Quick update about my time in Japan and about this site
The bad news is that I didn't get the Kindergarten job (nor two other jobs) I applied for. They liked me, but someone with more experience applied for the job. Not hard, since I have zero experience teaching. I've had some really positive feedback from IT and teaching interviews but either my lack of Japanese, lack of experience or this recession has been a barrier.
So I've decided to contact a few people, pretend I am a wealthy foreigner looking to move my money out of Nigeria, offering them a percentage but first charging them for lost paperwork and bribes... just kidding. I'll be continuing to freelance (PHP, Wordpress templates, that kinda thing) until I can find something permanent. Who knows, the freelancing might take off and I'll never need to get a full time job. I've decided to look on freelancing more seriously since I think I could make a living from it. I may take some part-time work at GABA or a similar conversational school to fill in any gaps at a later date.
The other news is that I'm going to be taking this site in its originally intended direction which was to be a site about learning Japanese. I'll keep posting the personal updates, but I want the site to help myself and others learn Japanese, not be a monologue of my daily life in Japan. It should also help to be the kick up the butt that I need to continue learning on a daily basis. It's all too easy to skip a day, and a day turns into a week.
GoddessCarlie said on Mon 2009/02/16 23:11 JST:
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get the job, but hope that your freelance stuff takes off because that would be awesome!
I am looking forward to hearing more about your Japanese Language adventures. Sharing, motivating (myself and others) and keep a record of my language learning was one of my original motivators for starting my site too.
GoddessCarlie said on Mon 2009/02/16 23:24 JST:
That said, I love posts about your life in Japan as well!!
Chris Gaunt said on Mon 2009/02/16 23:47 JST:
lol ^^ thanks Carlie. I'll be sure to announce it on here in big bold capital letters once I find a job!
nicksan said on Tue 2009/02/17 03:26 JST:
Hey Chris,
Just come across your feed on Google Reader, and I thought it looks good so I've subscribed.
Nick
Chris Gaunt said on Tue 2009/02/17 03:34 JST:
Hi Nick,
Thanks for subscribing! Glad you like the site :)
Jamaipanese said on Sun 2009/02/22 16:43 JST:
keep the faith Chris
I am positive you will get a job soon!
rocketmanblamb said on Mon 2009/02/23 12:16 JST:
Hey Chris,
Funny, I commented earlier about the studying Kanji thing. I actually fell into a similar pattern as you, at about 140 I had a change in routine (took a week long motorcycle trip into northern Laos) and so my studying habits changed drastically. But I think I was warned a little by your experience and so decided to just scale wayyyy back, set Anki to only give me two new ones each day and generally I slowed way down.
Also, I read ahead in RTK and notice Heisig's warnings about how to apply the method correctly. He is really emphasizing making the story stick - and not relying on the inevitable "oh, but that one is easy for me to remember" habit that will surely hit you with some of them. Anyway, I got back into the Pimsleur thing too which I had slacked way off as well. Interesting to hear of your events. Hopefully I can update more on good study resources too... (off to Burma in a few days!)
Chris Gaunt said on Wed 2009/02/25 16:42 JST:
Hi rocketmanblamb,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I'm now doing 1 hour kanji and 1 hour grammar/reading a day so far, and it's working out a lot better. Trying to set myself a goal of 10-30 kanji a day just makes it into a job and drains all the fun out of it. Now if I find a kanji that is interesting I could spend 10 minutes researching it online, which helps to build a better story or just cement the kanji in my mind. I need to get back into Pimsleur too. I tried listening to it whilst working but I really need to sit down and work with it more.
