I didn't post in last year's thread, but I did make goals for 2010. I'm satisfied with the progress I made, but it's both disappointing and motivating to know that I could've achieved what I set out to do if I had been more determined in the pursuit of my goals.

Japanese learning goals for 2010:
1. Complete Core2k (Done!)
2. Complete Core6k (Will be completed by 2011 for sure!)
3. Complete KM 2級 (Probably won't get finish it until next year)
4. Pass JLPT N2 (Haven't even taken a practice test yet!)

2010 Reflections
In terms of major accomplishments in 2010, I'll have finished both Core2k and 6k. Looking back, though, these achievements seem easily obtained. 6,000 new words averaged over a year is only 16 words/day. Considering that I've managed to initially review ~100 new words several times on the 1.5 hr train ride to my university, it's clear that I've been underachieving.

Reflecting on the past year, I'm urged to pick up the pace, especially due to the heightened pace of my graduate studies (MA 1.5yrs, PhD 2yrs). I need my Japanese abilities to match my scholarly abilities by the time I graduate for there to be any hope of finding employment in Japanese academia. This goal is already exceedingly difficult thanks to the Monbusho's complete disregard for foreign faculty. One thing is for certain, however. Dedication will be the key virtue in the upcoming years.

Japanese learning goals for 2011:
1. Reach a vocabulary of 20,000 words (avg. 38 new words daily)
2. Complete KM 2級 and 1級
3. Pass JLPT N2 in July (July 2011 marks the 2nd year of my Japanese learning)
4. After passing N2, start weekly posts on Lang-8 and maintain at least 3 hours of conversation a week
5. Spend the summer in a language school, focusing on listening and speaking
6. Take N1 practice tests in the fall of 2011

Last edited by vileru (2010 December 12, 5:59 pm)

Okay, I usually dont make these kind of lists... but will give it a try this year and see how it goes:

- Retake and finish RtK1 (lots of reviews to do, am at 534 now after a 2 months break to finish graduation)
- Study harder to get a pos graduation in japan for free.
- Increase general vocabulary to around 4000 words... I think I have around 1500-2000 at the moment, not sure.
- Read something in full japanese, even if it takes me 2 hours in each sentence.
- Play all games next year in japanese, even if I dont understand well.
- Translate around 20 songs in japanese to portuguese
- Revise all Minna no nihongo lessons and the kanji books I have before the next semester begins

Ok, if I get at least half of this Im gonna be a very happy japanese student in 2012 ^^

"Try this one:

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/2236 … h27725.jpg

Works for me "

If I could only read Spanish. >.>' I am NOt going to start another language. *repeats*
Temptation fading, fading...gone XD

This is totally unrelated to Japanese, but I passed my driving test for manual this morning!!! It was my fourth attempt, so I'm really stoked about it right now

About Japanese, I really want to finish JFE by the end of January/early February. Then, I want to tutor Japanese for high school students as a part time job, while continuing my BSc/MBBS.

2011 is looking up

Nomad wrote:

vinniram wrote:

This is totally unrelated to Japanese, but I passed my driving test for manual this morning!!! ...

Manual? What's that, driving stick? You have different tests for stick shift and automatic?

Yeah, driving stick, it's called "manual" in australia. if you get manual license, you can drive auto and manual, but if you get auto license, you can only drive auto.

Hmmm... reflections...

It's been an entire year of self-study, powered mostly by Anki. I'm actually surprised I made it this far, I'm usually one of those people who takes on new things, gets to an average level, and then quits... usually in the span of 3 months. Already in 2010, it happened with Street Fighter 4 and photography.

Only now did I get to kanji 700 in KO2001, despite starting last year. Those first kanji and sentences were really difficult, and it took me a long time to get through 20 or 30 cards a day. But now, my speed has increased, and I'm clearing 60-70 in that same period. As such, it's so much easier to learn and pick up stuff now. I really didn't account for that, how it's a struggle in the beginning and just eases up in the end. Still a struggle, but not so much.

I bought a number of manga and books, and downloaded a bunch of dramas and variety shows. You know, it's amazing how you thought you understood it before, then you read it again and you can understand it even more. Because of that, when I study or read, sometimes I just choose to blaze right through it when I don't understand it... other times, I'll methodically read it until I understand everything. It feels like a gift that keeps on giving!

I realized sometime in the middle of the year that speaking needs to be trained separately. I can't really classify them both as "output." For that matter, "input" is also separate. My uneducated, non-linguistical background theory was that because output has infinitely many answers, choosing one becomes a task. Not only do I have to process what they tell me, but I have to reply with what I want to say, and perhaps there are some nuances in it too. (Oh you Japanese, making me overuse the word "nuance.")

I've noticed my English slipping a little. It's not because "Oh, I'm so good that my Japanese makes me forget English," but rather, I keep thinking of multiple ways to express a single idea that I often say something completely incorrect or perhaps, even rude. It's uncharacteristically off, despite my favorite kind of humor being non sequitur, nonsensical type stuff.

I went to Japan in October to visit my cousin who teaches English. It was fun, and now I want to live there too. No, not because it's "Japanese," but because it's different. I've been pretty sheltered most of my life and have fallen into pattern that all Asians want their kids to go through: Don't do anything but study, then get a job, then make money... so my life has been pretty dry. It'd be cool to be displaced. The problem is, I don't want to teach English, I want to develop a real skill. I haven't decided what to do or what the best plan of action is, but I want to give it a try.

I can see how immersion helps. I have ご注意してください stuck in my head after riding the trains so many times. There's also situations that I found myself in that I didn't know what to do. You look at textbooks and they make it sound so easy to order food, but they're a bunch of liars! For a while I didn't know how to say "Yeah, that's all I wanted to order." I had to deal with things like getting my jeans cut at Uniqlo, ordering pizza on the phone and trying to understand the Japanese address system, forgetting where my coin locker was... etc. The first day I was in a hurry and forgot to get Yen, so I was stressing trying to figure out how to get my bus ticket to get to the station to get to wear my cousin was going to pick me up. All the textbooks and native material couldn't prepare me for that! Well, maybe the coin locker thing...

For next December, I'm planning on taking the JLPT N1. I don't know if I'll be prepared. For sure, I'm probably marginally on the JLPT N3 level. But I don't mind... it's just great to have something to study for.

nadiatims wrote:

What kind of job are applying for? Graphics? business related? Software engineering?

Square Enix Research Center.
Starts as a 3 month internship, and if they like me, continues into full employment. Basically doing research, developing things that will be used in 5 or so years...Not just in the game industry, but it's funded by SE, so that's kind of where the applications are focused.
At the first interview we talked a little bit about some of how they're doing like parallel computing, and a bunch of stuff, and I talked about how I'm in an AI class right now.

Got another interview sometime after the 20th, but I have no idea what they're going to ask me, or what I'm supposed to say...It's going to be absolutely horrible. Especially since I don't know any sort of 用語 when it comes to computers and technology....
And oh yeah -- it'll be in Japanese...

vileru wrote:

Reflecting on the past year, I'm urged to pick up the pace, especially due to the heightened pace of my graduate studies (MA 1.5yrs, PhD 2yrs). I need my Japanese abilities to match my scholarly abilities by the time I graduate for there to be any hope of finding employment in Japanese academia. This goal is already exceedingly difficult thanks to the Monbusho's complete disregard for foreign faculty. One thing is for certain, however. Dedication will be the key virtue in the upcoming years.

it's unfortunate that that's the way academia works. I know because I'm in the same boat as you. I don't want to compete with you but when they barely give us money to pay the bills and yet expect us to spend ALL our time in our work what can we expect?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I accomplished all of my goals for 2010 except for one. That one was to finish a text book that I used in my unversity. The idea was if I finish will working here in Japan I could easily pass the class (or be exempt) and not have to worry about. But it was soo boring that I just said "****" it and did.

RTK (check)
JLPT3 (check)
read magazines (check)
read japanese subtitles (check)
do Tae Kim (check)
do Japanese the manga way (check)
finish Japanese the spoken language (half way incomplete)

Goals for 2011
Pass N2 in July
learn 15000 words (or more)
possibly finish Japanese the Spoken Language
Feel fluent when speaking to japanese people (this is vague since I usually feel fluent, but I want to feel more fluent as in have no problems understanding or expressing what I want to say. I think vocab will help with this).
Continue reading magazines and fun stuff so that I don't get bored with studying.


Most of this is kind of vague but N2 is my main goal so that is where all my energy will be directed first.

Zorlee wrote:

2010 goals:
- Never, EVER ask a random, Japanese girl for the 読み方 and meaning of "膣" on the train again. >_<

Wow. Just Wow.

Srsly keep up the good work though!!

Zorlee wrote:

- Never, EVER ask a random, Japanese girl for the 読み方 and meaning of "膣" on the train again. >_<
- Never ask my friend's mother for the meaning of 産道 ever again. Oh, awkwardness! >_<

I think I have found just the thread for you

Zorlee wrote:

- Never, EVER ask a random, Japanese girl for the 読み方 and meaning of "膣" on the train again. >_<

Why not, seems fun to me.
But really, you shouldn't be reading that kind of literature on the train in the first place.

Okay, here we go...
I didn't really have any goals for 2010, I didn't want anything. It's changed now though.

Since I've started working, I've stop studying Japanese, which is really stupid because I had a nice momentum going over the summer. So one of my resolutions is to watch less anime and study a little more regularly. I also plan to make a 11k vocab deck from "Kanji & Kana" for the French bunch. Good pre-learning. Finish core 2k, start the 6K, and pass the N3 next year. Start reading novels in Japanese. Start to watch raw or Japanese subbed anime. Do RTK3 next summer (this one is easy).

Non Japanese: I've seen a fellow rubicker, and I'm 20 algorithms away from finishing to learn my pll, so I'll try to complete that; work out a bit (more than 3 months)(I feel for the guy that has 3 months spams, pretty much the same here); keep praticing my yidaki daily (this one's easy). Save some money perhaps (for a J trip). Be nicer to my fellow humans ? I don't know...

Anyway, happy Xmas/holidays/New Year to you all, and looking forward to thousands of other interesting threads!!!