Koolawant's 素晴らしい Japanese Log

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Xavier Disney
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:33 pm
Languages: English (N), Japanese (beginner)
x 8

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby Xavier Disney » Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:50 pm

Koolawant .... Your log is very inspiring and interesting as well... I was wondering have you felt you have learned more of the Japanese language in high school and college or in your own self study? I know going to the country has helped me tremendously for me something about the culture grips you to dig deeper and learn more and more. :D I'm looking forwar to following your progress here and going forward.

-XD
0 x
Pimsleur Japanese: 4 / 90
Remembering the Kana: 3 / 12

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Tue Apr 17, 2018 1:28 am

Xavier Disney wrote:Koolawant .... Your log is very inspiring and interesting as well... I was wondering have you felt you have learned more of the Japanese language in high school and college or in your own self study? I know going to the country has helped me tremendously for me something about the culture grips you to dig deeper and learn more and more. :D I'm looking forwar to following your progress here and going forward.

-XD


Is it? Looks like a bunch of craziness from my end :lol:

Well, even though I did it all 4 years in highschool, I was a dumb highschooler and didn't study at ALL outside of class or during breaks. I'm surprised I remembered anything. College was the same the first year. I was convinced that if I took classes I would magically become fluent. It wasn't until I moved to japan my 2nd year that my Japanese surged forward. After coming back I've done a crazy amount of self study mixed with classes. Going to Japan, self studying, and making the choice to go back to japan for my senior year is the best choice I made for my Japanese. I like classes, but the more advanced I get the less I get out of them because my needs become so specific.

tldr; my year in japan skyrocketed my Japanese and gave me the tools to know how to self study in a way that has since advanced my Japanese
1 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

User avatar
Xavier Disney
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:33 pm
Languages: English (N), Japanese (beginner)
x 8

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby Xavier Disney » Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:40 am

koolawant wrote:
Xavier Disney wrote:Koolawant .... Your log is very inspiring and interesting as well... I was wondering have you felt you have learned more of the Japanese language in high school and college or in your own self study? I know going to the country has helped me tremendously for me something about the culture grips you to dig deeper and learn more and more. :D I'm looking forwar to following your progress here and going forward.

-XD


Is it? Looks like a bunch of craziness from my end :lol:

Well, even though I did it all 4 years in highschool, I was a dumb highschooler and didn't study at ALL outside of class or during breaks. I'm surprised I remembered anything. College was the same the first year. I was convinced that if I took classes I would magically become fluent. It wasn't until I moved to japan my 2nd year that my Japanese surged forward. After coming back I've done a crazy amount of self study mixed with classes. Going to Japan, self studying, and making the choice to go back to japan for my senior year is the best choice I made for my Japanese. I like classes, but the more advanced I get the less I get out of them because my needs become so specific.

tldr; my year in japan skyrocketed my Japanese and gave me the tools to know how to self study in a way that has since advanced my Japanese


I couldn’t agree more I have studied Spanish on and off the last couple of years mostly self study but I find when I do take s Spanish class I am far more advanced then what they are teaching in college for the most part. As you know Japan is a magical place filled with culture and extremely generous people... I can’t wait to go back and possibly make it my permanent residence. =)
0 x
Pimsleur Japanese: 4 / 90
Remembering the Kana: 3 / 12

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:18 am

Generous, until they're running you over trying to get onto a bus/subway :lol:

For anyone reading this, while my vocab and kanji study are going well, my grammar has come to a full halt. Up until now all my methods have been largely ineffective. I have an imperfect understanding of a lot of grammar which is fine for short phrases but trips me up on the longer ones (which japanese is full of). How do you effectively study grammar? I've read 2000 pages in japanese, and although it has helped me get a more intrinsic feeling for it, I'd rather know them really well from formal study before seeing them in the wild and having to puzzle out a sentence for 10 minutes. I know many of you here advocate for reading until it clicks but if I can understand something in a short time by formal study vs 10,000 pages I'd rather do option A :lol: I've started the reading route, and while I tolerate ambiguity, I would like to have a much higher percent of understanding before I return to reading via massive input in a few months; for the sake of my sanity. My grammar has always been my weakest point and I really want to change that. I want to understand and produce my grammar accurately, which is something I should already be doing relatively well at my level. If anyone has advice, please chime in.
1 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:37 am

Great ideas. I make several sentences, but maybe I should be making more.
0 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Thu May 03, 2018 11:04 pm

Just under a month to go before I switch phases. Trying to decide if I should order more books, or re-read the ones I have.

It's hard to measure progress because I have been focusing on textbooks instead of native materials, but I feel a lot more secure in my Japanese. I feel much more comfortable calling myself B2 in Japanese now. There is something that I have noticed however; my grammar study until now has been very lackluster, and half-assed to say the least. I was planning on doing extensive reading during phase two but I'm almost considering switching to intensive reading instead. Regardless of which one I choose, implicit grammar study and clean up is going to be my main focus for the next couple of months/rest of the year. I don't want to move onto or start studying C1/N1 just yet, I need to park at B2/N2 and get my active grammar and vocabulary up to speed and really tighten up my language. I want to be correct and precise with the things I can say/communicate at my level.
2 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Thu May 31, 2018 5:33 am

back with an update!
I finished the vocab book and got about 85% through the N2 kanji and grammar books. Although I didn't complete it on time I would still consider that challenge a major sucess and felt real improvement in my Japanese. I am switching over to phase two now! I'm deciding to put the remainder of the N2 grammar and kanji books aside for now. The reason being that I feel like I want to really solidfy my intermediate level before moving on to intermediate-advance/advance material.

I decided against a study routine because I think it'll stress me out and cause more harm than good. This summer I am simply going with the flow. Roughly, I'd like do a lot of reading, listening, and speaking practice. I dusted off my Tobira textbook and grammar book and am starting to do a thorough review of that. Going through and translating the sentences, although a bit tedious, is helping me to internalize the grammar.

Still a little unsure on how to proceed with vocabulary. I used Anki to cram all the vocab I did the past 2 months (about 1200 words) and as expected I'm anki-ed out for the year. In my reading today I came across like 30 unknown words in two pages. Two! That shows me that the book is a bit (lot) above my level vocab wise but grammar-wise I'm comfortable. With a dictonary by my side I may power through it. Or switch to some of the easier books in my collection.

I've also started to play a bit of phoenix wright in japanese. Again, over my level but sometimes it's good to step out of one's comfort zone. Plus it's super entertaining so I don't mind spending ridculous amounts of time looking up kanji and words...yet.

Anyway, today I did;

Tobira Textbook/grammar book; ~2hrs (currently on chapter 1)
Listening; ~3hrs
Reading; pathetically long time for just 2 pages
Today's study time; ~5.5 hours
2 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Fri Jun 01, 2018 6:06 am

Wow this was an extraordinarily lazy day. I work doubles on both Saturday and Sunday so I was hoping to get a good amount of studying done beforehand but something about today just wasn't in the cards.

Today I did;

Tobira Textbook/grammar book; ~.75hrs (currently on chapter 1)
Listening; ~2.5hrs
Reading; nada
Today's study time; ~3.25hrs

Total time; 8.75hrs
0 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Sat Jun 02, 2018 4:39 am

More productive today but I expect very little from myself for the next 2 days... I find that working through the grammar book is really helping though. My translations are becoming quicker and more accurate and it feels like I understand the true meaning of sentences just a teeny bit better than before. Naturally, my reading speed has noticeably slowed down since I haven't done any "real" reading in quite a few months :oops: it'll take me a while to get back into it.

Tobira Textbook/grammar book; ~1.5hrs (currently on chapter 1)
Listening; ~6hrs
Reading; ~.5hrs
Today's study time; ~8hrs

Total; 16.75hrs

72 days until I return to Japan! I remember that number being much higher!
2 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese

koolawant
Yellow Belt
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Japan
Languages: English (N)
Japanese (B2-C1*)

JLPT N2 Certified
x 209

Re: Koolawant's Japanese Log

Postby koolawant » Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:25 am

Back after the weekend. Been busy with work and whatnot so very little studying done :oops:

Saturday I did;
Tobira Textbook/grammar book; ~.75hrs (currently on chapter 1)
Listening; ~1hr
Reading; ~ yikes
Today's study time; ~1.75hrs


Sunday I did; nothing

Monday I did; nothing

Today I did: Surprise! Nothing.

Total Study Time; 18.5hrs

Now that Im winding down I expect to get a good amount of studying done the rest of the week. I am going on vacation to The Falls during the weekend so we'll see how that goes
0 x
: 6343 / 50000 50,000 pages read / Japanese


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests