Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

[sillygoose1]

Japanese:

I finished chapter 1 of Botchan on Soseki Project. It took about a week to go through each section, L/R, go through the section again, and practice my listening. Although some of the language and kanji are dated, I don't think this diminishes the effectiveness of the exercise. It's nice to hear literary/normal Japanese for a change instead of learning materials and anime. I've also learned that informal words for "I" such as ore, boku, and atashi can also used in the plural using the -tachi form. Before, I was under the impression that the first person plural was limited to "watashitachi" across the board. I am quite new to anime and never really gave it any serious consideration before because of preconceptions I had of it, but I'm learning a decent amount of vocab and solidifying other words/grammar points. I'm aware that the language used in anime is not really normal, everyday speech but I think it's still good to learn.

Because of my Japanese work lately, I haven't occupied myself with other languages. I would like to finish season 1 of Ivanovy-Ivanovy soon as well as watch some French & German movies and/or series.

[sillygoose1]

Japanese:

I've been watching some series and going through one novel and one light novel. I've also jumped back into Anki JLPT 3/4/5 decks to fill in gaps. From what I've been learning up until now, the language itself isn't terribly difficult for me. As a matter of fact, I find Russian harder than Japanese. However, the main thing that is really slowing me down is the kanji as well as the multiple readings. Because of this, L/R will obviously be a problem not to mention building vocabulary from reading. As a result, this is why I've decided to go back to the N5 and 4 decks. In the long run, it will save me time copying and pasting kanji into my online dictionary. If I had to give a rough estimate, I would say I'm familiar with around 3-400 kanji but have maybe 100-150 nailed down to memory. My next goal is to get to 1,000 kanji down to memory.

As for my reading progress, my goal has been to get through several pages a day in my novel and one chapter a day for the light novel while watching some series and movies here and there. If my new focus will be on reading, this will give me an opportunity to get back to enjoying media in other languages.

[sillygoose1]

Quick Japanese update from yesterday:

I've recently become acquainted with the "Kanzen Master" series. It appears as though it is aimed specifically towards the JLPT test but it will still be a major help What I've learned while studying Japanese is something I brushed upon my last post - I cannot learn this language how I usually learn languages mainly because of the kanji whereas an Asian language such as Korean which to my knowledge does not use Chinese characters would probably be more in line with my style of learning. Basically, learning Japanese has challenged me on multiple levels and has somewhat forced my hand to change my style and approach of learning. Where I would usually get to native materials ASAP since reading is my favorite way to gain vocab, I find myself having to hit the books a lot more often.

At the moment I am still:

Going through Botchan by Soseki
Doing Anki decks N5 - N3 to fill in gaps and solidify kanji in my head plus go through a Tobira Anki deck
Reading a light novel
Watching tv series

I have already:

Done two speed runs with Tobira
Gone through a beginner's kanji book with 200 kanji
Finished an intermediate grammar book

I will eventually:

Go through Routledge intermediate reader
Skim through Kanzen N3 grammar book then move on to N2 series

[sillygoose1]

Russian:

I've taken another break from listening for the moment and have gone back to reading. There hasn't been much non-fiction that I have found to keep my interest levels up so I'm reading crime novels again. Currently about 1/5 the way through "Ночная птица" or, Night Bird, by Brian Freeman (translated). This is probably the most I've ever felt fluent in reading. Not because the material is easier (I'm still looking up vocab), but I no longer get interrupted by a disturbance in flow and the words get transmitted to my brain in a way that I can visualize what is happening in the text. This is always a good sign in language learning, especially when it's with fiction. The cover for the Russian edition is also really cool.





Japanese:

Going through Shin Kanzen N3 grammar book. What's great about this series is how short the books are but yet they are Japanese only, jam packed with information, and still doable. I was using my online dictionary which tells you which word is found at which level and the words I have looked up so far have 80% been in the N3 category which is incredible attention to detail. Grammar isn't usually my favorite part of learning, but the fact that I can also learn more vocab and kanji helps a ton. I have also ordered the N3 Goi (vocabulary) book and plan to order the Dokkai (reading) and kanji editions as well. We'll see how it goes and whether or not I'll purchase the N2 editions.

[sillygoose1]

Japanese:

Shin Kanzen N3 Vocab has arrived and I'm about 15 pages in so far. Given that it's aimed towards those looking to take the JLPT test, there is obviously a bunch of exercises which take up most of each chapter. I'm thinking now that I probably should have ordered the Reading Comprehension book first but I'll make do with this one as well.

What's good about this book so far is how many gaps it fills. Personality traits, things pertaining to the household, relationships/family and so forth. I'm used to learning these words via native exposure or by simply reading but it still is comforting that I am at least getting exposure to them and will probably end up saving time looking things up in the future.

I've downloaded Anki decks for Shin Kanzen N3 vocab and grammar to go through after I finish the books as well as for the N2/N1 versions so I will probably skip on going through the books for those levels. I'm still working on my Genki, Tobira, and regular N3 decks which are going well.

[sillygoose1]

Russian:

I've been reading some philosophy and criminology - more specifically a secondary text on Heidegger and an introductory criminology text. As far as running into new words, it is still happening but as I mentioned my last update it isn't as big of a problem Also, I finished The Night Bird.

As for listening, I'm currently going through one comedy and one drama. The comedy is pretty funny and is called Гусар or "Hussar" which is about a rowdy, delinquent Russian soldier during Napeleon's invasion who gets transported to the future by an amateur astrophysicist. The other one is Псих which is short for "psychologist" but is also a derogatory term for the mentally ill which, as far as I can tell, is a clever play on words since the protagonist is a psychologist and seems to have OCD and depression. The first episode was pretty good but my comprehension wasn't good enough to enjoy it fully.

Japanese:

Reading news articles mainly. The language is beginning to feel more intuitive and the kanji now seem a lot less strange. Context has been helping them stick as well.

[sillygoose1]

French:

Went on a little movie binge and saw a few contemporary comedy and action films. There are still a few more to watch by some of my favorite French action/crime directors Olivier Marchal and Julien Leclercq on Netflix. Plus, I want to watch Balle perdue. I'm trying to get through season 2 of Au service de la France but it isn't as entertaining as season 1 was for me years ago. Finished chapter 2 of Jean-Jacques Pelletier's La chair disparue.

German:

Mainly just looking forward to watching movies. I'm looking to read Das Parfum and Hesse's Narziss und Goldmund soon.

Russian:

Finished a sitcom, going through Dan Simmons' Terror audiobook which is more or less incomprehensible. A new show came out about Dyatlov's Pass which was always one of my favorite legends so I'm looking forward to watching that.

Japanese:

News articles are still difficult but it's to be expected. Watching movies with English subs is still hard as well which means I still need to improve my vocabulary.


I'm thinking maybe I need a break from all languages for a bit. I'm feeling burned out and nothing extraordinary has happened lately - just the usual progress.

[sillygoose1]

Russian:

Reading some CG Jung in Russian and it's going well. Well, his first essay was a bit difficult but the second essay I'm reading "Psychology and Religion" is easier. I probably had to get used to it. I'll probably end up reading the Jung that I have can't find in German, in Russian. Besides reading, I haven't done any listening in awhile so that's something I should work on soon.

Japanese:

Page 58 of The Devotion of Suspect X. A lot of dictionary use (thanks Jisho!), but I get the gist. I'm beginning to remember kanji and vocab that I've come across from earlier pages. On the flip side, I seem to forget some kanji that I had previously learned which comes back after a dictionary lookup. All in all, things are going quite slow. However, it will only end up benefiting me once I feel comfortable with picking up Mandarin again.

[sillygoose1]

Russian:

I finished Псих and it was pretty good. Also some action/scifi movies with English subs as well as reading some more Jung essays. It definitely feels as though I hit that B -> C level plateau because at times things feel great but other times it feels like I'm making no more progress. With Псих for example, although I understood the gist I could not get the tiny details. More technical things like non-fiction is also difficult at times depending on the subject. I'm going to watch some more films with English subs then just go back to audiobooks and TV series.

Japanese:

I'm making some solid progress with kanji. I'm almost able to go through three sentences in The Devotion of Suspect X without looking up a word! News articles are still difficult. Besides that, I finished another N4/N3 reader which went well. I sort of gave up on the Routledge intermediate Reader for now because it is still way too difficult. My best bet is to continue reading news articles and try to finish this novel I believe while getting in a lot of listening.

[sillygoose1]

Japanese:

About halfway through The Devotion of Suspect X. I would say that I'm at about a solid N4 in that I know around 350-400 kanji plus how I'm able to discuss very basic things whereas around my last post I would have said I'm inching towards N4. I used this website to check: https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/level_check_kanji.html

I'm still having the issue where I can't remember basic words or kanji. For example, on that test I linked above there is 古い which I've seen and heard plenty of times but it just did not come to me when I saw it. As I dive in further, onyomi and kunyomi are also posing problems because for instance I'll know one in the verb form which is usually kunyomi but I'll blank out when I see it in compound form which is usually onyomi and vice versa.