I haven’t posted in a long time about my study regime or what resources I have been using lately. This post is going to focus on the audio resources I use, which are mostly podcasts (I’ll post about video resources later).
I spend about 30 minutes to 1.5 hours listening to Japanese. Usually I listen when I am getting ready for work in the morning, driving to the Metro and sometimes on the Metro.
For a long time I have used the free audio from Japanesepod101.com. This is a great resource to supplement other listening because they explain the grammar and new vocabulary and the conversations are realistic. The audio blogs are an especially good resource because there is no English but the level is not extremely advanced.
I subscribe to the premium level service because I wanted to try it out for a year, but honestly if you want to subscribe I recommend subscribing to the Basic subscription. I don’t use most of the extra resources you get with Premium, but the PDFs you get with both Basic and Premium are very useful. I will renew my subscription for Basic when my current subscription expires.
This free podcast and blog/learning center has listening for beginner and more advanced learners. Be careful, some of the audio has non-Japanese people speaking Japanese, which is not great for learning correct pronunciation.
I really like this podcast, but they haven’t put up new lessons in a long time. It is two guys who present dialogues and then discuss them and define the new vocab in Japanese. This podcast is almost entirely in Japanese.
This is an all Japanese podcast which has 2 guys and a girl discussing current fashion trends. This is natural Japanese, but uses Japanese which is a little more formal than some podcasts you find.
I think you can guess what this one is about. It’s sponsored by Proactiv so there is some talk of beauty and a little advertising, but it’s enjoyable listening.
The Jouyou Kanji is the government issued list of kanji that everyone should know. However, the kanji placed on the list are not the most commonly used kanji encountered in everyday life, making the list not as useful as it could be.
I recently read Tae Kim’s post about the proposed revisions to the list and the “usefulness” of the list in the first place. Check it out for a great look at the Jouyou Kanji and how studying from the list might not be the most effective way to learn Japanese.
I don’t like many Japanese comedians because I think they are kind of stupid (slapstick humor is very popular) but I think Edo Harumi is hilarious! She mocks the middle aged Japanese women who are still trying to be cutesy and they have very specific mannerisms which she imitates well. She has traveled a lot and while her catchphrase is “guu” (Japanese appropriating the English word “good” which then morphs into “guu”) I think she has a lot more awareness of foreign cultures than most Japanese people. It’s nice to see a female comedian in Japan, too; with a few exceptions, most Japanese comedians are men.
Recently I have tried to up the amount of Japanese study that I do every day and I have been seeing an improvement in the rate of my language learning. I feel that I am retaining a lot more new words and grammar with my new study regimen.
The main part of my study is using Spaced Repetition Software (SRS) to review vocabulary every day. Depending on how well you know or understand the word or phrase, it brings up the words at different intervals to increase your brains retention. I first learned about SRS from All Japanese All the Time and after reading about his method, I also read a few reviews of the different types of SRS on Nihongo Pera Pera.
Since I have a Mac, I use Anki for my reviewing. With the function to sync to the internet, I can review from my PC at work and my computer at home without losing anything. I try to review every day, and whenever possible I add new vocabulary and sentences. Khaz on AJATT recommends using sentences as much as possible, as it teaches both grammar and vocabulary. When using sentences in my SRS I use only recognition, not production. When I use vocabulary I use both production and recognition.
As my vocabulary increases, I am trying to use more Japanese within the the answer portion of the SRS. For example, I will look up a word in the Sanseido Dictionary and use the Japanese definition as the question, and for the answer I need to guess the word. This is useful, but is slow going both to look up the word, and to be able to understand the definition. As my my vocab improves I will use this more and more.
Next Japanese language post I will talk more about my listening practice.
Some of my frequently used links are below. If you have any good links or books for Japanese practice, please comment below and tell me about them.
After three years I am finally leaving Japan. As the plane tickets are finalized (and payed for), and as we pack up our belongings; ruthlessly throwing out the things which we don’t need, the realization that we are actually leaving hits me. I have had a great time living in Japan and I have learned so much. This tangent I have spun off on from my original goal of working in theater has taught me a lot, and now is the time to go back to the States and use these skills I have acquired and find my place.
Inspired by my friend’s post, this is a reflection on my time in Japan.
Things I accomplished:
Learned some Japanese (and learned how to learn a language).
Learned that I love teaching high school students and became a good teacher.
Met my husband and got married (and struggled through a yearlong wait for his spouse visa to be issued. At last!)
Learned about a different culture and how to exist in it (when in Rome…)
Lived on my own for the first time in a rural area and learned how to be fully self-suffient.
Made a few Japanese friends.
Became a better cook.
Helped other Assistant Language Teachers with their problems and hopefully helped them become better teachers.
Things I regret:
Not learning more Japanese.
Not making more Japanese friends.
Not going to Okinawa and Hokkaido.
Not seeing Takarazuka (there are still two months left…)
Not starting a blog about my experiences sooner.
Things I will miss about Japan:
The food (soba, udon, ramen, the special taste of canned coffee, hire katsu ヒレカツ, izakaya 居酒屋 food, all you can drink specials, salad udon, agedashi tofu 揚げ出し豆腐, festival yakisoba焼きそば, and much more.)
Friends I’ve made.
Karaoke boxes!
Purikura (print club!)
Nama gurepufurutsu sawa 生グレープフルーツサワー (shochu (焼酎)- Japanese vodka – soda, and a raw grapefruit that you juice yourself and add to the glass).
Vending machines everywhere; from drinks, to toys, to oden （おでん）…
For the final lesson of the school year at one of my visit schools we made Tofu Dango together. It’s simple and delicious, and a very healthy dessert, so I thought I would share the recipe.
Ingredients: (材料)
Tofu (豆腐) 300 g
Shiratamako （白玉粉）250 g
This is a rice flour made from glutinous rice. Glutinous rice is dried to create this floor. It is commonly used in Japanese desserts and dumblings (dango).
Kinako （きな粉）to taste
Kinako is soybean flour.To make the flour, soybeans are toasted and then ground into powder.It’s taste is similar to peanut butter.
Katakuriko （片栗粉）1/2 tablespoon
This is starch of the dogtooth violet.You can also use cornstarch.
Aonori （青のり）to taste
This is a type of seaweed that is crumbled into powder.Aonori is very good for you and contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and vitamins. It is often used in its dried form in Japanese soups and tempura.It is also used to add flavor to Japanese food by sprinkling the powder onto hot food.
Goma （ごま）to taste
Sesame seeds. Black sesame seeds work well also.
Shoyu (しょうゆ) 1 tablespoon
Soy sauce.
Satou （砂糖）
Sugar. Brown sugar works well also.
Mizu (水)
Water.
Utensils and Supplies:
Bowl, ladle or mesh scoop, large pot, stove/burner, plates, forks and spoons.
Instructions: (豆腐団子のつくり方)
1. Put the rice flour in a bowl.
2.Put tofu in the bowl.
3.Mash and need it in the bowl until mixed well.
4.When it becomes the thickness of an earlobe (pinch a bit to check) tear it apart and role it into small balls with no more than an inch or 3 centimeters diameter.
5.While rolling the balls, fill large pot most of the way with hot water and heat the water to a boil.
6.Put the balls into the boiling water.
7.When they float to the surface they are done. Remove them from water and place on a plate. They will become very sticky.
8.In one plate, spread about 1 tablespoon of kinako （きな粉）and 1 teaspoon of sugar (砂糖).On other plates, put goma (ごま) (sesame) or black sesame.
To make a common dango sauce, mix 1 tablespoon shoyu (しょうゆ) (soy sauce), 2 tablespoons sugar or brown sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon katakuriko （片栗粉）or corn starch and heat until it becomes thick.
9.Roll the dango in the coating of choice, or coat with brown sauce.When finished, aonori (青のり) can be sprinkled on the savory or plain dango.
学校へ行こう！(gakkou e ikou!) is a Japanese television show showed from 8 to 9 pm on Tuesday nights on TBS. The title means, “Let’s go to school!” and the show focuses on various school related activities and games. It is hosted by the idol group V6. There is some debate as to the meaning of “V” in the groups name, possibilities including vegetable, volleyball, veteran, or vicycle (bicycle in the katakana spelling).
This show often features simple competition games that are often V6 verses popular girl groups or actresses. The participants, though much older than high school age, dress up in typical high school uniforms before engaging in the activities. An example of one game is when 3 members of V6 and 3 members of a popular girl group, sat in a circle, boy-girl-boy-girl. They then looked at the person next to them and said, “愛している” (I love you).The first team to crack up lost and had to do a challenge or punishment. This type of game is a typical batsu（ばつ）game.
A recent feature on the show is “high school boys who convincingly look like girls”.They invited boys from all over Japan to come on the show dressed in drag. Their charm points (チャームポイント) or most attractive features are then critiqued by an actress or singer.Introduced before a live audience of high school girls, the reactions of the crowd are shown before we see the boy-as-girl presented.Before and after pictures are shown showing that some of the boys look even better as women! The first set of boys-as-girls were so convincing as women, they were asked to take part in the fashion show of the Tokyo Girls Collection.The following week the show also featured “mothers who look like high school girls,” which really drove home the agelessness of some Japanese women.
Other features include inviting a girls’ high school photography club to follow one member of V6 for one day while another member plays pranks on him, various pranks and hi-jinks between the group members, and a high school confessional where high school students stand on the roof of their school and shout their secrets to a group of classmates on the ground below.This show is a great look at the culture surrounding Japanese high school students, and compared to most of the shows currently on Japanese TV it is both smarter and more entertaining.
In October 2007 I gave a talk for 14 Japanese elementary school teachers. Almost all were homeroom teachers. Most only teach with their ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) once a month. The information was basic: Effective Teaching Methods and Useful Conversation Methods for Elementary Schools, but toward the end of the workshop something a little more interesting came out.
I asked the teachers in groups of 3 and 4 to think of phrases that they think are the most important for the ALT to know. Some groups choose phrases for talking about lesson planning, some phrases to discipline the children. But the most popular phrases were overwhelmingly phrases we don’t even have in the English language!
One group choose 戴きます (itadakimasu), which is an expression of thanks before meals. They also thought ご馳走様 (gochisosama) or ご馳走様でした (gochisosama deshita) was important. You say this after meals and it means roughly “thank you for this feast”. Wow, I thought. That is a strange thing to choose, especially as it has no bearing on teaching. But I realized that many ALTs eat lunch with the students, and this is something very polite that the students are taught to do. As the teacher, the ALT should set a good example by also doing it, even if it is something they will never use in the classroom.
