Language Journal: October 29th 2019
Things are still going well. It is easy to forget just how big of an undertaking this is and how little time, comparatively, I'm actually putting into this. Active studying can be as little as 30-45 minutes a day.
Well, the average is a lot higher at the moment. I try to read 1-4 pages of Shield Hero a night. It was one page in the beginning. But the pace has picked up, and I'm now hitting 3-4 pages in the same or less time.
As usual, my strategy has changed a bit again. In the beginning, I would translate words I didn't know or was uncertain on while I was reading through. Then, I would re-read until I could get through the whole page without help.
Now, I'm trying to read through without help once. Even if it means I skip things over. Then, I go back and re-read and translate.
The recurring problem is forcing my brain to engage and try to solve the problems on its own. Not having the Furigana I'm quickly assimilating the common words. But I was still stopping and translating the second I hit a stump. By forcing myself through the whole page first, I give my brain a chance to process the word and those around it.
This is all speculation of course, but for words I should/do know but would have looked up in the past, I now get 1/3 on the first pass, I get a further 1/3 after the fact or during the second pass. And the remainder need a look up.
For new words, my guesses at their readings are probably the same as before. But, I'm now guessing at their meanings and doing OK. Probably less than the half the time I'm getting it right. But, anything greater than 0 is decent for words you've never seen before. And getting any is a huge morale booster. It means I'm understanding the context enough to infer reasonable options and even get them right some times.
I'd like to see the pace go up to 10 pages per day before I finish. Though, at page 56 I'm already 1/6 of the way through, so maybe I'm running out of runway and that is perhaps too ambitious. But, I'm still hoping. After all, as I get further in, the occurrence of brand new words should drop. And I think that is a large part of why my pace picked up.
For instance, words like 城門 (じょうもん - Castle Gate) are not words I had any reason to know before now. But, when trying to think of a new word I learned, this one popped into my mind with the right kanji, reading and meaning. And it has popped up a few times. Though, honestly, I don't think I'll see that one as often going forward. 所持する (しょじする - To Posses, Hold) is another I (somehow) hadn't encountered before this. This one pops up a lot.
Beyond reading this book, another thing that is still blowing my mind is how often I'll learn a new word and hear it a day or two later in an anime or something else.
Simply put, even with my Japanese vocabulary as large as it is... I'm still learning truly new common words. That isn't a boast or a brag. But, I'm definitely well into the thousands of words. On my way to 10k words. Maybe even past it already. And STILL, there are everyday words that a new to me.
Well, the average is a lot higher at the moment. I try to read 1-4 pages of Shield Hero a night. It was one page in the beginning. But the pace has picked up, and I'm now hitting 3-4 pages in the same or less time.
As usual, my strategy has changed a bit again. In the beginning, I would translate words I didn't know or was uncertain on while I was reading through. Then, I would re-read until I could get through the whole page without help.
Now, I'm trying to read through without help once. Even if it means I skip things over. Then, I go back and re-read and translate.
The recurring problem is forcing my brain to engage and try to solve the problems on its own. Not having the Furigana I'm quickly assimilating the common words. But I was still stopping and translating the second I hit a stump. By forcing myself through the whole page first, I give my brain a chance to process the word and those around it.
This is all speculation of course, but for words I should/do know but would have looked up in the past, I now get 1/3 on the first pass, I get a further 1/3 after the fact or during the second pass. And the remainder need a look up.
For new words, my guesses at their readings are probably the same as before. But, I'm now guessing at their meanings and doing OK. Probably less than the half the time I'm getting it right. But, anything greater than 0 is decent for words you've never seen before. And getting any is a huge morale booster. It means I'm understanding the context enough to infer reasonable options and even get them right some times.
I'd like to see the pace go up to 10 pages per day before I finish. Though, at page 56 I'm already 1/6 of the way through, so maybe I'm running out of runway and that is perhaps too ambitious. But, I'm still hoping. After all, as I get further in, the occurrence of brand new words should drop. And I think that is a large part of why my pace picked up.
For instance, words like 城門 (じょうもん - Castle Gate) are not words I had any reason to know before now. But, when trying to think of a new word I learned, this one popped into my mind with the right kanji, reading and meaning. And it has popped up a few times. Though, honestly, I don't think I'll see that one as often going forward. 所持する (しょじする - To Posses, Hold) is another I (somehow) hadn't encountered before this. This one pops up a lot.
Beyond reading this book, another thing that is still blowing my mind is how often I'll learn a new word and hear it a day or two later in an anime or something else.
Simply put, even with my Japanese vocabulary as large as it is... I'm still learning truly new common words. That isn't a boast or a brag. But, I'm definitely well into the thousands of words. On my way to 10k words. Maybe even past it already. And STILL, there are everyday words that a new to me.
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