{"id":200,"date":"2010-02-01T23:22:33","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T04:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stupidamericantourist.com\/?p=200"},"modified":"2013-02-18T00:43:03","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T05:43:03","slug":"updates-on-learning-japanese-word-lists-and-iphone-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stupidamericantourist.com\/?p=200","title":{"rendered":"Updates on Learning Japanese, Word Lists, and iPhone stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things have been hectic.<\/p>\n

I decided to start taking JLPT exam prep classes offered at the NC Japan Center, and I find that that has been helping me to focus on acquiring new vocabulary and grammar. For some reason or another, I had gotten a bit bogged down doing the self-study thing. Maybe it’s just a matter of having too many books and too many distractions.<\/p>\n

A class is good because it focuses me on doing just one thing at a time, rather than scattering my efforts all over the place.<\/p>\n

The other good thing about the class is that I have access to a native Japanese speaker once a week for two hours, and I can share my toils with 3 other kindred spirits who are at roughly the same level, ability-wise. (And of course I have discovered where my Japanese language abilities lack. No surprises there, really.)<\/p>\n

I prefer taking a class with adults over a class full of college students. No offense to college students, but adults are, well, adults. We’ve all been “out there” and “seen stuff,” so it makes it easier to socialize. Sitting in on college classes always felt kind of weird because of the age\/experience gap.<\/p>\n

Intermediate Kanji Book<\/h3>\n

Book-wise, we’re using “Intermediate Kanji Book, Volume 1” by Bonjinsha. It’s a good book for working on vocab, because it’s full of vocab exercises. Like any book, it’s only useful if you use it thoroughly. We’re using it pretty thoroughly. The only downside is that the book is kind of expensive. My copy was around $50 at the Japan Shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the title implies, it comes after “Basic Kanji Book,” volumes 1 and 2, respectively.\u00c2\u00a0 The first two volumes will net you around 500 or so kanji, and this volume promises another 250 or so. There’s a volume 2 with another 250 in it as well, which will get you to the magic number of 1,000 for the level 2 JLPT.<\/p>\n

Or you could just do Kanji Odyssey books 1 and 2, and that will net you 1,110. But I never did get started on book 2, because things got too hectic. I’ll probably snag some material from it as I go through IKB1, though.<\/p>\n

Word Lists<\/h3>\n

I’ve been putting my earlier entry on word lists<\/a> to use for the early reps of grinding the new vocab. I created a Photoshop graphic page that divides a 11″ x 8.5″ (so it’s landscape, not portrait) sheet of paper into six columns. Then I just print or photocopy the “master” page to make a bunch of study sheets.<\/p>\n

I use the 5 lines as guides to fold the paper, so I can hide columns I don’t want to see, making it easier to study. Then I just study from Kanji with kana underneath it -> English -> Kanji + Kana -> English, and back and forth until one side is full. If I’m still feeling insecure, I fold over one side, use it as a prompt for the far right side of the back, and keep going until I feel comfortable. I decided to just put the kana under the kanji to save time and space, rather than mess with adding a separate step for kana. Really, if I need to know one, I need to know the other, so I might as well knock both out at the same time.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, my rules are simple:<\/p>\n