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 . . .

Day 1

I'm starting with 11 activities that I'll try and average 11 minutes per day on. They are:

1. Reviewing the Kanji according to Heisig
2. Reading Manga
3. Watching Anime
4. Browsing Lingq
5. Doing Slow Radio
6. Reading from 'top' books (will describe these in a future post)
7. Shadow Japanese mp3s (starting out with Mami reading HNT)
8. Collecting i+1 sentences on a 30-day revolving calendar (explanation in the future)
9. Harry Potter audiobook
10. Berlitz tapes
11. Explore Japanese Blogs and Vlogs online

Taking up the challenge

Starting September 1, 2015, I'm going to join in Steve Kaufmann's 90-day challenge (see below). My Japanese could do with a serious boost, so this is a golden opportunity. Mr Kaufmann has done challenges of this nature before. I still regret not taking part at the time of his Korean challenge, so this time I'm committing myself (no jokes about institutions here, please!).

First, I need a plan. Here it is:

I like variety, so I'm going to be engaging in 11 different activities an average of 11 minutes per day. Why that format? Well, it totals just over 2 hours in total. Eleven by eleven just appeals to my mathematical brain.

Japanese viewing log

27/12/14 Hal on KissAnime 9/10, 1 hour

I really like the Futatsu no Spica manga and anime

Baby Steps

As well as Manga, I feel that Anime may be an even better tool that I could use to learn Japanese. I stumbled on Baby Steps today. It seems ideal for a number of reasons. 

Baby Steps has good reviews. It is freely available. (e.g. Mangapanda).The spoken language is clear and 'everyday', the characters are interesting and not over-the-top. I can relate to the slightly nerdy academic main character and his eventual infatuation with tennis. I can read the original manga (in English) alongside. Plus, I'm sure that I can buy it (in Japanese) from the local Book.Off. 

What more could I want?

Below: the first episode that someone uploaded onto Youtube

Jin is my new favorite

Jin is a word that means 'person'. 

It is also the name of a manga that you can read in English. I have the first 20 volumes of the series that I bought for just $10. 

Watanabe is weird

I'm not sure about Watanabe. An alien from 20,000 light years away comes to Earth to do a study. He needs a home stay. Speaks perfect Japanese too. 

At least, it's possible to access this story in English which could help. What to do--give it a 6/10 pending further 'study'?