FluentU

Here's a useful-looking site from links to useful Japanese learning sites from Benny's Fluent in 3 Months.

Trick

Something else to take a look at . . . on Kissasian

Need good music

Even better is the Flower Travellin' Band

Random sites for Japanese listening

Maremoreo

Pingbacks

Never knew what Pingbacks were until a couple of minutes ago.

They occur frequently in the comments section of AJATT posts.

It seems that they are when other sites link back to AJATT. WHen you click them, they may lead to other useful sites - such as this one. (42 hacks for learning Japanese)

Ken Takakura

I believe that I could get into speaking by emulating Ken Takakura. He did a lot of films and a lot of music.

The Mops!

Here's a radio program to listen to too.

Kanji Review

Learning languages like Japanese and Chinese requires a certain degree of application. You need to get the writing system under control first. And for that an SRS (Spaced Review System) is recommended.

I've had mixed results with them. I tried Anki, but I couldn't easily figure out how to 'drive' the thing. I seemed to be driving blind when I used it.

Then someone recommended Reviewing the Kanji to me, and it works much better.

I still get into backlog situations from time to time. But that's my own doing.

(Write about the human need to get small wins rather than be daunted by large goals [see AJATT])

Izumi Pinko

I had a link below to the movie Granny Gabai with Izumi Pinko on the leading role, but that account was closed.

Instead, I've embedded a playlist from another movie of the same story.

Day 18

Last night I got into old Japanese music on Youtube. Enka, I suppose. It's good to have on in the background.

Hey, check out the album cover that turned up when I did an Enka image search!

Day 17

 It's Sachi's 6th birthday today. My treat was to view Saints Young Men. It's really very funny.

Day 16

Read the following book from Jonan library.

Day 15

Powerful listening:



 Follows on from a pdf of the autobiography of the author author of Hadashi no Gen that I discovered.

Day 14

I'll just post a few useful links.
First is News in Slow Japanese
Second, I discovered a useful-looking kanji site.
Third, here's a kanji quizz
Finally, it's useful to search Youtube for 映画
p.s. might this be a way to find Japanese Vlogs?
Sentence reading practice

Day 13

Following on from yesterday, you get used to another language through exposure. And exposure involves, intensity, duration, acceptance and type of exposure. And so you try to optimize those factors.

I don't think that you can do this by a formula. It is more of an art. You need to use to use your intuition as to how to go about it. Which is on a day-by-day, case-by-case. Individualized too, it goes without saying.

I like the AJATT (All Japanese All the Time) quote:

You don't know learn a language, you live it. You don't learn a language, you get used to it.

Day 12

Let's talk about reading. Let's talk about books.

I've always loved to read much more than listen. That was may portal into Dutch, and later back into English. Children's stories, Fairy Tales, the Narnian Chronicles, Science Fiction . . .

I firmly agree with Stephen Krashen's ideas on compulsive reading.

That said, I find myself not enjoying reading as much as I used to. No doubt tastes change. Naturaly I'm not as interested in children's stories. Diminishing eyesight pays a role. It's a nuisance to have to use reading glasses. You get out of the habit too.

So what are the considerations as regards reading Japanese material?

At present, I like the idea of completing a book, so it needs to be quite short. I quickly get frustrated when I don't understand enough (not everything) or when the font is too small.

I'm Going Camping by Akiko Hayashi, 1984

The content needs to be interesting. The plot and the sentences ought to be straightforward. Five lines of text on a page feels just right. Illustrations every alternate page are useful. The above book worked well for me yesterday. If I want to be succeeding in 'reading' a book in the conventional manner, then this is the level it needs to be at for me.

Other books can work too, but it requires more care and attention. Books at a higher level need to be tackled appropriately. You need to have a doable task in mind for each one, depending on the book itself. You need scanning and skimming tasks, i+1word and sentence extraction, underlining of known content etc.

Tackle each book on a case by case basis, it seems to me. Take a look at it and decide: How can I use this to improve my language knowledge most quickly and most enjoyably by using this?

Days 10 & 11

I'm no longer sticking rigidly to my initial system. I'll just try and do Japanese as often as possible. (I think I've already mentioned that . . .)

I learned that you can find all sorts of interesting material on Youtube - and possibly elsewhere - by searching with 朗読. Here's YouTube's page.

What else? I learned that Khatzumoto is really very ishoukenmei with his listening advice. I really can't see myself pursuing Japanese to that extent.

And finally, I picked up a useful Snoopy paperback that has both English and Japanese. It only cost 88 yen. And there are plenty more where that came from.

Day 9

Let's look at the Lingq site today.
Specifically, I'd like to list all the video clips in Japanese that Steve Kaufmann has made.
I can refer my students to them, and I can listen to them myself!

言葉の勉強の７つ秘密

多読多聴。言葉の勉強の近道

効果的言葉の勉強。まず苦労しないこと！

なぜ英語が難しいか？

どう勉強する？

どうして英語を流暢に話せないでしょうか?

  Update

This exercise was taking up too much time, so I sent a message to Mr Kaufmann asking him to create a Japanese playlist. He has promised to do so!

 

 

 

 

 

Day 8

As expected, I forgot to write about Harry Potter yesterday. I'll do so now.
The Harry Potter series is easily available in Japan (in Japanese). At BookOff I have seen brand new copies still in their original wrapping in hardback for as little as 100 yen.

But I only have the first volume. I have it in English too. But the best thing is that I have on my computer the Japanese audio. Together they make up what I call my 3 Sacred Treasures!

To date, I've tried several things with them:

• Copy out the sentences of one chapter, the simplest sentence from each page
• Highlighted the sentences that I understood until the whole page/chapter is highlighted
• Listen to the Japanese while I follow the English text by eye

Day 7

I won't record each 11-minute activity element so compulsively. I'll just expose myself to as much Japanese as possible, in as many different ways as I like, while having fun.

Today, I discovered an entire drama (2) on the Lingq site. And I can see it on YouTube too.

Day 6

And it's still Day 6 as I write (in the evening). That's good, because tomorrow I won't remember what I did today!

So what did I do of significance? At Kumamoto Library (in the middle of the city opposite the Indian restaurant) I discovered that they have a whole section of listening material--CDs and tape casettes--not only of music but of stories/books. I had never seen an audiobook in a Japanese library before this day, so this was a real find. I was so exited that I lingered there too long and Sachi grew frightened that I had abandoned her!

I even noticed a CD set of the first Harry Potter novel. Luckily I already have those on my computer. Tomorrow I'll tell you how I'm going about using that resource.

(If I remember . . .)

Day 5

Today I've gotten more into my program of varied Japanese exposure. YouTube is a great resource for learning Japanese too. Here's a documentary about the Hawaiian Grand Champion, Akebono.

Day 4

Yesterday I added TV, radio  and podcasts to my chosen activities. Perhaps instead of adding another category, I'll combine these with Vlogs & Blogs.

Oh yes, I discovered a great drama series that I began watching on www.kissasian.com It is called Platonic.

Day 3

Day 3 was yesterday. It went well.

I'm not studying the language. No grammar etc. I'm just trying to expose myself to Japanese, as often as I can, a little at a time. I'm trying to get into the habit of doing a number of things that I've been meaning to but haven't as yet.

My philosophy is the closest to Khatzumoto. This is his site: AJATT. Its approach is similar to Antimoon.

I am also impressed with Steve Kaufmann at Lingq (which is how I come to be following this challenge). The academic I most admire in this field is Stephen Krashen.

Day 2

It's only morning as I write this. Therefore, I have not yet completed my second day of the 90-day Japanese challenge. So I must be keen!

Anyway, yesterday I did 6 of the 11 activities. But I did double doses of some of them. So today I make sure to kick off with the activities that I missed. Gotta get them all up and running. Thereafter, I'll explain each of them in turn, and link to their resources.

That's all for now I need to rush . . .