Back to Business!

After a long, and undeserved break of around 3 months, I am back to self-studying Japanese! Unfortunately, since I gave my studying the cold shoulder for the summer months, I am extremely rusty and I regret putting it off for so long.

For instance, I just spent over an hour and a half reviewing my kanji! I haven't even started vocabulary let alone review my already learned Genki chapters. Although I have started reviewing, I still have a ways to go before I catch up to where I left off.

So moral of the story here; Don't allow yourself a vacation from studying! Squeeze it in there no matter what.

Don't give me the whole, I don't have any time shpeal, because I already tried that. I mean, I have a full time job, go to school full time and am currently head of the household (temporarily, but whatever), and I used to cry about not having enough time to study Japanese. What I realized I needed to do was cut down on my laying around watching tv time (which I prefer to call my relaxation time between homework, school, and work, but most people just call it being lazy).

So, I have less time to relax. So what? I'll get over it. And trust me, if I can do it, so can you!

Summertime laziness

I have gotten extremely lazy when it comes to Japanese studying. Since I left my home state for the summer, I am constantly on the go. Work, friends, family and play. It's hard to balance in studying on such a schedule.

For now I am attempting to just keep myself from losing what I already learned. It would be extremely hard for me to learn anything new now, and even harder to retain that information. The one thing I am most likely to lose is the kanji, so I try to study that once/twice a week with Anki.

I don't like that my motivation is so much lower in the summer, but the best I can do right now is save all that I've learned at this point!

とらドラ！Toradora! - Review

Genres: comedy, romance, slice of life
Themes: love rectangle, school

Recently I have been getting into romance and slice of life animes. It's probably my staple genre combination, and I always tend to fall back on it. Of course I also enjoy action, fantasy, psychological as well. If it's got them all I'm in love.

Anyway, this anime was fantastic. I felt like the characters are extremely likable and generally original. Sure maybe their "stereotypes" are not that original, little cute girl that's got a temper or model teenager that's spoiled, however, their personalities are all unique. The main protagonist, Ryuuji is extremely likable. He's got what everyone calls a "delinquent" face, so everyone is initially scared of him, regardless the fact of how nice he really is.

The other main character, Taiga, is very cute, especially because of the conflicting elements. Tiny body, huge temper.

Oh, by the way, the title とらドラ！(Toradora!) is a made up word combining the words "Tiger" (tora) and English version of "Dragon" (dora). Did you also notice the pun? The main female name is "Taiga" and the man male name is "Ryuuji", which mean Tiger and Dragon, respectively. I thought that was a great symbolizm throughout the anime. Dragon is the only animal that can stand up to the tiger, yet at the same time, they are polar opposites.

The anime revolves around a mix-up in the beginning, where it ends up Ryuuji has to help Taiga win over her crush, who is Ryuuji's friend. At the same time, Ryuuji has a crush on Taiga's friend, who she ends up helping Ryuuji try to win over as well.

The other main characters are enjoyable parts of the show. At first they may seem superficial, but because it's a slice of life anime, they all experience psychological hardships like the rest of the world, and end up way more humanized by the end.

As a end note. This anime was FUNNY. Genuinely funny. There is not many animes that can make me laugh more than one or two episodes out loud. Maybe there are more variables behind it (like watching something alone for instance, you laugh less), however, this anime kept me laughing. Highly recommended!

Ramblings: How I stop myself from over-studying

As I'm sure everyone else has their limits, I am no exception. There is only so much I can stuff into my head every day, if I want to remember those things later. For me, cramming only serves me for short term purposes. For example, when I was in high school, and genuinely had no interest in remembering the things in class (I may regret it now) I would cram before every test/exam/final for hours. I would successfully remember everything, and even ace tests left and right. However, give me that same test now and I would surely fail.

Because I was a pro at cramming for short term purposes, I am always at danger of getting back in the habit of over-studying a certain subject. The last thing I want to do is over-study Japanese, learn a lot of things, move on, and realize when it's too late that I don't remember anything I learned. This has actually happened a few times, but I quickly catch myself, back-tracking until I am sure that I fully understand everything I learned.

What is considered over-studying? Like I said earlier, everyone has their limits. For me, I can't get away with studying over two hours in one sitting. At that point I start slowly losing the stuff from the beginning of my studies, like one of those VCR tapes that erases itself as you watch it (know what I'm talking about?). I am also a big fan of taking breaks. Honestly even a half an hour can significantly improve your memorization and ability to understand what you are reading without overwhelming yourself.

If you think your in my learning range (which is far from genius quality), here is a few golden rules I always try to follow.

★ Do NOT study Japanese for more than 2 hours in one sitting
★ Do NOT study textbook (in my case, Genki Integrated) for more than 1.5 hours in one sitting
★ Do NOT study late at night, even if you feel "wide awake." You'll realize the next day you weren't
★ DO take a break if what you're learning gets jumbled and confusing in your head
★ DO study vocabulary thoroughly before partaking in a textbook chapter, otherwise the lack of knowledge will be a crutch when trying to learn grammar, etc.
★ Do NOT attempt to learn new kanji every day if you do not completely remember everything you've learned. Instead maybe spend every other day or so purely on review.
★ Do NOT go a day without learning something new. If you don't have time to sit down and study, DO try to watch at least one YouTube video that teaches you something you didn't know.

I'm sure there's more, but that is the main points I try to follow. But again, everyone is different, and I bet there are people that can go 3 or 4 hours flawlessly. I cannot, because I have what you call, a "short attention span." ^_~


And purely for records sake:
Kanji count: 194

Inspiration

KEEP STUDYING JAPANESE!

No, don't give me that excuse, you know you have time.

I don't care about your farm on farmville, or your fishes for that matter.

Come on, spend at least 10 minutes learning something new.

Do it.

Oh, and a video I found pretty inspiring; watch it for a boost of energy!

Japan blogs, news & more

Kanji count: 126

Not as much as I could have done, but what can I say? To me that amount sounds astounding but, put in perspective, that is only 6% through the first volume of "Remembering the Kanji" ^_^;;.

~~~★

So I started this blog without reading many other blogs with the same topic. I wanted a way to record my journey with the language and so on, mostly to look back on. Within a short amount of time I found a few fun sites I now frequently check up on. I enjoy helping people so it turns out I want to share whatever I am learning with anyone willing to listen! Here are other blogs and websites I love to follow and get news on Japanese news, culture and other peoples journeys with Japan :)

Japan News
★JapanSoc ~ http://www.japansoc.com

Self-teaching help posts
★Tofugu ~ http://www.tofugu.com
★The Daily Yo-ji ~ http://www.thedailyyoji.blogspot.com/
★Maggie Sensei ~ http://www.maggiesensei.com/jp/

Personal Journeys
★1000 Things About Japan ~ http://1000thingsaboutjapan.blogspot.com/
★Constantine in Tokyo ~ http://constantineintokyo.com
★BRB, In Japan ~ http://www.brbinjapan.com/

Forum
★http://japanjuku.com


That's it for now, but I'm sure I'll find more in the future and let you all know!

Progress

Although I have been interested in Japanese culture and attempting to learn the language for the past couple years, it wasn't until this past January that I really sat down, got some resources, and made a genuine attempt to learn.

However, balancing college classes, a part time job, my boyfriend, family, friends and whatever drama at the time, it has been a lot harder than I hoped. But I am still as motivated as ever. After quitting my part-time job (for various practical reasons, I swear, hah), I have been able to put much more effort in teaching myself. I spend almost every day studying something, but sometimes it ends up being every other day, especially these past two weeks where classes are throwing papers left and right.

Anyway, I wanted to list out what I'm using as primary resources!

★Kanji learning: "Remembering the Kanji" by James W. Heisig
★Kanji practice: Anki, and the Reviewing the Kanji website ~ http://kanji.koohii.com/
★Guideline for learning: Genki Integrated Elementary Japanese Course I
★Vocabulary practice: Smart.fm
★Listening practice: The Genki companion website has great links ~ http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/self.en.html . I also use YouTube! There are great teachers such as:
~~~www.youtube.com/gimmeaflakeman (150 lessons and growing!)
~~~www.youtube.com/thatjapanesegirl
~~~www.youtube.com/misshannahminx
~~~www.youtube.com/bumnumba1 (I can't help it, but learning Japanese with a teacher that is drunk and profane is absolutely hilarious)
★Grammar, phrases, etc: The Daily Yo-ji ~ http://www.thedailyyoji.blogspot.com/ . And Maggie-sensei! ~ http://www.maggiesensei.com/jp/
★Sentence practice: Lang-8 ~ www.lang-8.com


Anyhow, those are the primary sources I like to use as much as possible. There are more websites I enjoy visiting for more cultural/news related information, but I think that's due for another entry. ^_^V

Taking the plunge into Kanji

Although there have been many people telling me kanji is not that hard to learn once you actually start, but that didn't stop be from being reluctant. It's taken me months to finally force myself to stare kanji down in the face and declare "I will master you!" Well... maybe not master, but at least try to learn.

So yes, I have begun to study the dreaded kanji. And like my peers have told me, it is not as hard as I anticipated, especially with the help of Heisig. I reviewed his "Remembering the Kana," or raved over more like, so it is only natural I would use his "Remembering the Kanji" as a resource.



Although I have just barely begun, I have high hopes and expectations from this resource. Because I learned the kana so quickly and efficiently, I don't see why the method would be any different for kanji. Actually, I'm pretty sure Heisig wrote "Remembering the Kanji" before "Remembering the Kana." In any case, for the first time I am somewhat excited to start tackling these beasts called kanji.

There is also a great website resource to help review and continue to learn the kanji from "Remembering the Kanji." At http://kanji.koohii.com/ you can sign up to keep track of kanji you learn, and it also lets you review what you've learned already as well. Although I haven't checked it out yet, there are other users that post their "stories" and ways to memorize different kanji for all to see and possibly benefit from. I've heard some people can be unnecessarily erotic, but I believe there is a plug-in you can use to avoid such posts.

So, how many do I know to date you ask?

Fifteen.

Hey gimme a break here I just started! :)

Smart.fm

There are many resources I have found on the internet that help make learning Japanese easy and somewhat fun! One such website I have been using more frequently as of late is Smart.fm.

I think the website is really neat in that you can create your own lists to study, or study of other lists created by difference users. In my case I was very lucky to find what I was looking for, and that is vocabulary lists for the chapters in my Genki text book.

What is special is that there are a few different programs you can use, which includes iKnow!, Drill Beta and BrainSpeed. I believe (though I could be mistaken) that the first two are alternates for each other, which BrainSpeed is a way to test how well you react to words you learn.

More into iKnow!, which is what I primarily use. When you open it up it will tell you if it is time for you to study. There is a calendar included that shows how many times you studied in one day and what days. The further along you get with a list of words, the more spaced out the program wants you to study, so that you have optimum memorization. How many times I have tried to memorize vocabulary in one sitting, just to forget it in two days I can't even count. But this prevents you from practicing them all in one go.

Here is a screen cap:


When you begin studying a list in Japanese, you have the option of choosing romanji mode, kana mode, kanji focus mode and full mode. I think this is awesome because I'm officially done with relying on romanji, but have yet to tackle kanji, so I am able to study in all kana.



Long story short, I love this website. I think it is way better than normal old flash cards, because when you use the iKnow! program, it revisits words you have problems with constantly. And not only does it test your Japanese to English translation, but English to Japanese and English to written Japanese (where you type in the word itself). It's a great learning tool and I highly recommend it!

Give me a break!

A little while ago I ordered a special flavor of Kit Kat bars off of E-bay, and I just received it all the way from Japan! The flavor I ordered was Green Tea Matcha, and I just loved it!



I wished I ordered more, but it's kind of expensive shipping all the way from Japan! I won't do it too often, because of the cost, but I was just dying to try the green tea flavor for a long time. I can now rest peacefully ^_^.

Megacon 2010

Some of my family and friends went up to Orlando for the Megacon of 2010 this past weekend. It was a ton of fun, and my only regret was not bringing more money to buy more stuff! It was the first anime convention I ever attended and I was not disappointed. The only thing that bothered me was my decision to wear high heels that were made for looks rather than functionality! I went as Misa from death note, and was pretty pleased with the outcome of my costume. People even wanted pictures of me, which was very flattering! Anyway, I have a video that pretty much sums up the adventure.

Katakana Book Review

Title: Remembering the Kana (Part two: Katakana)
Author: James W. Heisig
Rating ***** 5/5 stars














Heisig did not disappoint me in the second part of his book "Remembering the Kana" in teaching me Katakana. Again I learned this written Japanese language in about 2 and a half hours and without much difficulty! Although I feel like it was somewhat harder than the Hiragana section, this could have been my bias towards my dislike of Katakana haha.

So I gave this 5 stars, because I know from experience without this book I would have waited ages to learn katakana, just because I wasn't looking forward to it at all. And even if I tried to tackle learning it, I would have failed without Heisig's teaching methods.

All I can say in short is, if you need to learn katakana, then read "Remembering the Kana"! I'm looking forward to starting "Remembering the Kanji" also by Heisig because if the method of learning is the same, then I will have an easier time learning. After learning the Heisig way I can't even imagine learning the characters simply by writing them down and using blunt memorization! The thought makes me cringe!

Just a bit about me

No review this time, just me rambling.

I'm currently in the process of teaching myself Katakana. A little harder than Hiragana, but easy enough. I really wish my community college had Japanese language courses, but unfortunately it doesn't. I'm the kinda girl that needs to have regular scheduled things to improve in anything. For instance, tennis in high school was awesome, because I had to be at practice 5 days a week without fail. I improved greatly. But now that I am out of high school, I play once a week at best. Not much way to improve playing so little. I feel like I'm like that with Japanese. I get spurts of teaching myself, but it's hard for me to sit down and make a daily schedule, mostly because I have classes to worry about already.

I know it's one excuse after another, but I know I'd advance in my learnings much quicker with a class stamping a grade on my progress. Regardless, I'm doing what I can before I transfer. I don't graduate with my Associates till December of this year... that means many more months to go! It's taking me a lot of self control not letting myself transfer before I get my Associates, because I know I'll be saving a lot of money and headaches if I do it this way. Oh to be reckless...

I recently signed up for Lang-8.com. The website seems really great, but I'm definitely not as far along as I need to be to actually start practicing the language. Regardless, I think this website it very fun! Native speakers can correct your posts on the website (you post in the language you are trying to learn) and you can do the same. It feels all community like :). I also signed up for mixi.com, which is pretty much the Japanese equivalent of Facebook. I'm definitely not ready to practice on that, but I wanted to make one before the loophole vanished :D. The website tries really hard to only let Japan residing inhabitants to sign up, but thankfully Koichi at Tofugu.com found a loophole for all of us foreigners!

I'm so anxious to get my life rolling! I have a path all planned out for me, which is so comforting to have really. When I was a freshman in college I had no idea what I wanted to do. But an interpretor sounds just about right for me. I'm excited for the future even though it's so far away. I'm even nervous about whether I will get accepted as a JET ALT and that's years away! I might just be jumping the gun here...

I just learned what a weeabo was the other day 0_o. I never thought there were such people, and I hope I'm not mistaken for one!

Death Note Review

Death Note

Probably one of the greatest anime's I've seen, though I haven't seen that much admittedly. Regardless, this anime really sucked me in immediately after I started watching it. The genius of the two rival characters make me feel dumb, but it's easy to get over because the show is dark yet funny, simple yet complex.

Not much action happens physically (other than the fact criminals die daily throughout the series), but the action is in the mental war between Light and "L." You are not forced to sympathize with the protagonist of the show, who kills criminals with a book from the Shinigami world, which makes it very interesting. You can side with the antagonist just as easily and route for "L" the whole time.

It's hard for me to write anything more on this anime without giving anything away, so I'll keep this description brief. If you like shows that have a lot of mental strategy, like mysteries, than you will love Death Note. Even if you're not into anime that's no excuse: My boyfriend isn't fond of anime's, but can't get enough of Death Note! I finally have an anime I can watch with him ^_~.

There are also two movies depicting the series, and I've only seen the first, but it is a pretty good representation. The actors for the two main characters are very fitting, but of course, nothing beats the animation version.

Watch and you won't regret it.

NOTE: Oh and I just found out. Warner Bros bought the rights to create an American version, live action movie of Death Note! Screw the skeptics, I'm hoping this will be a good one!

As I am interested in Japan's culture, I have also taken a great liking to anime and manga. I will try to periodically post reviews/opinions on both medias, some I'll have finished and some I am still watching! What else do I have to talk about before I make it to Japan ^_^.


Naruto Shippuuden

This is the first anime that comes to mind mainly because I am still in the process of watching it, and have been watching it since it first came out. I have seen both the Japanese and English version, and like both equally. I get really irritated when I hear people condemn English dubbed versions of animes to hell because they like the original Japanese version better. Sure in most cases it's true, especially for animes where the main characters will have distinct voices like high pitched and whatnot. But there are several animes which I prefer the English, such as "Fruits Basket" and "Inuyasha." And it's so much easier just to watch the anime without having to read anything every scene. On the other hand one anime English dub that made me cringe was "Outlaw Star." Regardless, I like to keep an open mind.

For "Naruto Shippuuden," I watch the Japanese version because it's much farther ahead! The story line is great as well as the action scenes and strategy elements. At the end of every episode it is always a cliff hanger and I die to the see the next. The writers also kept it realistic and deaths happen throughout the series to who you wouldn't expect. And to who you will miss. Characters develop nicely (one of my favorite elements) and you easily find yourself routing for certain characters throughout the story. I am currently at episode 143, which is the last one to be released so far. The few episodes leading up to it is MIND BLOWING. I cannot stress it enough. There is a certain element throughout both the "Naruto" and "Naruto Shippuuden" that turns upside down and you are left dazed and confused. I hope I'm coming across all right because I'm trying to write this in a way without giving anything away.

All I can say is, if you like adventure/action, drama and comedy, you will love this series. Of course, I definitely recommend watching the pre-series "Naruto," which leads up to "Naruto Shippuuden."

Hiragana Book Review

Title: Remembering the Kana (Part one: Hiragana)
Author: James W. Heisig
Rating: ***** 5/5 stars














This book is amazing. I cannot stress how much Heisig helped me learn hiragana. And you know what? It only took 2-3 hours! Maybe more with a few extra notes I looked over, regardless Heisig promises you will learn the hiragana within 3 hours in the beginning.

It's interesting the methods he uses to help you memorize that kana, but by far the most useful. Instead of mindlessly copying down the hiragana over and over. He gives you both key words and components connected with imagery to remember the kana and strokes. What makes this help is he continues to use the same image components when the shapes reoccur. Interesting things like puppy dog tails and daggers. It is much better than simply associating the individual hiragana with individual images such as I have seen in other author's works. It is easy to mix up the shape later on that way.

Another interesting approach Heisig conducts is the idea the hiragana should be memorized in a different order rather than the standard dictionary way. The pages and hiragana are all in order of a Japanese dictionary, but as you progress you jump pages in what he thinks is an easier and better way to learn. And that it is. Heisig also asks you to keep track of how long it takes to complete each lesson, and at the end you add up all the minutes. That's how I found I that I memorized the hiragana within 3 hours like he promised.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. For I know officially can read and write the hiragana, and it only took 3 hours spread out within 3 days.

The Beginning

It's all gotta start somewhere right?

My name is Kelly and this is my journey.

About Me:

One girl and one Japanese obsession might be a more accurate title for my blog, but I can't make myself sound so desperate! For several years now I have appreciated the Japanese history, culture and language, quickly turning related activities from hobby's into habits. It is now an undeniable part of my life, and not likely to stop being that way. I've come to turns with that concept, and find no other way to cope with such a fascination than to make it apart of a future career. I plan, or more ambitiously, will become a Japanese-English interpretor.

I'm quite a ways from that ambition, but it's the journey in between that makes the end worth the while. To get there from where I am will take several years and it will take me to many different places. From where I am now, I have yet another year till I achieve my Associates degree. From there I transfer to the Florida International University to major in Asian Studies and receive a certificate in Japanese studies. After I graduate with my bachelors I plan on putting my preferred career on hiatus and apply as a English assistant teacher in Japan! The JET Programme is my first choice, but whatever gets me there is good to me. It will not only improve my fluency in the language but my general knowledge of the Japanese will undoubtedly increase significantly. So there I will remain for however many years, who knows how much at this point, but whenever I see fit I will finish that job and at long last become an interpretor.

More close to home, I am an ordinary college student with an extraordinary passion. Of course I have other interests and hobby's but that's not what this blog is about now is it?