8.28.2008
Learning By Listening
Anyway, on his website he strongly urges all "learners" to submerge themselves in the language they are studying. That is you need to LIVE your target language 24/7 (or very close to it). He even mentions sleeping while listening to Japaneses audio!!! While his method seems extreme... well, it sure payed off for the creator (Khatzumoto supposedly became fluent within 18 months!)
And thus, following Khatzumoto's advice... I got a bunch of Japanese films from Netflix and started watching them. It might sound silly, but although I don't understand a thing, I actually feel like I am getting "used to" the sounds.
The cool part is... this isn't a chore, it doesn't even feel like learning. Quick example, today I saw a very interesting film that (by the way) I strongly recommend to all fans of unconventional cinema. The title was "After Life." Here is a brief and spoiler-free summary (in case you are interested).
"After people die, they spend a week with counselors, who help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week's end. 22 dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee." ~ From IMDB
QOTD: What Japanese films would you recommend me? All I seem to find is 60's sword slashers and thrillers (isn't there more to Japanese cinema?)
8.24.2008
Ta-Ta For Now
So, I'm slowly but surly building up my Hiragana list. I'm up to 20 letters with the addition of the T-family. Do you all think I move much too slow? The thing is I want to have these letters MASTERED before I move on to do more. When I look at a page of Japanese... well, I want to instantly think "KI!" not "Umm... I'm pretty sure...umm... that that's... kiiii(???)" And that is my explenation (in case you were wondering). I think going slow for now is a good aproach. Lots and lot of repetition. Once I master hiragana I will also go back to using Rosetta Stone (I'm kinda looking forward to that).
In other Japanese Learning related news. Thanks to awesome people online I found out about this (supposedly) great book. "Remembering the Kanji" I am wondering if parallel to Rosetta, as well as University Classes, I should invest time (and money) into this book. Ever heard of it friend?
QOTD: What's your personal experience, or the word of mouth you hear, about Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" series?
8.21.2008
A Small Break
I haven't really practiced in a few days and I feel kinda bad about it. I'm having a really busy week. Still working on getting the S-family of Hiragana symbols down. I need to devote more time to this. :[
On a lighter note: going to NYC on Wednesday was really enjoyable!
QOTD: How many days a week do you practice Japanese?
8.18.2008
Hiragana Brainwash!
QOTD: Do you know of any other cool Japan or Japanese-Learning related videos floating around the internet?
8.17.2008
Textbooks
Are they any good? I sure hope so.
Hiragana Update: Still working on the 15 first symbols.
QOTD: Did you use Genki to study Japanese? If not, what textbooks did you use?
8.15.2008
Enrolling: Japanese 101
First, hiragana update! The more letters/symbols I know, the more confusing it becomes. I'll try to memorize the ones I learned extremely well before moving on to new ones. I hope this will eliminate the problem. Today, I finished K’s and moved on to the S’s. Here are the letters (again, are they called letters?) that I know so far:
Charts from About.com
I went to the Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures at my University yesterday to see if I can sign up for Japanese 101 come fall semester. Unfortunately they weren’t able to tell me one way or another. As it turns out, even with 7 sections offered, classes fill up quick. I’m guessing it must be a popular course! And so, all I got out of the present administration was: “Classes are full… blah blah blah, and so on.” Well, all I can say is - thank god for my determination to be admitted into this program. After coming home yesterday, I e-mailed the professor directly and just now she responds telling me to come see her on Day 1; she will get me in. I’m starting official Japanese on September 2nd! Should I celebrate or start to panic? Haha… I hear it isn’t an easy class.
Before I go, BIG shout-outs to Lunar, Sam, Akihiro, and Amy for reading and responding to this very young blog… and thus supplying me with (much needed) creative fuels to write more entries. It’s nice to know someone is reading this :)
Question of the Day: Did you ever take (or plan to take) official Japanese classes?
8.14.2008
More Hiragana + History Lesson
Also, browsing stuff about Hiragana, I have found some interesting facts about the history of this writing style in relation to gender. Very interesting as well as bizarre for me to find out:
"Historically, in Japan, the regular script (kaisho) form of the characters, so-called otokode (男手), "men's writing", was used by men; the cursive script (sōsho) form of the kanji was used by women. Thus hiragana first gained popularity among women, who were not allowed access to the same levels of education as men. From this comes the alternative name of onnade (女手) "women's writing". For example, The Tale of Genji and other early novels by female authors used hiragana extensively or exclusively.
Male authors came to write literature using hiragana. Hiragana, with its flowing style, was used for unofficial writing such as personal letters, while katakana and Chinese were used for official documents. In modern times, the usage of hiragana has become mixed with katakana writing. Katakana is now relegated to special uses such as recently borrowed words (i.e., since the 19th century), names in transliteration, the names of animals, in telegrams, and for emphasis." ~ Source: Wikipedia.
So, let me get this straight... males and females used different writing methods for the SAME language? Wow.
QOTD: How long did it take you to learn Hiragana?
8.13.2008
I Can Write... Auiii!
So, after coming from work today I've decided to give Hiragana a try. Since it was/is already late I compromised on learning just 3 "letters". Hahaha... are they even called letters?
I've learned A (あ) I (い) and U (う). I can also write "auia" and "uaiu" ... gee I feel like I'm fluent already! Ha! あういあ!
That's my notebook above, first attempts :)
I've noticed that writing this takes some effort! It's almost like being back in 1st grade and learning how to write your abc's all over again!
This chart from About.com was very helpful during this initial lesson. Yoshida Institute is another good website I have found.
Question of the Day: What was your reaction to first writing in Japanese? Harder than you expected it to be?
8.12.2008
Efforts to "Uncomplicate" Japanese Learning
Question of the Day: Name some good tips on how to learn Japanese? What study habits or study methods do you use?
8.11.2008
The First (Rather Scary) Lesson
Question of the Day: What was your personal reaction after your first encounter with learning Japanese, inside the class or otherwise.