sharing my Japanese journey one coffee at a time
Currently it is the 紅葉 (こうよう) season in Japan, and I hear it’s a beautiful time to visit. Lately I have been pretty busy, so I would share some tips that helped me the most with staying on track with studying when I’m busy with other things such as work. *have a set number of… Continue reading Just a Little Bit of Balancing Life and Productivity Advice
Here is a brief overview of these textbooks and my random thoughts on them. Beginners Genki 1: *simple, but better to learn in a classroom setting because there’s a lot of group exercises*a lot of random words; starts off with really difficult kanji for some reason*Mary and Takeshi (enough said) Marugoto A2: *conversation/speaking focused *simple… Continue reading All the Japanese Textbooks I’ve Used Over the Past 4+ Years
Film pictured: 秒速5センチメートル (5 CM per Second) Today’s topic is improving those listening skills through keyword repetition and breaking down long words, getting the gist, and using different listening materials. *Keyword Repetition: When you first start listening to Japanese speech, I’m sure it all sounds like a big jumble. You don’t know when the sentence… Continue reading Improving Listening Tips
I think the first thing every beginner needs to do is CHANGE their mindset towards kanji. There seems to be a general fear or ugh feeling of starting out and not knowing everything. Well guess what, until you are N1 you probably won’t know all the common kanji and even then you might still not… Continue reading Demystifying Kanji ~ Beginner Kanji Learning Tips (and Where to Begin?)
Background Beginner Grammar First, you need understand that Japanese grammar needs to be broken down into Beginner and NOT-Beginner level (I thought about this a lot on how to explain it well). The beginner level focuses a lot on just understanding sentence order: subject particle object particle verb. It focuses on learning to different ways… Continue reading Tips for Learning Japanese Grammar
I think everyone knows Japanese is hard, but what I think they never tell beginners is just how hard it is (or extra it can be). Like everyone knows that there are 3 writing systems. I assume most people know that the verb and object switch places. But I think what never gets mentioned is… Continue reading For Beginners: What They Don’t Usually Tell You When You are Starting Japanese
I think that any language can be very exciting at first and then after a few weeks you realize it is harder than you initially anticipated, lose motivation, and quit. But Japanese especially provides a specially unique challenge. So many people I know personally have an interest in learning or started studying, but can’t make… Continue reading My Take on Study Motivation for Japanese
*Drop romaji NOW (the sooner the better) Romaji will get you nowhere, so better to let go it sooner rather than later. Hiragana and katakana are not that hard once you get of it. You won’t know how to pronounce things correctly it you aren’t aware of silent お, う, って, ん, etc. like in… Continue reading Beginner Tips for Learning Japanese
Location: Omotesando Misconceptions MYTH: If I go to x country, I will become conversational/fluent in that language (without studying) REALITY 1: If I go to that country WITHOUT studying the language at all, I will probably pick up some basic vocabulary, phrases, and greetings at best (unless you are amazing at language acquisition). You will… Continue reading All About Immersion: Myths and Methods
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