The hardest part of learning a language: Measuring Progress
The one thing I'm noticing more and more is that even tougher than memorizing kanji, or growing my vocabulary or mastering grammar is just being able to accurately identify where I am on my journey to understand Japanese.
The problem is a multi-faceted one. For instance, if I relied on a single course or application I might be better able to track my progress through that one course. But it doesn't really tell me how much practical, conversational Japanese I actually know.
I don't use a single approach. I use many. It only clouds things up further. But, even if I look back at say "Human Japanese". I finished that app in it's entirety. I've moved on, and I'm pretty sure because I'm continuing my studies that it would be a joke for me to go through it again. I feel like it is fair to say I have more or less mastered the content in there. But where would that course alone have left me?
Honestly, I could probably hobble along as a tourist. I would likely still need a phrase book. And I would need to rely on incredibly simple questions and answers. I wouldn't be able to read anything though, since Kanji isn't even covered in the first app. I don't want to sound like I'm being critical of Human Japanese. I actually loved the app and felt it was well paced and well structured. And I know where I stand in relation to the material it presented. But, knowing that doesn't tell me how applicable it is.
I watch anime on a semi-regular basis. Some nights I'll watch multiple episodes, many nights I'll watch none. It is an enlightening experience. It doesn't tell me where I'm at per se. But it gives me a bit of insight. If I could understand the bulk of every anime I watch... it would mean I could probably converse on every day topics with most people.
I can't understand that much. Some anime is better than others for me right now. For instance, tonight I watch Clockwork Planet because I love torturing myself with quasi-OK anime and 月がきれい... because. In Clockwork Planet I grasped very little. Very few whole sentences and a very small percentage of the words. 月がきれい on the other hand, I was able to read many of the texts between them and understand many more complete sentences. The fact that I was able to understand so much of either of them shocked me.
That shock however underlined the fact I'm trying to make here. Another episode of the same anime might have shifted comprehension one way or another. A different anime could make me feel even better or even worse about my comprehension skills.
While anime can be a sort of a measure of comprehension... it clearly isn't representative. Otherwise I'd have similar levels of comprehension across all episodes of at least the same series, and series aimed at similar age groups. I don't really know what the target audience of Clockwork Planet is, but it certainly doesn't seem like it could aim as young as 月がきれい, which, while not inherently juvenile, also doesn't cover the same sort of lewd content as Clockwork Planet.
So, I can't trust my training materials and I can't trust pop culture. What can I trust? I don't have a good answer there. When I reach even semi-fluency this will become more of a moot point. But until then... it would really help to know and to have materials categorized appropriately so I can grow in a more consistent manner and measure myself more appropriately. Oh well.
The problem is a multi-faceted one. For instance, if I relied on a single course or application I might be better able to track my progress through that one course. But it doesn't really tell me how much practical, conversational Japanese I actually know.
I don't use a single approach. I use many. It only clouds things up further. But, even if I look back at say "Human Japanese". I finished that app in it's entirety. I've moved on, and I'm pretty sure because I'm continuing my studies that it would be a joke for me to go through it again. I feel like it is fair to say I have more or less mastered the content in there. But where would that course alone have left me?
Honestly, I could probably hobble along as a tourist. I would likely still need a phrase book. And I would need to rely on incredibly simple questions and answers. I wouldn't be able to read anything though, since Kanji isn't even covered in the first app. I don't want to sound like I'm being critical of Human Japanese. I actually loved the app and felt it was well paced and well structured. And I know where I stand in relation to the material it presented. But, knowing that doesn't tell me how applicable it is.
I watch anime on a semi-regular basis. Some nights I'll watch multiple episodes, many nights I'll watch none. It is an enlightening experience. It doesn't tell me where I'm at per se. But it gives me a bit of insight. If I could understand the bulk of every anime I watch... it would mean I could probably converse on every day topics with most people.
I can't understand that much. Some anime is better than others for me right now. For instance, tonight I watch Clockwork Planet because I love torturing myself with quasi-OK anime and 月がきれい... because. In Clockwork Planet I grasped very little. Very few whole sentences and a very small percentage of the words. 月がきれい on the other hand, I was able to read many of the texts between them and understand many more complete sentences. The fact that I was able to understand so much of either of them shocked me.
That shock however underlined the fact I'm trying to make here. Another episode of the same anime might have shifted comprehension one way or another. A different anime could make me feel even better or even worse about my comprehension skills.
While anime can be a sort of a measure of comprehension... it clearly isn't representative. Otherwise I'd have similar levels of comprehension across all episodes of at least the same series, and series aimed at similar age groups. I don't really know what the target audience of Clockwork Planet is, but it certainly doesn't seem like it could aim as young as 月がきれい, which, while not inherently juvenile, also doesn't cover the same sort of lewd content as Clockwork Planet.
So, I can't trust my training materials and I can't trust pop culture. What can I trust? I don't have a good answer there. When I reach even semi-fluency this will become more of a moot point. But until then... it would really help to know and to have materials categorized appropriately so I can grow in a more consistent manner and measure myself more appropriately. Oh well.
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