I took my first exam today and made a dumb mistake. I knew the answer was wrong; I just couldn't remember the correct answer. As I walked down the hallway from the testing center, I remembered the answer and was so angry at myself. It was too late to change it since I had already submitted my test to the proctor.
I went home and opened my book to study the next chapter and to prepare for my oral exam that I hope to take next week. One thing that is really making study difficult is that the text book frequently translates the example sentence into English just below the Japanese sentence. When I learned to read, many many years ago, I was taught to read 2-3 lines of text at a time. So my eye naturally goes to a block of text, rather than reading line by line. This is making study difficult because I am seeing the English translation at the same time. I've tried covering the English sentence, but in the time it takes to distinguish the English from the Japanese, I've already read the English. I never thought that my speed reading could become a detriment to learning. I suppose there are much worse problems to have :)
I realize that, even as early into my learning as I am, I need to read all of the examples in Japanese only, without translation, so that I can learn to think in Japanese. I don't want to get lazy in my thinking and translate everything to English. It's like studying two languages at once and slows down my progress.
Also, I am taking the class online, which presents a few challenges. Per the syllabus, I am not allowed to seek assistance from anyone other than the instructor or the assigned tutor. So, I am only able to ask questions during the official tutoring hours, which are pretty much all in the evening. Unfortunately, the evening is when I cook dinner, help my kids with their homework and get everyone ready for the next day. But, my kids are being very considerate and they try very hard not to disturb me while I'm online for class. The benefit to the online class is that I can proceed at my own pace, more or less. There are a few delays, such as waiting for papers and exams to be graded, but that's not bad.
Three of my other classes have begun, too, and I need to dedicate some time for them. I am much more concerned about the Japanese class since it is entirely new material, whereas the others are topics that I'm familiar with already. But, I need to make good grades in all of my classes, so I'm making a study schedule for myself.
That missed question on my exam is really bothering me.
I went home and opened my book to study the next chapter and to prepare for my oral exam that I hope to take next week. One thing that is really making study difficult is that the text book frequently translates the example sentence into English just below the Japanese sentence. When I learned to read, many many years ago, I was taught to read 2-3 lines of text at a time. So my eye naturally goes to a block of text, rather than reading line by line. This is making study difficult because I am seeing the English translation at the same time. I've tried covering the English sentence, but in the time it takes to distinguish the English from the Japanese, I've already read the English. I never thought that my speed reading could become a detriment to learning. I suppose there are much worse problems to have :)
I realize that, even as early into my learning as I am, I need to read all of the examples in Japanese only, without translation, so that I can learn to think in Japanese. I don't want to get lazy in my thinking and translate everything to English. It's like studying two languages at once and slows down my progress.
Also, I am taking the class online, which presents a few challenges. Per the syllabus, I am not allowed to seek assistance from anyone other than the instructor or the assigned tutor. So, I am only able to ask questions during the official tutoring hours, which are pretty much all in the evening. Unfortunately, the evening is when I cook dinner, help my kids with their homework and get everyone ready for the next day. But, my kids are being very considerate and they try very hard not to disturb me while I'm online for class. The benefit to the online class is that I can proceed at my own pace, more or less. There are a few delays, such as waiting for papers and exams to be graded, but that's not bad.
Three of my other classes have begun, too, and I need to dedicate some time for them. I am much more concerned about the Japanese class since it is entirely new material, whereas the others are topics that I'm familiar with already. But, I need to make good grades in all of my classes, so I'm making a study schedule for myself.
That missed question on my exam is really bothering me.
3 comments:
がんばって！
はい、がんばります！Thank you for visiting my blog and for the encouragement!
your an idiot who needs to be exterminated from Japan. leave that holy place its not for you.
go stick with your own suck ass country America
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