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Learning Grammar - ariariari - 2015-01-10
A tale in 3 parts.
1. When I lived in Japan I found grammar pretty easy to learn. I had weekly lessons with a teacher. She would explain a grammar point, I would think "this is so wierd, it can't be true." Then I would hear people use it. Then I would hestitantly use it myself. Then I would absorb it and not think about it any more. The whole process took a few months.
2. Last year I started taking lessons outside of Japan. We went thru a chapter every 1-2 weeks, had homework and practiced in class (once a week). I went to Japanese conversation groups but was so busy with other aspects of the class (mainly written vocab tests and massive amounts of vocab) that the grammar didn't "stick". I wasn't getting enough reinforcement of the grammar outside of class. To be honest, while I got a ton out of those classes, my big lament is how little of that grammar I now use in my conversations and writing.
3. Now I am taking class at JOI. They give you a written syllabus before class so you can see the grammar points covered, including an example sentence and explanation in English. After class I create a few examples for myself and post them for feedback on lang-8.com. I refine them based on feedback, and them add the sentences to anki.
So far this is working really well. I thought I'd share in case my experience helps anyone.