Here I was, thinking I was a perfectly fine and normal American studying abroad in Japan for a year. Days passed swiftly and I was having the time of my life. But little did I know I was slowly being consumed by a most debilitating disease, the kind of disease that one can only pick up while in Japan for a long time. When my parents came to Japan, they saw it right away and made the chilling diagnosis: “you sound like a llama!”
Yes, in the course of studying Japanese and speaking with Japanese friends every day, I had picked up Japanese conversational vocalizations, which are quite different from those in English. In a conversation in Japanese, it is expected that you demonstrate, audibly, that you are following along with what the other person is saying. In English, one may nod their head, or say something like “uh-huh.” In Japanese, however, it comes out something like this, which is apparently llama-esque to English speaking ears:
I’ve mentioned before briefly of my current Japanese study method, sentence mining, which I first learned about from AllJapaneseAllTheTime. So far it has been working out really well, my reading comprehension in particular has skyrocketed since beginning the method. However, when starting out, I had to more or less figure out on my own how to go about using this method. At AJATT, Khatz explains it in the following steps (I’m paraphrasing):
Find a sentence with a word(s) that you don’t understand.
Put that sentence into an SRS flashcard program.
Find a dictionary definition for what you don’t know and put it in the flashcard.
Don’t translate, simply try to understand.
This certainly works as a starting point, but it took me a good couple hundred cards before I started hitting my stride as far as sentence mining goes. Now that I’m approaching 1000 sentences mined, I thought I’d take a moment and write down step-by-step what I’ve found works for me when it comes to using this great language study method. Continue reading 'Sentence Mining Explained'»
Hello all! It’s been a while since I’ve written a post here. I’ve been busy moving back home and reacclimating to the life I left here when I went to Japan. But now I’m settled back in, found myself some work before I go back to school and have gotten the Japanese study ball rolling again. I figured since this blog is a Japan-focused one, I’d reflect on a year of studying Japanese more or less full time and what’s worked and what hasn’t. Hit the jump below to read on.
I sit here typing up this post on my final week in Japan as a foreign exchange student (while at the same time rocking out to some Bump of Chicken) and there’s a mixture of feelings going on. On the one hand, I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time here in Japan. I think I can say without reservation it has been the most eventful year of my life. Not only have I acquired the Japanese language, at least conversationally, I have made life-long friends and more memories than I have bothered to re-account on the blog here. On the other hand, I know that my time is up here and I have return home. I’m quite content with that, though, as I have many people back home I want to meet again, not the least of whom is my family. Besides, I have to graduate from college. If I ever want to return to Japan that’s a necessity.
I figured I’d use this post to give out some final advice to everyone who is thinking of studying abroad, gleaned from my year here. Of course it all boils down to want you want from your time in a foreign country, but this is what I found worked for me:
I gave all you guys the low-down on last semester’s classes, so I figured it would be a good idea to tell how you how things went this time around. Overall, this semester was just as successful as the last was and I had a good time in all of my classes. Once again, they centered around the Japanese language and the culture of Japan. So, let me give you the run down!
It’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here! Enjoy watching me ramble on about where I’ve been living this past year, the International House. Excuse the mess, please! :)
Note: The sound is pretty bad in the beginning because of the wind. Don’t worry, it gets better. ;)
It’s been a while since I wrote an actual post here, so I figured I’d let you all know how my Christmas/New Year’s break went. Honestly, I didn’t do a whole lot, especially in terms of travel – I stayed in Hirosaki the whole time and didn’t do anything particularly out of the ordinary. But I did do a few things that could be considered above average and/or “cultural experiences” and I’d love to share those with you now!
Hey all! I gave a presentation today in my Japanese culture class here in Hirosaki. I presented it in English, but I got some great help from my friend Lim in the handout translation. For anyone who’s interested, here’s the Japanese text of my presentation! It was about the Japanese influence on the American video game market, especially during the 80’s/NES era.
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Here I was, thinking I was a perfectly fine and normal American studying abroad in Japan for a year. Days passed swiftly and I was having the time of my life. But little did I know I was slowly being consumed by a most debilitating disease, the kind of disease that one can only pick up while in Japan for a long time. When my parents came to Japan, they saw it right away and made the chilling diagnosis: “you sound like a llama!”
I gave all you guys 
