Veni, vidi, vici GER,ITA and Japanese

[Ccaesar]

New year new me as we (don't) all say!
I've been very busy with exams and had a complete lack of energy for most of the month. In the past two weeks I have finally gotten back into language learning (I didn't want to jinx it by writing too soon about it haha).
I was inspired by two things, first of all another log on the forum which showed just how small, but still useful goals can be and a video by Luca Lampariello speaking about how he approached Japanese and looking back at mistakes and telling how one should try to fix those.

I've gotten back into exercising (good)
I've become better at accepting mistakes and that I do not need every single new word or phrase I come across (at least when it comes to Japanese). This was a much needed pill to swallow.
In my main languages I feel a lack of energy when it comes to sitting down and learning about the language. I love using it, I love talking to friends and communicating and I am fan of grammar and linguistics, but It feels overwhelming to work structured and organised on improving areas of those languages..

I only just finished watching a video that recommended reading novels and then listening to the audiobook versions afterwards to get both the words written and pronounced. I get the idea, but first of all it's expensive. It's time consuming and I sort of lost the motivation for reading novels thanks to having to constantly making literature analysis for the past many years. My favourite genre is fantasy, but it has a lot of not very applicable or useful vocabulary for everyday use.
I guess I would like to simple sit down with a book that's structured for me to reach a certain level and come across topics that are needed because the energy required to plan and create it myself I no longer have or I have been going at it all wrong.


For example I like the idea of anki and those things that I have made cards for stick, but it is a time and energy consuming task and I am always in doubt about the quality of the card and wheather the audio I got is enough, if my way of making cards is good or bad.

Recently I have been considering makijng only grammar cards to improve that area of expertise and since the phrases are often authentic and correct by nature I don't have to worry about that part.

[Ccaesar]

2020
New decade, new year, new (not so new goals).

I have finally felt like writing a structured log entry. A few weeks ago thanks to finding inspiration in LunaMoonsilver's which shows a lot of small stepstones taking you one step further up the mountain of the project everyday, and reading an article by Luca Lampariello reflecting upon his own adventure which Japanese I finally managed to get kick-started again.
I started out by going to the gyn, when I returned home I would sit down and practice a few hiragana by hand, first repeating the previous ones and doing as many as I felt like on the given day. Now I am finishing the "B's and p's". After which I do a little work in the Japanese for dummies book and in addition to that I got back into anki, not anything big, just a little bit a day. That's a win and I had to write about it! To further establish the habit and promote health I reward myself with a bite of dark chocolate after having finished my learning session.

I am trying to implement a bit of Italian and German too, recently I am going to try and refresh the adjective declinations in German which have gotten a little rusty. I made an anki type the word card following the question:" Which words are followed by the 5-e declination. (der,die, das), dieser, aller, jeder, jener, derjenige, derselbe, welcher... Next I am thinking of making an occlusion card or a cloze type for the other tables.

[Ccaesar]

I am curious, how does the rest of you memorize tables? Like the 3 declination tables in German? I can remember most of them, but I like having them revised, which anki would do for me, but I am not sure if occlusion is the right way to go. Would typing it out be?
What do you guys do?

[Ccaesar]

New entry.
I am finally making some progress with Japanese again.
I have practiced all hiragana by hand and almost all katakana.
Around 15 kanji.
Now Assimil Japanese with ease seems much more approachable. --> Today I did lesson 1-5 and I wrote the useful phrases/words I am likely to need in hand, the kanji I practiced for about 5 minutes in Kanjitree and then wrote them by hand.
I have decided to not go for perfection with my writing, but merely comprehension so if a line isn't 100 % straight I don't care.

Italian:
I have several ideas started, but I am not sure how to start. I tried adding a few words to anki last night from a book based on simple dialogues.
Basically I find the word in context. I make 2-3 cards (more becomes boring and irritating + time consuming) to practice the word and its preposition. If I deem it necessary I add sound and an image.

I suppose more "passive/input" would be a good idea, however, I don't know where to stream films (my favourite media) since listening to audiobooks and radio often makes me zoom out quite quickly.


German: I've been practicing the cases and adjective declinations. I wanted to add more grammar to anki, but I am again not sure where to start.
Sometimes I listen to Radiodeutschland.


I am slowly reading atomic habits and it seems to have worked with Japanese.
That's it. Small progress, but still progress.

[Ccaesar]

So an update....
My sensei advised me to start my day earlier (and I attended a webinar with Luca Lampariello who told us about his routine) and decided to get up at 6:20-6:30.
I stuck to it for 19 days, then a few things outside my control messed up my routine.

My morning were:
Breakfast
Exercising + walking my dog
Japanese language learning
Work
Nap/rest
Sometimes working on my thesis.

For the past 4 days I fell out of the routine and will have to try restarting it. As of now I have put my Japanese books on my dining table next to my laptop, so it is easily accessible and I get reminded of it everytime I enter the livingroom.

[Ccaesar]

Short update:
It worked.
I am doing a lesson almost daily again of Japanese with Ease and adding the kanji I find neccesary or useful to a custom deck in Kanji Tree. (That list is getting scarily long.....)

[Ccaesar]

I have been keeping up the routine again. Doing one lesson daily, adding the kanji I want to a custom deck on kanjitree and reviewing them. At first I used to write them... But there are too many now, so I go for recognizition.
I tried one of the pre-made decks and got 30+ right! I was positively surprised (and happy).
Also I have met a Japanese I speak with daily, I learnt several expressions from those conversation. And that is what languages are about to me. The people and communication. In addition to that I love grammar

[Ccaesar]

An update:
I finished my thesis! YAAAAY! Which means: more time for language learning!

English:
I use it, everyday, in many situations.

German:
I teach German and use it with my friends. I have started listening to German radio and pick between 1-3 words to add to anki. That means 3-9 cards because I do a reversed back card and a definition card. I am thinking of making a production card to "type in the answer", but I am afraid that might make the process too long and boring to stick with it.

Italian:
I am sort of following the assimil approach with the Harry Potter books.
I listen to the book on audible, go back, follow along in the bog, then go back and repeat what's being said. What I like about audible is that you can customize the speed of the person speaking.

Japanese:
I am currently using scriptorium on my old lessons, and will start doing normal assimil lessons too.
When I have sparetime I practice kanji on kanji tree (which has had some nice updates to the pro version)

[Ccaesar]

Progress:
German:
Still working and listening to podcasts.

Italian:
Intensive reading of one page + listening/repeating and shadowing the audiobook of the same sound.
Afterwards I pick out words I think might be useful to know. I make anki cards, I made a definition card with front(word), back(definition) and image(for substantives mainly), the example sentence, and audio.
I was wondering if it's not that efficient, but until now it seems to work. Perhaps I should make some cloze/type in the answer cards.. But I am not sure.
Currently I pick 1-4 words/collocations and/or expressions.


Japanese:
I am shadowing the past lessons to 1) review what I learnt 2) master the pronounciation better 3) refresh after my 1 month break.
I have hiragana (without the stemmed signs) learnt, most of the katakana, and about 10 kanji.
I bought a book A Radical Approach to Mastering Kanji: The Secret to Learning 1500+ Kanj and I try to work my way through 1-3 of them daily, and closely look through what I did the previous day, before I take on the new kanji. I hope to see some positive results within a month or two. As of now I am noticing patterns (which is exciting).

My main concern is that I am using too many different ressources for Japanese.

[Ccaesar]

German
Got stuck


Italian: Taken a few days off due to feeling tired because of non-language learning related issues.

Japanese:
kept to it daily.
Assmil lesson shadowed + written out in hand EXCEPT for the non essential kanji + I make some anki cards.

My main issue with Japanese is remembering the meaning of radicals, right now I keep writing the ones I have gone through down in hand before continuing with 1-3 daily. I presume at some point it will stick.
I feel excited being able to recognise elements of kanji now it's like a field of blurry lines suddenly manifesting into something that can be decifered. I am impressed!