STRESS

well ive hit a deadlock.. i got to 5oo and started confusing all the kanji with each other.. ugh.. so ive stopped adding new kanji and im trying my best to work through it.. however im feeling very stressed out.. a few days ago my left eye started twitching incontrolably.. when i think of doing my kanji for the day it twitches more.. so i figure that might be the cause.. its very annoying especially because thats my good eye and its messing with my vision.. i can see the lower lid twitching away and its very distracting.. i cant sit and write many kanji because my hands will start to shake after about 30 or so.. because of the stress ive stopped with my strict schedule.. i dont think i could take the pressure.. ive been having trouble sleeping too.. even with my sleeping pills it takes me hours to fall asleep..

im not sure what i should do to stop the stress.. i already tried taking a week off from the kanji but if i take off another week i wont finish by september.. the reason i want to finish by september is because im going to try and go to a college level class for japanese.. i want to be able to learn the vocab words in full kanji.. i really need to pass the course.. that one course costs as much as my whole semester's tuition at community college.. so im feeling extra stress from that..

so far ive tried

*long baths

*taking a week off from kanji (this worsened the problem because when i started up again i felt worse.. and that was about the time my eye started twitching)

*going out to the movies and other fun things

*watching more tv

*exercizing (this caused my chronic pain to flare up bad and caused more stress)

*watching lots of comedy shows (this used to work well.. but not this time)

games and youtubevideos

well now for a post about games..
dont get excited im talking about study games.

my #1 pick is JRPG
its a fun little game to learn the pronunciations of the kana and kanji.
its a simple game but its really entertaining.. warning this game makes time fly so make sure that if you have to be somewhere that you set an alarm.. also this program and windows vista dont get along. its too bad because my next pick just isnt as fun for me..

my #2 pick is knuckles in chinaland
well this one is not as good in my opinion as JRPG.. its well made but i still like the other one better.. this game is a bit more complicated than JRPG.. oh and the name doesnt mean that it teaches chinese.. it teaches japanese.. so far im still on katakana in the game.. which is one of the reasons im unhappy with it.. it just isnt fast paced enough for me.. i hate the wandering around.. well supposedly it gets better as you advance in it.. its entertaining enough.. i do like how you can save your progress.

my #3 pick rossetta stone..

2 minutes in and you understand what i mean when i say its boring.. its pretty good if you can force yourself to use it.. i find it difficult to make myself do it..

my #4 pick slime forest

this one so far only teaches the meanings of the kanji.. i suppose it was fun for the first week or so.. its really not a bad way to drill the meanings.. but i dont play it anymore

ugh i wish i could remember the names of the other games ive tried

oh well on to youtube people

lets learn japanese (the youtube person not the video course i mentioned earlier)
expertvillage this teacher really explains things well.. i want to watch every video with her in it because she teaches very well.. she even pauses when she says to say something and then says 'good' after.. it really keeps me motivated.. i know that its recorded like that but it really feels like interaction with a real teacher.. she is by far my favorite
twlight76 here is a youtuber who's vids i sometimes watch right before i study the kanji on RevTK.. it goes to fast to really learn anything fropm but it sometimes helps to warm up my brain before exerting it.
speaking of videos that act as a warm up for my brain this one actually helps better as a warm up.. im not sure how it does it but after i watch it my reviews are always a higher percentage correct than when i dont watch it.. i would love to know why it works out like that..

so yeah thats all my tired brain can come up with today

mom sent me a birthday gift

she sent me 100$ i was really expecting like 25$ when she said she was sending a check

so far ive bought:

kanji power 5$

Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Script 4$

Kanji De Manga Volume 1) 4$

japanese particle workbook 14$

Read Real Japanese Fiction $16.94

The Kanji Handbook $23.94

250 Essential Kanji for Everyday Use, Volume 1) $7.71

********************************************************
ive saved ~ 94$ off list prices by buying online mostly used items..

i still have ~24$ left..

i cant wait until they arrive..

well the paper flashcards aren't working out so great.. it just takes too long..

i made a new schedule for myself.. the *starred* items are optional this month..

ill be starting tae kims grammar in may..

i wish i didnt have to go to my real classes.. they really cut into my japanese time..

so far today and yesterday ive stuck with this schedule.. i just finished a lesson in rosetta stone and im getting ready for lunch when i will watch 'lets learn japanese' ill also watch it when i take a bath later.. but theres no harm in watching an episode twice in a day.. however i dont think ill start a new episode in the bath because 2 episodes in a day might be too much for me..

i cant wait til summer arrives.. instead of new years resolutions i generally do summer resolutions.. this summer i want to complete RTK1 and start doing kanji chains and i want to have tae kim's grammar completed by the time school starts.. and i want to have finished 'lets learn japanese' season 1 and 2 and move on to the third installment of the series which is called Erin's challenge.. erin's challenge is for upper beginners to intermediate students according to the japan shop its sold with a text book so i guess i wont be doing it in the bath.. but a textbook might make it a better course.. so yeah my expectations are kind of high.. its almost impossible for me to get to upper beginner-intermediate by the time summer is over.. but ill give it my best..

i recently read a blog.. well i didnt read the whole thing but its called all japanese all the time..

well im not sure how much of it ill follow because giving up my friends and family who speak english would be too hard.. i live with my dad so its not like i can avoid him (nor would i want to) plus i go to school.. and i cant exactly stop going to lectures just because im trying to learn japanese.. i disagree with some of the things in the blog ive read.. for one there isnt any reason for me to start sleeping on a futon or doing everything at low tables.. i have a very bad back so i just dont think this is wise (i need more support when sleeping and sometimes i need help getting up when im on the ground).. plus quite alot of japanese households use beds instead of futons now.. and almost all the media i see has them sitting on western style furniture..

things i agree with would be watching as much japanese tv, movies and listening to as much music as possible.. i tried several languages before japanese.. and one day i get a demo cd of rosetta stone.. it graded me in every language they had.. for some reason i scored extremely well in japanese and terrible in every other language.. it took me a while to figure out the reason for my relative ease at learning japanese.. i had been watching TONS of japanese movies for years so i could just intuitively pick up some of the words and grammar.. the reason i was watching the japanese movies is because i have dyslexia so reading subtitles helped me up my reading speed and accuracy.. however blockbuster only had a small foreign section and when i started watching i was a kid so the only things that were kid appropriate that were subtitled were in japanese(anime).. i sort of cheated the second time i watched movies.. i had already read the subtitles once so i knew what was going on so i stopped reading them.. bad for my reading speed but apparently good for me picking up japanese without even knowing i was doing it.. however the knowledge i picked up was very basic.. so when i bought some textbooks and rosetta stone i ended up feeling like i hit a wall after a while.. suddenly what was easy is now as hard as it is with everyone else.. so now ive got to work at it much harder.. and it is slow going..

oops its time for lets learn japanese.. see you later

video courses 4/19/09

well i think im going to start back up with 'lets learn japanese'
i was put off by the directions episode with the taxi.. so i ended up not watching it for months.. but i have found that skipping that part of the episode hasnt hurt me.. now dont get me wrong... its important to know right from left but it took me like 12 years to learn it in english and i still mess up if i dont twitch my right hand..

i love the videos because of the teaching style

1. 1 )first you watch a video about the main character yan-san
2. 2 )then you watch a teacher who explains in english the grammar of the skit along with the vocabulary. and shows it as text and shows how the words can be swapped out to make other phrases using the same sentance structures as the video..
3. 3 )then the other japanese teachers put on a skit or two cementing the grammar, vocabulary and sentance structure into your brain.
4. 4 )then the english speaking teacher explains the skits put on by the japanese speaking teachers and then goes back over the sentance structure you learned.
5. 5 )then you watch the video about yan-san again.. however by this time even though they speak very fast in the yan videos you can pick up every word and understand..
6. 6 )lastly there is a mini lesson on the japanese writing system.. during this the characters are shown on the screen being written with proper stroke order while someone says how they are pronounced.. then its back to the english speaking teacher who encourages you to practice writing the characters...

actually i may have gotten #5 and 6# reversed.. but you get the general idea..

anyway so ive got a bad back.. and so i take super hot baths insead.. now bathtime is boring (i have to soak for a long time to get rid of my pain) so my father got me a little dvd player specifically for bathtime.. it never leaves the bathroom.. ive been watching my lets learn japanese lessons while taking baths lately.. so now bathtime is productive time.. i would hate for an hour a day to just be wasted..

ok so on to kanji study.. i rearanged my furniture so that i now have 2 desks in my room (i had been using the small one in my craft room as a sewing table).. it is now facing a tv and has a filing cabinet with a plastic drawer unit on top that i store my markers/pens/paper in.. plus ive got a special compartment just for my kanji flashcards.. i put up a hiragana poster next to the desk.. and i thought wow i wish i had a kanji poster.. so i went online looking for a kanji poster that had them in the order im learning them (RTK order) this is the only one i found.. sadly i cannot afford it yet.. so i got out some poster paper and started making one for myself using my brushpens.. it was very difficult to get the grid drawn on properly.. but i managed.. im color coding it.. the lessons are seperated by color.. i only got up to 100 when i got tired.. ill finish it another day..

i think when im done with RTK ill get a kanji poster with phonetic order..

well ive spent most of that gift card..
i bought BRUSHPENS!! yahoooo.. and im not talking about those stupid markers with felt tips that are called brushpens when they arent.. i found a goldmine.. elmers paintastics.. they have real bristle brushes at the tips.. and they are ink that is instant drying unlike alot of the other brush pen type things available.. plus they have a special brush that changes the colors.. so i can make my kanji look all pretty like a tye dyed kanji.. anyway so since i started using them my handwriting for the kanji has gotton better.. i think that because i have to control the brush so much more than a pen ive just gotten better.. i also went out and bought some better pens.. my old ones were extra bold.. which made my english writing look good but my kanji writing illegible unless i wrote really big.. so i went out and bought some .5 mm pens that are working sooo much better.. im actually able to fit the kanji on a single line in a note pad now..

i never did end up buying the grammar books i wanted.. but that 35$ has gone by so fast.. i think i only have like 5$ left on it..

well not all that money went to brushpens.. i did buy some markers and TONS of index cards.. and i bought coupon portfolio things with tabs so i can keep them separated based on what lesson in RTK they are.. ive decided to try to do around 200 a week.. during the week ill review the cards from the previous week while making new ones.. at the beginning of the week ill add the new kanji into my RevTK deck... but i wont go through them until the second day.. that way i can review the paper ones first (they have the stroke order on them so i need to study them first)

so right now im up to kanji # 194 with a 90% correct rate..

ive decided that once im dont with RTK1 that i will continue to review them so that i dont forget them.. i was just going to stop and move on but im afraid of forgetting and having to start over

3/24/09 google books

well i found out that i still have 35$ on a visa gift-card someone gave me so i was scoping out new vocabulary builders and grammar books today.. im thinking that i really need to work hard on grammar more than vocab.. i cant seem to find a good video course on japanese grammar and i cant seem to find a good grammar workbook.. textbooks are nice but workbooks are better..

why is it that there arent really any workbooks for japanese grammar?
i did find a particle workbook that i think i am going to eventually buy.. i think ill wait though until i find something to buy with it that way ill be able to get that supersaver free shipping..

i was looking at this book in the local borders books.. i was actually able to read a few of the kanji without reading the furigana.. it made me so happy.. i didnt buy it though.. lately ive just been using borders as my own personal reading library.. ill sit there reading with no intention of buying.. though i think i may eventually buy the book from amazon.. i just cant see myself paying 8$ more in a store rather than just wait a week for it to arrive..

i need to look into google books more.. i found 'a guide to remembering the japanese characters' on there.. if only i could actually stand reading a computer screen for hours it would be great..

however its a great tool for previewing books before buying.. ive made a wish list of books on amazon and so im going to go and investigate each one..

working on my kanji still+book semi reviews

well I'm waiting for my 'remember the kanji' books to arrive.. in the time being I've been spending a lot of my time on reviewing the kanji.. its a sort of companion site to the books.. I'm up to 200 kanji so far however without the books I'm not doing so good on passing them.. i want to finish the first book in 60 days.. that means at least 35 new kanji per day... my books should arrive next week.. i know that choosing this method is a big commitment and that ill have to live eat and sleep kanji for a while in order for it to work..

i think that once i'm done with the first book ill learn the readings through vocabulary words and such.. i'm afraid I've been neglecting my vocab for quite some time.. i'm pretty bad on grammar too.. I've never had a real class for japanese so i haven't had anyone to practice speaking to.. though over time I've gotten better at understanding people on the television.. but what good is understanding when you cant form your own sentences?..

I've got quite a few books on japanese.. here they are along with some of my thoughts on them..

1. my first book.. japanese in 10 minutes a day.. well this book is not worth the 20$ i paid for it.. the stickers were pretty helpful in the beginning.. its only got romaji.. no kana.. and definitely no kanji.. this might be ok for a person looking to go there for a vacation.. but not for someone who wants to be fluent..
2. adventures in japanese 1.. this book isn't bad but it has a lot of 'classroom' vocab.. it starts out with romaji then works its way until all pronunciation guides are in kana and then it introduces some basic kanji by the end.. i ended up paying 30$ for it.. it is semi-worth the money.. however there are exercises in it that are best for the classroom..
3. barron's japanese the easy way.. this book wasn't very interesting to me.. it was rather dry in my opinion.. i got it because i had luck with their algebra the easy way book.. because i had such high expectations for the book i was extra disappointed when it wasn't as good as the algebra book.. it was however worth the 15$
4. zakennayo.. well this one is not one I'm fond of.. i only read it for like 30 minutes.. i think that perhaps a 13 year old boy might be interested in this book but not me.. i really don't think i want to speak in such a tacky manner.. i think i want to have a bit more class than that when i speak japanese.. it might be mildly entertaining to read on an airplane.. in my opinion not worth the 3$ i paid for it (i got it at a discount book store)
5. tuttle language library's japanese katakana for beginners.. the flashcards that come with this book are brilliant for people such as me with dyslexia who are trying to learn to read the katakana alphabet..there are lots of squares to practice writing the characters and there are example words for you to write out so that it really gets cemented in your brain.. all and all definitely worth the 20$ i payed for it.. though i had to wait a couple of weeks for it to be restocked.. tuttle books tend to sell out quickly around here
6. kanji pictographics.. well this book so far has been mostly useless to me.. however i did use the book as a subject for one of my art videos for my digital video art class and received an A on it.. memorizing each kanji as one picture just doesn't work for me.. i would rather learn them by their radicals.. it doesn't have any kana pronunciations either..
7. tuttle language library's writing hiragana.. the amazon one has a different title but the cover art is the same and it has the same author so I'm pretty sure its the same book.. mine is just the revised edition.. its actually a great workbook.. you will get plenty of practice with this book.. absolutely worth the 13$
8. japanese in mangaland.. this book was not useful to me because i don't think i need to know the phrase 'where are my ninja stars'.. however i made tons of friends at japanese camp with this book.. though i suppose maybe someone who actually liked manga might find the book more useful.. i will eventually donate this book to my local library.. I'm sure some otaku will make good use of it.. plus right now our library has very little japanese learning aids.. the whole japanese section is like a foot of shelf space.. which annoys me because every other language has more than a whole shelf.. not worth the 24$
9. tuttle's learning hiragana and katakana.. i have a different edition.. when i got it at camp i was not ready for learning the written language.. i tried but i didn't make any progress.. however after a while a light clicked on in my brain and i suddenly was able to learn it.. all and all a very useful workbook for practicing.. worth the 17$
10. tuttle's japanese hiragana for beginners.. absolutely the best book for learning the hiragana alphabet.. the flashcards are so brilliant.. i will always recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn hiragana quickly and easily.. and mostly painlessly.. it is worth much more than the 20$ i paid for it
11. tuttles a guide to reading and writing japanese.. this book so far has been useless to me.. i say so far because i do believe that it will be useful to me once I'm familiar with all the joyo kanji.. its not for learning the kanji.. its more like a reference tool.. it has compound examples though no kana pronunciations.. i would recommend this book to anyone who needs to review the joyo kanji or someone who is attempting to get through a japanese reader who wants a reference tool to explain kanji that the person reading doesn't remember or that are complicated.. I'm sure one day it will be worth the 25$ to me.. but right now as i don't know many kanji its basically no better than a paperweight..
12. read japanese today.. this is a fairly interesting book.. it isnt too bad for learning the pronounciations.. though it isnt as thourough as one might want.. i havent gotten throught the whole thing yet but just for the first 4 chapters its already worth the 20$
13. barrons japanese grammar.. i think this book would be less confusing if i actually had a japanese class that i used it to suppliment.. its not a half bad guide.. worth the 5$

well those are the ones i can think of.. im sure ive got more..