Language Journal: March 21st 2018
It has been a bit of a whirlwind month with my Japanese studies. So, two journals in one month this month.
I'm still trying to find my rhythm at my current level. So, I'm picking up and abandoning things at an incredible speed right now. As always, the problem isn't whether or not something is too tough. But, more whether or not I'll be able to stick with it. Though, I'm trying to push my own limits a bit as I uncover just how lazy becoming an adult has made me.
It is true, at 34, I can plutz along and probably still attain fluency well before I'm dead. But, one of my reasons, originally, for starting to learn Japanese was to truly learn something new again, like I did when I was younger. And, when I was younger, I didn't typically learn at a "comfortable" pace. I didn't care if I felt stupid. I had no choice. Someone else decided when the tests were and whether or not I passed.
Becoming an adult simply means you always have a choice. And most times, people choose whatever is easiest.
And, THAT is the funk I'm realizing I need to break out of. Not because I won't learn Japanese if I don't. I have a system in place where I can do something every day, no matter how small it may be. I WILL learn because I'm forcing myself to reinforce or grow in Japanese every day.
But, JUST learning Japanese was never a goal in and of itself. I had an army of reasons. But I'm coming to realize that a reason I never voiced aloud (but had acknowledged to myself) was the biggest and it covers up an even deeper truth; I'm afraid of just coasting through the rest of my life and never learning another totally new thing. Sure, being able to understand anime without sub-titles would be nice, but I never even called that a primary goal in the first place. And YES, I absolutely want to visit Japan and NOT be stuck to the tourist destinations (which is my usual answer). And I also love expanding the way I look at the world (another, largely unspoken one).
If I'm being practical though. If I JUST visited Tokyo and hung out where English speaking tourists typically hang out. I'd probably have a perfectly amazing time. I know that. And I've known that for as long as I've been learning Japanese and even before. In fact, even now, I still talk about the possibility of doing maybe just a 1 week trip to Japan first just to hit up Tokyo.
The real reason was to force myself to learn something. And, if I just hobble along it is only slightly better than having never learned it at all. I won't regain that feeling of discovery I had when I was younger. I won't be pushing myself in any significant way.
To that end... I'm still, primarily, focusing on translating songs. Though, I've moved on from my app and now I'm mostly doing it in a note book. The cross-platform aspect wasn't really working out because my phone doesn't want to play nice, and writing notes in a book is easier at the moment. I'm also less tempted to use Google translate as a crutch since I don't have a web browser in my note book. And what I'm finding out is I'm further along than I thought, though still not super far along.
I'm relying primarily on Jisho.org to translate words and concepts that are new to me, and otherwise trying to do the translations all by myself. やってみよう by WANIMA was my most recent one I completed all by myself. Unsurprisingly, I think the translation is the most coherent one I've ever produced as it is single sourced (from me) and my thoughts on the translations weren't "polluted" by bad Google translations. I ran it through Google Translate only after I had finished to see if I could reconcile their translations with mine. It pointed out a few sloppy errors in my work, but otherwise I could easily get from what Google had suggested to what I had chosen. And basically 80% of the time I felt my translations were better.
In addition to that I'm back into reading Japanese news, primarily as a means of expanding vocabulary and knowledge of Kanji readings. I use the Tangoristo app on Android. It has a dark mode, which I prefer and I can click on words and most times get an accurate reading and translation. It also has the ability to stash words aside to quiz you on. I don't use the quiz functionality tons as most of the words I struggle with in the news are very subject matter specific and not usually things I care too much about. If they pop up enough I will learn them. If they are as rare and useless as I think... well then hopefully they at least help with my reading skills.
My listening skills are still my weakness. Although, what I'm noticing is, the biggest part of the problem is grammar. When reading, Kanji provide a ton of hints and I'm often able to guess, or worse, ignore, the grammar and still get the gist of the sentence. With listening I don't have visual cues and not knowing the grammar also means I often miss the words. If I don't know where the grammar stops, I don't always know where the vocab begins. And, on paper or a screen, I can take as much time before moving onto the next word or sentence. When listening, it goes by as fast as the speaker puts it out there.
On a plus side, since grammar points are typically more common than most words, the more grammar I'm learning the more pieces of the sentences I'm able to pick out.
I'm not doing tons right now to strengthen my listening directly. I want to get better with my grammar first. I'm hoping the translating and reading will help with that.
Anyway, that is all for now.
I'm still trying to find my rhythm at my current level. So, I'm picking up and abandoning things at an incredible speed right now. As always, the problem isn't whether or not something is too tough. But, more whether or not I'll be able to stick with it. Though, I'm trying to push my own limits a bit as I uncover just how lazy becoming an adult has made me.
It is true, at 34, I can plutz along and probably still attain fluency well before I'm dead. But, one of my reasons, originally, for starting to learn Japanese was to truly learn something new again, like I did when I was younger. And, when I was younger, I didn't typically learn at a "comfortable" pace. I didn't care if I felt stupid. I had no choice. Someone else decided when the tests were and whether or not I passed.
Becoming an adult simply means you always have a choice. And most times, people choose whatever is easiest.
And, THAT is the funk I'm realizing I need to break out of. Not because I won't learn Japanese if I don't. I have a system in place where I can do something every day, no matter how small it may be. I WILL learn because I'm forcing myself to reinforce or grow in Japanese every day.
But, JUST learning Japanese was never a goal in and of itself. I had an army of reasons. But I'm coming to realize that a reason I never voiced aloud (but had acknowledged to myself) was the biggest and it covers up an even deeper truth; I'm afraid of just coasting through the rest of my life and never learning another totally new thing. Sure, being able to understand anime without sub-titles would be nice, but I never even called that a primary goal in the first place. And YES, I absolutely want to visit Japan and NOT be stuck to the tourist destinations (which is my usual answer). And I also love expanding the way I look at the world (another, largely unspoken one).
If I'm being practical though. If I JUST visited Tokyo and hung out where English speaking tourists typically hang out. I'd probably have a perfectly amazing time. I know that. And I've known that for as long as I've been learning Japanese and even before. In fact, even now, I still talk about the possibility of doing maybe just a 1 week trip to Japan first just to hit up Tokyo.
The real reason was to force myself to learn something. And, if I just hobble along it is only slightly better than having never learned it at all. I won't regain that feeling of discovery I had when I was younger. I won't be pushing myself in any significant way.
To that end... I'm still, primarily, focusing on translating songs. Though, I've moved on from my app and now I'm mostly doing it in a note book. The cross-platform aspect wasn't really working out because my phone doesn't want to play nice, and writing notes in a book is easier at the moment. I'm also less tempted to use Google translate as a crutch since I don't have a web browser in my note book. And what I'm finding out is I'm further along than I thought, though still not super far along.
I'm relying primarily on Jisho.org to translate words and concepts that are new to me, and otherwise trying to do the translations all by myself. やってみよう by WANIMA was my most recent one I completed all by myself. Unsurprisingly, I think the translation is the most coherent one I've ever produced as it is single sourced (from me) and my thoughts on the translations weren't "polluted" by bad Google translations. I ran it through Google Translate only after I had finished to see if I could reconcile their translations with mine. It pointed out a few sloppy errors in my work, but otherwise I could easily get from what Google had suggested to what I had chosen. And basically 80% of the time I felt my translations were better.
In addition to that I'm back into reading Japanese news, primarily as a means of expanding vocabulary and knowledge of Kanji readings. I use the Tangoristo app on Android. It has a dark mode, which I prefer and I can click on words and most times get an accurate reading and translation. It also has the ability to stash words aside to quiz you on. I don't use the quiz functionality tons as most of the words I struggle with in the news are very subject matter specific and not usually things I care too much about. If they pop up enough I will learn them. If they are as rare and useless as I think... well then hopefully they at least help with my reading skills.
My listening skills are still my weakness. Although, what I'm noticing is, the biggest part of the problem is grammar. When reading, Kanji provide a ton of hints and I'm often able to guess, or worse, ignore, the grammar and still get the gist of the sentence. With listening I don't have visual cues and not knowing the grammar also means I often miss the words. If I don't know where the grammar stops, I don't always know where the vocab begins. And, on paper or a screen, I can take as much time before moving onto the next word or sentence. When listening, it goes by as fast as the speaker puts it out there.
On a plus side, since grammar points are typically more common than most words, the more grammar I'm learning the more pieces of the sentences I'm able to pick out.
I'm not doing tons right now to strengthen my listening directly. I want to get better with my grammar first. I'm hoping the translating and reading will help with that.
Anyway, that is all for now.
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