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Evaulating how I "shadow" Japanese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6045 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 1 of 3 23 June 2008 at 6:41am | IP Logged |
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Greetings to all!
This is my first post in the "Lessons in Polyglottery" thread. I'm an lower-intermediate learner of Japanese. Ever since I saw Professor Arquelles Shadowing method from the small video clip he introduced a few months ago I've been practicing. I found it very useful, although I'll admit I was inconsistent with it. Then about four weeks ago I started taking regular walks in the mornings and subsequently combined shadowing with light exercise. So for four weeks, 4-5 per week, I've been able to do 15-20 minutes shadowing within a half-an-hour walk. Now that I'm comfortable with the schedule I'd like to reevaluate "my shadowing" to see if it indeed complies with some of the points the professor mentioned for his technique, and I'd also like to pose some additional questions as to how I may improve. "1. Walk outdoors as swiftly as possible." I walk outdoors between 6:00-7:00 while listening through earphones. (I do not read from text.) There's a forest trail close to where I live; no cars, just the occasional dog-walker or jogger. The ground is even and the trail runs for about 15 minutes, walking at a good clip. I've found through experience that this is time of day when my brain is especially "awake". "2. Maintain perfectly upright posture." This is the most difficult part! When concentrating on listening to a passage I tend to bend forward. It's also tempting to stop and repeat a particular passage. A bit of military-type discipline helps to keep me from buckling, but I have to concentrate pretty hard. I practice yoga on occassion so I understand the physical benefits of keeping a disciplined posture. Does it have other benefits as well? "3. Articulate thoroughly in a loud, clear voice." I have another (book) reference for shadowing besides this forum, シャド--イング、日本語を話そう! It lists many different types of shadowing, most of which I find to be superfluous. Here they are, according to the book: "Silent" shadowing is when you listen in your head. The book says this is for high-speed dialogue. I find I don't learn well, listening to high-speed dialogues. I learn best when I listen to a level only slightly higher than my current level. I don't find being silent is very efficient, either. "Whispering" I find most useful. I whisper/shadow long sentences when I want to make sure I catch the intonation. Only when I'm confident do I articulate loudly. "Prosody shadowing" somewhat redundant, I think. It is mentioned as "a style where you pay extra attention to the rhythm and intonation". I find I do that anyway with whispering. "Contents shadowing" is listed as to be used when one is already profficient with the dialogue and is meant to deepen one's understanding and "cement" the material into one's own vocabulary. One is to "concentrate on the content". Yes, well, the dialogues I listen to are more than a few words, so I find I whisper the most. I articulate loudly when there's plenty of repetition and I already have an idea of what's being said. I have not successfully been able to shadow text, using the Professor's method. My reading level is somewhat deficient and I would like to try it again. I'm currently working out a time to do extra reading. Note: my learning time is devided up into several 10 to 20 minute blocks which I do whenever I can. I spend this time on grammar and vocabulary. In the late evenings I'm free to read, but find I'm too tired for it to be useful learning. I'd like to learn how to shadow text for my morning walk, but find I get "hung up" on the kanji and cannot maintain proper pace. I would appreciate any tips. Thank you! Edited by Sunja on 23 June 2008 at 2:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7216 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 2 of 3 03 July 2008 at 7:03pm | IP Logged |
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Your technique for shadowing Japanese sounds solid. In answer to your question about posture, it goes beyond yoga-like discipline to the pure physiology of sound production and thus directly affects your ability to articulate thoroughly in a loud and clear voice. In order to begin shadowing the text without getting “hung up” on the kanji, you need to shadow often enough without the text that, when you do you use it, you let the habit of producing the sound carry you through the reading, rather than letting the attempt to read affect your speaking.
Alexander Arguelles 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6045 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 3 of 3 11 July 2008 at 4:57am | IP Logged |
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Greetings, Professor Arguelles:
I just wanted to thank you for your input, although I'm a little late checking back. I certainly appreciate the advice! I've decided to practice shadowing without reading and wait until I'm ready for the sound to come naturally. I'm working on an interesting book right now and shadowing would definitely conflict with learning new words/contexts. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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