Hello again. Remember me? So it's been a bit less than two months since I started attending a Japanese language school here in Tokyo. In that time, I've managed to attend three different class levels for varying amounts of time. The result is that, even though my time having attended the language school is still quite limited, I have a bit of insight into how things seem to work that I might not have noticed so clearly had I progressed in the normal fashion. So today I'll tell you just a bit about how my Japan-based Japanese language school seems to work. I think we can assume that it many of the others follow a similar model, but I of course cannot make any claims regarding this matter. First of all, the classes are conducted in... Show more

Well, here I am. Thrice I said that I would post my next entry, and today will make it thrice that I have fallen short of fulfilling that promise. On the upside, I've spent that time helping to make sure that you get your daily lessons! However, today, instead of simply telling you that I might post my entry next week, I will give you something a little different (that should be a much quicker writeup). As I mentioned previously, I have recently started attending a Japanese language school here in Tokyo. Whether it's been one or two weeks since I started, I can't quite remember. Nonetheless, I know this topic may be of interest to some of you, so I will intertwine updates about this experience with my kanji learning entries from time... Show more

My apologies. I just began attending a Japanese language school here in Tokyo this week. Due to this, I have unfortunately been too busy to write my new entry that I had promised on the 11th. (Peter's PDF promises seem to have rubbed off on me in some way.) So let's move my promise forward one week. If you're interested, school is fun so far! Thank you again for your patience and understanding! Until next week (hopefully), Nathan

Hello again. As I mentioned last week, I have begun a weekly blog that will give you a look at one of the ways in which I study vocabulary and kanji living here in Japan. While you may not be able to replicate my process if you do not live in a place with abundant exposure to the language, I do hope that you might find the method, or perhaps the tools, of some use. As I left my keitai (cell phone) at home on the charger today, I am going to start with a brief outline of the tools that I use, and a bit about their purposes. This will also explain why leaving my cell phone has any relevance to this post. So let’s start there. 携帯 (keitai)： Short for 携帯電話 (keitai denwa), this is a word that many of you are likely already familiar with.... Show more

Good evening, friends. How do you study vocabulary? Kanji? Certainly there are many ways, and surely a good number of them are effective, especially considering that we are all unique individuals who learn in different ways. In addition to being a different person than you, I also live in a different environment than many of you – Japan, in particular. Perhaps this combination of factors (or perhaps simply the living in Japan part) will pique your interest in learning more about one of the ways in which I study vocabulary and kanji. And of course, it can’t hurt to read about one of the methods of just one more student of the beautiful language that we are all studying together – Japanese. Beginning next week (yes, I plan to be quite... Show more