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

[tuckamore]

Japanese

I’m noticing a nice impact of reading so much last year on my listening. For a while now, I’ve considered my listening skills to be pretty decent. I generally understand most of what I hear— even if I don’t get or know every word. But, I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone (or even myself) what someone said, or repeat the words they used. I obtain meaning. That’s it. Well, this has changed.

Last year, I hardly listened or watched anything in Japanese, but I read 10,000 pages. This year, I’ve already watched 4 TV series and, although my comprehension seems more-or-less similar to before, I’m noticing a subtle difference. At first thought, it seemed like speech had slowed down. But, that is not quite right. (Speed has never really been a problem.) It’s more like I am retaining what is being said longer in my head. I am able to remember the exact phrasing and wordings many moments after spoken. Because the spoken words and sentences are sticking around, I can mentally replay what was said. Two immediate benefits of this improvement: I could now restate what someone said, almost verbatim, and I also have more time to ponder a fuzzy word without losing out on the rest of the dialogue. I’m stoked to see this benefit of reading so much.

3 Week Projects: Japanese
I’m wrapping up the first of my 3 Week Projects: Japanese, doing one lesson of Kanji in Context per day. I think I may renew this particular 3 Week Project, which would take me to the end of the book. Even at one lesson a day, it takes a not insignificant amount of time. One reason is that I handwrite all the words in the reference book and all the underlined words in the workbook. It’s a surprise to me how many of Heisig’s stories pop into my head as I’m writing kanji. Even rarer kanji (note: still somewhat common kanji, just not as common) that I haven’t written or thought much about for years. I’m not even trying to remember the stories as I write, they just show up automatically. And, what a boost this old mental database is to me for remembering how to write kanji — as I’m writing, I’ll think, for example, oh yes, don’t forget the monkey was involved in... . In addition to hand writing, I’m also systemically reviewing previous lessons. I have a schedule for this review. All in all, it takes a bulk of time.

Thai

As I promised in my last log entry, I made a point of watching the Thai sitcom at least one night last week. And, as expected, once I started, it became easier to keep going. I think I’ve watched 3-4 episodes since last week. The bad news is that my listening has suffered from my 3 month hiatus from Thai. So, I have made a date with Thai right after I post this to get back into the books again and to quickly review what I think I have once known. Hopefully, I’ll have more to update on Thai in the future.

French

Again, I fulfilled my promise, which was to restart my podcasts feeds on my phone. Baby steps. But, I haven’t listened to anything, yet. To be fair, I had been listening to French podcasts on my commute and that time slot has been occupied these few weeks. I think I may be able to have a go again tomorrow. Once I start, I know it won’t be hard to maintain the habit.

[tuckamore]

Thai

I have had a lot of emotional ups and downs with Thai over the last weeks. In summary, I’m asking myself: Should I shake up my study routine or continue the routine I built last year (and with it, have faith that if I put the time in, I’ll see results)?

Reading: In 2019, I made huge strides in reading. (I remind myself of this when I’m disheartened.) But, I know I’ve only tapped the tip of the iceberg. It’s daunting to think about how much more effort I will need to put in, when I’ve already put in so much effort for what seems to be relatively small gains in the large picture. I think right now, living in Thailand and being exposed to writing all around would be the trick. Looking back at when I starting out in Japanese, it was a huge boon to have Japanese written all around me. Everyday, I would practice reading whatever I saw around me — like ads, my receipts, signs, and even simpler things, like the enter/exit indicators on the bus, etc. I read whatever my eyes fell on, whether or not I understood the words that I was reading. Anyways, I won’t be going back to Thailand anytime soon, so that won’t happen. The options I see right now are to continue using Mary Haas’ Thai Reader (as I’ve been) or jumping into reading ‘real’ Thai using brute force. I’m a little bored of the Thai Reader, but it’s serving its purpose. And, although I’m attracted to jumping into real Thai, for example using the Wizard of Oz parallel text, I think this could be a recipe for burnout at my level.

Listening: I find the sounds of Thai hard to grasp. I don’t mean individual sounds — they are OK individually. I mean the sound of the language as it is being spoken. It’s like the combination of sounds are not intuitive for me. Yet, listening is the skill I’ve been working the most on. Last week, I have become brutally aware of how hard listening to Thai is for me. I did comparable GLOSS lessons in both Thai and Swahili. I was completely dependent on the written word to guide my listening in Thai. While, it was infinitely easier to hear unknown words in Swahili and I didn’t need to rely on the written aid (and this is after a decade of not hearing any Swahili). Lesson learned: Thai is going to take a lot more effort. On the positive side, I’m back to the same comprehension level for my Thai sitcom as I was before I got busy over winter. So, the lower level of comprehension I reported in a previous log was only temporary. And, I really am picking up on conversations and words that aid my understanding beyond the visual. So, I’m not a complete washout with Thai.
Where to go from here? I’m going to continue watching the sitcom (I’ve just finished the 75th episode). Otherwise, I had been listening to the narration of Thai Reader. Last week, I took at stab at the SEAIllustrations by bakunin, but they still seem out of my reach. My frustration level was maxed out before getting to the end of the description of the first image. So, using brute force to get through any is not an option. I took a new look at StudyThaiSubs.com and the movie I started played around with seemed accessible. The last time I looked at it, it seemed too hard. So, I guess this indicates progress at some level.

Japanese

I decided three weeks was the ideal timeframe for my 3 Week Projects in Japanese for good reason. So, why or why am I doubling up on the same project back to back? It is only by sheer will that I’m going to see Kanji in Context through to the end this week. I’m completely burnt. Another lesson learned: three weeks is three weeks, don’t make it six. But, the consolation is that I will have finished Kanji in Context at the of the week.

3 Week Project: Japanese (start: 3/9)
Look up readings of unknown kanji while reading. Compulsory when I don’t know the readings of kanji; optional when I don’t know the meaning. Goal: improve reading comprehension and kanji knowledge. (This is a compromised form of intensive reading, specifically relevant to Japanese. I will not be worried about unknown words written in kana nor unknown words written in kanji that I’m fairly sure I know the reading.)

It’s taking me forever to finish my book (名もなき毒 by Miyuki Miyabe). I’m not that into it. Only my stubbornness is preventing me from moving onto something else. And, this stubbornness is negatively impacting my Japanese (and French, see below) because I would have probably read 3-4X more if I would have just put this book down for good.

French

Not much to report other than I’m back to my podcast habit. I’m listening to about an hour of French a day. I do need to do some concentrated study at some point. But, I’m OK with postponing it for now. A goal for the year was to alternate reading a book in Japanese with a book in French. I still plan to do this. But, because I’m dragging with my current Japanese book, I’ve decided to read another book or two in Japanese to get some pages under my belt at a decent rate again before beginning a book in French.

[tuckamore]

Wow! I didn’t mean to take a month break from logging here. So much has changed in the world in a blink of an eye, yet at sloth-like speeds. I’ve learned numerous things about myself over these weeks. The most pertinent for my languages — regardless of how much time I have on my hands, if I I’m thrown out of a habit, it takes a looong time to get back, and I’m sooo easily distracted during times of distress. The uncertainty of work was killing me as rules and regulations seemed to change by the hour. Now that I know I just have some maintenance projects to keep up with, I think I can settle into a routine for however long we need to stay at home.

Onwards with languages…

Japanese

I finished Kanji in Context! Third time is a charm. I’ve gained so much from these books. They are not without their flaws, but they are a tremendous resource. I do need to get back into my review schedule, which I’ve been neglecting for 3 weeks.

I finished my third 3 Week Project: Japanese yesterday. Looking up readings for every kanji I did not know the reading for. I read コンビニ人間 by 村田沙耶香。The last 2 pages seem relevant to today — the narrator suddenly takes tremendous pride in being a convenience store worker.

Thoughts on this 3 Week Project: What a slog to look up all these kanji. I cannot imagine expanding intensive reading to also include unknown words in any form (kanji or kana). Merely stopping to look up readings made understanding certain pages more difficult to understand than if I would have just barrelled on through. I’m also reminded how bad my Japanese actually is. I’ll explain. I have demonstrated that I can read books in Japanese. But, on every page, there is butt loads I do not know. Stopping to inspect kanji slowed me down to a speed where I was forced to appreciate how much I really don’t understand on a single page. The catch is that if I don’t slow down to inspect, I’m able to understand and enjoy what I’m reading. Not really sure how that works. Maybe Newton’s first law is involved?

I will not be repeating this project again without some modifications. Some changes I could make include only looking up readings that are on the tip of my tongue or readings that I should know or readings I often confuse or readings of a well know kanji being used in a new word. There were a lot of kanji I’ve never seen before where looking readings up was more of a distraction. Right now, I benefit more from doing intensive kanji work in combination with extensive reading.

3 Week Project: Japanese (start: 3/30 aka today):
Listening and reading Japanese simultaneously. Goals: (a) Improve my inner Japanese voice while reading and (b) keep improving on my kanji reading knowledge. I’m undecided whether I will do a set amount of time per day or a chapter per day. We’ll see how it goes.

French and Thai

Goal: someday do enough in French to report my progress at the top of my log entry again. French is suffering with no commute. But, being home now, I have less excuse to not crack open my French in Action books again. I was watching one episode of my Thai sitcom a day until 3 weeks ago. I’m going to watch something again tonight and we’ll see how far I’ve fallen. (Don’t worry, I won’t hurt myself. I don’t have far to fall.) Otherwise, I need to look over my notes from my last post and see what ideas I may have had. I remember feeling as if I were at some crossroads.

[tuckamore]

Not a week goes by where I learn that something I’ve taken for granted turns out to be wrong. Last week, it involved Japanese. I had always assumed the word emoji in Japanese came from the english word emotion + ji, the Japanese reading of the character for character 字 (the same ji as in kanji and romaji). It seemed so obvious that I never questioned my assumption. Last week while I was reading along with the audio to my book (イン・ザ・プール）、I came across 絵文字. I didn’t blink an eye; I read it as emoji, heard it as emoji, and the context was cell phones. A split second later, though, whoa! stop the presses (or the audio in this case), what was that?! Wait, what!? emoji has kanji that have no relation to the word ‘emotion’!? Not quite convinced that it wasn’t ateji (words where kanji is used phonetically for words of foreign origin), I looked up the origin. Colour me stupid. The emo of emoji is not related to emotion at all — it’s just a coincidence. It’s not even emo + ji. It’s actually e (picture 絵）+ moji（character 文字). As with so many things I learn in Japanese, I feel like I’m probably the last learner of Japanese to realize this.

[dampingwire]

There's 顔文字 too (which I chanced on recently ... quite how I've not seen it before, I don't know).

(うんこマーク gets an honorary mention too ...).

[tuckamore]

Well overdue for an update. I had mostly disconnected from the world if it wasn’t part of my everyday personal circle. But, I was still working on my languages here and there. Overall, I’ve been ever so distracted. And, my attention to languages reflect this. I worked very haphazardly.

French
At the onset of the pandemic, French seemed like it was the biggest looser. With no commute, I stopped listening to podcasts. And, by not listening to podcasts, I went from minimal contact to no contact with French. But, a few months ago, the pendulum swang the other way and French is now the winner.

For the next 6-9 months, French is my number one language focus. I want to level up. To bring myself back up to speed with the basics, I worked through the first volume of Cours de langue et de civilization françaises, finishing it a few weeks ago. I’ve now moved on to the second volume. I’m on chapter 7 and it’s a slow go. It’s not too hard per se (yet), but I need to think more carefully. I reckon I’d benefit from turning my attention to some grammar books.

Options for the future include: D’accord: La pronunciation du français international acquisition et perfectionnement, (which I bought two years ago and had never left the first lesson); FSI, specifically for pushing my speaking to become more automatic; and maybe returning to French in Action. We’ll see how my progress goes and what my needs become. I’m fairly certain working on pronunciation and speaking reflexively will remain something for me to focus on.

Now and into the indefinitely future, I will be listening to podcasts and reading books. I’m currently averaging about 10 pages/day and would like to ramp that up a bit as time allows.

Japanese
I continued with my 3-week projects through summer. Then, I stopped. Some projects were more effective than others. The worse offender was looking up every kanji I didn’t know how to pronounce while reading. I will never do this again. I’d rather do targeted kanji study. All other projects had merit and I would consider redoing each of them. After I’ve settled a bit more with my french routine, I’ll probably start up these projects again. They will likely be low effort tasks. But, after 3 weeks, I should see small gains on whatever I’ve chosen to work on.

I’ve only read a handful of books since my last update. But, one was a doozy with ~900 pages (白夜行　by 東野圭吾). Otherwise, besides watching some Japanese TV, I hadn’t done much else.

Thai
All work with Thai had sort of fizzled out over the year. And now, because of my months long commitment to French, I’m not sure when I’ll be brining Thai back into the fold. A lot will depend on how well I progress in French. Right now, I’ll let the place of Thai in my day work itself organically.

[tuckamore]

I feel like I’m just emerging from winter blues, and now I’m confronting the reality that I have to face time change. It can take me weeks to adjust to losing that hour. *sigh*

In my update last month, I mentioned that I made the decision to focus on French for the next 6-9 months. And, I’m happy to report that this ambition is going great. I’ve had three main activities: reading, textbook learning, and listening.

Reading

I have been killing it in the reading department. I’ve read 4 books since my last entry. I need to start tallying my pages like I do for Japanese. I find it motivating. They probably come in at between 1000-1500 pages this month! A couple observations:

1) I know I’ve said this before in my log about reading in Japanese, but it also applies to my ability in French, so I’ll repeat it. I am a long way aways from understanding 98% or 95% or even 90% of the words in a sentence or on a page. Yet, I can still understanding the stories I’m reading. I can still enjoy or not enjoy the stories, depending on my taste. I’m can still feel the French oozing its way into my thought process. Some sections I may know 95% of the words, for other I may be as low as 70-75%. Some words I can guess from context, other remain completely opaque. The beginning of a book is always an adjustment. A more challenging book may take dozens more pages than an easier book before I can settle in. Yes, I miss details. Yes, I miss the specifics. But, it doesn’t matter — I’m reading! While I hardly looked anything up during my year of Japanese reading, I have read these French books on my kindle and probably looked up one word every 2-5 pages. There was no rhyme or reason for which words I looked up.

2) The third book I read was a book translated from Japanese, Meurtes pour tuer le temps by Akagawa Jirou. Akagawa Jirou is the author that got me going with reading in Japanese. I probably read a dozen of his books in Japanese in 2019. While it would take me a week or so to read his books in Japanese, I’ve been under the impression that they’d be an afternoon read in English. Well, my suspicions are likely correct. I read the entire 200+ book in French in one day. Akagawa Jirou may be an excellent choice for breaking into reading in any language that he has been translated into. Written for adults, but easy and full of dialogues — albeit silly plots. After reading this one book on Sunday, my head was swimming with French phrases. It wasn’t that I was thinking to myself or talking with myself in French. It was more like unconnected phrases in French kept popping up in my head.

The other 3 books I read in the past month are:
— IWGP 2 by Ira Ishida. It’s another book translated from Japanese. (This 2nd volume in French actually contains stories from the 2nd and 3rd volume of the Japanese original). A few years ago, I read the first volume in Japanese and French in parallel. I used each version as a crutch for the other translation and I still found it hard. This time, I only had the French and I could see how much I’ve improved.
2) My second book was Tara Duncan by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian. It’s a French original written for youths. It some ways it was easier than IWGP, but in other ways it was harder.
4) Most recently I just finished Les Yeux Jaunes des Crocodiles by Joséphine Cortès. bleh! It was the hardest of the 4. I didn’t like the book at all, which didn’t help. But, my stubbornness to finish the book keep me reading until the end.

Next, I want to read something easy again. Something I can read fast like Akagawa Jirou that will have my head swimming in French again.

For textbook learning, I am on chapter 10 of Vol 2 of Course de langue et de civilisation francaises. But, a couple weeks ago I switched my focus back to French in Action. I have given myself an ultimatum with FIA, which I describe below. Right now, I am quickly going over the first 20 or so lessons as review. When I get to new material or more challenging material, I will take my time and do all the activities. For these beginning lessons, I’m picking and choosing the activities I do, and I am not rewatching the videos. I’m currently on Lesson 17.

My ultimatum is that I have this year to finish the course, specifically by fall. If I don’t finish, I’m done with the course forever and I’ll move on to something else. There will be no regret or tears; there are enough resources for French I won’t be at a loss. The reason for this ultimatum is that my work becomes a crazy mess in fall and lasts through the holidays. I can go weeks where I barely have time to eat. So, anything that requires anything that remotely resembles desk study is to not going to happen for at least 3 months. I know from past experience, somethings are easier to pick up where I left off after such a break and other things are impossible for me without starting over. I feel like FIA steers towards the latter. (The binding on my FIA textbook is falling apart, too. The first 12 lessons are completely unattached. I’m convinced this is a sign that this is indeed my last chance with FIA.)

My goal is to finish by the end of September. To meet this goal, I need to do, on average, 5 lessons per month, which I think is reasonable. I also usually have a bit of breathing room the first half of Oct that would allow me to squeeze in a couple lessons, if I got behind schedule.

[Nogon]

1) I know I’ve said this before in my log about reading in Japanese, but it also applies to my ability in French, so I’ll repeat it. I am a long way aways from understanding 98% or 95% or even 90% of the words in a sentence or on a page. Yet, I can still understanding the stories I’m reading. I can still enjoy or not enjoy the stories, depending on my taste. I’m can still feel the French oozing its way into my thought process. Some sections I may know 95% of the words, for other I may be as low as 70-75%. Some words I can guess from context, other remain completely opaque. The beginning of a book is always an adjustment. A more challenging book may take dozens more pages than an easier book before I can settle in. Yes, I miss details. Yes, I miss the specifics. But, it doesn’t matter — I’m reading!

That exactly matches my experiences! For to read a foreign book - and to read it with pleasure - you don't have to have full understanding. (At least when reading light fiction which is being read for entertainment; it's different for high-brow fiction.) It might be difficult in the beginning not to check every unknown - or half-known - word, but it pays off, I think. Not checking each word lets me enjoy reading in a foreign language, and that is why I'm learning new languages. "But you won't learn anything that way!", someone with a different approach to language learning might say. "But I do!", is my answer. I'm learning new vocabulary, new idioms, each day even though I'm not "studying" them actively. They just tend to wriggle their way into my brain, whether I want it or not.

Now this approach might be horror to someone who would never willingly open a novel even in their native language, but for a book nerd like me it's perfect.