Japanese Study: Day 6
Today I decided to cut back on the English and fit more Japanese into my life. Sure, I'm surrounded by the language here in Japan, but it's very easy to get through the day without learning anything new.
First to change is my time spent on the train to and from work. That's 2 hours a day which I have either spent trying to sleep or reading a book (English). So now I'm going to spend that time studying with a Japanese textbook or translating my way through some manga.
The other thing is TV. The wife and I have been gradually watching the last season of Friends which we just finished. So instead of picking up another English show to watch I'm going to start watching a Japanese dorama and maybe some anime. I gave up trying to guess where Lost and Heroes were heading anyway, so better to just stop wasting time on them.
Also I've been given the challenge to translate and respond to a Japanese email tomorrow. I'll collect a few of the words and add them to my vocab list, and hopefully answer correctly ^^;
I didn't take any photos today, so here's one of my mother-in-law about to carve up an octopus arm ^^
Today was another short study day, but tomorrow I get a bit of extra time so I plan to get most of my vocab list into smart.fm, study it, and start on my Japanese textbook.
- 元気 (げんき) "health(y); robust; vigor; vigour; energy; vitality; stamina; spirit;"
- がんばって "hold on; go for it; keep at it;"
- がんばります "to persist; to try one's best;"
- おいだき "reheating (e.g. bath)"
http://www.ryusworld.com
It is a good thing to abandon the english and to do everyday life stuff in japanese.
Even if you do not understand any japanese in the dorama at all you will hear some words.
Just like the weather story :D
がんばってください。
When my Genki CD Set arrives I will start learning japanese serious by myself again. Started last year around beginning of may but was too difficult without an instructior and no audio lessons if the exercises in the textbook are full of audio works.
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
Good luck with your studies! I've stopped and started many times. As long as you keep trying and attempting different methods of learning you will eventually find what works for you. Once that happens there's no looking back!
Student
http://joeinjapan.com
I think it's critical to spend as much time doing things in Japanese instead of English, because when it comes down to it, language learning is all about time. Every minute spent in English puts you one minute further away from actually attaining fluency in Japanese. I think that's the kind of mindset you have to adopt. Don't be afraid if you don't understand anything yet because, well, you won't and if you did then you wouldn't be learning Japanese now, would you? ;) Just do it, things will make sense in time.
Web developer & Blogger
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Great advice, thanks Joe!
I'm even thinking to write a Japanese translation to each of my posts. It'll be simple at first, but got to start somewhere.
student
http://www.phantomclf.blogspot.com
octopus = たこ
I'm sure you've known about this eh.
Web Developer and Tasty Miso Blogger
http://tastymiso.com
Huh?
Web developer & Blogger
http://www.nihongonotes.com
Yep, good point, I should've added it to my list yesterday. Now it's added :)
Acquisition Specialist
Talking about Lost & Heroes reminded me of a documentary we watched in school about Japan. In the background people were watching the X-files that had been dubbed into Japanese. It would be neat to watch a show you already know & love, in a different language.
Web Developer and Tasty Miso Blogger
http://tastymiso.com
Agreed, actually you set me off thinking, are western films in Japan often dubbed or just subtitled. I remember when I was in Japan I was considering watching Hachiko but decided against it in the end. The idea of being in Japan and watching a Japanese story acted out by westerners seemed a little odd? Didn't want to dilute the full on Japanese experience! :P
Web developer & Blogger
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Films often have both dubbed and original audio, but sometimes it's either one or the other.
Hmmm, that's given me an idea. Once I'm good enough I can go back to all these English TV shows I'm missing and watching them dubbed in Japanese!
Use this to learn japanese :D
http://www.youtube.com/user/bumnumba1
Student
Nice, octopus. Have you eaten one alive? They say you gotta swallow it down quickly or else itll get stuck to the roof of your mouth, and it hurts. I'm not interested in trying though :D