冬休みがチャレンジ: Progress 4

I've been wanting to post this for awhile.
The first week of January I went to a museum with my older brothers.
I took the chance of the one hour ride to study.
I studied vocab and grammar.
I was pretty surprised I could focus when my brother blasts music to the max in his car.

During my lesson I was more open to speaking,
but I still stuck to phrases I'm too comfortable with.

I added more vocab to my memo.
For some reason 顎、同僚、and 煩わしい have in planted in my brain from studying.
I think it's because it's from practicing speaking and not from my textbook vocab list.
I've been wanting to download the Anki app to my iTouch so I can carry my Anki decks with me,
but it's a tad expensive. Till I have the money for it I downloaded a SRS ap called iAnki.
It's not as great as Anki, but it's the best SRS app I've used so far.
(I've used some other ones so far that were terrible!)

Also, my Darling is a Foreigner DVD and manga arrived. I really enjoyed watching the movie.
The male character is a language otaku, so I can relate to him a lot. I got the book in bilingual form.
It's too advanced for me I think. First I'm reading it in English for pleasure, and then I'll be using it
in my Japanese lessons as my reading piece.
So much fun!

I'm slightly bothered because my school is starting a week earlier than I thought.
So my challenge will be ending this Thursday.
I think I'll have to make a new challenge for Spring semester.

How is your challenge going?

P.S Please comment if you have any ideas on how I can improve my blog.

Total Study Time for 2011

I began in the end of 2010 an idea to record exactly how long I study.
I wanted to see how well (or how bad) I use my time.
I started off well into 2011... buuuut like many of us I quickly lost steam.

I either was too busy with school or working too much.
I didn't have much me-time either.
I was stressed.
I was tired.
I only studied for 1,952min=1day, 8 hours, 32min.

One obstacle this year that came up that put me back was
that I was honestly scared of continuing with my Japanese studies.
I'm on that part of the road between beginner and intermediate.
I began the next textbook of the series I use.
Seeing the first few chapters put me in doubt.
And that doubt made me wonder if I liked learning Japanese anymore.

I also had two very good Japanese friends move away.
One was my teacher. Whom had been teaching me since junior year of
high school. I saw her every week for my lessons and are very close.
Japanese made me think of her and my friend. It made me sad.

Japanese stopped being fun.

I gave up my dream of ever going to Japan.

Thankfully, I started to really miss Japanese.
I missed the sound, the culture, the people, the media.
I realized that I still do really love it and it makes me so happy.
I couldn't wait for my finals to be over so I could cram Japanese-time.

I started thinking of ways I could help myself. Try new things.
(You can see in my Winter Challenge posts).

Pushing myself.

Challenging myself.

Loving it.

So instead of frowning at my low study time I'm
excited to beat it. I have new study tools.
 I have a new Japanese teacher whom I'm
very excited studying with, and growing a friendship.
I have specific goals in mind this year to meet.

I'm getting up, dusting myself off, and continuing on.

Hope you will also not feel discouraged by a disappointing year,
and instead learn from it. Here's to a successful 2012!

冬休みがチャレンジ: Progress ３

Today I had an 8 hour shift and so I came home pretty tired and zoned out.
I didn't want to miss out on studying so I told myself to squeeze some in before I passed out.
First I went over my friends corrections again and write them down in my journal.
Writing them down correctly should drill it into my brain.
Then I wrote new vocabulary I learned through this exercise into my memo.
I then wrote about my day and sent it to her.
I feel I wrote even more today.
I'm really enjoying it. It doesn't feel like work.

I haven't been speaking though. I'm gonna focus on actually talking next week.
I'll also put in my vocab/phrases into Anki then too.

One thing I'm happy about is that
I exchange emails regularly with my 先生, but I always write to her in English.
With my last 先生 I did a mix of English and Japanese.
Again, this stems from my shyness using my Japanese.
Today I wrote a quick email to her all in Japanese.
I didn't hesitate. I wanted to.
I hope that when I see her I will also not hesitate to speak.

This entry is short because I am over exhausted and I should have been sleeping hours ago.

お休み。

冬休みがチャレンジ: Progress 2

Day 2:

I worked many hours this holiday weekend, and so I didn't celebrate Christmas
with my family this year. :( I also didn't have time for Japanese.

Since I know I work many hours I wondered how I could fit in my Japanese studies.
I bought a little memo book and have written my vocabulary in it.
Being a cashier, I can have the memo at the register and study during slow periods.
I also have to rip signs during slow hours so it's great time to repeat the vocabulary to myself.

When Monday rolled in though I had no problem making myself sit down and study. It's slowly forming into a habit! I was so focused and in a study trance. I also did something that is hard to do, but something you have to do if you want to get anywhere with your studies. My brother is visiting from UK and my siblings had a sibling-night out, but I declined. I was "in the zone as it where". I knew I would be out all day on Tuesday with my friend. Where would studying fit in between all the fun? It's a choice I have to get used to doing.

My friend has been correcting my grammar, and I'm happily surprised how well I'm doing!
I thought my Japanese has gotten worse, but it has improved. ♪
It has boosted my confidence and I'm trying to express things I would usually avoid.
I also noticed that some things I didn't have to think about. I was quite sure of them, and
felt natural.

My friend has told me to try to avoid using katakana words and use Japanese words instead.
Even though these words exist they're not usually spoken, and mostly used for advertisements.
It's kinda difficult to know when not to use these words because they're so many.

Another thing I learned is that with older siblings you should always add 兄さん or 姉さん after their name.
Just saying their first name is not common, but with younger siblings you just say their names.
I also learned not to say お母ちゃん and お兄ちゃん at my age. It's perceived as childish and not lady like. :3

I asked her how do I end a vlog or a journal entry of I have nothing else to say? She taught me the phrase "今日はこのへんで” or ”今日はこのへんにします”. It means "That's all for today." This phrase is going to become very useful. Because it was the holidays I took the chance to practice conjugation of give and receive. I think I have it down now.  


I need to work on my deck but I haven't had time. Hopefully I can muster energy for it after work tomorrow. I'm gonna have to do a YT vlog soon too. Been so long.

How are you doing with your self challenge?

今日はこのへんにします。

冬休みがチャレンジ：Progress

Day 1:

It was quite hard for me to muster the energy to start my first day of my challenge.
With droopy eyes I forced myself to plow through and I did all three tasks.
First I just wrote down about my day.
I couldn't fully express a few things so it sounded like statements.
Hopefully as my challenge progresses I'll be able to put in more feeling.
I also noted that I really need to go back and review chapters that I have studied.
I emailed my friend and hopefully she can fix my grammar.

When I clicked record I froze up when I saw the red light.
I haven't vlogged in so long that I feel I'm back to square one.
I didn't want to speak.
When I recorded myself I noted I hardly put any emotion in my words.
I blame my exhaustion.
I always stop at particles cause I have to think about it,
and if I don't my tongue gets tied.
I hope this will become a thing of the past.

I do think it's my tiredness, because when I do vlog on YouTube
I do it when I have the most energy and motivated.

I wrote down two new words I learned doing this exercise.
The best grammar learned is grammar you crave/search to use.
I think it sticks better in your brain.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

冬休みがチャレンジ

Winter vacation is finally here!

I couldn't wait for it to start. 
I have so many things I want to do this vacation.
One of them is Japanese of course.
I was so stressed out with my classes and piled up with
work that I'm behind on my Japanese studies. ><

I like vacation because it's a good time to really dive
deep into my Japanese studies. My friend, レイチェルちゃん
has started her own self challenge and it has inspired me to do the same.

The point of these self challenges is to get into routine, make it a habit, gain confidence, and improve your level of Japanese.  I thought it be good for this winter challenge to 
focus on what you most struggle with. 


The biggest thing I struggle with is speaking. 
I have  no confidence and feel very nervous.
I won't even speak in Japanese to my new Japanese teacher!
So that is what I'm going to focus on.


What I plan to do:

First, I'm going to vlog  everyday, but these will be private vlogs.
I hesitate too much when I have to upload a jvlog. I feel
I will quickly quit if I do so. 
This will help me get used to having to speak in Japanese.
I will upload one vlog a week on my YouTube channel.
This will help me to get feed back on my progress and get comfortable speaking to an audience. 


Second, I will write in my Japanese journal everyday.
It will help me to put my thoughts and feelings into words. 
My teacher or friend will check the grammar so that I learn to speak
correctly. 
I will build a phrase deck of sentences I always want to use,
but never remember how to say them. 

My goal will be to be able to record one minute of vlogging without cutting,
speak comfortably in front of my teacher and friends.


I will post regularly of my progress.
Want to join in the challenge?
Commest or leave a link to your self challenge.
It doesn't have to be speaking. It can be reading, writing, anything!
Let's make progress this winter break!

Key Preparations for Studying 1: Sleeping?! Part 1

We've all heard that sleeping is important for our health, but Japanese?
Lack of a restful nights sleep can be a great hindrance to studying. 


One thing that happens is that you're just too tired to study.
Tired physically and mentally.
You have no energy. Lack of energy means lack of motivation.
Lack of motivation means no action. 


Another is that you might not "feel" tired,
but you're a lot more distracted. Constantly daydreaming, hazy, spacey, in a daze, etc.
Things take your attention away much easier,
and that means less likely to be able to focus on Japanese study.


Another problem is what I'd like to call "slothing". 
You might feel fine but it takes you a lot longer to do anything.
Which means time being wasted. 


You'll also have a harder time remembering what you've studied. 


I know work schedule might be a reason or school work,
those are understandable. (unless you were procrastinating)
But how many times did you stay up late watching YouTube or TV?
Or just five more minutes of that video game?
Be honest with yourself.


Some "think" they're night owls, but I know many
that can't function the next day and need energy drinks or coffee to get through the day.
Many have a hard time getting out of bed. Those drinks can't replace the rest of sleep.


Some have no problem and function great! That's fine, but those are the very few.
I'm not saying become an early bird. I'm saying get enough rest.
Maybe only 5 hours is enough for you. Maybe 9 is enough for you. 
As long as you get that rest.


Getting enough rest means having more energy and motivation to study.
It also means you'll feel positive and not pessimistic. 
Many become pessimistic when they're tired.
You'll also feel and look great. 
Your brain needs its beauty sleep too.
You'll feel encouraged. 
You'll think more clearly.
You'll be focused.


Most importantly,


you'll remember and retain the Japanese you've been studying a lot easier.


I will write my experience with this in Part 2.
Look forward to it.
Please share you thoughts in the comments!