Xe-Chan's Official Polyglotism Language Log (East Asian Language Focus)

[eido]

Here's a thread discussing Lang-8 and its issues, on LLORG.

[Xelian]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the conversation on Lang-8. What a shame they've gone downhill.

My apologies for a very late update. I've been travelling so it has been challenging to study often and update on here. Additionally, while I've finally got a place to live, it lacks internet connection, so I can't update as often at this time.

However, I am fitting in some language study! I'm planning to take the JLPT N2 in December, I just registered. So I will be focusing mostly on that. But I know I can fit in Japanese study everyday from here on out. Here's my progress:

langlogupdate.JPG

Talk again soon!

EDIT: I also published a new video on YouTube regarding translation. If you care to take a look, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4OUfmWG87I&lc=z22ic3jxbsy5gvuwi04t1aokgtovodr0il1tobgejekzbk0h00410

[Xelian]

Hi everyone,

I've been studying Japanese fairly consistently since I last updated. I finally took my JLPT N2 practice test. To be honest, I did TERRIBLY. But I am confident that with some review of how to approach the exam along with some brushing up on the N2 materials will help a lot.

I still have 10 weeks left before the actual exam. Stick around to see if I'm just overtly confident in myself.

I haven't been doing studying EVERYDAY but I'd say I'm on my way to achieving that goal soon. I've been trying to get a temporary job while (and maybe after..) I wait for the JLPT test results, so that's been taking up a lot of my time lately.

Anyway, here's my language log update:

LLFUpdate.JPG

I'd also like to say, the first part of the JLPT has a ridiculous amount of reading comprehension required, so I'm likely going to be working on that as frequently as possible over other skills. I'll try to get a hold of some additional practice exams so I can really get a better feel of it.

Anyways, thanks for reading~

[Xelian]

This post is for my reference, so I'll be updating it from time to time:

MEMRISE SETS

Completed Sets:

Genki I (661/661)
N4 Kanji (160/160)

Hacking Swedish (154/154)


In Progress Sets (In order of language and then priority):

JLPT N2 Readings (240/1500)
N2 Kanji (125/407)
JLPT N2 Vocab (0/1625)

8000+ Most Common Swedish Words - Part 1 (of 4) (45/3000)

Mandarin Reading Survival (50/480)
Everyday Mandarin Chinese (Survival Vocab) (44/612)

Every TTMIK Lesson (Levels 1-9) (51/5371)
Howtostudykorean.com Unit 1 (21/1213)

Arabic 1 (28/265)

Spanish (Mexico) 1 (114/224)

Basic Bulgarian Words - With Audio (7/209)


Review Sets (Sets I am using just for review purposes):

Intermediate Japanese - Tobira (with Audio) (221/1075)
Tobira Grammar Complete (149/244)
Genki I - Kanji Vocabulary (176/536)
Genki II - Vocabulary (68/674)
Genki II - Kanji Vocabulary (8/670)
Beginners Japanese Grammar (JLPT N5 Grammar) (74/455)

[Xelian]

Hi everyone!

I got internet and have a promising job offer (though still interviewing at a couple places) so I hopefully will have a lot more luck scheduling my time. The month of September I did better than any other month this summer/fall in terms of language studies, as shown in the image below:

LLFFinalUpdate.jpg

I'll be making another "Bujo" (bullet journal) soon for the next three months of language learning!

With really only two months left for studying for the JLPT N2, that's where all of my efforts will be. I decided that my weak point in terms of the exam was the "Reading Comprehension" portion, so I picked up a 日本語総まとめ book (I've heard a lot of good things about this one) and will be doing one chapter a week, for 6 weeks.

Additionally I am still working on the vocabulary and kanji knowledge database in my mind, so far I've been using Memrise, but I do have a strong preference for word lists + Quizlet (as I can personalize my sets and review select words anytime that I want or need). In other words, I'm planning to set up some Quizlet sets, and now that I have internet access it should be quite simpler, though still a bit of work.

As far as the grammar goes, I feel like I will be able to pick up a lot of it in the readings, as well as the Nihongo no Mori YouTube series for the JLPT N2.

So here's what a week will look like on average, if I want to get through all of the material:
-1 chapter 日本語総まとめ (読解)
-210 vocab words (Goal = review 30 per day)
-45 kanji (about 7 a day)
-5 日本語の森 videos

There will be some vocab/kanji/grammar that is review, so these numbers may be a little high (or low, depending on if there's more). These are only estimates of what I think I need to know. But if I can get through that much, I should be able to pass the N2, or at least have a bit of a boost for the time that I try the practice exam again (I bought the second version of the exam so I can try again) and then the actual N2 exam.

Anyways, will update with my new Bujo very soon! I'm happy with how the past three months journaling worked out, and am excited to do it for the next few months as well.

~Xelian

[Xelian]

Hello LLF!

It has been a while, but I have been keeping up with my studying with the help of my new Bullet Journal.

1weekleft.JPG

As you can see there is now only one week left until I take the JLPT N2. Only a few features have changed on the current page vs my previous one (the BuJo for July-September). I left out the section for which exam I am studying materials for, as it was all JLPT N2 from October, and I tried to make slight changes to the design. I ended up not really liking these design changes, (for example I really messed up the line directions in October when I was trying to make it look more interesting) but it is still legible so it works for me!

As far as my actual studying goals go, while August was a slow month (only studied 9/31 days), I am very pleased with the amount of days I practiced Japanese this fall, for example my frequency is around 20 days per month starting September. I finished the 日本語の森 N3 series, and got about half way through the N2 series. Recently I purchased the 新完全マスター (文法) N2 and I've made some progress on the 日本語総まとめ (読解) N2, though not as much as I had aimed for. I have studied quite a lot of the kanji for the N2 and some vocabulary, but I'm definitely still lacking in these areas at this point. I also have two 模擬試験 N2 (practice tests), one of which I've taken and reviewed a lot of, and a second one which I'm hoping to take soon so I can see if I can do any better than my first shot at it.

My feeling is that if I don't do as well as I hoped on the N2 on December 2nd, it will be alright because there will be another testing date next year. So my plan is to continue studying for the N2 and maybe touch on some materials for the N1 regardless of whether I hear good news or not for the test results this upcoming March(?). If it takes me another year, it takes me another year. But, I'd say that after all of my dedication to Japanese, I'm not going down without a fight!

I've also spent a little bit of time learning Mandarin, though not a whole lot. I've all but abandoned most other languages but sometimes I talk to myself in Swedish randomly and it makes me believe that I haven't forgotten the language yet, haha.

I'll be going now though so that I can make the most of this week, I have a goal to study everyday until the exam, as many hours as I can handle outside of work. I'll update again when possible~

[Xelian]

Hello everyone!

I took the N2!!! It was a really interesting experience for me and I am glad that I did it, though I know the score isn't going to be great... We will see the results in March though to be sure.

In the meantime I am going to keep going through N2 materials. I do know that I don't know everything required, and I do know that I need to enhance my efficiency with taking the exam. So my New Year's Resolutions are going to be focusing on Japanese still, but I do want to keep working on my other target languages.

So what I am working on is going to be knowing three textbooks front to back; Tobira, 日本語総まとめ (読解) N2, and 新完全マスター (文法) N2, while using Memrise to solidify vocabulary, sayings, and kanji, and using Quizlet to conquer the really tough words & kanji I never seem to be able to remember. I might add some extra texts to this list and also I do plan on reading "real" Japanese to pick up more vocabulary and grammar structures. I'm also going to be listening to Japanese regularly. So it is essentially what I was doing before to prepare for the N2, but really ingraining the materials as often as possible so that next time I take the exam the score will be to my liking.

What I am finding difficult still is sticking to the schedule I have for myself in terms of memorizing the materials. So I will be making some adjustments, and seeing what is really possible to do (I have to go to work every weekday). Some days I don't feel like working on Japanese or any other language at all. Motivation is so key to my progress but it is wavering at best. I don't know what I want to use my Japanese skills on anymore. And I don't always feel like I know what good learning a bunch of languages is. So getting back in touch with my motivation is going to be essential.

Anyway, that is what's happening right now!

[Xelian]

Hello again! I'm feeling my motivation come back full force after clearing out some mental blocks this New Year's and taking a short break. Here is the complete end of the year BuJo:

2018end.JPG

So I'm planning to continue this kind of BuJo style, but I haven't decided if I want to modify the format at all. I found that with this format there's less reason to study hard, because I get to fill in the box if - a. I study a language (only one required) and, b. if I have practically any exposure to it at all. So I'm thinking maybe I will change the format to be more strict but still doable, for example maybe I will have the four "reading, writing, listening, and speaking" checklists for each language, but won't get to add credit to that day unless I do at least two of the skills for longer than a couple of minutes. I think then I will make a little more progress, and still be able to credit myself for doing SOMETHING, but I'd like to be able to fill in the boxes so it will give some extra push to do more than one skill for a longer period of time than usual. I also think making the design a little more coherent will be helpful, since the colors aren't noticeable enough to me how they currently are.

So, look forward to seeing that in the next post!!! Thanks for reading ^^

[Xelian]

I'm back, I just wanted to post my newest BuJo format and share a video I just made with some review of the past year of language learning, some of my 2019 goals, and language stuff I've been thinking about.

2019start.jpg

I've changed the format slightly. The colors all represent the same languages as they did before, Japanese is dark blue, Swedish is light blue, Korean is purple, and Mandarin is pink. In the case that I study a different language, I will note it. I'm thinking about adding a key to the page but not sure where I want to put it yet. One thing I'm changing is rather than putting thin stripes down the center of the box, I'll be putting each language in a corner of the box so that it's easier to see. I'm not adding the stripes to the corner of the box unless I practiced two or more skills that day, each at least for 5 minutes, totaling to 10 or more minutes per language each day if I can manage that. I'm also adding a daily log, which will show my work on each day, something I've kind of stopped doing in the past year or two but want to pick up again.

Here's my latest updates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwTgtHjXFN0&t=670s

[Xelian]

Here's an update for the week. I am loving my new BuJo, it's keeping me more motivated than the other ones did.

Jan6-12.jpg

Key: Korean = Purple; Japanese = Dark blue; Swedish = Light blue; Mandarin = Pink

What I really like about my new format is, I have to study each language for at least 10 minutes a day in order to fill in the box. And because I am a little bit of a perfectionist, I'd like to fill in each box at least partially, I think studying two languages a day isn't bad. I also would rather see equal amounts of each color, so I'm noticing how much I slacked off on Japanese this week and that's going to make me want to balance it out. It's also making me not want to lose my streak.

My goals for each week for now is starting out on the low end of things, but here it is:
Korean & Japanese - 40 minutes minimum
Swedish & Mandarin - 20 minutes minimum

Report for January 6th - 12th:
Korean: 40+ minutes
Japanese: 10 + minutes
Swedish: 20 + minutes
Mandarin: 20 + minutes

So I met my goal for everything but Japanese. I think I'm having a bit of a tendency to avoid it right now. I kind of feel plateaued for the time being. I hope that I can pull through that!!!

I've been mostly using LingoDeer for Korean, it's been so useful. I'm also using that for Mandarin, but I feel like I'm not picking up as much as with the Korean one, as I have a bit of an understanding of Korean already and find it a lot less difficult to cheat. (a lot of characters for Chinese are lookin like Japanese and give away the meaning before I learn how its pronounced in Chinese).

As for Swedish I've been reading and listening to online news, and taking lots of notes and looking up words as I go.

That's all for now!!!