Such is how the US military works, I did not get complete confirmation that I'll be going till this Thursday. However, barring any plane crashes, I should be in Japan for two weeks that will cover the Bon Odori festival and summer vacation period.

Although my wife has scheduled some trips for us (including my daughter that's visiting from California), I'm interested if any RTK'rs have stuff planned during this period around the Odawara, Yokohama, and Tokyo areas.

No, I don't look like my avatar if that helps matters.

Thanks Ice Cream

Just arrived yesterday. Nice to have the confirmation that all this studying I've been doing outside of Japan is actually having an impact. We'll go to Tokyo for Friday and Saturday night, Disneyland the middle of next week, and the beach near Zushi next week-end. Other than that, a fairly open schedule.

On a side note, watched Star Trek with Japanese dub on the plane and enjoyed it. Chekov's accent worked perfectly in the Japanese dub for the comedic effect.

I hope that's still showing when I return to Osaka on the 19th...

Two tips for Tokyo:

Tokyo Bay Great Fireworks Festival (東京湾大花火祭) 8/8 between 19:00 and 20:20 in Odaiba. Wondering if that's your planned Saturday night event.

東京湾納涼船: Departs at 19:15 and returns at 21:00 to Takeshiba Pier (Takeshiba station on the Yurikamome monorail or 10 min. walk from Hamamatsucho station on Yamanote line) during the whole Obon-period. Yes, you could combine both, if you can beat the crowds by getting there 2-3 hours early.

The main attraction are the (mostly) young people in yukatas. My office happens to be on the same pier, hence I get to see them every evening. If you come during the week, I can easily join you, except not next week: Holiday. The week after (Mon-Wed) would be cool.

Nukemarine Wrote:Thanks Ice Cream

Just arrived yesterday. Nice to have the confirmation that all this studying I've been doing outside of Japan is actually having an impact. We'll go to Tokyo for Friday and Saturday night, Disneyland the middle of next week, and the beach near Zushi next week-end. Other than that, a fairly open schedule.

On a side note, watched Star Trek with Japanese dub on the plane and enjoyed it. Chekov's accent worked perfectly in the Japanese dub for the comedic effect.

I noticed you seem pretty excited. This sounds like a great period of time for you in your life. Have fun!

Japan was great as usual. Amazing how the food compares to what I eat in Africa. Plus I got to enjoy weather that did not feel like someone was aiming a blow dryer at my face.

Disneyland is Disneyland, so you can expect it to have both English and Japanese everywhere. On the day we were supposed to go, a Typhoon happened which delayed the trains so we went the following day. My daughter, being a typical 11 year old, managed to make herself bored there. She was more excited by the Pokemon center. You can't force a kid to have fun.

About my skills, hard to gauge. It seemed I can hear and read better the random things I saw around me. Spontaneous conversations lasted longer in Japanese than before. Now my wife could have been lying, but she says I seem much better than before. Did my skills improve while there? Well, I tried to keep up my various reviews at the minimum without adding new things for those two weeks. Due to lots of traveling, I could do reviews on the train. But you have to realize I speak English with my daughter and mostly with my wife so I was in an English mindset for quite a bit of the vacation.

The worst part about leaving is it'll be another 8 months before I have a chance to go back. Plus at the moment, I'm still not guaranteed a job back there.

On a side note: when I was flying out (Air France) there was A LOT of suited security and cordoned off photographers at the next gate. Turns out the Emperor's son and his wife were going to board the plane to Amsterdam. I feel very, very stupid for not taking a photo of such a rare occurrence.

You seem to only notice a small improvement in your Japanese since your last stay NukeMarine, but it sounds like you've been studying hardcore! When did you last go to Japan?

Nii87 Wrote:You seem to only notice a small improvement in your Japanese since your last stay NukeMarine, but it sounds like you've been studying hardcore! When did you last go to Japan?

I transferred in February. Plus, it is hard to truly gauge one's skill. For now, I have to have faith that as my Anki deck improves in a rational way (new words I come across in the drama's I'm "comprehending" and in iKnow sentences that I added), that my abilities are also increasing. In that mindset, I know 1000 more words, Tae Kim's special expressions and almost 3 dramas than when I left 6 months ago.

So I'm studying, but not hard core. I try to get up to 3 hours per day, but some days I cannot study which means the next day I'm just catching up on reviews and not adding anything new.

Nukemarine Wrote:

Nii87 Wrote:You seem to only notice a small improvement in your Japanese since your last stay NukeMarine, but it sounds like you've been studying hardcore! When did you last go to Japan?

I transferred in February. Plus, it is hard to truly gauge one's skill. For now, I have to have faith that as my Anki deck improves in a rational way (new words I come across in the drama's I'm "comprehending" and in iKnow sentences that I added), that my abilities are also increasing. In that mindset, I know 1000 more words, Tae Kim's special expressions and almost 3 dramas than when I left 6 months ago.

So I'm studying, but not hard core. I try to get up to 3 hours per day, but some days I cannot study which means the next day I'm just catching up on reviews and not adding anything new.

and the impact this has had on real time comprehension of something you haven't seen or heard before is?

Ok, here's what I'm thinking: Since I'm listening to Japanese audio all the time, trying to read some of the time I'm just not noticing any improvements as they occur. There's just nothing I can point to saying "I was there, now I'm here". It just feels like I've gotten better. The closest I guess is rereading a manga like 20th Century Boys that I looked at a year ago and noticing how much clearer it is now.

Although it'll be easy to say "I'm not literate or fluent to a functional degree yet, and that's all that matters", the problem is we're dealing with a 2000 hour plus study process. It's good to see progress in some way in more than just literacy (Anki is great for literacy gauging). Without tangible progress, one is bound to get disenchanted. So I'll try to post once a month in the audio critique thread, and let that be a rough gauge of my fluency progress.

IceCream Wrote:

mezbup Wrote:and the impact this has had on real time comprehension of something you haven't seen or heard before is?

is this a trick question?

No, I mean what are the real world results?

It differs from person to person but I think if you're studying the same material you'll generally see a similar improvement. Sometimes I see big improvements in my abilities and sometimes I don't see any and think I'm wasting time. Just trying to gauge whats the best way to go about studying.