3 weeks since my journey to become a monk~
I’ll be talking about Days 16-21, which will make it 3 weeks since the start of my journey to become a monk. It’s been fun and time has seemed to past, just like “that” (Please excuse the lame pun, which makes no sense at all.)
Anyways, lets get to the nitty gritty of what has been happening with AJATT SilverSpoon
Activities are still the same, for now:
- Listening/watching jp videos
- shadowing
- Do Kanji reps
- Add Kanji
- Write kanji
And most importantly, breaks!
What I have noticed recently over the past few days is that you don’t necessarily do the same activities, orders of activities are mixed up but not that much. For example, some days you might do Kanji, some days you may take a break from them. Just to elaborate on the Kanji activities, the Kanji activities also vary, one day you might write Kanji, another day you might just be doing your reps. Or maybe, all of them in the one day. But it’s nothing too “tiring”, well for me^^” Maybe it’s the fact that I did 100kanji a day when starting out with Heisig RTK. Or mainly the fact that we take relaxing breaks. But there are some activities which you do every day, sometimes more than other days, sometimes less. What I’ve been trying to say for the past paragraph ^^” is , each day is different, sometimes there might be a bit more activities than the other days, sometimes less and the order in which you do them in. (I think I just repeated myself here but yeh^^” )
Khatz also asks for feedback from current SilverSpooner’s about how they find each activity for the day. Which I find pretty awesome, since he can improve them and it will prove useful for “future SilverSpooners”
You’re probably wondering, has my Japanese improved significantly or even the slightest through these 3 weeks? For me, I feel nothing, other than the fact that I know my immersion environment is at its best (well not the best but better than before). Although I don’t feel these “slight changes”, I do believe I am progressing, let it be my listening skills and what not. With most people, I think when they start learning, studying, getting use to any language, they expect “results “, good ones too! and excpect them quick too (I know I was one of them). What they don’t realise is that “every little thing they do in Japanese” Whether it be listening to some funky j pop music, watching anime raw , watching dramas, playing jap games. It is “helping” your Japanese. I believe these things slowly build up and before you know it, ”Japanese” will gradually come to you.
Please forgive me! I was meant to update a few days ago but assignments, exams have bogged me down! If you have been following my twitter, I have been ranting quite a lot about this!
Anyways as usual, I hope enjoy todays instalment, I will do a post shortly on PillowSonic and some figures (which I was meaning to do a while ago)
The pun at the start was unfunny in a funny way I think ;p
shadowing must be really cool I guess.
Still sounds like I would be too unskilled for SS even If you’ve said the opposite, the last time we talked about that ^^. Well I need to learn at least some kanjis for cheering you on in a fitting manner, expect some weird stuff XD
You really don’t need any skill to start SS, actually it’s rather the opposite: it’s better if you are a true beginner, because if you are not, you really feel like it’s way too easy… and this is an understatement.
from everything i can tell about what khatz has said, and what i’ve seen of the synopsis, khatz is assuming that those who join SilverSpoon are starting from absolute zero. He begins with the very first step and goes forward from there. Is there something in particular that is making you think it requires having japanese skills?
Yeah I guess because the kanji stuff appears quite difficult to noobs like me.
I mean I know a few japanese words and some easy sentences, but never learned a single kanji sign ^^
@Fabienne
hahaha thanks! but I bet you really thought it was funny!
Ah it is! I think you have probably done it yourself, when you were little!
hahah nup, its made for complete beginners with no experience, I’m sure you will do just fine! I think I should clarify that in my next post^^” hahaa no problem, I’ll be expecting some cheering on Kanji XD
@Raphael
Although I do find it a bit “too easy” I’ve learnt a great deal, such as shadowing, reps, breaks and immersing myself more. Where to find content,what to listen to.
@e_dub_kendo
I think I should clarify this as I probably make it sound really difficult from my posts. So I guess it is partially my fault^^” will follow up a post about this
What do you think about SS for someone who is already “advanced” at Japanese? I currently live in Japan (6th year) but in a couple months I will moves back to the States. Although I’m decent at Japanese now, I am not that consistent in keeping myself exposed to Japanese all the time and I predict that my exposure will go down after the move. I think I’m good at Japanese but I know that I have a lot of room to improve. SS is attractive to me because it offers not only a look into another successful fluent learner’s system, but also a daily hand-holding through that system. I also like the lump-sum payment option, which I prefer to monthly payments.
Based on your comments, it looks like SS is aimed at the total beginner, but it is still attractive to me. I know a lot of kanji, but I’m not a master of all 2000 joyo, and I’m sure I have gaps even with some easy ones. I’m literate, but I’m an extremely slow reader and I don’t always understand everything I read. My level of Japanese now reminds me of when I was 11-12 years old just starting to read Fantasy books in English and guessing/skipping when I came across a word I didn’t know like “melancholy”, “tunic” or “ravine”.
So my question to you: Do you think SS would be good for me too?
I do feel that it won’t hurt you if you do decide to join AJATT SS. SS will help you with your immersion but I think anyone is capable of doing that, it’s just what to watch/listen to and where. And I’m sure you can do that, since you were in Japan for 6 years, so you would know T-V shows that has interested you in Japan, music, movies, of course western dubbed movies/shows are also a good option. It’s just that beginners don’t know where to find the content and SS has done that for them. Although you could just go on the AJATT site, it should be all there also. It also seems like you want some guidance from your comment, so hey? why not try it for a while. He does offer you a refund if you do decide it’s not worth your $$
It is true that AJATT SS is aimed at total beginners but I found that the RTK I did back then was helpful in the Kanji activities we get during AJATT SS. It has helped me with some of the Kanji’s that I was also unsure of, like your case, basic ones. Your Japanese does sound like it’s quite good already, if I could read most of the basic things and not so hard words such as melancholy, tunic or ravine, I would just whip out a dictionary and find the meaning of it (Japanese one of course, as you might already be using it)
It’s a hard question to answer, since some advanced learners do feel that since it is the basic, I don’t need the first xx days, I wanna start at xx day. From what I’ve seen. I think, what’s the rush? its not so bad doing things from the start, to strengthen what you know about Japanese already. Like I mentioned earlier, from your comment, it looks like you want to be guided, step by step each day, know that your going on the right path. Like I said earlier, why not just try it for one day/month? If it’s bad, just ask for a refund, someone posted on the Koohi forums, the breakdown of the AJATT SS. But when I think about it now, all the information is on the AJATT site, for SS he just spoon feeds you these, in small chunks!
Anyways I hope I helped you answer question (although it was a poorly done job^^”!)
Raphael has also given you what he thoughts, so hopefully that would be helpful
Hi tabetaiiii,
Can you share your twitter name? I cannot find it on your site.
I think you followed me already^^”!
Thomas: it is not easy to answer. As far as I am concerned, I was also already at an intermediate level before starting SS. Like Tabetaiii, I appreciate it mainly because it helps you maintaining a Japanese environment all the time. It is impossible to avoid Japanese if you follow Khatz’s recommendations, and he sends you several emails a day with small messages to keep your chin up. There are many interesting links about what to watch, what to listen to and sometimes what to buy.
But up to now, I haven’t really learnt a single new Japanese word via SS…. It’s still only the first month though, and I still trust Khatz and the method. So maybe you should also give it a try and see yourself.
Watching RAW anime is probably one of the best methods for learning. I also tried putting labels on items in Japanese so i can somehow memorize them =P
haha I agree and enjoyable too!
Ooo that’s a good idea, I was always thinking about that but never got around to it