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日本語 and me the next round TAC 2012 Team い | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5974 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 97 of 333 31 May 2012 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Speaking of wasting money on Japanese materials, I have spent the last couple of weeks trying and failing to get into using the Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese book.
The frustrating thing is, on the surface of it, the book looked like it would be pretty good. It seems to cover an awful lot of useful stuff in terms of grammar, sentence patterns and tricky but useful expressions. There are plenty of model dialogues and reading passages of an appropriate length for detailed study. Both the dialogues and reading passages have audio recorded on the accompanying CD (which at least you do not have to purchase in the first place). This is why I bought the book in the first place. However, it seems to be pitched entirely towards American undergraduate students studying Japanese as part of their degree, which seems to filter through every aspect of this text. Not only the example dialogues, but also the reading passages, seem to be focused around scenarios involving American students staying with host families in Japan or studying Japanese at an American university. There seems to be too much of an emphasis on comparing differences between American and Japanese culture (and too much patronising advice about how not to upset your host family). This even filters through to the grammar exercises in the workbook, with recurring themes about university studies and home stays. The first chapter of the book annoyed me, but I thought it might get better. But having just read a couple more reading passages from later chapters, (one being a boring piece about how to take part in an exchange programme between your American university and a Japanese one, the other one a boring email written from a student doing a year out in Japan to his teacher back in America) I just want to give up entirely. The book just feels completely irrelevant to my life (being a British adult, working full time, rapidly approaching 30 and having no interest in homestays or university exchange programmes for undergrads). I even find the JLPT practice materials I have to be more interesting. They might be a bit dry, but at least they seem to have a much wider range of issues covered. This textbook was not cheap (and I bought the workbook as well) and I really regret spending the money now, especially because the money was in the form of a gift voucher for my last birthday. Next time I get amazon vouchers, I promise to spend them on something fun. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kraemder Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5176 days ago 1497 posts - 1648 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 98 of 333 01 June 2012 at 9:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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That stinks! I hate studying grammar myself. I don't think I've met anyone else who likes it. It's thanks to a
grammar course and pressure of doing well that I have learned as much grammar as I have. I'm thinking without a class increasing my grammar is going to be a very slow process that will probably come about from reading native material. But I'm not throwing in the towel just yet heh, like you I have some books and I intend to try to get interested in doing them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5974 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 99 of 333 01 June 2012 at 9:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't mind studying grammar so much although I find it hard to get things to "stick" and I still catch myself making awful mistakes when speaking (the number of times I've come out with things like ですと思います...)
I have managed to learn some grammar points simply by noticing them enough in native materials that I realised I ought to find out what they mean. More often than not, these points have turned out to be ones which were on the official grammar lists for ２級 before they changed the exam. So I guess if I was better at record keeping it wouldn't necessarily be a bad approach. Having said that, there are other expressions I encountered in native materials which I have completely misinterpreted the meaning of (e.g. the use of なります in 尊敬語), and only been corrected through textbook study. I guess you just need to strike up some kind of balance (and pick good textbooks). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kraemder Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5176 days ago 1497 posts - 1648 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 100 of 333 01 June 2012 at 10:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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heh I should think they'd appreciate your being doubly polite than what's required or expected ;). I haven't
tried to talk outside of the classroom unfortunately. I bet I would make every mistake possible and they'd think I had never seen the inside of a Japanese grammar class. Either that or they'd just brush it off to me being an American and we're inherently bad at languages by reputation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6612 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish | Message 101 of 333 02 June 2012 at 8:26am | IP Logged | ||
I do! But I definitely need some exercises to make it stick. I haven't been bothering with it at all lately though. My mind isn't interested in doing any "work." I can barely concentrate some days. So I'm just doing passive stuff. One thing that helps me to remember grammar points is to write. The first textbook I used is "Japanese for Everyone." It's not that good in terms of listening as it only has recordings of the dialogs and a short listening comprehension exercise at the end of each chapter, but it is packed with grammar. I found the written exercises helped me a lot and that the book itself made a good reference. Then I could write letters or diaries and when I got to something I knew I knew but couldn't remember, I just looked it up. After a while, I knew it without looking it up. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5974 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 102 of 333 08 June 2012 at 12:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I received final instructions about taking the JLPT in July this week. Although I am reasonably confident now with respect to my level and the probable content of the test, I am starting to feel just a bit intimidated by the fact that I actually have to sit an exam. I haven't taken a proper exam for over 9 years now, and even then it was always taken in a familiar environment with a group of familiar people. I really hope nerves don't get the better of me on the day. And to that end, I'm really glad that I decided to opt for N3 before jumping into N2 - at least when I start to tackle the really hard exams I will have familiarised myself a little with the setup.
I am still giving the N3 drill books a rest, I think I'll save them for some warming up the week before the test! I have started working with a grammar book for N2 now. I have come to the conclusion that there is probably no complete intermediate textbook which is appropriate to my needs at the moment. I have this crazy idea that sitting N2 in December might be a good idea, so I would like to aim to finish most of the grammar book, plus most of my kanji book, by December in preparation. But apart from that I think I just need to broaden my knowledge and understanding of the language as much as possible which means dipping into lots of different things and noting new vocabulary and expressions as I go along. I am pretty pleased with the online classes I am taking. At present I am doing a one to one lesson once a week, plus 1 or 2 of the group lessons which are advertised at being intermediate/N2 level. It is doing a pretty good job of filling the gap I was feeling from not having my weekly class to go to any more. Ideally I would love to take more face to face classes, but unfortunately there is nothing more on offer in my local area. I must confess to have been quietly ignoring the Super Challenge. I've not really been in a books and films mood recently, although I have recently started exploring the colourful world of Japanese TV shows. I don't think I would watch them if I wasn't studying the language, but they actually seem to be pretty useful, with lots of natural speech (which tends to be much faster than that on most dramas I watch), plus lots of what is said ends up displayed on the screen as text as well (which is giving a surprising boost to my kanji). I've also finally got stuck in to properly trying to read Paradise Kiss. The lack of furigana always put me off but this time I have stuck with it. I am one chapter away from finishing the first volume. There are lots of bits I can't understand, but it seems I can always pick up enough to follow the thread of the story and am enjoying it as a bit of bedtime reading. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6077 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 103 of 333 08 June 2012 at 12:41am | IP Logged | ||
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I love bedtime reading. I forget all my goals for language learning and just relax and enjoy the story. The problem is once I get relaxed I fall asleep. I guess that's what bedtime reading is all about (lol)
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5974 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 104 of 333 08 June 2012 at 8:07am | IP Logged | ||
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Precisely. And then if I'm lucky I might even get a random Japanese dream!
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