Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

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tuckamore
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:14 pm

I have been bracing for a ridiculously busy end of year. And, *bam* just like that, all the fun has begun. So, from here on until 2020, I’ll often be in survival mode. I’ll have some lighter weeks in the mix. But, as we get closer to Dec, that ‘free time’ will be, more often than not, used for recovery. I do expect, however, to maintain contact with all 3 of my languages, even during the most frantic weeks, as I’ve built in some habits that won’t die easily.

I listen to French podcasts during my daily commute and since my commute won’t be going away, I’ll still be listening. Reading in Japanese is going so well, I cannot imagine going long without reading. :P It’s like a drug. Everyday, I’m high on the feeling of hey, look at me, I’m reading in Japanese. This capability had been a long time coming and now I’m addicted. Seriously. Thai will be the easiest to slip away, if I don’t take care. But, I think I’ll be able to continue watching the sitcom I’ve started, at least a few days a weeks, if not more. This is my game plan going into this period. Everything else will be a bonus. I have to have realistic expectations for the next months.

Tadoku in Japanese is going strong. I finished マスクレード・ホテル, again by Higashino Keigo. Its difficultly level was in between that of the other two books I’ve read by him. Easier than 真夏の方程式 but harder than 悪意. I liked the book overall, but not so much the main plot (or at least the finale). How can this be? I think it’s because I like the two main characters and their interactions, I learned a lot about how hotels can deal with difficult people, and I like following along with the logic behind much of the sleuthing. But, I found the subplots and the motive for the main plot lacking. It centres on two characters, an undercover detective working as a concierge/receptionist in a high-end hotel and the proper staff member who he is working with. He is working undercover to nab a ‘serial’ killer before they take their next victim. I enjoyed seeing details of the Japanese concept of hospitality (おもてなし in action) described from the point of view of the hotel staff, as she is training the detective on hotel ways. At first, I was a bit put off as it seemed like she was painted as diligent but overly naive, while the detective was painted as keen and insightful (but this initial interpretation could be wrong and result from my limited language skills). But, that original vibe disappeared and I wound up digging the dynamic between the two. Language wise the hardest bits were the briefings among the police and following the involved reasoning that went on in trying to discover the villain and predict their next move. There were entire pages that were devoted to logical arguments. It’s tricky business following logic in long sentences that have double and triple (or more) negatives, using positive words in negative ways and vice versa. Oh, and then, let’s finish it all off with a じゃない tag at the end for good measure. :lol: In all seriousness, though, this is one aspect where this year’s reading mission has brought noticeable improvements. Rarely do I now have to pause and sort out the multitudes of negatives like I used to have to. In a way, I am charmed with this manner of speaking/writing.

I am now finishing up 萩を揺らす雨 by 吉永南央, which I’ll write about next time.

In my French world, I continue on with listening to podcasts with variable degrees of comprehension. I probably get in around 1-1.5 hr everyday. I’m proud of myself here as I basically was doing zero listening before this year, except for that rare burst of ambition (or guilt). I am on chapter 20 of French in Action. My small goal here is to reach chapter 26 by the end of the year and then to average 1-1.5 chapters a week.

Thai always moves a bit slower, but I have completed translating 3 more stories from Mary Haas’ Thai Reader. I have also decided to add in the L1-L2 step. It doesn’t take that long, it forces me to read the Thai very carefully, and tests me on my understand in a stress free way — all of which cannot hurt. Still too early to have any solid conclusions, but my gut is telling me this approach is working for me. A challenge I have in Thai is knowing what order verbs go in when there is a long string of verbs and translating seems to be helping me figure this out. Something I like about this bidirectional translation is, to paraphrase Goldilocks, it is not too hard, nor too easy…it is just right. The intensity of the reward (i.e., satisfaction that I got something correct) perfectly matches the intensity of effort. Which as I just said, is not too hard or too easy. Another thing I like is I can immediately self-correct. So far, the Thai Reader is a good resource for this because the English translations are very true to the Thai. (I don’t know if the original Thai Reader had English translations but I’m using the text from http://www.sealang.net, which has both Thai and English.)

I read the first several sentences of the Wizard of Oz in Thai, using the English as a guide, and I was pleasantly surprised how well I got along. I’m not jumping into this book just yet, but was curious to see how I would do.
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tuckamore
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Tue Oct 01, 2019 5:05 pm

I read 1500+ pages of Japanese in September for tadoku! My original goal was 1200 pages, but when I when I passed that benchmark, I aimed higher for 1500 pages. I wouldn’t be able to sustain this pace much longer, though. Three weeks seemed to be the sweet spot. I probably read 1.5-2x more than I would have because of tadoku. Thank you nandemonai for getting this going!

In my last post I said I was finishing up 萩を揺らす雨 by 吉永南央. This was the hardest book I’ve read, yet. And, I cannot quite put my finger on why. Heading into it, I thought it was going to be an easier read as it is 6 short stories about a busybody older lady who solves problems/mysteries in her neighbourhood (the commentary at the end makes reference to Miss Marple). How wrong I was!

Because it was different short stories, there were so many characters and names (oh names! they are becoming my achilles heel) to keep track of and not nearly as many furigana hints for names as in the other books I’ve read. On the surface, I didn’t necessarily find the language hard. But there were so many lines that I knew what they meant (as in I knew the words, no unfamiliar grammar, knew what the line meant if taken independently), but I couldn’t figure out what they meant in the context of the scene. Even with reading the paragraphs over and over again. This was driving me mad. Obviously, I was missing important contextual elements, which highlights that I still have a long road ahead of me in regard to reading comprehension. The 2 stories that caused me the greatest pain were stories that centred around old relationships, so the narration went back and forth in time. I could usually follow when we went back in time, but I was very late to pick up on the clues for when we were back in the present. Saying I was totally lost in these 2 stories is an understatement. All in all, worthwhile, but brutal, experience for exposing my weaknesses.

Fortunately, I moved onto an easier read, 麒麟の翼, again by Higashino Keigo. I had to look up 麒麟. When I did, it turns out to be きりん (kirin), which I automatically assumed to be a giraffe. Hmmm, ‘wings of the giraffe’ — cool, I’m intrigued. But, upon further reading, it turns out to be a mythological creature (of Chinese origin?) from where the animal kirin (giraffe) got it’s name. Fun fact, it’s the creature portrayed on Kirin beer.

This book is part of the same series as 悪意, which was the book I read about a month ago that I thought was the perfect level for me. The narration style of these 2 books are completely different but the difficulty levels are comparable (in other words, spot-on for me). I read the entire 370 page book in less than 1 week. In addition to the approachable style of writing/level of Japanese, the actual story telling drew me in, too. Although, again, the wrap up was a bit blah. I’ve never really read much modern mystery/detective books in English, either. So maybe unsatisfying endings are par for the course for this genre or maybe these books I’m reading are just subpar? Anyways, I’m totally absorbed into the story the whole way through, so this is not a strong criticism. Unfortunately, I think these are the only two books my library has of this series. Otherwise, I would snatch them up. But, I haven’t researched this too hard, so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and stumble on another one.

Because I was so focused on reading for takoku, there is not much to write about for French or Thai. I’ve moved up a chapter in French in Action and am now on chapter 21 and I did a Thai-to-English translation for one more story from the Thai Reader, along with my habitual listening in French and occasional sitcom in Thai.
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tuckamore
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:36 pm

Thai
I finally finished doing bidirectional translations of Part 1 of Thai Reader. At this snail’s pace, I won’t be through with the book until this time next year. I know this slow-poke progress reflects time on task (or lack of). Realistically, though, I’m not sure how fast I could move through this material without burning out. It’s very enjoyable at the pace I’m working and I don’t want to mess with fun. As a compromise, I should aim to complete one Part a month — there are 9 parts. I would love to find another activity as a nice complement, but I haven’t come up with one.

In exploring my options, I pulled Higbie’s Thai Reference Grammar off my shelf. I like this book, I like all the example sentences; I don’t like the teeny-tiny font that is used for the Thai script. There is a lot in this book to learn from. But, I don’t know how to actively study with it. Right now, I just use it as a reference book (fitting use per its title). What would be great if there was a workbook that complemented it (Any takers? Orchid Press, I’m looking at you). Actually, a workbook of any kind for breaking into intermediate Thai would be welcomed.

I’m understanding more and more of the Thai sitcom. With the aid of video, there is rarely any storyline I cannot follow. True, my understanding of the language is way below, kilometres below, what I can follow thanks to the video. Even so, I’m am seeing great progress. Just last night, I understood just about every word in 2-3 whole conversations and, twice recently, I even caught on to some jokes that made me belly laugh. Encouraging. In true sitcom fashion there is the fake laughter tracks. Until last week (or was it the week before last?) I found it annoying. But, I noticed that the annoyance has disappeared and, instead, has segued into being a source of motivation — I desperately want to know what we are supposed to be laughing at!! :lol:

Japanese
I never cease to be amazed at all the seemingly basic things that I don’t know. I just realized that we have グラス and ガラス in Japanese. Never ever noticed until today that there were two variants. I think I’ve always said グラス for both meanings. What explains this distinction? Separate origins? For example, one form made its way into Japanese from Dutch and the other from English? Now the question is how will I ever remember which is which. Ignorance is bliss. :roll:

I’m finishing up マスケレード・イブ by 東野圭吾. It has the same two main characters as マスケレード・ホテル but so far they haven’t interacted. I think マスケレード・イブ is a prequel, but it was published after マスケレード・ホテル. (Never take my word for things like these.) It is several short stories of about the same reading level as マスケレード・ホテル. Each story only focuses on one of the main characters, except the last story.

French
Looking back, it is remarkable at how far my listening has come in the last half-year or so. This improvement is motivation in and of itself to keep pushing on like I’ve been doing. I’ve moved up another chapter to ch. 22 in French in Action. I made the mistake of checking out Mauger’s Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Françaises at the library and quickly skimmed through some dozen lessons. Love it! But, I really don’t need to be distracted by another course (a beginner’s course, at that) while I’m working through French in Action. So, tempting though... I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold out. Time (or rather its limited availability) may be my ally here.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Tue Oct 22, 2019 4:40 pm

No time for an update last week. Two more months of crazy.

Japanese
Over the weekend, I finished ブルータスの心臓 by 東野圭吾。I thoroughly enjoyed this book, except the very end (last 10 pages). Where again, the overarching motive left me wanting. But, this motive wasn’t really the focus of the book, so it left little impact on my overall impression of the book. I’m now reading Paradox 13, also by Higashino Keigo. For a change of pace, it is a SF story, rather than a detective story. The ease at which I read the first chapter is evidence of how much I have improved in reading. Not long ago, I would just skip over anything to do with so-and-so from this-and-that government ministry or so-and-so whatever cabinet member, merely noting that we were talking about government stuff. In this first chapter, though, I read right along as this type of stuff was written. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was easy, but it wasn’t hard.

I’m inching toward 9000 pages read since January! I’ll properly reflect on the merits of all this reading once I reach 10,000 pages. But, right now, I want to say that more than anything it has brought me confidence. I have a can-do attitude, rather than my prior defeatist attitude, when opening a new book or looking at a wall of Japanese text. It's amazing that I’ve gotten to this place.

French and Thai
Not much to report here for either. I’m on chapter 24 of French in Action. Still listening to French podcasts during my commutes. Thai, as predicted, is getting the short end of the stick, even shorter than normal. But, I did manage to put in some study time over the weekend and I consistently watch 2-3 episodes of the sitcom each week.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Tue Nov 05, 2019 4:38 pm

I’m barely treading above the bare minimum these days. Even during my commute, where I’m still listening to French podcasts, I find I’m not really listening much. I’m mostly thinking....through my to-do list, sorting through problems, reevaluating priorities for the week, etc. Unfortunately, my level is still where I need to listen hard, otherwise I hardly understand a thing. The same thing goes for the Thai show. I’m watching it a fews times per week. But, these days, I don’t have the energy to concentrate on listening hard. So, my comprehension and, thus my enjoyment, has taken a sharp turn downward. This inability to understand without close focus is a good reminder that during less busy times, these so-called ‘passive’ activities are not usually so ‘passive’ for me. I haven’t moved forward on French in Action or done much of anything else in Thai.

There were a few days in a row where I didn’t even pick up my Japanese book. But, this was just as much the fault of the book as my energy level. I finished reading パラドックス13 by 東野圭吾. It dragged. There was some freak black-hole-type phenomenon resulting in only 13 survivors. (It occurred on March 13, at 13:13:13. See all those 13s there? — hence, the name of the book, Paradox 13). Anything that could go wrong went wrong. I’ve enjoyed other books with this sort of survival theme, but this book was too much for me. The interactions between the survivors were like one of those bad reality TV shows, where strangers are thrown together and the worst clichés are brought to the surface. (Before being swayed by this remark, know that my bias is showing as I strongly dislike those type of shows.) But, at the same time, everyone is made to seem righteous and respectable. I liked the premise of the book and thinking deeper about some of the difficult moral/human issues the characters had to face, and I enjoyed the parts where the survivors learn what has happened to them versus the rest of the world. There was an unexpected, cool twist towards the end of the book that explained why these particular 13 people were the only ones left. But, I got fed up with the predictable bickering between certain type-cast personalities, and the never ending ‘what can go wrong, will go wrong’ storyline.

(I have a secret ambition to reach 10000 pages by the end of the year. Shhhh…please don’t tell anyone, not even me. I’m not sure I can pull it off this time of year. I have 1000 more to go. But, gosh-golly, I’m going to try!)

Of everything in my routine these weeks, my vocabulary work with Kanji in Context has been the most solid. This surprises me as I would have assumed proper study would have suffered more than the leisure-type activities. On reflection, though, I think, because I’m being led by the book, it is easier to just do it. It still takes effort, but it is very focused and directed. I don’t have to put any thought into it beyond what each chapter tells me I need to. My reading, listening, watching leisure actives seem to require more effort, which is running in short supply. I have less than 10 chapters left in KIC to reach my year goal. This will bring me to the end of Workbook 1. I hope to finish these outstanding chapters by next week and then just continue with reviews (using the books, not digital reviews) for the remainder of the year.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Fri Nov 15, 2019 7:03 pm

I’ve spent some chill time (read: procrastinating) catching up on the forum. These past weeks, there has been a lot of conversations and posts in member’s logs that I wish to comment on, but I don’t have time. I feel bad that I haven’t contributed to the community conversations more. :(

I predict this may be my last update for some weeks due to time constraints. There probably wouldn’t be much to update, anyways. In my last post, I mentioned that I’m not gaining much from my so-called passive activities these days: listening to French podcast and watching my Thai sitcom. My head is too occupied with other things to relax into these two activities. So, I’m going to take a pseudo break. I think I’ll benefit (as a human) more from using this precious time to properly unwind, rather than keep forcing these things. I say pseudo because, if I’m feeling properly refreshed on a certain day, I’ll have a go again. But, otherwise, these actives will have to wait for another month or so.

However, I will continue to read Japanese books when I can. And, the other day, when I decided to pause French and Thai, I turned on something in Japanese. Ah...comfort, like a coming home. Since I began my Japanese reading blitz during the first half of the year, I haven’t watching anything in Japanese. Compared to French and Thai, I forgot how mindlessly I can enjoy Japanese shows. Do I dare say that Japanese is easy (at least this aspect)? So, this is what I’ll be doing for the time being.

I just finished an easy read, 幽霊解放区 by 赤川次郎. (Look, I used that word ‘easy’ again to describe Japanese. Am I being delusional?) If there were any astute readers of my log (which I assure you, there are not), they would remember that some months back I said I had read all the Akagawa Jirou books that I had access to. What gives? Well, when I went to the library a few weeks ago, they had a new Akagawa Jirou book — new, as in new holding for the library, and new, as in recently published. Coming back to him after reading 3000+ pages by other authors makes it so obvious that his writing is on the easier end of the spectrum. Not a bad author for a learner to get their feet wet with reading in Japanese. He is also a prolific writer, so it shouldn’t be that hard to get one’s hands on several of his books. Even better, would be to get a hold of a handful of books from the same series. He has written lots of series. I started with the 三毛猫のホームズ series. Whether his books would hold someone’s particular interest is another story....?

800 pages left until my first 10000. Can I make it by the end of the year? I’m at the edge of my seat dying to know the outcome. :lol:

I finished the first workbook of Kanji in Context over the weekend. There is something so satisfying about finishing a workbook/textbook. In my two previous attempts with these books, I’d never reached this point. I’ll start the second workbook when work becomes less intense.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby nagoyana » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:00 pm

Here I am outing myself as a so far silent reader of your log.
Congratulations on passing 9000 pages of Japanese! Have you noticed any changes/improvements after, say, 5000 or 7500 (or 9000) pages?
I am asking since I haven't been realizing much progress when reading lately - until it occurred to me that my reading speed must have about doubled between now and when I started tracking pages about 2 years ago.

I saw you have read quite a few books by 東野圭吾 as well so I guess we might have a similar taste when it comes to Japanese reading material. I might have to take a look at 赤川次郎 the next time I make it to Japan since I am always struggling to find new authors that I like.
Should you ever find yourself searching for new reading material, you might want to try the 日暮旅人(ひぐらしたびと) series by 山口幸三郎. I read the first six books (~900 pages) in about a month when I found them. They are also on the easier end of the reading spectrum, but I really enjoyed both the story and the writing style.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:38 pm

The worse of my workload is almost behind me. This is the last all-out week. Then, I can settle back into life outside of work.

nagoyana wrote:Here I am outing myself as a so far silent reader of your log.
Congratulations on passing 9000 pages of Japanese!

Thank you!
nagoyana wrote:Have you noticed any changes/improvements after, say, 5000 or 7500 (or 9000) pages?
I am asking since I haven't been realizing much progress when reading lately - until it occurred to me that my reading speed must have about doubled between now and when I started tracking pages about 2 years ago.

Timely question as I’ve been reflecting on my gains (well, maybe not so timely since I’m responding so late). I wish I had written my thoughts on this in October when I was consistently reading several books a month. It’s harder to evaluate now that I’ve only read a 3 books in the last 2 months. Nevertheless, I’ve come up with some thoughts on my gains over 10,000 pages in one year. Most of these ‘discoveries’ are rehashes of what others who have done this sort of extensive reading have already written about. So, there is not much ‘new’ information. But, it’s my story.

(1) I can read. :D A year ago, I would not have made a claim this bold without a thousand qualifiers. 2019 marks the turning point in my ability. Pushing through as I did has opened an entire world of Japanese text for me. PUSHING THROUGH cannot be emphasized enough. For sure, volume was key for my progress. But, also the intensity or let’s say rate — how much I read per week/month/year (not how fast I read per min) — was just as relevant. The first 5 months was incredibly rough, but I pushed through.
(2) I am learning new vocabulary by context... but, most of these gains are from discovering new combinations and pairings of already known kanji. Unfortunately, I cannot think of an example right now. But, seeing known or even slightly known kanji in different contexts and in new pairings with other kanji, increased my vocabulary without much effort. A lot of these kanji-aided new vocabulary encounters seem like common sense in the context of the passage. So, I don’t even question whether I could be misunderstanding. Long-live Kanji!
(3) My reading speed has increased tremendously. In the fall I took a reading speed test and all attempts I came out at just shy of 500 characters/min. This puts me on the low end for a native Japanese reader. Without remembering any other details of my statistics, I recall coming away from these tests feeling quite happy. I wish I had taken it at the beginning of summer too, so I would have a metric to compare. And, if we go back even further, at the beginning of the year, it probably would have been >10x lower.
(4) My ability to anticipate what will be written next has sky rocketed. Actually, if I think back, this is probably the most significant indicator of reading progress. I can skim through all those ...なっていたということなのかもしれない sort of sentence endings quite quickly, mostly looking out for a surprise ない that would negate what I had been expecting. This ability to anticipate has clearly impacted my reading speed. A less obvious result is that my stamina to read over longer sessions has increased because I don’t need to pay as much attention to every kana and kanji when I already know what to expect.
(5) I keep learning new uses of already known words. These are probably the most fun discoveries I make when reading, more than learning new words. For example, I just came across 再生, in the context of reintegrating a prisoner back into society. I hadn’t known this meaning/use before. I also love learning different ways kana or kanji are used to describe a certain shape or appearance. My recent favourite was using 田 to describe the style of windows in a building.
(6) The number of sentences that I have to dissect has reduced to just about nil. This does not mean that I understand all sentences. Instead, what I mean is that I can follow the sentences syntax and flow without it twisting my head into a knot, no matter the length of the sentence and whether or not there are unknown words or components. This sort of ability cannot be understated, especially when dealing with long sentences.

Other thoughts:
— I don’t want to leave the impression that I read without encountering unknown words and that I understand all that I read. This is not (yet) the case. I can be way below the 90% (or whatever number is thrown around for being able to easily read and learn from context) depending on the conversation or description. But, I say from experience, I don’t need to be at 90% to understand and enjoy a book. And, the more I read, the less frequently I come across opaque passages. So, I don’t take much stock in waiting until you reach such a high proportion of known words to dive into books.
— I’m coddling myself by limiting myself to the same select authors. :oops:
— For most of the year, I’ve also been doing desk-based vocabulary study and there is tremendous synergy between this vocabulary study and all the reading that I cannot discount nor quantify.
— As for further improvement, I think I’m still in the exponential phase, so I expect to keep seeing progress in all of the observations I noted above if I keep pushing myself. I suspect significant improvement can be made by branching out to new authors and genres, taking a few moments a month to do some intensive reading, etc. I still have an upward climb, but I’m already at an altitude where I can enjoy the views.
nagoyana wrote:I saw you have read quite a few books by 東野圭吾 as well so I guess we might have a similar taste when it comes to Japanese reading material. I might have to take a look at 赤川次郎 the next time I make it to Japan since I am always struggling to find new authors that I like.
Should you ever find yourself searching for new reading material, you might want to try the 日暮旅人(ひぐらしたびと) series by 山口幸三郎. I read the first six books (~900 pages) in about a month when I found them. They are also on the easier end of the reading spectrum, but I really enjoyed both the story and the writing style.

Thanks for the recommendation! He’s not at my library, but I’ll keep my eye out, though.
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Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:19 pm

Not much to update. I’m trying to get back into the swing and it’s slow going.

Japanese
I’ve picked up Kanji in Context again — I’ve begun Level 4. I’ve started reading a new author, Miyabe Miyuki. I’m reading 名もなき毒 and the first chapter was a breeze, but everything following it has been slow going. Surprisingly, I’m finding the descriptive sections easier to understand than the conversation heavy sections. The first chapter was almost entirely descriptive. I’ll keep plugging along and will probably go back to some Higashino Keigo after I finish.

French and Thai
A bit fat nada. :oops: But, I’m hoping to turn things around this weekend. At some point, I’m also going to start alternating between reading books in Japanese and French.

Future Outlook
New language. I’m brining Swahili into the mix. Actually, I’ve already started. I listened to the first 14 lessons from Language Transfer last week. I’m thinking I may start a new log just for Swahili.

Focus. I’ve been mulling over how best to juggle 4 languages. I know I can manage 2 main ‘focus’ languages, with one getting disproportionately more attention than the other, and a third less focused language. Averaged over weeks-to-months, Japanese is the language getting the most focus and it is likely to stay in that position. Between Thai and French, it varies. French was in the number 2 position for most of 2019.

For 2020, the question is: how best to incorporate a fourth language (Swahili), and how do I want to prioritize the remaining three (French, Thai, Swahili)? Thai, I think, will remain a less focused language for the time being — continuing on as I was. I’m not going to make solid plans right now for divvying up remaining focus between French and Swahili. There may be some trial and error, but in the end I think everything may play out organically. The language(s) I want to focus on are likely to shift though the year anyways. But, it’s be nice to have a general idea of where I’ll be spending my time week-to-week in order to better organize myself.

Three Week Projects*. Sometime late summer, I was ruminating over the infinite number of things I should work on to advance my Japanese. It became overwhelming (if not depressing) thinking on how to tackle all my weaknesses. So, I came up with a plan that I think is going to serve me well. First, I identify one area/skill/activity/etc and then I work on it for 3 weeks. Every 3 weeks, I have a new project. It can be a continuation of the previous 3 weeks, if I feel I’m making good strides. But, more likely, I will pick another skill/activity to focus on. Why did I chose 3 weeks? I think 3 weeks is a good balance between getting enough out of the project while not being so long as to risk burn out. This time frame bears out from experience with certain professional projects and from my experience with Tadoku for the month of Sept. With Tadoku, I was going strong at week 3, but after that I was battling to get to the end of the month without letting up. Some 3 Week Projects will be easier than others. Some will push me to my limit. But, the goal is that the variety of tasks that change every 3 weeks will keep me advancing.

I’m gong to start with 3 Week Projects only for Japanese. But, if things are going well, I could add in 3 Week Projects for other languages simultaneously, or alternate among languages. I’m interested to see how this plays out, because it might be a decent formula for continual improvement in multiple languages, especially at the post-beginner stages.

*When I was thinking to myself about this idea last summer, I couldn’t figure out what to call this plan and it bugged me. Then, somewhat serendipitously, Teango started his 3 Day Projects and BINGO!, I had a label. Thanks, Teango.
2 x
: 10000 / 10000 10000 Japanese pages
: 1510 / 10000 the next 10000 Japanese pages

tuckamore
Orange Belt
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2016 6:41 pm
Languages: English (N), Japanese (intermediate), French (intermediate), Thai (beginner), Swahili (beginner)
x 299

Re: Tuckamore: slow growing and gnarly (Japanese, French & Thai)

Postby tuckamore » Thu Jan 30, 2020 11:50 pm

My hopes for trying to get back into the swing of things last weekend didn’t pan out as I had to work. I’m also leaving on a last minute trip tomorrow (not for work, but not for fun either), so that rules out this weekend. I’m been feeling like my life is a bit out of control lately and I realized why. Since October, I’ve only had 3 days where I haven’t had to go to work or hadn’t been travelling. I feel like I need some full two day weekends at home to recharge.

Anyways, enough of my sob story. Looking to the future:

Japanese

3 Week Projects
#1 Kanji in Context — daily study. One lesson per day. Review previous lessons as time allows. Goal: improve vocabulary.

Speaking of vocabulary, I tested my Japanese vocabulary knowledge on an online site and estimated it using a dictionary à la Iverson using various assumptions. It seems my passive knowledge comes in at around 15-16K. My range was from 12K to 23K depending on my assumptions, but when I look at what I think are the most realistic assumptions, the estimates consistently came out around 15-16K. Both times I took the online text my results were 15-16K. So, I’m thinking there is some value to these numbers.

Japanese is the only language I’ve had regular contact with through these last months. As stated above, I’ve started this week working daily with Kanji in Context. If I do one lesson a day, I could be finished in 6 weeks — which would be two 3 Week Projects. So, I may double up on this one to just get her done.

I’ve been watching more Japanese shows than I’ve done over the last year. I just finished a detective TV show called 古畑任三郎 (Furuhata Ninzaburo), which I quite liked. Something about the detective reminded me of the old US show Columbo.

Still working my way through my book by Miyabe Miyuki. It was very slow going for a while, but now I’m picking up the pace. (Thankfully, I own the book, so I don’t have to worry about needing to return it.) One of my issues was that until I was about 15-20% thru the book, I didn’t know what the main story line was. The opening chapter described a man who was poisoned. Then the story line seemed to shift to the theme of sick building syndrome. Then, it seemed to shift to the story of an inept, disgruntled employee. This last theme now seems to be the main story line and since I’ve discovered this, I’m settling in. Perhaps all these story lines may come together at some point, but I didn’t feel engaged not knowing what the main story line was.

French

I made wonderful strides in listening comprehension last year. I need to keep at this. It’s not hard to listen to podcasts on my commute. I was in a very nice routine until fall. So, right now, I just need to make the effort to hit play. Wait a second! I forgot: when I updated my phone at the end of December, I lost all my podcast feeds. So, I need to restart those. I wonder if that is what has prevented me from starting this habit up again. Now that I know that, my first priority will be to put some podcasts back on my phone. A very concrete objective that I can do this weekend.

I had a defined goal of finishing Lesson 26 of French in Action by Dec 2019. I didn’t meet this goal. I only reached Lesson 24. My goal for 2020 is to finish the course this year — ideally by Sept. To accomplish this, I will need to get my butt in gear. Look, Jan has already come and gone without my notice. I cannot let Feb get by me.

Thai

Hmmm...not sure. I need a day to assess where I am and where I want to go. The easiest thing to do would be to turn on the sitcom I was watching. But, I haven’t had it in me, preferring to watch something in Japanese instead. Maybe next week, I should identify one day to do this. I think once I start up again, I’ll find the habit again. It’s the starting up again that is the hardest.
2 x
: 10000 / 10000 10000 Japanese pages
: 1510 / 10000 the next 10000 Japanese pages


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