I'm a new student of Japanese; I have only been "actively" studying for a couple of months. It is difficult to find time to study since I am a single mother of four and I have a demanding full-time job. I am confident with hiragana and am trudging along with katakana. For some reason, I don't have the same motivation with it that I did with hiragana and so I haven't been as dutiful in learning it. I really need to focus and get it done. I know the meanings of about 20 kanji, but am not proficient with their readings. I explain all of this so you know where my proficiency level is.
I've invested a bit of time downloading some podcasts onto my iPod so I can listen to them when I drive. Unfortunately, my commute to work is only about ten minutes! Some days I can listen at work, but not often since my phone rings as though possessed. I have looked for other tools that will help me, some of which have been a lot of fun. I found a set of refrigerator magnets on eBay that are the hiragana characters. I put them on a magnetic board in my office and spelled random things with them, telling my co-workers they said things like, "Get out of my office!" Acually, they were words like "soba" and "ramen." And, yes, I am always hungry.
Today I was checking out some things on YouTube and came across this series of videos:
This may not be useful to everyone, and may be too simplistic for some, but it was useful to me. I like that they translated phrases into English using Japanese sentence structure. That helps visual learners.
I hope to begin a real-live Japanese course in August, with plans to pursue additional Japanese studies in school. I spent a lot of years as mommy and wife and never finished my college degree, so now, at 41 years of age, I am going back to college. It will be a challenge, especially since my oldest daughter will be starting college this year, too! But I like challenges, and if my employment history is a good indicator, I achieve the greatest success when put to the test. And speaking of tests, I set a personal goal of taking the JLPT4 this December. Pass or fail, that will be a big step and test of not just my learning, but of my commitment to learning. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted of my progress!
I've invested a bit of time downloading some podcasts onto my iPod so I can listen to them when I drive. Unfortunately, my commute to work is only about ten minutes! Some days I can listen at work, but not often since my phone rings as though possessed. I have looked for other tools that will help me, some of which have been a lot of fun. I found a set of refrigerator magnets on eBay that are the hiragana characters. I put them on a magnetic board in my office and spelled random things with them, telling my co-workers they said things like, "Get out of my office!" Acually, they were words like "soba" and "ramen." And, yes, I am always hungry.
Today I was checking out some things on YouTube and came across this series of videos:
This may not be useful to everyone, and may be too simplistic for some, but it was useful to me. I like that they translated phrases into English using Japanese sentence structure. That helps visual learners.
I hope to begin a real-live Japanese course in August, with plans to pursue additional Japanese studies in school. I spent a lot of years as mommy and wife and never finished my college degree, so now, at 41 years of age, I am going back to college. It will be a challenge, especially since my oldest daughter will be starting college this year, too! But I like challenges, and if my employment history is a good indicator, I achieve the greatest success when put to the test. And speaking of tests, I set a personal goal of taking the JLPT4 this December. Pass or fail, that will be a big step and test of not just my learning, but of my commitment to learning. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted of my progress!
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