Aledda's Log (2017 - )

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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:52 pm

Yesterday was my first "formal" Japanese class of the year.
Our sensei gave us a sheet with guidelines of what we were going to see in that class, which was basically what to say about oneself when introducing yourself to others, and it was useful to say something more than the typical sentences "Hello, my name is ... . I'm ... years old."
I was surprised that most of my classmates didn't recognize most of the kanjis. I felt a little smug/know-it-all when the sensei asked about their 読み方 and 意味 and I was the only one that answered. (But yeah... I felt proud of myself)

Anyway, she introduced herself first, and then other woman volunteered, and then it was my turn... And even though I stammered a little (speaking is my weakest skill in every language, even in Spanish :lol: ), I did better than I expected. I haven't spoken to anyone in Japanese for more than 3 months, and I was caught off guard, so I thought I wouldn't be able to say anything.

So I thought that maybe I could write a short presentation here in Japanese (maybe on my next post), so I will leave here the guidelines given by my teacher:

自己紹介

名前、生まれた所
趣味、好きなこと、得意なこと、自慢 (こんなことができる)
自分の欠点、こんな失敗をした
これから したいこと、自分の夢、挑戦
日本語を勉強して よかった と思ったこと
こんな経験 、体験をした
日本語に関係して、こんな困ったことがあった


About the dorama (信長協奏曲), I'm not so into it, so I'm going a lot slower than with the previous ones, I hope this changes soon.
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
x 141

Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:34 pm

I finally had the time to write my self-introduction in Japanese.
It's probably full of mistakes, so you are free to correct me or make suggestions...

初めまして。

ビルヒニアと申します。このフォーラムでは、ニックネームはアレダです。
32歳です。ウルグアイ人です。私の生まれた所はモンテビデオです。
システムエンジニアです。今、ウルグアイの電気会社で働いています。

趣味は本を読んだり、泳いだり、音楽を聞いたり、旅行したり、外国語を勉強したりすることです。
母国語はスペイン語です。英語とポルトガル語を話すことができます。7年間日本語を勉強しています。
3年前に中国語を1年間勉強しました。イタリア語、韓国語、ドイツ語の初学者です。

今、私の一番目標は日本語をもっとよくしたいです。数年前から日本語を勉強していますが、まだ日本語が苦手です。
今年、目標の-つは、日本語でもっと書くことなので、ここではもっと練習するつもりです。
また、日本語を話すことがあまりよくないので、もっと映画を見ています。

どうぞ、よろしくお願いします。
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Please, feel free to correct any mistakes.

aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
x 141

Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:10 pm

I'm going to start this post talking about Portuguese since I'm always talking about Japanese and then "the other languages".

I'm still reading the ebook "E do meio do mundo...". I realized that even though I understand everything I read, there are words that I forgot how to say in Portuguese. Like I read a word and I say to myself "oh, yeah, that's how you say blabla in Portuguese". It's not like I have to look it up in a dictionary, because I know the meaning when I see it, but it shows me how I've lost fluency these last 3-4 years without using it. So for now I'm highlighting those words on the kindle while I read and then I'll try to check whether I remember them or not.

And now, for Japanese...

Yesterday in class the teacher gave us the JPLT certificates (I think the embassy sent them to her because it was easier than sending them to each one of us). I know it sounds silly to be happy over a piece of paper, but it makes me proud what that certificate represents (the effort, the time spent studying, etc).

One of the "tasks" that we did yesterday was to give our classmates advice (in Japanese, of course) on how to study Japanese. Since our group is varied in terms of level, the teacher asked those of us who were more advanced (先輩, the "senpais"), to tell the others how we study/practice every day and to make recommendations of tools, sites, applications, etc. that we used. I felt useful sharing that "information", since many did not know some of the things I use everyday. And it was interesting to see that others used similar things to what I use, and besides, now I have a list of new things to investigate :D.

I finished watching the dorama (Nobunaga Concerto) during the weekend. Now I laugh when I said that it had not caught my attention at the beginning, and then I ended up watching 7-8 episodes in less than 30 hours. I still need to finish the movie that "closes" the story, but at the same time I don't want it to end.

I'm trying to add more "goals" to my studies, because I do better with a deadline and a challenge, so I started reading HP (or re-reading, since I read them both in Spanish and English). My goal is to finish reading a chapter every two weeks. I'm not sure if it's too easy or too challenging, so let's see how it works for the first chapters.
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:34 pm

Next week I'll be traveling, so I'll be away from the forum. And since I'm finishing packing, this message is going to be short.

One of the things that I'm taking (and that I can never forget) is my Kindle to continue reading the study books, the book in Portuguese, and HP in Japanese. I'm also taking a notebook with me, to start "journaling" in Japanese. I don't know if that's going to work, but since I'll be away from the computer, I'll try to make this week count. Of course, my phone is going with me too, so I can keep doing the daily practices of duolingo, kotoba and japaneseclass.

Ah, and the other day I was thinking that although now I am keeping a log of the progress of my studies in these languages, it's a pity that I don't have the same for the languages I learned before... So maybe when I'm back, I'll write a post telling my experience learning languages.
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:01 am

ただ今。

Three hours ago I was landing in Montevideo, and one of the first things I wanted to do (after showering and doing laundry), was to come here to confess that despite all my plans, I did almost nothing language-related last week :(

A little bit of reading here and there (but mainly in English, because a book totally hooked me up, which made me neglect my book in Portuguese), the daily practice of JapaneseClass and Duolingo, some short conversations with strangers (in English and Portuguese)... Thanks to those things I can say that last week was not a complete failure (speaking about all the language-related stuff, of course, because I had a great time during the trip).

To redeem myself a little: 旅行について少し話します。
バリローチェはとても綺麗です。私が15歳だったので、行きたいと思っていましたが、期待していたよりずっと良かったです。チリに行ったことがなかったが、多くの美しい場所にも行くことができました。

I will try to read a little before going to sleep. Tomorrow I have to go back to the routine, and I will try to catch up with everything (まだ日本語の宿題をしていない。 :oops: ), so... 頑張ります!

Ah, and for those who celebrate it: ¡Felices pascuas! Happy Easter! Feliz Páscoa! イースター、おめでとう! Buona Pasqua! Frohe Ostern! (and my brain can't think of more languages right now...)

では、また。
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log - Mapudungun

Postby aledda » Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:52 pm

The other day I forgot to mention that during my trip to Bariloche and Puerto Varas (places that were/are inhabited by Mapuches), I learned some words in their language (mostly names of places, but hey, it's a start). I found it very interesting, and although I know it is not a language that I will learn (at least not in the short or medium term, because you can never say never), I really liked it when the guides told me not only about the culture but also about the language.

I would like to share (and leave as a reminder to me) some things I learned about the Mapuche language or mapudungun.

First of all, the Mapuches had no writing system before the arrival of the Spanish, so the language is now written with the Latin script. From what I understood, there are different ways to "romanize" the Mapuche language (I think there is no consensus yet on which one is the best), so I'm going to write things in "Spanish", but perhaps it's not the most accepted/correct one.

Mapuche (in Spanish: 'gente de la tierra') comes from mapu (=~ land/earth) and che (=~ people), so they are 'people of the land/earth'.
Mapudungun (in Spanish: 'lengua de la tierra') comes from mapu and dungun (=~ speech/language), so it's the 'language of the earth'.

The lake Nahuel Huapi took its name from the largest of its islands (I think it has another name now). Nahuel (=~ tiger/jaguar) and Huapi (=~ island). It was inhabited by "rebel Indians" that were called tigers due to their bravery, so that's why is the 'Tiger island' or 'island of tigers'.

The name of the Ruca Malen river, means 'house of a young girl'. Ruca (=~ house) and Malen (=~ maiden/young girl).

Bariloche it's a variation on the word vuriloche, which means 'people on the other side of the mountain'/'people behind the mountain'.

Dalcahue comes from Dalca (=~ a type of canoe) and hue (=~ place). Other places: Llanquihue (lancun =~ to sink, to fall) means 'sunken place', Petrohue means 'place of mists', Puyehue means 'place of small fish'.

The name of the Calbuco volcano is derived from Calfu (=~ blue) and Co (=~ water).

I have more words on a list I wrote down, but I don't know if they're correct, so I'll just leave these here.
Last edited by aledda on Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:32 pm

Yesterday I got a little frustrated with myself in class.

We were talking about travels, in particular comparing the advantages and disadvantages of 団体旅行 (group travel or excursions) vs 個人旅行 (traveling alone). Since they know that I travel a lot they asked me to give my opinion, but I felt that I couldn't say anything. I know that I lack vocabulary, but what frustrated me the most is that I couldn't express relatively "simple" ideas either, to the point that to a question they asked me, I ended up answering in Spanish. :|

I know that is not the end of the world (since it was in class, and I am learning, and all the blah blah), but I didn't like having reached that point where the automatic response was to go back to my native language in a conversation. In other languages this happened to me at lower levels, like when I was a beginner, and although sometimes it was hard to express some ideas, I was able to find the way to express myself using the target language. With Japanese, apparently I can't do that.

I have to work on that. Not only on the language, but on my attitude towards its. 日本語で話せるようになりたいです。

Anyway, I started writing my experience with other languages and apparently I like to write (I wrote a lot only speaking about English :lol: ). So, in order not to make the post too longboring, I'll post it in parts and put the links to those posts on my first post so everything stays "organized".
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log - English

Postby aledda » Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:16 pm

aledda wrote:I've been studying foreign languages since I was 6, when my parents made me study English because it will be useful for me in the future.

I must confess that at the time, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't like the language, not even a bit. In my house, we barely had interaction with things in English (since both my parents can't speak the language, and on TV, all the shows were in Spanish or dubbed in Spanish). Music was the exception, but most of the songs we listened to were in Spanish or Portuguese (which I've always loved). On top of that, my teacher wanted me to do things like conjugate verbs when I had no idea what a "verb" was in the first place. I didn't understand most of the lessons since I was way younger than my classmates. The English pronunciation was difficult for me, I kept asking myself: why does each 'u' in "Uruguay" sound so different from one another, and at the same time they sound different from the 'u' in "run"? Why does the 'i' in "life" it's not the same as the 'i' in "lift"? Why do the 'e's in "here" sound like that, and then there's the 'e' in "left"? (I can keep writing examples, but I think you understand what I mean). All those things summed up made me very reluctant to study the language. Of course it didn't help at all that I wanted to learn beautiful languages like Portuguese and Italian, to me they sounded so musical, so rich, that they made English sound very dull. But despite all that, I studied it for years, because I "had to".

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I hated studying in general (because I was a very good student back then), it was more like a frustration because I had to study THAT language instead of the ones that I really wanted to learn. To put it simple, I loved the idea of LEARNING languages, but I didn't want to have the obligation to STUDY English, since there was no "chemistry" between us.

Those were my feelings towards it, until one night watching a movie (in English, with subs in Spanish) with my family, I laughed at a joke that involved some word play, while the rest of my family stared at me like "..." due to a poor/simplified translation of that joke. It wasn't a big deal but it made me change the way I felt about English. I didn't like studying it, but at that moment I realized that I wanted to learn it, I wanted to be able to catch those little things, I wanted to understand everything, not only about movies, TV series, books and songs, but also during a conversation with someone (even though at that time, traveling was just a distant dream and since I didn't have internet at home, doing things like writing here, or chatting with people on the internet didn't cross my mind).

So one of my greatest allies, when I decided to approach English that way, was reading (you have no idea how much I love reading!). At first, I chose books I have already read in Spanish or books on which films that I had already watched were based (I didn't like this too much, because I prefer to read the book before the movie, but hey... I needed help!), so even if I didn't understand every word, I could still get what was going on. You can't imagine the joy I felt after "discovering" things in those books, that were lost in the Spanish translations I had read (well, maybe YOU, all the people here, can understand how that felt). With each book I felt closer and closer to the language, to the point of not being able to differentiate if a text I read was in Spanish or English.

A teacher also helped me a lot, when she advised me that since I watched many American shows on cable, I should try to "watch" them while doing other things, so I could learn not to depend on subtitles (neither in Spanish nor in English). By doing that, day after day, year after year, I gained a lot of vocabulary and a more "everyday" usage of the language. I improved both my reading and listening comprehension.

And eventually, I was ready to take the ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English). It took me a long time, but I did it! And there have been several instances throughout my life, in which I have realized how much everything has changed since that moment when my 6-year-old self declared that she hated English.

I'm a computer engineer, so more than 80% of the study material (books, program documentation, help forums, blogs related to technology, etc) I used was in English. Thanks to being able to read and write in English (ask questions in forums, search exactly what I wanted to ask, etc), I was able to graduate without too much trouble.

In 2008, I discovered k-pop thanks to a friend. At that point I started consuming different kinds of media (not only music but also TV shows, doramas and movies) in Korean. Of course I did not know anything in Korean, so I had to depend on subtitles or translations. The problem is that the Spanish translations were horrible since they were mostly the translation from Korean to English and then to Spanish (sometimes it was even worse: Korean -> Mandarin Chinese -> English -> Spanish). Many dialogues were lost or too simplified, sometimes they didn't even make sense or were terribly wrong. And I am not judging that, I mean there were no "official" translations, so the fans had to make them, so people like me could understand at least something. But since I knew English, after a few days, I decided to use only the English translations. And I added to my bucket list "to learn Korean" at some point.

When I decided to learn Japanese (I will write about it later), I realized how scarce were the options to learn a language so different from mine only using Spanish, while with English the options were almost unlimited.

And of course, my "online" life would not be the same without being able to communicate with others in English. Well, my life in general wouldn't be the same without English. I just can't imagine what it would be like if I had continued with the anti-English thoughts I had had since I was a child.
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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
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Re: Aledda's Log

Postby aledda » Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:26 pm

I just found out that the registration period of the "scholarship" for the outstanding students of the Japanese language of 2018 program is now open and closes at the end of the month. This program offers the opportunity to visit Japan for two weeks and to deepen the knowledge of the language, society, and culture. It includes lectures on the language and social and cultural aspects of Japan, visits to cultural facilities and historical sites, home visits, etc.

Uruguay can send only one student to this program. The selection is made first through registration forms, then there is a written exam and from there some students are selected to have an interview with three people from the Embassy of Japan, who evaluate and select the "most outstanding" student.

Last year I applied, not because I thought I was an outstanding student of the language, but because I wanted to have some experience in a Japanese exam, before the actual JPLT exam. And I got to the stage of the interview, which was more than I expected.

So this year I'm going to apply again because I have nothing to lose even if I'm not the most outstanding student. And... 本当に行きたいです。 (I really want to go!)

For now I'll have to think about how to answer the following questions, to fill the application forms:

趣味、得意なこと (What is your hobby? What are you good at?)
日本語を学習し始めた理由 (Why did you start to learn Japanese language?)
日本でやってみたいこと、知りたいこと、学びたいこと (What do you want to do, learn about or study in Japan?)

頑張ります!

PS: Edited for spelling errors, and to say that the next dorama I'm watching (since I haven't watched anything in Japanese for two weeks :o ) is 電影少女~VIDEO GIRL AI 2018~ (Denei Shojo: Video Girl Ai 2018)
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Please, feel free to correct any mistakes.

aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
x 141

Re: Aledda's Log (2017 - )

Postby aledda » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:15 pm

I don't know how it happened, but after reading something the other day (I don't even remember where I read it, but it got me thinking for a while) I think I managed to understand a use of the が particle that I did not understand completely... I mean, most of the times doing exercises about particles I got it right, but mostly because the other options didn't "sound right", not because i understood why it had to be が.

I have a love-hate relationship with particles. When I think I managed to understand them, I find a new use of one or an exception to some "rule" about other, and then I spend minutes looking at an exercise evaluating what would be the best option (if A when used in this context, or B used before this verb, etc, etc), when the answer was the most "basic" one. And I'm not exaggerating, one day in class we discussed with a friend the 4 options of an exercise for almost 5 minutes giving pros and cons of each option, and the answer was を. Like in "object を verb". Every time I think about it, I give myself a mental face palm.

Anyway, I want to review some grammar points related to that use of the particle to see if I understood correctly. So I have a new task for this week...
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