Learning JP #06 - Finishing the first week
I'm thinking of a format for my 10-minute Kana practice and Anki updates, so I don't have to bore you with 5 lines of text explaining the same things everyday.
What about something like:
10-min Kana practice: [Score]/[Total] - [Comments]
Anki: [Number] minutes - [Words I struggled with]
It sort of works, but at the same time... at this point my Kana practice scores are almost perfect, and I'm starting my reading practice which will improve it even further. So, I'll just keep updating you on the same numbers every day? That reminds me, I accidentally closed today's tab after finishing!! I lost my exact score, but I did great, a total of 225 with only 15 mistakes, I think? Also, I finally mastered the Katakana!!
As for Anki, does it really matter how many minutes I spend learning? I don't think it does, as long as I’m not spending a full hour every day due to struggling too much. Oh, today I struggled with 置く (おく), which means "put/place", but that's about it!
Yeah, I think I'll only be giving big updates regarding my Kana practice, as I want to try to get higher total scores, squeezing in as many as I can during those 10 minutes.
For Anki, I’ll probably only mention the Kanji I struggled with, because it helps me remember them more easily, and I get to type them and analyze them a second time.
Today's Cure Dolly video was about conjugations. It was a bit too much to properly absorb, so I only watched that one video today, instead of the 3 I’m supposed to, again. Tomorrow morning, I’ll rewatch it and take some extra notes. I usually take notes while watching the video for the first time, but for this one, I feel like rewatching and spending some time to take a thorough set of notes is the way to go.
I finally started my immersion, just in time for the "30 Day Japanese" routine I'm following to start talking about how I should be watching anime with Japanese subtitles from now on. Like I've mentioned before, I don't like the idea of watching anime for this, I prefer other types of media with more realistic dialogue, fewer pauses, and less action that takes away from listening to Japanese being spoken. Aside from Comprehensible Japanese, which I mentioned on yesterday's post, I also found Speak Japanese Naturally. Comprehensible Japanese doesn't seem to have subtitles, at least the free version, while Speak Japanese Naturally has Japanese subtitles with Furigana, and also English subtitles that you can turn on and off. This is perfect for me. I'll be watching both sources to practice reading, as well as listening.
So, there are two different styles of videos: Comprehensible Japanese teaches simple things in simple ways, allowing you to figure out what's being said without any subtitles. On the other hand, Speak Japanese Naturally offers longer videos on various topics, with full, more complex sentences, Furigana Japanese subtitles, and optional English subtitles.
I'm thinking about learning simple phrases on my free time, as well as things like numbers, dates, family members, etc. Comprehensible Japanese has videos on these topics, but I want to take notes from other sources, leaving Comprehensible Japanese content for immersion.
I feel like tomorrow may be the real start of my Japanese Learning. This first week was more like an introduction, learning the Kanas and getting comfortable with the routine.