"Yes you've come a long way and made excellent progress, but maybe time to show a little humility?"

Why should he show humility? If he's on a roll good for him. A sense of accomplishment helps sustain momentum, and the militant stat-keeping might be what keeps his time and focus on activities that give results.

It's not all that unbelievable as he's said before he spends the vast majority of every day learning Japanese. Being able to approach JLPT2 in one year of study isn't all that crazy at that level of commitment.

Nice work... I admire the focus you have.

And gotta chime in with aphasiac.. I'd like it a bit, too, if you took the focus off yourself in other topics. Of course, in your own topics about your progress, go wild...

@nadiatims - Mostly it's a comment about his posts in other threads. We collectively don't need constant updates about his progress.

Yes, it's true, when other people are asking questions, he'll generally more or less answer the question...but then continue on and say 'i've been studying for x.x months, and i do this and this and i can already do this and this, and...'

I kind of get the feeling he's trying to 'justify' is answer (if that's the right word) every time he posts, and so I'm hoping that now he has a thread of his own, he won't have to point it out every time he replies to someone.

Not sure where the OP is from (America / Canada?), or why he does it, but it really jars with my 'English-ness'. In the UK it's the cultural norm to be humble and play down your achievements, make a joke of them even. Most friends circles and workplaces do have at least one 'bragger', who goes on and on about their amazing cars / life / accomplishments, but these people are looked down upon as it's seen as a sign of either arrogance or insecurity.

I think the Japanese display a similar sense of humbleness, more so infact; so if you want to fit in within their society, bear this (constructive criticism!) in mind

aphasiac Wrote:Not sure where the OP is from (American / Canada), or why he does it, but it really jars with my 'English-ness'. In the UK it's the cultural norm to be humble and play down your achievements, make a joke of them even. Most friends circles and workplaces do have at least one 'bragger', who talks on and on about their amazing cars / life / accomplishments, but these people are looked down upon as it's seen as a sign of arrogance or insecurity.

I think the Japan display a similar sense of humbleness, more so infact; so if you want to fit in within that society, bare this (constructive criticism!) in mind

glad i'm not the only one who got that impression...

You know what gets me? Someone states some facts and everyone gets jealous starts screaming 'you need to be humble!'

He is. Someone said ,'You're fluent already!?' and he said, 'NO! not even close.' That's humble. Everything else he said was just facts.

If you can't deal with facts, it's your problem, not his.

I think it's pretty difficult with that crazy stats that ta12121 showed to be "humble"...and by the way, humble for what?! he studied like hell and some flattering can't hurt right
If I was him maybe my behaviour would have been the same

wccrawford Wrote:You know what gets me? Someone states some facts and everyone gets jealous starts screaming 'you need to be humble!'

He is. Someone said ,'You're fluent already!?' and he said, 'NO! not even close.' That's humble. Everything else he said was just facts.

If you can't deal with facts, it's your problem, not his.

I completely agree. ta12121 has been humble and accurate about his achievements and only states his stats when being helpful or asking for advice. I really don't see it as bragging. The OP asked for constructive criticism and was obviously referring to his study methods, not his personality. He has plenty to be proud of, and if stating his achievements helps to motivate him or makes him feel good, more power to him. I'd prefer if he did continue to post his stats and talk about his progress as often as possible - it helps motivate me and it's nice to see someone reaping the benefits of their hard work.

ta's posts never came across as bragging to me, but I do think that this forum as a whole has too much emphasis on stats (added cards, reps per day, etc) and time (especially unrealistic goals). What is wrong with seeing study as an open ended journey?

I'm thinking that AJATT is to blame for this, but at least there is very little character worship remaining now.

Well, this got my motivation back up. Time to go study all summer.

Seriously though, let's give this thread back to the OP. If publishing stats is part of what keeps him going, then there's no need to take it from him.

aphasiac Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Constructive criticism is welcome.

You seem to mention your card stats and how long you have been studying (9.4 montsh...9.8 months etc etc) in every other post you make on this forum, and honestly I find it quite irksome. Yes you've come a long way and made excellent progress, but maybe time to show a little humility?

I'm guessing others are stating it, but I'll add on to it. It's good that he and others are stating their stats as they're going along. Let's be honest, the only thing we're dealing with on this forum is anecdotal evidence. I'd much rather have such evidence from daily, weekly or monthly updates than just saying where they were and where they went in three years time.

Let's face it, the popular threads on this forum were: "I've done 1/4 RTK", "I've done 1/2 RTK", "I've done 1500 of RTK", "I've completed RTK", "I've completed RTK3", "I've completed KO2001", etc. These are bench mark threads. Yeah, they're motivational but they also help guys like me see that there's progress. If we notice some guys are doing faster than others we like to know why and usually we get the answer. With that, some of us tailor our study methods to some insightful post from a guy that thought he was doing something normal (ex: movie method).

TA12121 is making rapid progress and is kind enough to measure his ability against a common gauge. To be fair, he should do a JLPT in a three hour sitting as that does increase the stress. Still, even doing it in parts makes for a good measurement as long as he's honest about how he took the test.

I've never gotten any impression of bragging from Ta; while I could see the constant mention of numerical progress perhaps being annoying for some (it's not to me), he's been pretty consistently self-depreciating when it comes to his own ability. Recognizes but doesn't 'understand', and so on.

I'm with Nuke. For those of us with less time/drive, it's still good information. Even if he was bragging constantly I don't think I'd have much of a problem with it so long as the information provided was useful for me. It's not like I have to work with the guy on a daily basis or anything.

aphasiac Wrote:

sikieiki Wrote:If I am not mistaken, that is on average 100 new vocab and 66 new sentences per day.

That is alot of material, especially when you consider each sentence will contain 1-3 new vocab words.

My technical question would be, how do you initally *learn* this new material when adding it to your deck? How long before you then test yourself on new cards (same day, next day), and how harsh are you at marking - do you fail the sentence if you can't sound out the reading of every single kanji word??

ta12121 Wrote:Constructive criticism is welcome.

You seem to mention your card stats and how long you have been studying (9.4 montsh...9.8 months etc etc) in every other post you make on this forum, and honestly I find it quite irksome. Yes you've come a long way and made excellent progress, but maybe time to show a little humility?

The thing is about this is that. How to you classify when you've learned something or mastered it? I'd say you've learned it when you can recognize it from random Japanese conversations,words,etc and be able to read it. You've mastered it when you can read,write,speak,understand it and use it.
I rate it accordingly, so when I have like 2-3 kanji I may not know, I fail it. If I can read half of it/smoothly i rate it good. if I can read the whole thing fast/smoothly/remember it without effort, easy is the way to go.

nadiatims Wrote:"Yes you've come a long way and made excellent progress, but maybe time to show a little humility?"

Why should he show humility? If he's on a roll good for him. A sense of accomplishment helps sustain momentum, and the militant stat-keeping might be what keeps his time and focus on activities that give results.

The stats is just a motivational thing, to be honest, someone with lower amount of cards/living in japan,etc,etc. Can get ahead of me way faster. The stats give me something to look at everyday and see how far I've gone. I won't be surprised if all my decks go to 50,000 or 100,000.(I doubt it would go to a million, by that time I would probably know more than enough to function in a Japanese society)

zanzou Wrote:It's not all that unbelievable as he's said before he spends the vast majority of every day learning Japanese. Being able to approach JLPT2 in one year of study isn't all that crazy at that level of commitment.

Nice work... I admire the focus you have.

And gotta chime in with aphasiac.. I'd like it a bit, too, if you took the focus off yourself in other topics. Of course, in your own topics about your progress, go wild...

@nadiatims - Mostly it's a comment about his posts in other threads. We collectively don't need constant updates about his progress.

I understand that perfectly. I just want to help other people in my situation. Learning Japanese,etc,etc. My stats, crazy as they may be. Aren't any special. I'm no where near being fluent in japanese. I can't pick up any novel and blaze through it without some kanji I may not recognize/read. I can't just randomly speak about anything in japanese with a smooth flow,etc. So I still got a ways to go. Basically my goal is to get passing my previous limitations in the language until eventually (2 years?) become fluent. Honestly I'd estimate a good level of fluency in 2 years. 3 years=solid fluency.

aphasiac Wrote:Not sure where the OP is from (America / Canada?), or why he does it, but it really jars with my 'English-ness'. In the UK it's the cultural norm to be humble and play down your achievements, make a joke of them even. Most friends circles and workplaces do have at least one 'bragger', who goes on and on about their amazing cars / life / accomplishments, but these people are looked down upon as it's seen as a sign of either arrogance or insecurity.

I think the Japanese display a similar sense of humbleness, more so infact; so if you want to fit in within their society, bear this (constructive criticism!) in mind

Live in Canada at the moment. Probably teach in english in japan later down the road. Or if my japanese does get really good, work in a japanese company.

IceCream Wrote:um, yeah. i also agree. Actually, i really do enjoy seeing people's progress, and i like seeing ta12121's too because it is definately outstanding. But when it's every post it does get a little bit much.

Saying that, i'd be interested in seeing your graphs for your anki decks. Is it possible for you to take a screenshot of them and post them? It'd be interesting to see!
good luck with the JLPT practice tests!!

Give me sometime for this. I will post it for all my decks.(3, only have 3 nowadays, makes my reps so much easier to handle in 3 huge decks)

cescoz Wrote:I think it's pretty difficult with that crazy stats that ta12121 showed to be "humble"...and by the way, humble for what?! he studied like hell and some flattering can't hurt right
If I was him maybe my behaviour would have been the same

有難う御座います！
As for being humble, it's just my personality.

Blahah Wrote:

wccrawford Wrote:You know what gets me? Someone states some facts and everyone gets jealous starts screaming 'you need to be humble!'

He is. Someone said ,'You're fluent already!?' and he said, 'NO! not even close.' That's humble. Everything else he said was just facts.

If you can't deal with facts, it's your problem, not his.

I completely agree. ta12121 has been humble and accurate about his achievements and only states his stats when being helpful or asking for advice. I really don't see it as bragging. The OP asked for constructive criticism and was obviously referring to his study methods, not his personality. He has plenty to be proud of, and if stating his achievements helps to motivate him or makes him feel good, more power to him. I'd prefer if he did continue to post his stats and talk about his progress as often as possible - it helps motivate me and it's nice to see someone reaping the benefits of their hard work.

I will post updates. Every 5 months(to keep it consistent). I don't mind answering questions. I have spent almost all my days with japanese/srs. So my progress doesn't seem all that impressive even to myself. It's because I feel there is always something to be improved upon. I like how khatz says, there is never ending phase to learning. But there will be a day when you stop sucking(become fluent).

ninetimes Wrote:I've never gotten any impression of bragging from Ta; while I could see the constant mention of numerical progress perhaps being annoying for some (it's not to me), he's been pretty consistently self-depreciating when it comes to his own ability. Recognizes but doesn't 'understand', and so on.

I'm with Nuke. For those of us with less time/drive, it's still good information. Even if he was bragging constantly I don't think I'd have much of a problem with it so long as the information provided was useful for me. It's not like I have to work with the guy on a daily basis or anything.

The numbers due gauge my progress. But in the long run your progress will be gauged with what can you do in japanese. Can you speak,write,communicate,understand? That's what japanese people will gauge you at. I never tell Japanese people about my stats, as I don't see it as being important. If i can read,write,speak to them at a good pace. Than that's improvement right there.

Nukemarine Wrote:

aphasiac Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Constructive criticism is welcome.

You seem to mention your card stats and how long you have been studying (9.4 montsh...9.8 months etc etc) in every other post you make on this forum, and honestly I find it quite irksome. Yes you've come a long way and made excellent progress, but maybe time to show a little humility?

I'm guessing others are stating it, but I'll add on to it. It's good that he and others are stating their stats as they're going along. Let's be honest, the only thing we're dealing with on this forum is anecdotal evidence. I'd much rather have such evidence from daily, weekly or monthly updates than just saying where they were and where they went in three years time.

Let's face it, the popular threads on this forum were: "I've done 1/4 RTK", "I've done 1/2 RTK", "I've done 1500 of RTK", "I've completed RTK", "I've completed RTK3", "I've completed KO2001", etc. These are bench mark threads. Yeah, they're motivational but they also help guys like me see that there's progress. If we notice some guys are doing faster than others we like to know why and usually we get the answer. With that, some of us tailor our study methods to some insightful post from a guy that thought he was doing something normal (ex: movie method).

TA12121 is making rapid progress and is kind enough to measure his ability against a common gauge. To be fair, he should do a JLPT in a three hour sitting as that does increase the stress. Still, even doing it in parts makes for a good measurement as long as he's honest about how he took the test.

That is good, to list what you do daily/weekly/monthly as oppose to years,etc,etc.
As for the 9.6,9.8,etc. I was just listing what my anki sentence deck listed. I guess I should keep it to monthly progress.

Looks like your studies are coming along well, congrats, ta12121(can I call you takkun? )
I'd like you see your JLPT results when you're done too.

So you've studied 20 000 words? Can I ask where you've been getting them from, and how often you still come across new words? Is the 10-20% of native material that you don't understand coming from unknown vocab, or grammar, or something else?

Have you tried reading light novels? You know way more vocab than I do, and I can read light novels for leisure, so you probably can too.

ta12121 Wrote:Doing JLPT level 2 right now.
Section
2006年度2級
文字・語彙
Will post results soon for this section

Results are 51/65. For this section.
Let me try the others.
What I found troubling was that, some of the things were listed in hiragana. So I had to double check my answers to see if it fits right. like I got an example one about うたがう>疑う
If i seen the kanji I would have immediately understand the answer easily. I guess that means I should really focus on hiragana words carefully now.

What I'm interested in is how did the other sections go, vocab is pretty straightforward. I want to see how general language learning matches the requirements for specific exams.
I aim at JLPT 2 this December and since I'm way behind you overall, I try to compensate (cheat if you will) a little by doing JLPT oriented study.

IceCream Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:

IceCream Wrote:um, yeah. i also agree. Actually, i really do enjoy seeing people's progress, and i like seeing ta12121's too because it is definately outstanding. But when it's every post it does get a little bit much.

Saying that, i'd be interested in seeing your graphs for your anki decks. Is it possible for you to take a screenshot of them and post them? It'd be interesting to see!
good luck with the JLPT practice tests!!

Give me sometime for this. I will post it for all my decks.(3, only have 3 nowadays, makes my reps so much easier to handle in 3 huge decks)

have you got windows? just bring up your graphs, then press the "PrtSc" button. Go into paint and paste (ctr V). Then save & upload somewhere... it's easy (if you have Jing it's even easier because it'll upload them for you) you probably have to do it a couple times to fit all the graphs on though...

kk i'll do this tonight. Gotta go out for a bit now. I'll post the graphs for all my decks(3)

yukamina Wrote:Looks like your studies are coming along well, congrats, ta12121(can I call you takkun? )
I'd like you see your JLPT results when you're done too.

So you've studied 20 000 words? Can I ask where you've been getting them from, and how often you still come across new words? Is the 10-20% of native material that you don't understand coming from unknown vocab, or grammar, or something else?

Have you tried reading light novels? You know way more vocab than I do, and I can read light novels for leisure, so you probably can too.

I've gotten them from pre-made decks for anki(JLPT actually). It contain a huge amount of vocab that was really useful for overall japanese. Nowdays I add vocab from news/other stuff I may not know well. I'm pretty soon going to go fully monolingual. This will help me go further in Japanese than I could ever do with a translation.