I did abysmally in my online placement test this past week. Maybe my goal should be to start out as the absolutely worst student in the cohort and work towards the “Most Improved” award.
My study partner was kind. She texted me:
“That just means there are things to learn!
If you are already good at Japanese, you don’t need me! Thank you for giving me chance to help you:heart: It’s always fun to talk and learn with you!”
Study this past week:
Refold App - log daily study activities
WaniKani - slogging along, I’m close to leveling up to 4
Absolute Beginner Book club - Week 2, started working out the story. This week I’m not going to read the club notes until after I’ve read the story.
Weekly session with Japanese language partner - Reviewed all of the kanji I’ve learned so far in WK and worked on pronunciation.
Input from native language content - Netflix, (Jin, Midnight Diner, Gundam III ) YouTube - Review of N5 exam questions.
Grammar - 1 episode from Kaname Naito
Will add kana writing practice back in. The placement exam had dictation and my recall of specific kana, especially katakana, was not great.
Received my placement results this week. No suprise, I will be in level 1. Thanks to WK I’ll have some kanji under my belt.
Had a Zoom call with my husband’s cousins in Tokyo last night. They wanted to be sure I had everything I needed and someone local to contact if there is a problem.
Study this past week:
Refold App - log daily study activities
WaniKani - slogging along, leveled up to 4 this past week
Absolute Beginner Book club - Week 3, I’m losing interest in the story. I’ll review the story with my language partner this week.
Weekly session with Japanese language partner - Reviewed vocabulary and pronunciation. Talked quite a bit about onomotopia and she sent me some study material.
Input from native language content - Netflix, (Jin, Midnight Diner, Gundam III )
Reviewed a couple level A Pimsleur episodes on some longer drives
10 weeks of class, not including days off for national holidays or Obon. Language class is from 12:30pm - 4:30pm M-F (or is that 火-土? )
There are also culture classes an hour before language class and field trips on at least half the Saturdays. Supposedly there are also special interest clubs, like calligraphy. I’m crossing my fingers that there is a food/cooking club.
I’ll be in Japan for the full 90 day visa. I’ll probably split the last two weeks between Fukuoka and Osaka.
Sounds like so much fun! Look forward to hearing more about it if you get any time to post updates here. Food is such a good way to get to know a country (maybe that’s just me liking to eat…) so that would be high up my list too.
After all, if “you are what you eat” applies to individuals, it should also apply to countries and cultures! Therefore, one of the ways to know a country – is to try its food!
Or maybe it’s just me liking to eat too
“I leave for Japan tomorrow,
Bet your bottom dollar, that tomorrow there’ll be fun!
Just thinking about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow 'til there’s none…”
(Sung to Tomorrow from the musical “Annie”)
Anyway, Study this past week:
Refold App - log daily study activities - the main reason I stayed focused enough to study something
WaniKani - slogging along, i keep reminding myself that every time I get something wrong, it’s helping my brain remember it better for next time.
Absolute Beginner Book club - Week 4, didn’t open the book
Weekly session with Japanese language partner. Reviewed phrases from previous 10 weeks.
Input from native language content - Netflix, (Jin, Midnight Diner, Dragonball Z, see Japanese Cinema note below)
Katakana writing practice, including vocab
Started an online class at the University of Washington (Seattle) on Japanese Cinema. JAPAN 325 I’m hoping it will help me understand the culture a bit better. It’s already helped with some history.
My bags are packed and I’m ready to leave 0-dark thirty to get to the airport.
WaniKani - slogging along. Very happy that even at a level 4 I can understand some of the signs while I’m walking around Tokyo. Even the radicals are coming in handy. I saw the kanji for foot in the sign for a podiatrist. Small win.
Absolute Beginner Book club - that’s going on hold for awhile
Weekly session with Japanese language partner. Asked a bunch of questions mainly related to getting my apartment sorted, trash, where to buy things.
Input from native language content - see Japanese Cinema note below
Katakana writing practice, including vocab
Japanese Cinema. JAPAN 325 watched Ozu Yasujirō, “I Was Born, But…” (1932); Mizoguchi Kenji, “Osaka Elegy” (1936) and Watch Mizoguchi Kenji, “47 Ronin” (1941). All are available on The Criterion Channel and YouTube, though the translations are better on The Criterion Channel.
Class starts today. 3 days a week 1.5 hr language support, 5 days a week 4 hours in class speaking and grammar. 6 field trips to various locations.
My world has changed. 23+ hours/week classroom time. It’s pretty fast-paced. As in, “drinking from a firehose.”
Weekly session with Japanese language partner: Reviewed dialogs from week.
Hiragana test - passed, but my penmanship needs improvement. Second test on Wednesday.
Katakana writing practice, test tomorrow, follow-up test Thursday.
Grammar this week: AはBです, greetings, weather, から, relative time expressions, ます/ません, ordering food, numbers (counters for things, floors of a building, yen), basic food vocab, basic clothing vocab, relative positions (in front/behind/next to)
LOTS of homework
squeezing in some WaniKani when I have some time. I’ve cut way back on new lessons in an attempt to keep things manageable.
JAPAN 325 Started watching Ozu Yasujirō’s “Tokyo Story” (1953). Pretty slow movie.
Trip to Hakone to visit Odawara Castle and a Kamaboko (fish cake) Museum. Made/ate fish cakes at the museum.
Four additional language support sessions explaining the online study tools (everything outside of English language support sessions is in Japanese), school philosophy, exam/vacation schedules, homework schedules, grading, school/library hours, office hours, etc.
Thank gawd for Google Translate. I still think my head is about to explode.
Woo well done - survived the first week! That’s got to be the hardest right? Or at least the most confusing. Simultaneously jealous and also happy to not be trying to force that much into my brain in such a short space of time. You’ll make tonnes of progress in the weeks you’re there though.
Only in Japan would you make fishcakes in a museum. Sounds great. Hakone was beautiful when we visited (but v wet so we didn’t get out much).
Generally, very friendly, though for the beginner level, it’s tough to communicate much with limited Japanese. There is lots of “cheating” in native languages in the hallways and student lounge. The more advanced students manage much better. Most of the students at the school are Chinese, a handfull of S. Koreans, a handfull of Americans, a couple Australians and a woman from Wales. The ages are all over the map. There are a couple around 15-16, high school students, college students, a fair number of software engineers and a bio-engineer who want to work in Japan, a few people who want to go into the foreign service. I met one gal who has a specialty of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and needs some experience understanding Japanese speakers better. Lots of Anime/Manga fans.
Most of the beginner level Americans are only staying for the short session. Maybe they know something I don’t know… I don’t know about the distribution of Chinese or Korean students. Ask me again after mid-terms because that’s the end of the short session.
)
sorry sorry couldn’t help myself)
