I am a year behind!

[erawanet]

I have been listening pretty much from the beginning, that is, I discovered JP101 when it was first on iTunes and I listened avidly on my daily runs.
However, with time demands I have fallen behind and I am still stuck in around March 2006, i.e beginner lessons 50 or so and Survival 15 etc.
My question is, how can I quickly catch up? Should I skip a series, and just go with the survivals?? OR, am I gonna have to do all lessons in sequence? How many lessons is it sensible to do a day to really absorb them whilst getting somewhere towards being back on track?

Many thanks!

[Airth]

You don't say whether or not your working to some kind of deadline, but I'll assume you're not and say - relax! I'm sure you know this already, but learning a language isn't a race unless you're coming here next month, facing some kind of exam, or being thrown into a business situation. The best thing you can do is learn at your own pace; you are the only person who can decided how quickly you can absorb material.

I think I can understand your frustration at feeling out of the loop, and even though a second series was introduced I still believe JPod needs to come up with a better way of supporting the people who are 'behind' and feeling isolated. But you know, as long as you are continuing to enjoy the learning process and can retain your enthusiasm I would say don't worry yourself about it. If you're serious and you rush now, you'll only end up having to go back to pick up the points you didn't fully grasp.

And, welcome to the forum!

[erawanet]

Thanks for your advice!

I do not have any deadline, so I guess that learning at my own pace is a good idea. I just felt a bit left out being a year behind after listening to JCC 41 and noted that even Peter had been replaced and language seemed to have moved on a great deal.

Also, when I was listening, everything seemed to be free and a bit smaller in scale - Peter, Sakura and others would answer all the posts themselves!

Anyway, I guess that's progress and testament to the sucess of JP101 so I should be grateful that this great resource is very much alive and well.

cheers!

[Abrassart]

However, with time demands I have fallen behind and I am still stuck in around March 2006, i.e beginner lessons 50 or so and Survival 15 etc.

Me too (well, myself I finished the survival series, because I started by that, and I'm at beginner lessons 65). I don't see what is the problem here. Dosn't matter really. I don't think anyone can follow the pace of JP101 and is able to listen to everything (except if he don't work and don't have a familly), but it's not the goal (the goal is for the beginner to listen to the beginner series, for the advance to listen to the intermediate lessons and Miki's blog, and so on).

The only think I do is to listen to the Newbie series, the news and somethimes the JCC (depending of the subject) of the week. It's nice to be able to listen to what's going on now at JP101.

The news, and the newbie lessons, are great for that anyway.

[Ulver_684]

And, welcome to the forum!

Hey Airth-san you didn't tell me welcome when I came to the forums for the first time ehhhh!

[Ulver_684]

I have been listening pretty much from the beginning, that is, I discovered JP101 when it was first on iTunes and I listened avidly on my daily runs.
However, with time demands I have fallen behind and I am still stuck in around March 2006, i.e beginner lessons 50 or so and Survival 15 etc.
My question is, how can I quickly catch up? Should I skip a series, and just go with the survivals?? OR, am I gonna have to do all lessons in sequence? How many lessons is it sensible to do a day to really absorb them whilst getting somewhere towards being back on track?

Many thanks!

I'm also a year behind so don't worry your not alone in this dark hole!

We can get out by surprise without even notice!

[Airth]

Hey Airth-san you didn't tell me welcome when I came to the forums for the first time ehhhh! :lol: :wink:

Hey Sindy.
Well, I did say 'hello' on the day of your first post, which also happened to be the 6th anniversary of my arrival in Japan.
But just for you, here you go:

シンディーさん ようこそ！

[AdmiralAK]

Welcome
I started listening when JPod was already 10 months old.
I downloaded all episodes, synched to my iPod, and listened to and from work (an hour each way...uphill both ways - anwayy )

I caught up last december. I think it's worth while to listen to all episodes, it gives you more hearing practice, you would be surprised how fast you will hear yourself translating something in English BEFORE the hosts do

I've only been doing the free podcasts because I do not have time for the extra stuff. I think that going through and listening to all of the podcasts is really useful. dont rush yourself - you don't learn by rushing.

[erawanet]

Indeed, it seems the best way is to listen to them all, in fact I have gone back a bit into the late 40s to make notes and get all the vocab. I am also downloading some of the reposted podcasts that contain the vocab and notes, and have been slimmed down in file size. The whole of JP101 is eating up quite a chunk of my MacBook Pro HD!

I have a Japanese friend who I play tennis with. She is curious to speak Japanese with me after I told her about my learning on JP101. I am trying my best to get a decent conversation in my head so I can practice with her.

BTW, I have also got some other resources that may be interesting to you. I first got the Pimsleur "Quick & Simple Japanese for English Speakers" from Audible.com (if you like audiobooks or ever thought of giving them a try this is a great place to go). I thought this was a good listen, it certainly can get you from absoluely zero to something in no time at all.

I also have "Learn in your car - Japanese" levels 1-3 by Henry Raymond. This is pretty much vocab and phrases and gets pretty advanced even in level 1 - can be useful but not as well done as the Pimsleur audiobook.

Anyway, you can find these at www.audible.com along with other JP literature including Memoirs et al. BTW, the narration on this book is stunning!

cheers!

[Ulver_684]

Indeed, it seems the best way is to listen to them all, in fact I have gone back a bit into the late 40s to make notes and get all the vocab. I am also downloading some of the reposted podcasts that contain the vocab and notes, and have been slimmed down in file size. The whole of JP101 is eating up quite a chunk of my MacBook Pro HD!

I have a Japanese friend who I play tennis with. She is curious to speak Japanese with me after I told her about my learning on JP101. I am trying my best to get a decent conversation in my head so I can practice with her.

BTW, I have also got some other resources that may be interesting to you. I first got the Pimsleur "Quick & Simple Japanese for English Speakers" from Audible.com (if you like audiobooks or ever thought of giving them a try this is a great place to go). I thought this was a good listen, it certainly can get you from absoluely zero to something in no time at all.

I also have "Learn in your car - Japanese" levels 1-3 by Henry Raymond. This is pretty much vocab and phrases and gets pretty advanced even in level 1 - can be useful but not as well done as the Pimsleur audiobook.

Anyway, you can find these at www.audible.com along with other JP literature including Memoirs et al. BTW, the narration on this book is stunning!

cheers!

Thank You Andy-san!

For the information, I'm going to buy the audiobooks right away and everyone else who is interest get them now like me!

[erawanet]

that's great, I think the listener plans at audible.com are really very reasonable and if you are a US resident they have some nice trial offers with freebies (like an iPod shuffle). Enjoy and let all know how you rate these audiobook resources!

[Ulver_684]

that's great, I think the listener plans at audible.com are really very reasonable and if you are a US resident they have some nice trial offers with freebies (like an iPod shuffle). Enjoy and let all know how you rate these audiobook resources!

Ok I will thanks again Andy-san!

[erawanet]

Just finished Deep Black by Andy McNabb,

Very, very good - of the 50 books I have this is near the top.

Iraqi meets Bosnia meets SAS. Sorry, not very JP, but well worth a shout.