春休みチャレンジ: Progress 2

Yesterday I started building my on-yomi deck.

I put int the kanji from Chapter 1 of the Genki Kanji book.

I already know these characters, but I still don't know all of their readings.

Everyday I plan to add 1 chapter of kanji into my deck. 

I'm not sure if I should study kun-yomi reading at the same time.

I feel like I'll jumble them up if I do.

I reviewed radicals in Anki, and I was surprised to see that I enjoyed it!

The thought of learning radicals seemed like a bore, but I'm having fun learning what each radical means. Some I can see what they represent, but others not at all! 

I'll be honest for a moment. I'm enjoying this challenge so much that I studied kanji instead of doing my assignments. ^^;; I forgot how much I enjoyed learning Kanji. I wanted to stay up late and keep studying. But I'm not a night person and I was nodding off. One of the best things to do for your study is to get a good nights sleep.

Today I worked a dreary shift. When I got into my car the first thought was, "I want to go study Kanji". This made me so happy. Usually I think about what show I want to watch. I am feeling quite exhausted but I didn't want to go to sleep without doing some studying.

First I reviewed radicals from the Textfugu deck. So many of them I recognized right away. It feels great when your mind brings back what you've learned. So my review was pretty quick. I then went to the other radical deck. I am now confused because some of the radicals in that deck have very different meanings. The radicals also have so many different ways of pronunciation. Is it important to know the names of the radicals? Should I bother learning them or just stick to knowing what they mean? I don't know.

 I looked over my book and it explains that I only have to memorize the 16 radicals to know the kanji of that book. I will add these to my on-yomi deck as extra cards. They will be the main ones that I need to know, but I do not want to stop learning the rest of the radicals. 

I added chapter 2 into my on-yomi deck. Radicals are definitively easier to learn ><. I'm wondering how one knows when to use on-yomi or kun-yomi when reading a new word. I vaguely remember Mattias from tias90 channel talking about it. I will have to re-watch his Kanji tips video. I remember taking notes. I'll have to find my notebook in my mess. ^^''

I haven't had time to use Ering's challenge site or write journal entries for my challenge. I'm not going to be hard on myself though. A part of these challenges is for me to learn how to juggle school, work, and Japanese. I have to pick and choose what learning materials will be best for that day.

That's all for today!

皆も頑張ってくださいね。

春休みチャレンジ: Progress 1

Today was so sunny and beautiful!
While others tend to feel more distracted and want to go outside,
I get the opposite affect. It makes me feel focused and want to get stuff done.
Besides, I noted that being out in the sun, even just sitting around, tends to zap my energy. 


I still feel a bit flustered on how to go about studying my kanji. 
Why? Because:
1. I have way to many resources that I can't decide on the best tools.

• YouTube Videos
• Books
• Games
• Blogs

2. I always feel I should learn to write the kanji as I'm learning the reading.
3. I know radicals are important but none of my resources teach it.


Today I decided on using my Kanji textbook that goes with the Genki series as my main tool. I wanted to start making kun-yomi and on-yomi decks. Before I did though I stumbled upon Tofugu's blog post on twitter. A guide on Kanji stroke order. Most of it was review but it reminded me that learning radicals first is the most important thing for writing and understanding the meaning of the kanji. My book only teaches 14! 


I checked on Anki to see if there were any already made radical decks. I found two: Textfugu Kanji radicals and one just called Japanese radicals. I went through the textfugu one and I like it, but there's no hiragana to show how to pronounce the radical. The other deck does. So I will try to use the fugu one for meaning, and the other for reading. 


After I did this it hit me. Why am I trying to learn to read and write at the same time? Those are two different skills. One always learns how to read a word first before writing it, right? And this is a reading challenge not writing challenge. 


So, as hard as it is for me to stop the urge to write them out, I will only read them. I need to separate the two in my head. It will be hard but it will save time. It will also make better use of my time during my challenge. After this challenge I'll worry about writing. 


I hope I don't change my mind tomorrow.  

The Rewards of Japanese Study: Friendship

During spring break I met up with レイチェルちゃん from http://isitpossible.posterous.com for lunch in the city.
We live pretty far from each other and so the city is midway for us. We're both small town girls so 
it is slightly intimidating for me to travel to the city. Did I say slightly? I mean VERY intimidating. It was my first time taking public transportation to and from the city.


It'd be my third time seeing her.


We met back in 2010 when we both took the JLPT. Of all the places to make a friend! 
I remember the day well. I was so nervous about the exam. I went to the waiting area and the place
was full of Japanese language students. I had never met other language learners before, and being 
immersion self-student I was quite intimidated.  The place was packed and I looked for a place to sit. Of everyone in the room I saw レイチェルちゃん and she looked like a nice person. I asked if I could take a sit and she let me.


At first I didn't know if I should stay silent or if that'd be rude. I don't remember how but we stroke up a conversation and we hit it off. We see eye-to-eye in a lot of things, and we share the same faith. Which is a big and important part in my life. I remember as we talked I thought she was older than me, because she was so thoughtful in her words and so mature. I'm embarrassed to think I'm the older one. ^///^


I was so excited that I finally had a study buddy. (sort of speak) Someone who understands the interesting aspect of studying languages. Thanks to the internet we've been in touch ever since. Not until January of this year did we meet again. She's grown so much and I love our conversations. 


We went to a Japanese lunch place an we tried the ramen place this time. (We had gone to the yummy curry place in Jan) I spoke some Japanese when I ordered but I was shy of trying to use Japanese counters. I explained to Rachel that I have the hardest time with numbers in Japanese and Portuguese. I can't stand them. It's something that I should know with out  a problem at my level. 


Rachel agreed that things that are learnt at beginner level might not stick for self-studyers. It's not drilled like in school. So review and use is so important. 


I hope that I'll become brave enough to speak more Japanese to her. 

春休みチャレンジ: Extended deadline

I just wanted to write up a quick post.
I'm going to extend my challenge until the 29th.
I ended up being sick all of my vacation so it wasn't productive.
I don't want to give up on my challenge simply because I'm back in school.
It will be harder but I'll do my best!

春休みチャレンジ

Spring vacation felt like it was never gonna come!

Even though it is only a week I still think it would be a good time

to do a self-challenge.

In my first challenge I focused on speaking.

Even though it is still my weakest point, 

I want to focus on something else.

This time I want to focus on my second weak point: Kanji

When I first started studying Japanese I learned Kanji pronunciation when 
it is written as a word. I never learned on-yomi or kun-yomi readings.
Learning the readings is important so I want to go back to square one.
I hope that by doing this I can figure out how to pronounce a word when I see it.
I also hope to learn more of the radicals.
I want to be able to enjoy more of written Japanese.


What I plan to do:


I will use the script and manga section of Erin's Challenge for readings, and
to see how well I can follow the audio speed.


I will create a kanji deck on anki to review the kanji I've studied. 
I will be making sure to write an entry in my journal everyday. No matter how short.
I will focus on reading from one book or article for this challenge. 
I will use Genki Kanji book as my main resource.


I might add and remove material as I go along.


I haven't found the best method for me to study so this will be a good opportunity for me. 


Are you doing a spring break challenge?
Do share!