Huzzah! I’ve finished! I picked up Human Japanese back in February of 2013, so it’s nice to have finally cleared it off my perpetual to-do list. It’s really damned tough to make learning a language a priority… but I enjoy doing it. As for the rest of this year… I still need to finish playing Rocketbirds in Japanese. But right now, my priority is to get through Mass Effect 2. Read More >
Alright, well, I’ve been trying to do a little bit here and there with kanji… but really, I barely know any of it. I can identify numbers 1 through 10, and Japan vs Japanese (People and Language!), but not a whole lot else has stuck as I never did make it a habit to start memorizing them. Read More >
Wow! I actually managed to get some good time into Japanese today! It’s hard not to binge when I know I’m so close to the end of this app. にほんごではなしたい！ OK, ok… It’s already past my bedtime… so I’ve got to get these notes up and finish the chapter 41 review. Read More >
Well… I’m no longer a part of the unemployed workforce (For those who don’t know, Friday was my last day working at The Coalition’s office). As of Monday, I am once more gainfully employed. I believe my new employer is fine with me blogging as long as I’m not giving away their precious secrets, pretending to represent them, or being a negative Nancy. These things are not all together unalike from what the previous group of people who gave me dollars thought. And so, now that I find myself with some precious, precious spare time I shall put aside thoughts of my profession and I shall examine the で particle. Read More >
I like the way the chapters have been introducing vocabulary. Human Japanese seems to have a great approach in teaching the structure of the language gradually, and then introducing words for you to memorize after teaching the grammar. I feel like this is a teaching style that I enjoy. It’s bananas to force yourself to attempt to pick up a language in a short time period. I feel like after a year, I’ve got so little … and yet, I’m watching my poor 2 year old try to learn how to speak his first language and realizing how much harder it’s got to be for him. I think watching him continuously pick up conversational skills is exciting and motivating. It feels a little sad knowing that I’m going to be stopping this in another week or so when I finally finish the app.
That said, it’s time to try cramming some more new words into my tiny brain. Read More >
This app has a way of putting more pages into each chapter than what the previous norm is. While I’ve only got 10 chapters left, this one is longer than the last. It makes it quite difficult to have any sense of how much is left when compared to reading a book!
Well, I’m currently between jobs, so I guess I should be trying to get some progress done on this learning hobby of mine! Read More >
Hear that? It’s the sound of soothing ocean waves. The sound of soothing, recorded ocean waves lulling my 21 month old to sleep. The sound of me having some spare time. Time to study another chapter in Human Japanese. What’s on the menu tonight? More Adjectives! Read More >
It feels mildly self-defeating to continue blogging about my Japanese studies. The reality is, I’ve already reprioritized my to-do list. And unfortunately, while I enjoy studying Japanese, I can only manage so many things at one time. I’m going to be moving to Montréal in the not too distant future, and so I’ve got three things going against me at this point: 1. It takes a lot of energy to learn programming, grow my vfx skills, raise a kid, have a life, and learn such an involved language; 2. Montréal does not do JLPT, so I feel like there is less of an incentive to push myself toward that goal; 3. Montréal is bilingual, but not in Japanese… if I am to be focusing on language skills, it really should be in French. Read More >
Two things you should know about this blog post: 1. I ramble sometimes. It’s the price you must pay for getting free things from me. 2. I’ve just released an hour of video lecture on creating effects in Houdini for use in video games. For free. Read More >