My Plan to Learn Japanese, pt. II ~ and a note about social distancing
About four months ago, I wrote my initial post about what I am doing to learn Japanese, and I think it is now time for an update. By the way, if any of you have ever been interested in learning a foreign language, why not use whatever extra time you have now? :) It doesn't have to be too much time; just try a little time to get yourself started. Even if you don't have the opportunity to meet with someone in person for language exchange, why not watch a video online to learn a foreign script? You can learn how to write and speak the basics of Hebrew, Arabic, Tagalog, Korean, Spanish, Italian, and more online! Many of the scripts and could be learned in a week or two (or a month for some; learning the written language of Japanese takes a bit longer), and you should be able to learn basic greetings such as hello, goodbye, thank you, and so on within just a few minutes, and then build from there!
Okay, well, the first thing I want to note about my language learning is that there are tons of resources for Japanese language learners and it is necessary to balance out the use of those resources. This is especially true in my case, because I am quite curious and end up collecting lots of resources but then occasionally spend too much time just taking minor steps with each of those resources... instead of focusing my time and energy on the best resources. So, I want to state up front that I probably have more resources than necessary, but overdoing it in this manner is also somewhat reflective of my style.
First, here's an update on my kanji learning. As I mentioned before, I have been using a website called WaniKani to learn kanji and vocabulary based on kanji. By now, I have gotten to the point where I have learned somewhere been about 700 and 820 kanji characters, and a good chunk are at a decent level, although not fully mastered and acquired. In addition, I've learned about three vocabulary words or so per kanji, so I've learned somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 vocabulary words to some degree. That just applies to this particular website, so the vocabulary number may be higher.
The trick, though, is getting to use those vocabulary words, acquire them, and activate them in my receptive and productive language skills. The biggest example of the utility of what I've learned, though, is that I am able to walk around town and recognize dentist offices and hospitals, and when I pick up forms or hear someone talk about my residence card, I know the topic of what they're saying.
But I have a long ways to go, and I've only been able to make very broken statements while interacting in Japanese with strangers.
So, of course, I'm also working on developing my grammar. To do so, the resources I've been using are a mix of resources, some online, some audio-based, and some text-based. [For this post, I'll just share three more resources, and then in a follow-up post I'll mention some more, with a focus on online resources.]
One resource in my toolkit is a set of CDs from the Michel Thomas Method. As far as the method itself, I don't want to get too much into how effective it is or any flaws it has - this isn't a full review - but I will say that it is helpful for helping me in my noticing and in my attempts at production and my overall comprehension. The CDs were loaned/given to me, and I've appreciated having them available. After a while, I'll go back and also use the Pimsleur Method Audio courses again, too. [In fact, I've actually been itching to do the Pimsleur CDs again... soon.]
Of course, it is useful to have a bit of structured learning as well. Thus, the two main textbooks I am using are Japanese for Busy People and Genki. These two have been around for a while, and they come well-recommended. There's a reason why I'm using both.
Japanese for Busy People is a fascinating textbook because it is all in kana! There's no kanji in the lessons; only hiragana and katakana. If I were only this textbook, I might feel as though I were missing something, but I have other resources for kanji so this aspect of the book is not too bad. In fact, in some ways the all kana on the page reminds me of the Korean texts I've studied (since hangeul is used sooo much more than hanja in Korean). There are three main reasons why Japanese for Busy People has been a useful book for me: 1) the grammar lessons are generally structured in achieve-able steps; 2) the grammar lessons help me notice structural elements; and 3) the book develops sentence fluency.
Genki is a helpful book because it scaffolds the learning process, it looks like Japanese (i.e., kanji are used regularly - with furigana - beginning about the 3rd unit or so), and the grammar explanations are fairly clear and easy to understand. If there's one complaint I have about the book, it's about the layout and the organization of the units. For one, the units take up multiple pages... and the grammar presentations are sometimes... separated... by pages... from ... the practice lessons. This is all well and good if you are studying in a classroom with an instructor who can present the information and direct your attention to the practice activities. For independent learners like me, however, I sometimes get lost and feel that I am wasting time by flipping page back and forth. Still, the example sentences are generally strong, and the audio content is overall very good and memorable. Genki's "characters" are engaging and their conversations are realistic and amusing. In February, I played the audio for my Japanese girlfriend and she laughed and said that it was funny! (It must be noted that this was because the audio captured an amusing situation; not because it was poorly designed but because it was well-designed)!
Both Genki and Japanese for Busy People have recently been teaching me more verb changes, and in particular, I'm trying to absorb the uses and techniques of the te-form of verbs. Due to other life factors and the trickiness of this form, I've slowed down in my grammar studies in the past week or so, but I'm inching along and hoping to press on again at a more steady pace soon....
In my next post on this topic, I'll address some of the other miscellaneous resources and websites I'm using and how those are helping me. That one should be fun! (hint: I recently watched Wayne's World...with the Japanese dub! hahaa!)
First, here's an update on my kanji learning. As I mentioned before, I have been using a website called WaniKani to learn kanji and vocabulary based on kanji. By now, I have gotten to the point where I have learned somewhere been about 700 and 820 kanji characters, and a good chunk are at a decent level, although not fully mastered and acquired. In addition, I've learned about three vocabulary words or so per kanji, so I've learned somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 vocabulary words to some degree. That just applies to this particular website, so the vocabulary number may be higher.
The trick, though, is getting to use those vocabulary words, acquire them, and activate them in my receptive and productive language skills. The biggest example of the utility of what I've learned, though, is that I am able to walk around town and recognize dentist offices and hospitals, and when I pick up forms or hear someone talk about my residence card, I know the topic of what they're saying.
But I have a long ways to go, and I've only been able to make very broken statements while interacting in Japanese with strangers.
So, of course, I'm also working on developing my grammar. To do so, the resources I've been using are a mix of resources, some online, some audio-based, and some text-based. [For this post, I'll just share three more resources, and then in a follow-up post I'll mention some more, with a focus on online resources.]
One resource in my toolkit is a set of CDs from the Michel Thomas Method. As far as the method itself, I don't want to get too much into how effective it is or any flaws it has - this isn't a full review - but I will say that it is helpful for helping me in my noticing and in my attempts at production and my overall comprehension. The CDs were loaned/given to me, and I've appreciated having them available. After a while, I'll go back and also use the Pimsleur Method Audio courses again, too. [In fact, I've actually been itching to do the Pimsleur CDs again... soon.]
Of course, it is useful to have a bit of structured learning as well. Thus, the two main textbooks I am using are Japanese for Busy People and Genki. These two have been around for a while, and they come well-recommended. There's a reason why I'm using both.
Japanese for Busy People is a fascinating textbook because it is all in kana! There's no kanji in the lessons; only hiragana and katakana. If I were only this textbook, I might feel as though I were missing something, but I have other resources for kanji so this aspect of the book is not too bad. In fact, in some ways the all kana on the page reminds me of the Korean texts I've studied (since hangeul is used sooo much more than hanja in Korean). There are three main reasons why Japanese for Busy People has been a useful book for me: 1) the grammar lessons are generally structured in achieve-able steps; 2) the grammar lessons help me notice structural elements; and 3) the book develops sentence fluency.
Genki is a helpful book because it scaffolds the learning process, it looks like Japanese (i.e., kanji are used regularly - with furigana - beginning about the 3rd unit or so), and the grammar explanations are fairly clear and easy to understand. If there's one complaint I have about the book, it's about the layout and the organization of the units. For one, the units take up multiple pages... and the grammar presentations are sometimes... separated... by pages... from ... the practice lessons. This is all well and good if you are studying in a classroom with an instructor who can present the information and direct your attention to the practice activities. For independent learners like me, however, I sometimes get lost and feel that I am wasting time by flipping page back and forth. Still, the example sentences are generally strong, and the audio content is overall very good and memorable. Genki's "characters" are engaging and their conversations are realistic and amusing. In February, I played the audio for my Japanese girlfriend and she laughed and said that it was funny! (It must be noted that this was because the audio captured an amusing situation; not because it was poorly designed but because it was well-designed)!
Both Genki and Japanese for Busy People have recently been teaching me more verb changes, and in particular, I'm trying to absorb the uses and techniques of the te-form of verbs. Due to other life factors and the trickiness of this form, I've slowed down in my grammar studies in the past week or so, but I'm inching along and hoping to press on again at a more steady pace soon....
In my next post on this topic, I'll address some of the other miscellaneous resources and websites I'm using and how those are helping me. That one should be fun! (hint: I recently watched Wayne's World...with the Japanese dub! hahaa!)
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