan. ;)

Calculus and programming are the only things preventing me from going full-out Japanese-mode at the moment. I'm actually in a bit of a weird state of mind where I want this term to be over with. I'm not sick of studying or anything. I just feel that I'm well-prepared for my exams, so I'd like to write them so I can focus on other activities. Like Japanese. *cough* *cough*

Something I've been doing to hype myself for this Friday, when I'll finally be able to let loose, is looking for more music. And I think I lucked out, because I had one of the songs I found on repeat in my mind today during my statics exam. I didn't notice until now, but Reol, a notable cover artist on niconico, has put together a group, REOL (kind of confusing, if you ask me), with a couple of other artists and they've put out an album, Σ (sigma, for the non-greek/math nerds), and the third track, 宵々古今 (Yoiyoi Kokon), has devoured my brain real estate. I really feel the 古今.

I've been thinking lately that I'd like to go see a Japanese band live, but I don't know how or when I could make that happen. I was talking with a friend, and we're going to try to go to a BABYMETAL concert at some point, but I don't know when they'll be in North America or when I'll be in Japan next.
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Nandemonai » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:49 am

Sizen wrote:I didn't notice until now, but Reol, a notable cover artist on niconico, has put together a group, REOL (kind of confusing, if you ask me), with a couple of other artists and they've put out an album, Σ (sigma, for the non-greek/math nerds), and the third track, 宵々古今 (Yoiyoi Kokon), has devoured my brain real estate. I really feel the 古今.


I really liked her new album too! I've had it on repeat for a couple weeks even. Hasn't she been making music with the current members for a while already? "No Title" comes to mind.
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:58 am

Nandemonai wrote: Hasn't she been making music with the current members for a while already? "No Title" comes to mind.

Correct you are! However, they'd never collectively referred to themselves as "REOL". That's why they can get away with saying this is REOL's first album even though it's definitely not their first album together. It's also not Reol's first album, but... Ah screw it. This naming scheme is so confusing. XD
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Sizen
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby Sizen » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:55 am

What a time to be learning Japanese. There's so much interesting news coming out that I don't even have to worry about not finding a news story that catches my interest every day. Of course, it usually has nothing to do with Japan, but that really doesn't change much. The fact remains that I'm reading the news consistently every day. And the vocabulary sticks. I've gone from knowing basically nothing about political terminology to being able to read some political articles effortlessly. There's obviously plenty more to learn, but I'm happy with my progress so far.

I had been considering bringing anki back into my life for a while, but the thought of using it to mine sentences when I'm trying to enjoy a show or a book really turns me off. I'm actually quite satisfied with how I learn vocab in those kinds of contexts, so I don't see the point of using anki. However, feeling I need to do some actual "work" if I want to learn Japanese to a high level, I've decided to work through 日本語総まとめN1語彙 using anki as my main way of reviewing. So far this is working out nicely, but I have to say... this book contains an almost distressing quantity of unknown vocabulary for me. This is both a blessing and a... well not a curse. It's just a little disheartening is all. I know I have a fairly large Japanese vocabulary, but I guess there's still a long ways to go.

Completely unrelated, but I found this page, which contains a non-exhaustive, but definitely plentiful, list of translations for words relating to the American government.

Other than that, I've just been watching anime and stuff. Life's pretty good.
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Re: 日本語一筋 [JP]

Postby kraemder » Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:37 am

I had the same distressing feeling when I flipped through the 新完全マスターN1語彙. I'd been working toward the N2 for so long and pretty much covered that vocabulary a couple years ago that I just wasn't used to being at square 1 again. I suppose it makes sense though - there's plenty of words I don't know ehen I read even if there's also a lot words I do know.
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