Getting Started on Learning a Second Language

All Japanese All the Time (AJATT)

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/

While he focuses on Japanese and Chinese learning, most of the techniques he recommends can be applied to any language.

Spaced Repetition Software

This moves things from your short term memory into your long term memory through reviewing flashcards using algorithms. There are different options for this software.

http://ichi2.net/anki/

http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

http://www.supermemo.com/

How To Learn Any Language

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/index.html

LeechBlock

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476

If you are like me and tend to get sucked into aimless web browsing this addon for the Firefox browser can help.

Here are some other tips:

1) Read stuff in your target language, from blogs, the paper, to books (young adult level can be a good starting place, but avoid kids books they are not interesting and not that useful).

2) Watch stuff in your target language. Movies that you are already familiar with the plot of but dubbed over in your target language, TV shows and movies that only exist in your target language, etc.

3) Make some friends who speak primarily your target language (this is easier when you live in a country where they speak that language, but if not there are great resources on the web). It’s a great way to inspire yourself because you have the drive to communicate.

Japanese Study Resources: Audio

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.

Japanese Pod 101 Dot Com:

http://www.japanesepod101.com/

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.

Japanese LingQ:

http://www.japaneselingq.com/

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.

S-J-P Study Japanese Podcast:

http://sjp.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

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.

Fashion Snap Dot Com:

http://www.fashionsnap.com/podcast/

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.

Zima Presents Verbal Eyez Podcast:

http://www.zima.jp/

This is a music podcast sponsored by Zima and it features the musician M-flo (check out his music here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99YQqebbLYU)

Tokyo Local:

http://www.tokyolocal.jp/blog/

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.

Yomiuri News Podcast:

http://podcast.yomiuri.co.jp/

This is the Yomiuri News Podcast.  It is a daily podcast feature daily news.  You can also find video and good reading materials at the Yomiuri website.

Coffee and Milk (コーヒーと牛乳) Radio Blog:

http://coffee-and-milk.radilog.net/

I just started listening to this one.  It’s an all in Japanese radiolog.

Junk Podcast:

http://www.tbs.co.jp/radio/junk/

This podcast is a Japanese comedy/talk show podcast.  It’s very casual and lots of joking so I find it a bit difficult to understand.

Almost all of these podcasts can be found on the USA iTunes store.

SRS: Japanese Study Update ２００８年７月１１日

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.

SRS:

Anki

Useful Links:

All Japanese All the Time
How to Learn Any Language
Nihongo Pera Pera
Japanese Grammar JGram
The Japanese Page
The JLPT Study Page
E-Japanese

Dictionaries:

Sanseido (Japanese to Japanese)
Jim Breen’s WWWJDIC

Japanese News Sites:

FNN News (includes video)
Mainichi News Feed

学校へ行こう！

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.

日本語は難しい！

(Nihongo wa muzukashi!)

OR

Language Learning IS Cultural Learning.

 

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.