|
 |
Completing the Triangle: J of CKJ | ||
Tags: Japanese | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6703 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 9 of 10 13 October 2013 at 7:59am | IP Logged |
|
It's so much easier to find time to work on passive skills than it is to work on active skills. I've listened to a lot more Japanese, mostly in my car, and I fell much more comfortable with the material in both JfBP and ColJpn. I probably have listened to everything at least a dozen times in the past two weeks, including a few times with the script. At the same time, I've let myself get distracted with Korean (finishing Le Petit Prince and the first half of Animal Farm). As far as distractions go, I can think of worse things.
I have to say, I don't think it's just the honeymoon phase, but an actual fact: Japanese listening is easier than Korean. That shouldn't be much of a surprise since it has a smaller sound inventory and simpler syllables, but I didn't think I'd be saying it this early in the process. At the same time, I'm getting the feeling that Japanese grammar might be a bit harder, especially with the multiplicity of verb endings in Japanese. Most of them grow out of phonetic rules, but it seems like Korean has fewer variations to memorize. Maybe someday I'll look further into the Altaic theory and try to see how linguists think the two languages are related, or at least try to find a book that compares the grammars of the two languages. I don't want to do it too soon--I normally distract myself from learning languages by learning about the languages I'm interested in. I'm trying to avoid that trap this time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6703 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 10 of 10 05 November 2013 at 4:33am | IP Logged |
|
I think I'm going to have to create a new rubric for what makes a language hard: how much grammar you have to know to look up the words in the dictionary.
One of the annoying things I've found in many beginner self-teaching books is that they really don't have good vocab lists at the end. You'd think that someone in the writing process would say, "Hey, the people using this book are going to spend a good chunk of their time with this book before they really learn the language. Maybe we should make it easier for them to look up things in the glossary when they are confused." Beginners won't always know that this participle should be looked up under the dictionary form, or this word is actually part of a set phrase. The writers should do their best to reduce confusion, but also to expect curiosity from the people reading their books. Some learners will be happy to get a set phrase without reducing it to it components, but others don't think that way. They want to know the details, even if it's not overly helpful. Which brings me to Colloquial Japanese. I think I said already that I doubt I would have used this course if I hadn't had it for so long. I've used a couple of other Colloquial books, and I've always found them to be the nerdier brothers of the Teach Yourself series--a bit more focused on grammar and formal usage, but to a degree that it kind of sneers at you if you don't keep up. The limited glossary at the end is just one of the problems. There are a number of sentences that I'm not 100% sure if I understand correctly, and I haven't found any clear explanation yet. Then again, I find that most beginners books are the same. I've worked with Ultimate Japanese, trying to get that ready for use, and at a certain point I can't figure out the vocab, even with a separate dictionary. They at least give you a full translation so you can fake it with knowing the sentence, even if you can't decompose it. Overall, I'm finding it much harder to look things up in Japanese than I did in Korean, even if I have the pronunciation right there in front of me. Under the same conditions (know the pronunciation) looking up things in Chinese is even easier. I'm finding the verbs in Japanese undergo a surprising number of mutations between the dictionary form and what is actually used. So anyway, yes, the tale continues. I'm listening to the last few chapters of Colloquial Japanese, trying to get my ears to make sense of what I can read in the script. I continue speaking practice, still mostly with JfBP's script, and I've started listening to TYS Japanese, even though I'm only about 2/3 of the way through deciphering the dialogs. 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
