Trini in Tokyo » Japanese Language

#502: Rainbow (Insect Craft)

Sade — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:09:49 +0000

So, I’ve actually kept up with my schedule!

I am at #502 of Heisig’s Remember the Kanji after studying everyday with ankimobile on the way to school.

I’m recognizing a lot more kanji, although much of this part is just review for me. The number of cards I have to do is getting larger, I’m kind of nervous about the avalance of cards that I can see coming one I’ve gotten past #1000.

Actually pride has been a motivator for me for a while. When I was in elementary school my family moved from Miami to Pembroke Pines, and I moved from a private to a public school. I thought the public school was boring and the work was too easy so I simply didn’t do it.

Then the teacher called my parents.

She called my parents, told them I wasn’t doing my homework, and made them sign off on my homework book every day.

I was so enraged about that I made straight A’s in the class ever since.

So, here’s to a damaged pride!

Japanese Learning

Sade — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:55:33 +0000

So, recently I decided that embarrassment is the best motivator for me to learn Japanese. I thought, how can I graduate from one of the top schools in the nation, after spending two years living here, and not know the language? That’s pretty embarrassing, right?

In that spirit, I’ve dusted off my Anki decks, shelled out the cash for the Ankimobile iPhone app, and I’m back on the wagon.

Here are my decks:

Heisig’s Remember the Kanji
Smart.fm’s Core 2000, and eventually 6000
AJATT’s My First Sentence Pack

Plus

random sentences, phrases, and kanji mined through living here.

I am restarting from the beginning, so the first couple of weeks should be smooth sailing. I’m just worried about some months out when I’ll have 800 reviews due and a thesis on my back.

Oh well.

Let the game begin (again)!

191 Kanji Coming to a Town Near You

Sade — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:14:54 +0000

According to the Japan times, 191 kanji may be added to the official joyo kanji list next year, which is of course music to the ears of Japanese learners everywhere!

On the other hand, there are also five kanji slated to be taken off of the list, including 勺 (shaku) to the dismay of shakuhachi lovers and players throughout the world.

The good news is that the new kanji are probably ones you need to know if you ever plan on living in Japan. It’s probably good to know the kanji for chopsticks 箸 (hashi,) and several prefectures like Nara (奈良) which are not currently on the joyo list. The revisions, the first since 1981, were prompted by the multiplication of kanji in Japanese everyday life caused by new technological terms. Several semi-vulgar words, like lewd (淫 in) will also be joining the list.

In total there probably will be 2,131 kanji once the revisions take place in the fall. Luckily for those of us who are using Heisig’s Remember the Kanji approach, book three probably covers all of the new ones.