Koolawant's 素晴らしい Japanese Log

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appelkoekje
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby appelkoekje » Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:07 am

That's amazing! 日本での生活を楽しんでくださいね!
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patrickwilken
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby patrickwilken » Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:45 am

koolawant wrote:With studying for the N2, living with my Japanese host family again, hanging out with my native friends, and attending language classes virtually everyday, it's safe to say that I will be spending most of my days interacting in Japanese.


That sounds super exciting! Congratulations. Are you based in Tokyo?
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1500 Movies : 1389 / 1500100 Movies : 4 / 100
50000 Pages : 41089 / 500005000 Pages : 0 / 5000

All goals to be completed by 31.12.19.

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Fri Aug 31, 2018 12:44 pm

patrickwilken wrote:
koolawant wrote:With studying for the N2, living with my Japanese host family again, hanging out with my native friends, and attending language classes virtually everyday, it's safe to say that I will be spending most of my days interacting in Japanese.


That sounds super exciting! Congratulations. Are you based in Tokyo?


Oh thank goodness no I hope I'll never have to live in Tokyo. Im located in Kyushu!
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:02 am

Feeling super discouraged today. I knew I was the "dumbest" person in the advanced class, but my teacher pulled me aside today to reaffirm that in a very nice way and encourage me to do my best. I couldn't get over it all day and mulled over it and let it ruin my mood. I have pretty much no more confidence in my ability to learn and speak Japanese (please note this has been a feeling that has been building up for a few months). Being in a class surrounded by people who passed N1 does not help me feel less useless :oops:

I feel just as hopeless in Japan at his level as I did at my A2/B1 level!

I know the only answer is to study more and get over myself. I just need another day or two to sulk and then get back to business. In the mean time I've set a small goal of 20 movies (90+ minutes) and 20 books (aiming to keep it around 100 pages each).
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Wed Sep 26, 2018 1:13 pm

Had some interesting thoughts recently.

Since coming to japan I have noticed 2 things; one, my ability to comprehend and understand is miles ahead of where I was last time. Two, my ability to speak has regressed drastically. Or so I thought. It's not that I don't speak as well as I use to or that my speaking backslid. The truth is that before I didn't care about being correct as long as my point could be communicated. However, the more I advance the more I care about what I say, and how I say it. I stumble over my words and sentences now not because I can't communicate in Japanese, it's because I am now consciously searching for what is *most* correct or *most* natural.

Last time I was in japan I was never mistaken for anything but a full blown foreigner. however in the short 5 or so weeks I've been here I received two very interesting compliments. "I thought you were half Japanese at first" and "before I looked at you I thought you were a Japanese person speaking".

When I felt the most confident about my Japanese I never received such high praise. Only now, when I feel like my accent and speaking is the worst is when I hear it.

All of these events and thoughts leads me to a few conclusions:
1. I'm being waaaaaay to hard on myself (unlikely to change)
2. My accent sounds "weird" to me because I have been unconsciously upgrading it
3. My speaking is actually going through a massive renovation because it is improving. I'm not regressing! I'm simply starting to communicate with accuracy, and fluency (no matter what the cause) is no longer the most important thing to me (I have since passed that stage)


Just wanted to share my musings as of late. I'm getting through this language one agonizingly slow step at a time. I need to be gentle with myself and remember that progress is progress. Sorry if this all over the place and doesn't make sense. I'm tired, have a massive headache, and spend day in and day out getting tortured lectured in Japanese. :lol:
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:13 pm

....this sounds hella weird. But does anyone else get jealous of the children in the target language/country sometimes? It's an absolutely ridiculous comparison but I can't help myself sometimes. :lol:

Really been getting into the Magic Tree House books (translated into Japanese). I actually didn't like this series at all as a kid. Figures that the 21 year old me would take a liking to it. Finding more enjoyable to read recently, like it's an activity I'm looking forward to most days. The other night I did over 100 pages of reading without breaking a sweat. New record! I would eventually like to finish these books in one sitting like I can in English.\

Still derping around in Japan. Although my motivation has been severely lacking, being in Japan gives me very little choice. Sink or swim *sobs*
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:48 pm

Long time no see. Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm still studying!

I've gotten a little busy so reading and watching movies have come to a halt. Mostly focusing on school work and interacting with people around me. Sometimes have to keep reminding myself that I don't have to be perfect. My Japanese is fine and I'm completely understandable. :)

At times I feel like I've made no progress but just last week my teacher commented that I have improved quite a bit! I hope by the end of my exchange year to be teetering on the C1 line. But, I find getting super engaged with Japanese shows and books difficult for some reason; even when I completely understand them? I need to just set a goal of doing a little bit a day. Perseverance and dedication always win out over the evasive motivation.

If anyone has any good (non romantic) J dramas to recommend please let me know!
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

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dicentra8
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby dicentra8 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:27 pm

koolawant wrote:If anyone has any good (non romantic) J dramas to recommend please let me know!


I'll try although I get quite nervous when recommending something to someone. I never know if they'll enjoy it...
So I picked probably my favourite 3 dramas that just came to my mind. Most of them are somewhat...old? And there's a good chance that you already saw or know about them. I rarely am on top of the newest J dramas.

- まほろ駅前番外地 (episodes: 12) Synopsis | Trailer/Commercial
- 家政婦のミタ (episodes: 11) Synopsis | Trailer/Commercial
- 最高の離婚 (episodes: 11) Synopsis | Trailer/Commercial

I know you said "non romantic" but I don't think 最高の離婚 is about romance, it's more about relationships between people + marriage/divorce. I really think the cast was amazing and enjoyed watching it a lot.
And i'm sorry if these aren't new to you or you end up not liking them. :oops:
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"I have to watch the time I spend playing Tetris very carefully."

koolawant
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Re: Koolawant's Leisure Stroll to N2

Postby koolawant » Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:08 am

I know you said "non romantic" but I don't think 最高の離婚 is about romance, it's more about relationships between people + marriage/divorce. I really think the cast was amazing and enjoyed watching it a lot.
And i'm sorry if these aren't new to you or you end up not liking them


I've seen the second but not the other two! I'll give these a try, thanks!
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
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Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
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Re: Koolawant's 素晴らしい Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:49 pm

Popping in for a sec.

I decided that I need to read more. Like a lot more. So I made it my goal to read 10k pages by the end of the year! I would have to check my spreadsheet but I think I've read about 3k pages in Japanese so far, so really I'm only 7k pages away from accomplishing this goal.

I'm in Japan with a ton of time on my hands after classes so I feel like I'm wasting it by not utilizing my resources like I can be. My goal is to read a minimum of 50 pages a day which I have more than enough time for. If I fail to reach that goal it means I was being lazy that day and I can't accept that as a good excuse. So far for the last 3/4 days (when I picked up a book for the first time in a month+) I have been averaging 80 pages or so a day. :)

my stretch goal is to make it to 10k by the end of my exchange year/graduation in June but we'll see about that.

Also I've started 就職活動 and am in the process for applying for jobs in US and Japan. But of course I would prefer Japan while I'm still young, not as grumpy, and have no obligations. Wish me luck!
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: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese


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