Funks

Ok. So I've started calling them funks. Days where studying just does not work out. For what ever reason, be it: the weather, irritating people in my life, the fact the universe has turned against me, on these days, kanji just does not agree with me. It has happened twice now, and I have accepted that these funks will occur from time to time. The most important thing, is when they are over I must pick myself up, brush my self off, and get back to work.

My first funk occur the week before my first big review-week and I was able to use one of my review days as a study day. My second funk occured on Wednesday. To compensate, this week I will only study 74 kanji. Next week I will tack five additional kanji on per day, meaning 25 per day. I've come to the realization that when I fall behind, it is best to catch up slowly and not overwhelm myself.

This most recent funk has put me in a better mind set concerning Rosetta Stone. I have mapped out the remainder of my lessons and concluded that I should be able to complete it, provided no further unforeseen funks, in 38 days, which will be October 2, 2010. I will then employ that 30-40 minutes of time, formerly allotted to Rosetta Stone to a 2 week intensive Japanese Grammar study. I believe I have built up enough of a foundation for a focused study. After that, I will return to Rosetta and spend a day on each of the 48 core lessons, focusing on reviewing the vocabulary and the grammar points. I don't have nearly enough vocabulary down to even attempt reading news articles or blogs, and until I do, Rosetta, is my best practice arena. I will write and type my own sentences using their vocabulary and some of my own. In the process I plan to review some of the other Japanese Language books I have collected and also to post journal entries both here on this blog and on Lang 8.

I choose to believe these funks are an important component to my learning process, as long as I choose to recover from them. In an effort to keep myself motivated, I will be posting on this blog far more often. The content will always be related to my efforts to learn the Japanese language, however, they will also be entertainment oriented. Films, television and anime are the best resources I have for hearing the language. As I seek new content, I plan to share.