Japanese learner's timeline

[sumikekaito]

oops accidentally deleted - meant to make an edit.

[Brody]

sumikekaito-san, ever been to Japan for study or travel?

I'm very impressed you've passed Level 2 with only 2 years of study. I'm almost at 3 years and will take level 2 in December. I'm pretty confident about it.

[sumikekaito]

I've never been to Japan specificly for study.

I plan to take 1kyuu in December

[Belton]

Timeline

January 2004 Started with a CD course-- Oxford Take Off in Japanese.
Found an adult class that started in April. (difficult to find courses that start at times other than September). Spent the time before it started teaching myself kana mainly and slowly working through CD course.
The Japanese course is taught through Japanese. Interesting.
September 2004Started writing to someone in Japan (Does wonders for my reading)
September 2005 Took my knowledge on the road with a solo visit to Japan. Well I can survive as a tourist. Be understood and understand enough to get fed, get around and deal with hotels.
October 2005 Started another email correspondence to Japan.
December 2005 took JLPT4
and here I am after 2 and a bit years and 3 years worth of evening classes. (150 hours or so, one third of the way into Japanese for Busy People)



Study
Well, I try to do something each day. aiming for 30 mins to consolidate what I'm learning in class. but I'm a bit scattergun in my approach and interests.
I use iFlash to try to get vocabulary to stick.
I use paper flash cards and repetitive writing out to learn kanji.
Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings I spend more time.
Now with Jpod 101 I listen to these walking to work.
I fill dead time at work with Japanese study.



Ability.
Compared to the languages I learnt at school Irish (13 years!!) and French (5 years) I feel I have more ability in Japanese. Probably because I've invested more of myself in it and aren't being compelled to learn it. (Teaching methods have changed and are much more focused on speaking rather than writing languages these days)

Speaking. Slow. I still think in English translate and output. In class I'm ok; outside of class -- Japanese people just won't keep to the script! and as they usually have excellent English so I/we get lazy and revert quickly to English. I also know very few Japanese.

Reading. Slow. Getting better. online with Rikai I can deal with most things and lately I need Rikai less and less. I still even find children's books beyond me in print. I'm slowly working through a Totoro picture book using a dictionary.

Writing. I enjoy kanji and use them whenever I can, even if I'm just copying them. Always use furigana so I can read them back!. I can write maybe 150 or so from memory. With a pen not a computer. Using a brush is too difficult I find.

Listening. also hard. I'm tuning in more and more. The problem is picking out what is important. And finding material that is suitable to my level (thanks jPod101!) I've reached the stage where I can criticise subtitles sometimes. "That's not what they said!!" But if I turn subtitles off I can only really follow films I'm already familiar with.



Future.
I can see myself never giving up. I would love to do a full time course or to study and live in Japan but I can't afford to. (Something I should have done at 18 when I had less responsibilities or something) Hopefully I will be functionally fluent someday. But in the meantime I just plug away at it with what time I can find.

-- There are many roads to nihongo satori The important thing is to learn and take enjoyment in what you are doing rather than be fixated on how you are doing compared to other people.
In Kyoto behind the Ryoanji where the famous rock garden is I found a tsukubai (drinking fountain) that has a very clever inscription on it that the temple translates as "I learn only to be contented" Which is nicely ambiguous. and I choose to read it as the only reason to learn is for your own contentment. (whereas the author may have have been encouraging people to learn how to be content) --
(I really like this inscription I have a little quicktime of how it works here )

[nihongonewbie]

Timeline :

I started learning Japanese about a month ago so there's really not that much to tell. In this past month, I've memorised the 2 kana alphabets and worked on learning the Japanese pronunciations of the JPLT Level 4 kanji (I've studied Mandarin so I'm familiar with the meanings of a good number of kanji already). My conversation and listening skills are very basic as I've not had the chance to speak the language with native speakers. I'm going to Kyoto in mid-July for a few days so I will finally be able to put my dire Japanese to real use.

Study :

I try and use a wide range of study methods to keep things interesting. I've been using a number of textbooks and grammar guides, including the kana version of Japanese for Busy People. The Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook is also a handy little tool for learning certain phrases and vocabulary. I usually try to write out any new vocabulary I come across so that I familiarise myself more with the kana and/or kanji and I try to make simple sentences with the words and grammar structures I've learnt.

For listening, I've been using JapanesePod101 almost every day to improve my listening and speaking skills and I've also had fun watching the anime series Azumanga Daioh. While I know anime is not a good way to learn the language, I find it a good way to recognise the words and phrases you've learnt. I'm also a big enough geek to point out to myself when they're using the plain or polite forms of verbs.

My main problems are a limited vocabulary, having not much more than a basic understanding of Japanese grammar and the fact that I'm always tempted to pronounce the kanji according to the Mandarin version. Having spent over 5 years studying Mandarin, it's a hard habit to break out of.

At the moment, my goal is to go for the JPLT Level 4 exam in 2007. I have a lot coming up in the next few months so I might not be able to register for it this year. If all goes well, I might skip Level 4 and go for Level 3 instead, though this depends on how much free time I can dedicate to Japanese study in the near future.

[Jason]

nihongonewbie, I love your username.

[Alan]

Timeline:

Enrolled in some evening classes in September 2005 with the aim of learning enough Japanese to take a holiday there. It took me a couple of months to learn hiragana & katakana, but I wasn't really good at reading it till christmas. I also had a good handle on basic verb conjugation by then. Worked on my adjectives in the spring, although there's still a way to go there, even now. Visited Japan for two weeks in April and did the whole thing in near 100% Japanese. Found Japanesepod101 while looking for additional learning materials and have almost got up to date with the beginner lessons, while commuting to work. The lessons up to about #40 were easy and I could understand them (except for the occasional word) first time at full speed. However I'm struggling a bit at lesson #80 ish & need to go back and learn the vocab from lesson 40 onwards.

Study:

A few minutes before going to work. Listening to jp101 while commuting. Lunchtime at work. An evening or two a week. I use Verb, Adjective and Kanji flashcards a lot. They are great for those odd spare moments. I listen to Jpop & try to write down and translate the lyrics. I watch a lot of Japanese movies and anime (with dictionary at hand). My overall language ability is distinctly average (more a science person), but I can do it with work

Future:

I've enrolled on a short course in London in July, which hopefully will improve my listening and speaking skills. I'm also intending (work permitting) to sign on for more evening classes in September. I've bought some of the books and past papers on JLPT 4, but have realised that my Kanji recognition sucks badly, so will probably leave it another year. The listening tests I can do without breaking out a sweat.