First off, puppy is okay! (My pillow has been disemboweled, but that’s nothing in comparison to daydream-nightmares of someone breaking in and murdering the puppy. I am not mentally okay )
JLPT. Obviously I can’t say anything about specific questions/answers. But even outside of that it was a lot. Even things that shouldn’t matter were getting to me, like the ginormous cemetery between the train station and the uni. I mentioned in the JLPT thread, but I spent the last two minutes of the first test desperately refilling in all my answers in panic that I hadn’t pressed my pencil down enough to completely obscure the numbers. I realised when starting the second test, that I forgot to refill the numbers for my DoB and registration number. This is fine . Oh, and my middle name is long and difficult to spell, so I for every test the invigilator said to start before I finished filling in all my details.
Listening was a nightmare. At first they played the recording too loud, and even though it got turned down during the audio test, I was still flinching a bit every time the bell played. In the middle of one of the questions, the CD just stopped. Even with practicing on my breathing I felt like a panic. Like, “oh no, it stopped, that’s not a normal pause between words, do the invigilators realise it’s stopped? All the screens are blank, has there been a powercut? how long is this gonna last? Am I gonna be late getting home to Betty? It’s already been over 6 hours, what if she’s had an accident, or she got hurt? My breathing is too obvious. Will I get disqualified if my breathing to calm down is too obvious?” and just on and on and on. It was fixed within a couple minutes. Betty is alive and well.
I’m confident I got enough on the non-listening sections to pass, I’m just worried whether my test sheet is valid. Listening… If I have passed, it is only because I practiced with so many penguin videos.
There was a water fountain at the place. This was useful because tap water at home is currently not safe to drink I wish I’d brought a loud of empty bottles with me. The walk back to the train station felt a lot shorter than the walk to the exam, probably because I knew which was to walk and wasn’t having to keep an eye out for road signs. (For reference, this wasn’t a complicated journey. It was turn left when leaving the train station, turn right onto University Road, keep walking straight until I find the Bob building.)
Anyway, onto my weekly update. And by “weekly” I mean both this week and last week because I was having a nothing last week.
SRS
WK Lessons:
対策:じっくり対策考えてよ。
価値観:人間の価値観が通用しない生き物だから。
応援団:応援団の方がいらしてますよありがとうございます。
製:製品・制作・木製
受:
担ぐ:消防署員は人を担いで助ける。
閉:I’ve seen this in 閉める and such
床:今床に座っています。
Can’t copy paste this radical, but it’s the last one of Lv24!
井戸:all the anime sentences come from someone who’s name is 黒井戸
燃:looks very firey
違い:動力の性能が違い過ぎ
Listening
penguins #57 & #58.
Listening is an absolute pain, because adverts, but I decided that’s what I’m doing today so that’s what I’m doing. I’m starting with penguin #59. I finished with penguin #66. The new(ish) format of giving the answer immediately after asking the question has made me better at answering quickly, which will be good so that I can focus on the next question almost immediately as well. I hope.
Watching episode 3 of とんでもスキル. I made spaghetti yesterday and have plenty of leftovers, but I already started defrosting my maccy cheese for tonight. I’m not sure how much of this anime I’m properly understanding, but it’s probably fine.
Next, listening to some Comprehensible Japanese videos:
紙を使ってする動作 - more interactive than expected. I now know やぶています.
アリとキリギリス
動物当てクイズ - へびがかっこいいよ
Listening penguins #67 to 70.
Listening (which I’m supposed to be doing everyday but I have not been doing that) to penguin videos. From #71 to #75.
Finished with penguins #76 to #83. It was a pain. I keep having issues with youtube (even after I turn adblock off) and it wouldn’t load videos and then one was quiet so I turned the volume up and the next tried to deafen me. Not fun. However, I heard a cat in the background of #81, so that is fun.
I did not realise #83 onwards were such longer videos. They normally have 2-4 questions. This one had 20. My brain is melting and I’m hungry. But I got them all right, so even if I’m hungry and my brain is melting on Sunday, I will be okay.
Reading
I decided to read some クーク today.
The page before the contents panicked me with it’s lack of furigana. I have now realised it is a message to the guardians of the kids who read this book. As an adult, I am my own guardian, so therefore this is addressed to me, and therefore I should read it. From the first sentence it’s just copyright stuff (though I misparsed 転載 as 転戦) so I cannot be arsed to translate it in full XD
Today is reading day, and I’ve not yet done any reading this week, so I gotta catch up with all my book clubs. (Though, techinically I’ve got time for that tomorrow and Saturday as well).
フリーレン notes:
Read the first panel, looked up 海峡, realised I never asked any questions about last week. I should. I know I should. Can’t be arsed right now though.
Page 150
So, we’re at a beach where shipwrecks often wash up. There used to be a group of people from the village who would maintain the beach together, but recently there hasn’t been enough people so that got neglected. The old guy is sad because the water used to be very beautiful.
(I’m alternating between reading a page and looking at last weeks thread, my first question was answered already.) Just keeping tally here. Questions on 133 (x2, first answered), 135, 137, maybe some others
Page 151
All of the old people in this shrink, so Heiter was weird for being an exception.
At first I was thinking, clearing this beach for some magic sounds like Frieren’s MO so far, but would she even do it for a fake magic? I’m not sure, I guess I’ll find out.
Page 152
I kinda stuck on the first panel. First it looks like Frieren is saying she’s heard about this person’s studying before, but then saying this book is a badly made fake? Argh, let’s do this line by line.
Frieren: was said, [this] street/passage/route the ships sailed down, is studying, right?
Frieren: It’s great/awful, Fern.
Frieren: To Franme (Flanme?)'s writings, without real thing.
Frieren: This is also a bad quality forgery.
For that first sentence I’m thinking [This route that was said, someone is studying it] perhaps implying that Fern should have been studying what people have said about this route. The second is not helped by ambiguous contradictory words. The third maybe suggesting there are no real versions of this Franme’s work. The fourth calls this book a badly made fake. I’m a little stuck on how these sentences connect to each other. ASK ABOUT THIS
Fern: But then why did you agree to do this?
Frieren: Because it looks like they were troubled, right?
Fern: [it is just good intentions] doesn’t appear likely.
Clunky, but Fern is saying Frieren has an ultireor motive.
Frieren: Yes.
Frieren: This is for my own sake.
Fern: We’ll be staying here for a long time again, won’t we.
Page 153
Three month time skip?
Page 154
Fern’s having a little grumble over how she tidied up just yesterday and it’s already a mess again.
Frieren is not a morning person
Page 155
So, Frieren is sleepy head and Fern is calling her undisciplined I think is the most appropriate of those meanings.
I’ve spent an hour and a half reading this far and making questions for last week. Pausing this there for today.
Read しろくまカフェ, learnt the very important word 共食い.
Then ごくまのクーク物語. Actually read actual pages, hooray. However, I didn’t quite process that this would have many more words than manga. Each individual sentence was easy enough, though every time I turned the page my brain kinda went “AH! More words!” I didn’t finish it, but I read a good chunk
Intensive Reading
お買い得品 = good bargain. 買い from 買い物 makes sense. The word is お+買い得+品. お for politeness, 買い得 is bargain (shopping benefit → it’s beneficial to buy something you need when it’s cheaper → when it’s a bargain), and 品 is the product. I’ve overcomplicated this.
掃除 is the kanji form of そうじ = cleaning. It’s level 31 on wanikani. The kanji are 掃 and 除. 掃 is a level 31 kanji that means sweep. 除 is a level 31 kanji that means exclude. Dirt is excluded from the house, so you sweep it away. That process is cleaning.
詳しく is from 詳しい which is level 17 on wanikani and I should have already known it. It’s enlightened and up for review in 4 days. I may or may not fail it on purpose.
I’ve vaguely come across Vながら before, but I’m not comfortable with it yet. Read Tofugu article. There are two articles on different uses, but this is the one that matched context. The bit at the end about how it can’t be separate people is important so I will try to remember it. The other important thing is that the ながら is an aside to the main part of the sentence.
音楽を聞きながら、勉強します。
While listening to music, study. However, the focus is on the studying, even though that part of the sentence is shorter. It’s not just “I’m studying and listening to music at the same time,” it’s “I’m studying, and while I study I’m also listening to music on the side.”
勉強します =/= 勉強しています。So more accurate would be that “In general, when I study, I do so while listening to music.”
コーヒーを飲みながら、仕事をしています。
Again, the focus is on the working. The order of the sentence makes it feel like “I’m drinking coffee, and while I do that I might get a bit of work in.” I need to remember it is the opposite. “I’m working, and while I’m working I’ll drink some coffee.”
Error in the book (!)
Sentence: I talk while taking a walk.
Translation: 笑いながら、話をした。
First let’s attempt to see what the Eng->Jap should be. 散歩しながら、話します。Personally I think the focus should be on the walking, but this is the pattern the other (English) sentences in the book took, with the main action first and the ながら action second.
Now the Japanese sentence. 笑いながら = while laughing. 話をした doesn’t seem to make sense. 話をした is past tense of to have a talk / to tell a story. Then it becomes, “I tell a story while laughing.” Only the 話 kanji and ながら grammar pattern are in common between the sentences.
At the very least, the extra effort should have this in my brain now.
Grammar
Did the next bunpro lesson. This lesson had more grammar points that I kind of know but am shakey on, so I went over them extra carefully. I like that bunpro explains how it got there rather than just, this is the meaning now remember it.
Finished going through all the N5 bunpro grammar. I need to go back to making my own flashcards while I study because this isn’t really working. I should probably just drop bunpro now. I’m being stubborn about wanting to keep at it until the free trial is over.
I watched 1 grammar video this evening Absolute Beginner’s #19, so now I can watch 5 tomorrow and 5 the day after.
Japanese Ammo with Misa videos AB#20, AB#21, AB#22, from the Absolute Beginner Playlist.
N5 cram video. It’s called a cram, but it’s just a load of JLPT style questions. I mixed up 閉める and 閉まる but other than that all good. Then this ない form one I tried to pay attention to but I was getting tired.
More Japanese Ammo with Misa videos. ない, かなった, すべて vs ぜんぶ vs みんな vs ずっと, Verbs, Zodiac. I don’t think that last one was too relevant for tomorrow but it was the last one in the N5 playlist.
Daily Rambling
六月月曜日:
My support worker helped me figure out trains to the JLPT next month, so that’s one less thing to worry about.
六月火曜日:
GOOD NEWS! My house application got accepted so (as long as I don’t fail references, fingers crossed) I’ll be able to move out of the house my current landlord didn’t get the planning permission for! HOORAY! I’m a little too hyped to get back to reading so I’m taking a short break to be happy and get all the paperwork stuff sorted and may or may not return.
六月水曜日:
Today is busy busy. Mostly good news, but I’m too restless to sit down and study properly.
got wk done, also annoyed my sister because I kept saying random Japanese words outloud while watching anime with her.
六月木曜日:
Brain melting, technically did everything I set out to do. Gotta finish フリーレン and クーク tomorrow and after.
六月金曜日:
I did not study. I binged Dungeon Meshi. Now I want to read the manga, which I own, but is difficult. (Future me here to say I read the manga in English, I binged the second half yesterday)
七月月曜日:
no
七月火曜日:
ill
七月水曜日:
25 wanikani reviews
七月木曜日:
I got through over 100 of my wanikani reviews, and I don’t think 86% accuracy is bad considering I took several days off. I’ll have about 60 to finish off tomorrow morning. Good thing about going slow is I don’t get thousands upon thousands of backlog if I take a break.
Anyway, I was thinking, as I often do, and I was spending far too much time on SRS. I would like to not do that. The 15 minutes I did today felt like plenty. But that could just be because I’m tired.
Right. I have just a few days until the exam so actually I should really go onto N5 revision mode. Meaning. Penguin N5 practising videos. N5 grammar playlists. That N5 sentence book I was intensively reading. Technically wanikani is not necessary, but I’ll do a little of it anyways.
So, in the next two days (and maybe a little this evening) I have 11 grammar videos, 20 penguins, and 35 pages of sentences.
七月日曜日:
Today! I did JLPT. I read N5 sentence book on train away, not intensively, but I finished it. I did wanikanis on train home.
In Summary
12 Wanikani Lessons
27 Penguin Videos
1 Anime Episode (w/o eng sub)
3 Comprehensible Japanese
54 Pages of Reading
25 Bunpro Grammar Points
11 Japanese Ammo With Misa Grammar Videos
Time: 18 hours
Counting these two weeks as one makes it look a lot better than it is. If all that was halved, it’d be terrible. I’ve got a lot going on next week, so I’m just gonna focus on wanikani, and reading, and listening. (Why did I join two daily challenges and start a “book” club?) My point is, I’m not gonna stress about trying to study 5/6 hours every day.
June finished at some point. I completed all but one of my goals within June, and finished the last this past week. For July, my goal is to catch up / keep pace with book clubs (and anime club, and 軌跡 club). In August I’ll probably go back to JLPT先生 for grammar, it doesn’t annoy me like Bunpro did. I probably will want to take the N4 at next year, even if it is stress. ANYWAY I’ll figure all that out later. I think I’ve rambled enough here