I recently found out about and signed up for the 6 week challenge.

http://6wc.learnlangs.com/howto

I entered 10 days late so idk how I'll fare in comparison to the rest but considering all the free time I'll have over winter break and the fact that I still have school right now but no more exams to study for this month so that will also free up a lot of time.

Has anyone tried it? if so what was your reaction to it?

I know it shouldn't matter but the whole high score logged online for everyone to see and the competitive aspect of the challenge really makes it fun

Never heard of this but I've done something similar with Japanese (RtK in 2 weeks) and have been going at a pretty good pace (aside a roughly past seven days). Currently setting aside the next few days to organize and prepare to blast through Core2000, Tae Kim, and make a start on reading the introduction and related appendixes in the Intermediate Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (if it's anything like the basic edition, it will be a goldmine).

Don't see why starting the "6 Week Challenge" would be a bad idea. Might be another fun way to maintain motivation. Could use the above objectives in my upcoming mini-goal as a practice run. Shouldn't take anymore than three or so weeks, maybe two and a half if I reach and maintain the same pace as during the RtK phase.

So what are your February 1st 6 week challenge goals?

Oh, 6wc! I like signing up for it, since somehow it motivates me more to do my reviews every day, haha~ It's also fun to see how other people study sometimes.

I have my RTK reviews, and atm I'm going through Core 6k (by unsuspending the words I see in readings/shows). I'm also starting to get into watching unsubbed anime. For example, I find 好きっていいなよ pretty easy to understand, but going through an episode of サイコパス gave me 200 new vocab words. ._.

@uisukii dang, Rtk in 2 weeks sounds tough. Props... :o

uisukii - any tips from when you did the rtk in 2 weeks like how to schedule the time throughout the day, music in the background or anything like that?

Feb 1st there is no challenge they do it as 6 weeks on 6 weeks off, It's when I have finals too so idk how much time I'll have on hand which is why I want to blast through as much as possible now until finals start and then just keep up with the reviews and give my mind a small break so I can focus on school.

anritsi - Yea I mostly joined the challenge for extra motivation too

Also any anime recommendations that are pretty easy to understand, I watch everything unsubbed since I started but I would like to catch the plot once in a while

EasyJapanezy Wrote:Also any anime recommendations that are pretty easy to understand, I watch everything unsubbed since I started but I would like to catch the plot once in a while

If movies are fine, how about Ponyo? Very visual. And the animation and music is beautiful so if you don't understand everything it's still very easy to enjoy.

EasyJapanezy Wrote:I recently found out about and signed up for the 6 week challenge.

http://6wc.learnlangs.com/howto

I entered 10 days late so idk how I'll fare in comparison to the rest but considering all the free time I'll have over winter break and the fact that I still have school right now but no more exams to study for this month so that will also free up a lot of time.

Has anyone tried it? if so what was your reaction to it?

I know it shouldn't matter but the whole high score logged online for everyone to see and the competitive aspect of the challenge really makes it fun

I am not in anyway involved in this challenge but I completely coincidentally made it my goal to finish RTK in 6 weeks (~50 a day). I just finished through 1050 today and I gotta say that some days can be rough getting through all of my reviews. I can't imagine going any faster or doing it at this pace if I weren't on winter break.

[Zgarbas]

RoboGeisha. And really, pretty much any action movie. Action is the only plot they need and anything you get from the dialogues is a bonus.

EasyJapanezy Wrote:Also any anime recommendations that are pretty easy to understand, I watch everything unsubbed since I started but I would like to catch the plot once in a while

Watch all of One Piece from episode 1!
It sucks you in. I don't even know why.

I don't know what your level is but I actually did this when already at an advanced level just to boost listening comprehension in an easy/fun setting. It worked spectacularly..!

EasyJapanezy Wrote:I recently found out about and signed up for the 6 week challenge.)

<tangent>
How's your kanji retention after your crazy RTK stint this time last year?
</tangent>

EasyJapanezy Wrote:- any tips from when you did the rtk in 2 weeks like how to schedule the time throughout the day, music in the background or anything like that?

Depending on how much time you have (let's say you have the entire day- like a weekend or break, or something) I found that doing an hour of study followed by something productive and positive in respect to your study area. If you are studying at home, take a break on the hour mark and do a load of washing, or clean the room, or wash up some dishes, etc. Something which keeps you active and distracted enough that you have to focus on what you're doing. That focus gives your brain a little "soft reset" from study mode but not relaxed enough to lose motivation. Then repeat the process.

When it came to music, I found myself listening to music through headphones, on media-player. Most of the music is either without vocals, limited vocals, or if there are vocals they are many Japanese. Though I personally found something not too vocally heavy was easier to remain on task (as in sometimes I find myself trying to comprehend the lyrics of a song, which took focus away from the kanji). Anime or something as such in the background was almost a killer for my studies due to the fact that I like watching it and found myself trying to comprehend what was going on. Passive listening is something I struggle with. Audio-books and music while trying to sleep, even if it's barely audible, will keep me up because regardless, I find myself trying to understand it. So, if you are anything like that, maybe something emotive rather than intelligible for listening to, while you study, may be a more effective means.

After a while I become somewhat obsessed with completion and become irritated when tired or finding it hard to focus, so I found myself doing things conductive to lifting my mood and raising my alertness. Caffeine was used. Probably far too much. Also, for about the first 4 days, my mood was abnormally high (though I have bi-polar disorder), so I guess that may have taken into account the early overarching drive to continue. This is something I couldn't give you advice for how to achieve, has it is a double edged sword, and was a stupid thing to do, personally, as it was followed by a few days of a very low/depressed mood. That said, if you are aware of how you respond to stimulants, I suppose some legal mood/metabolism raising stimulants could be put to good use if you are feeling lethargic.

Funny how in both 6 week and Read or Die challenge same names pop up and at very high spots. Could motivation and hours spent really be the key to language learning?

So far I've found (there could be others with different nicks registered):
Woodsei - insane amounts in both (1st&2nd spot), I wonder if he/she has an account here and how he maintains such pace
CristinaNorway - probably done with Japanese (1st in RMoD) so went with Russian for 6 week
satsuki_055 - gaining momentum (18st in RMoD but 2nd in 6 week)

Woodsei and ChristinaNorway are HTLALers I think.

Woodsei's studying Japanese, I think. Don't think Christina's ever studied Japanese.

drdunlap - I have all 8 seasons of One Piece and I'll start watching it and see how it goes

amillerchip - I can't believe that was a year ago, how the time flies by...but to answer your question, retention is at about 90is% for the first 1,000 maybe 1,100 and around 60ish% for frams 1,200 - 1450ish I can't remember exactly where I left off. The last 2 days of that I was adding more than I could handle and my retention rate shows it. I never did finish though. But for what it's worth I'm glad I did it, especially for the first 4 days or so, when my concentration was really high and so was my retention rate. I'll try to do the same this time but in a different way to avoid burnout.

I started core 2k after a small break when I stopped rtk.

That's been my problem though I took it too easy at first with how many I was adding every day. Then counting the time I had to take off for exams and such for school and the fact that my entire summer vacation I spent traveling with friends from school I have not dedicated the time I wanted to Japanese. I'm hoping this will at least get me back on track.

I have a lot of free time now so I figured I would do 2 hours in the morning as soon as I wake up when I'm fresh and my mind is clear, then do another 2 hours in the afternoon at some point. Totaling 4 hours on anki of core 2k. Then I might do like 30 min or an hour of shadowing the core 2k deck audio I put on my iPod. That or just watching a lot of unsubbed anime.

thurd- I noticed that too the top person on the 6 week challenge averaged a total of around 5 1/2 hours of Japanese study time a day during the last challenge.

Which makes me wonder what constitutes an hour of studying, does watching anime for an hour count? Shadowing core 2k audio even though I miss some of the meanings? Or do I log only hours spent on anki?

And also does anyone know where I can get some raw Bleach and/or Naruto and/or One Piece manga? I've tried at a bunch of sites referenced in other topics but I can't seem to find them. (also tried torrent sites but the ones I visit don't have them and since demonoid was taken down I haven't been able to get into another private torrent site)

I'm aware this ran a little long, sorry about that

I'd appreciate any help with any of the above mentioned things

I definitely think that people who place high in those challenges are already at a high level, so they will always be on the top no matter what compared to other learners.

EasyJapanezy Wrote:Which makes me wonder what constitutes an hour of studying, does watching anime for an hour count?

I know that over the years I got better and more efficient at using my study time. In an hour I can read a bunch of news articles, a chapter or two of a book, get all my anki reps done (5 decks), or write a letter. One thing that I think differs for me compared to what I often see here is that I don't consider watching drama/anime/movies to be study at all. Even if I look up words I don't know, I consider immersion to be something I do for enjoyment, as a reward for finishing all my studying for the day.

The point is to push yourself to do more that you otherwise would. With a fullt-time job, side projects, a wife and kids, there's no way I could ever compete for the top. I also don't think every hour has equal valuel; some activities are more rewarding and intense than others. But generally, if you push yourself to do more hours, you can't lose.