Enter the Linguistic Pagan! 参上！言語学の異教徒！

[m00nst0ne]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

I agree with you. But Genki is a good reference for a foundation. Not everything is included there but sure it would help beginners. I want to stay in Japan to practice my interpersonal communication skills. There's a lot for me to learn and it would be nice to practice it where I can use it every day.

[Jembru]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

I agree with you. But Genki is a good reference for a foundation. Not everything is included there but sure it would help beginners. I want to stay in Japan to practice my interpersonal communication skills. There's a lot for me to learn and it would be nice to practice it where I can use it every day.

I'd still recommend you study before you go there. I moved to Japan with approximately N5 level Japanese and learnt the hard way that the immersion method doesn't work! My Japanese wasn't good enough to hold a conversation until AFTER I returned home to England and studied on my own and then with a Japanese tutor (who I became friends with in the end). Mind you, until these past 4 or 5 years, my study methods were very inefficient so I'm maybe a bad example. I had to learn HOW to study before I started making real progress. I used to just read the same textbooks over and over and expected it to magically stick! ^^

The students at the University here don't do their year in Japan until they have 2 years behind them (it's a 4 year course to allow for the year abroad). As far as I can tell (from study sessions we've had together) they study genki (both books) in year one and minna no nihongo in year two. Apparently if they do the year abroad before they're at intermediate (approx N3/N2) they don't have enough foundational knowledge to benefit from immersion.

Also, you don't need to be in Japan to start interacting with others in Japanese. If you scroll back through this thread, we've been talking about an app HelloTalk. I have made friends on there I can chat with any time, day or night. Also check out local universities for conversation groups in your area. Or start your own like I did! Obviously, I'm talking about once you've finished Genki so have basic grammar nailed!

Just a few things to think about.

[m00nst0ne]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

Your advice will come in handy for sure. I'll take note of those points. I'll be taking N4 this coming July and hopefully be able to conquer N3 in December as well. So right now, studying and Japanese media exposure really help me with understanding and comprehending the language. Thanks a lot!

[Jembru]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

Your advice will come in handy for sure. I'll take note of those points. I'll be taking N4 this coming July and hopefully be able to conquer N3 in December as well. So right now, studying and Japanese media exposure really help me with understanding and comprehending the language. Thanks a lot!

Hey, good luck with N4! A lot of people struggle most with the listening. That might not apply to you, but if it does, there are loads of practice listening tests on youtube! I used to listen to N2 listening tracks at work to train my listing skills. In fact, this is something I should get back into doing! I've really let my practice slip lately.

[m00nst0ne]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

Thank you, I'll do my best! I wouldn't have that much of a problem if they try to play the recording twice.

[Jembru]

Re: Enter the Linguistic Pagan!　参上！言語学の異教徒！

Thank you, I'll do my best! I wouldn't have that much of a problem if they try to play the recording twice.

Yeah, I feel this with N1. Give me a few chances and I'll probably dig out the right answer. You can usually rule out one or two possibilities, but the dialogues are so long and will often end with things like 'let's just go with our first choice' and then you're like 'gah.. I forgot what that was' (or didn't catch/couldn't understand etc..). Twice would help a bunch! Maybe I should practice note taking, but it's hard to write Japanese fast, and if I translate to English I'll lose the flow of the conversation. I'm sure there's a knack to it though.

I also hate the listening questions that are really just maths too. There was an N2 question about rent where the new tenants were told how many months rent to pay up front (and it wasn't a round number), then it's a month and a half for key money and 2 months for the deposit.. these were values of 万(one man = 10,000) and I'm not used to counting that way quickly. Even with the transcript afterwards I needed a calculator to work it out!

Anyway, if you're taking N3 so soon after, I'm guessing you're already studying at N3-ish level, so N4 will be a breeze for you I'm sure! I'll be cheering you on from a far!