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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 |  | |
| 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 289 of 333 26 November 2012 at 4:08am | IP Logged |
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I think it's normal to be a bit off sometimes when you're speaking a foreign language. Just one day is nothing and perhaps you're even being too hard on yourself. That said I hope you do better next time ;).
I'm envious that you got sub2srs going XD. I tried and couldn't myself before. I suppose I need to work on it some more. And I am also wanting to brush up on my kanji and learn some more Chinese sounds. 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 290 of 333 26 November 2012 at 7:46pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I guess speaking is just the most frustrating thing for me right now - as I am completely dependent on having people around to do it with! So a bad day feels that much worse because I'm not 100% sure when I'm going to get the chance to try again. I just think it would be amazing if I could take myself off to Japan for a couple of months right now and try to live my life in Japanese only. The reality is that with my lifestyle here in the UK there is not very much I can do right now to work specifically on my speaking - other than continuing to look out for opportunities and grabbing them when I can. It's just that since the summer, opportunities have been a little thin on the ground.
Actually, I've been having yet another round of self reflection on all of this again. At low points, I just wonder why I am even bothering with a language that will probably ultimately just be a books and TV show language for me anyway. I start to wonder if I should cut my losses, leave my Japanese where it is, and get to work properly on a big European language which could possibly be more useful to me. Despite the negative tone of all of that, I'm actually feeling quite positive in a weird kind of way. I think I am mentally preparing myself to reach a point, probably in the next year or so, where I really am ready to finish formal study of Japanese. I already know enough that I can enjoy *some* TV shows, *some* manga, *some* children's books. I think once I reach a point where I can enjoy most TV shows I'm interested in, most manga I am interested in, and start reading contemporary adult books and essays just for fun, I'll be ready for a lifetime of using Japanese, at least passively, rather than studying it. Studying Japanese certainly does seem to take up a ridiculous amount of time and energy, at least if I want to feel progress. I'm really disappointed at my poor showing for trying to combine French and Japanese this autumn. I haven't been to class for two weeks, I probably won't go tonight, and I can't go next week as I'm in London for the exam. After a month of missed classes, I really might as well give up for now. Well, it was a mistake to enroll, at least at the same time as trying to take the JLPT, and mistakes are there to be learned from. I think a lot of the problem with interference is I was trying to use the same methods to develop two languages which were both sitting there at a similar level (even though the French was essentially latent, and now still is!) I think I may have had a much easier time if I'd just enrolled for a beginner class in something else - German definitely never gave me that level of interference and feeling of mental exhaustion, I think because my knowledge of it was trailing so far behind my Japanese I wasn't constantly trying to use one language to plug the gaps in the other. If I ever hope to know more than just English and Japanese, I know I'll eventually need to get Japanese and French (or any other language I finally work up to an intermediate level) to play nicely - but because it is quite a tiring process, it's not something to be tackled at the same time as trying to improve my Japanese and pass a test. Basically, it's something I should have another go at, but only once I'm ready to finish with studying Japanese. 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 291 of 333 29 November 2012 at 10:53pm | IP Logged |
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When motivation is low, watch TV. It's like studying without studying, only better!
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| 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 292 of 333 01 December 2012 at 8:00am | IP Logged |
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I was wide awake at 5.50am this morning. On a Saturday. On holiday. I guess this is probably test excitement. Off to London later today. Had such a dilemma over what study materials (if any) to pack. Think I might just take some general reading for the train and leave it at that. The really annoying thing is my headphones decided to break this week, with impeccable timing, so I can either go without listening practice or run around Cardiff this morning trying to find a new set (along with getting photos for the test voucher...) No wonder I was awake so early with all that on my mind!
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| 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 293 of 333 01 December 2012 at 9:38pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck on the test and don't study too hard. Now it's time to relax until the test. And afterward, relax some more.
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| 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 294 of 333 01 December 2012 at 10:43pm | IP Logged |
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Hehe I don't think I've studied hard since I was prepping for N3 in the summer, so no danger of that. What I don't know by now won't help in tomorrow's test. I'm just trying to get in a Japanese state of mind. Hard when I don't have access to my TV drama collection though!
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| 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 295 of 333 01 December 2012 at 11:51pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck! 頑張ってください。
I think you have the right idea just keeping yourself in a Japanese state of mind. I'm doing that with my flashcards reviews. I might watch some Crunchyroll anime later too. Maybe drink some beer heh. I got a 5 hour energy drink at the store. Figured I'd avoid coffee per what you said. Never tried this 5 hour thing before though. (do they have it in the UK?) Anyway good luck. 2 persons have 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 296 of 333 02 December 2012 at 9:51am | IP Logged |
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London doesn't have a Japan town as such but there are a few Japanese shops dotted around near Piccadilly Circus. Yesterday to get in the mood a bit I went to Japan Centre to get melon pan. I took a quick look at the textbooks but you know, I think I have enough of those already. I guess this is the first step on the road to recovery from my textbook buying addiction!
I then went to the secondhand Japanese bookshop on Brewer Street and picked up a couple of books by 村上春樹 - レキシントンの幽霊 and 走ることについて語るときに僕の語ること. Then I had to go shopping for boring normal things for a bit! Later in the evening I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. There were some Japanese people on the table next to me so I enjoyed some free listening practice while eating my dinner! When I got back to the hotel I decided to give レキシントンの幽霊 a go. It wasn't bad at all - obviously a few words I didn't know but not enough to interfere with my reading. About half an hour after starting it the realisation hit me - I was actually reading 村上! Massive confidence boost at a much needed time. Unfortunately I had another 6am start today as the air conditioning unit in the hotel room decided to start leaking water all over the floor... Much appreciated. The hotel are going to refund us the cost of the night, which is great, and at least it didn't leak on any of our stuff...but on a day like this I would have preferred sleep! Well, I'm off to get breakfast now and then get ready to go. Good luck to everyone else taking the test! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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