Another Funk

Remember those funks? I've hit another. My first was in the 300s. I played around with actually making an image for each frame all because Heisig stated that it would be a good idea to visualize an image for each element. It seemed like a good idea until I realized how much time and effort it took. There are still around 50 jpg files sitting in My Documents. My second funk was the one I previously posted about. It changed my perspective on a number of things. And so has this most recent one. I've come to the realization that this massive undertaking of learning 2042 kanji must be broken into easy to conceive pieces, otherwise its overwhelming. Personally, I've just been ignoring how big the number is, 2042. But, if I break it into say 4 groups of 500 plus 42, its not so bad on the out set. This is what I am determined to do with the kanji I have remaining.

My motivation is lagging. That is the worst possible thing that can happen at this stage. I have not put any real effort into studying this week. I went through the motions like always, making the flashcards. And I've looked at them but to be honest, its just not happening.

Henceforth, I am stopping here. My review session which was suppose to begin next Monday, will begin tomorrow. And this is how the remainder of my lesson plan will look.

I will drop the cards I have studied thus far this week: 1401- 1460.

I will review for the next 3 weeks.

I will then study over the following 4 weeks: 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700.

I will review for 4 weeks (give or take, deepening on how I'm progressing).

I will study over the following 3 weeks: 1800, 1900, 2000-2042

After that, I will institute a daily review of at minimum 100 flashcards for the foreseeable future. I would like to take about a month to collect my wits before beginning Volume 2 of Heisig's method.

I refuse to let these funks lead to the crashing and the burning in the fiery flames of death and defeat. I will finish this if only to prove to my self that I am capable of doing anything I put my mind to.

Also, because curious minds want to know. I will be posting my on Japanese Dictionary. I'm not making a big deal out of this because technically I am breaking a copyright law by using someone else's images without permission, but I am in no way claiming them as my own. This was a picture English dictionary that I found floating on BT Airlines. I'm photoshoping in my own homemade brew of furigana. This will be a long term project, useful in expanding my vocabulary. It will of course take a back seat to my main course of study if only because it is time consuming. Future posts containing the Japanese dictionary can be found under this label: 日本語辞書.

Podcasts

Currently I am proceeding with the Rosetta Stone Audio lessons. Yesterday, I uncovered a　number of extremely useful podcasts on the iTunes store. Previously, I had subscribed to a few podcasts in the Japanese iTunes store, admittedly, neglecting to really investigate the US iTunes store. But to my surprise, there are actually a number of useful podcasts in my local store. Many of the podcasts are dead, no longer being updated. But the material that is available is still very useful.

ECC 英会話 Podcasting 知ってる単語でこんなに話せる!

This is by far my favorite Japanese podcast thus far. The hosts speak about50/50 English

and Japanese. And though the podcast is intended for a Japanese audience who is learning English, I still find it incredibly useful. The web page can be found: here.

Japanese Classical Literature at Bedtime

This podcast is exactly as described, but most importantly, it provides transcripts both within the show notes and on the website. The readings are not done by a professional audiobook reader, but they are understandable, even considering my limited vocabulary. The site can be found: here.

JEdutainment

What caught my attention about this podcast were the grammar explanations. Though this podcast was only short lived, it offers quick and valuable information in an entertaining format. The site can be found: here. As a side note, the site is actually a blog with a few potentially useful links.

Japancast.net

This podcast is very much alive and kicking. They've even got video. Snazzy huh? Plus they have an extensive backlog of episodes dating back to 2005. I have high hopes for this podcast. The site can be found: here.

Nihongo-Juku

Another short lived podcast, but good content nevertheless. The site can be found: here.

Noshuku Kangen Japanese

Short lived also, this podcast's site can be found: here.

I expect to find additional podcasts in the future, so look forward to another post on the subject.

Revised Weekly Study Schedule.

I know. Another revisal? Learning Japanese is a work in progress; one which requires many revisions. Having a plan written down and staring me in the face helps me stay focused. This is the reason I keep posting them.

• 月曜日

1. Review last weeks flashcard set.
2. Read through the day's 20 flashcards.
3. Make the day's flashcard set.
4. Run though the flashcards while palming the strokes once.
5. Run though them twice more in the course of the day.
6. Type the day's 20 to RTK site.

• 火曜日, 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日

1. Review yesterday's flashcard set.
2. Read through the day's 20 flashcards
3. Make the day's flashcard set.
4. Run though the flashcards while palming the strokes once.
5. Run though them twice more in the course of the day.
6. Type the day's 20 to RTK site.

• 土曜日

1. Review the week's 100 flashcard set.
2. Create Smart.fm lesson.
3. Complete, at minimum, 1/2 of the Heisig Kanji notebook.
4. Complete 1/4 of the Smart.fm lesson as studied.

• 日曜日

1. Review the week's 100 flashcard set.
2. Complete remainder of Heisig Kanji notebook.
3. Complete, at minimum, 1/2 of the Smart.fm lesson as studied.

Bauddha

Bauddha is a site that offers parallel texts of texts in both english and japanese with a built in dictionary accessed via double click any kanji. The link leads to a simple english version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Nights Dream, however the site has a number of works my many other authors. All in the public domain, of course. The main page of the site can be found: here. In the future, further sites which offer similar translated works will be listed under the the 読み label.

Rikaichan

Rikaichan is a simple to use Firefox Add-on that acts as an in browser translator. Once installed, just hover over any Japanese word within the Firefox browser and a translation is offered with details on the kanji, its meaning/keyword in English, its on/kun readings, and other information. I only wished the add-on work with my Safari browser, but its not a perfect world.