So, there you are. You’ve started learning Japanese. You’ve got your materials, you’re excited, you do your sentences. But you don’t feel that different from yesterday. You wonder, when are you going to get good? How do you know if you’re making progress? Short answer: You don’t. It’s kind of like growing taller. Oh, it’s…
Make Japanese Friends the Smart Way: MyLanguageExchange
by khatzumoto
This is super embarrassing to admit, but, when I was in college, I literally used to stalk East Asian(-looking) people; I’d even look through school phonebooks and other lists of names to find people from Japan. Before you call me an ethnically-biased stalker, remember that I effectively did it for you! I was like “I’m…
How To Score Yourself On Repetitions 2
by khatzumoto
This is a repeat of a previous post. I wasn’t happy with the wording the last time, it seemed unclear and difficult to understand. Truth be told, scoring repetitions requires some individual judgment, but much of it, I think, can be standardized. So here’s a second attempt at explaining how to score repetitions. Hopefully this…
The Immersion Environment: Rome wasn’t built in a day…But this isn’t Rome, so a week should totally do…
by khatzumoto
OK. Let’s talk more about your immersion environment for languages in general and Japanese in particular. From what I hear, this self-immersion thing is a bit of lifestyle change that some people have trouble with. And I can see why, so here are some tips on how to make the transition smoother. This is going…
Desires and Decisions
by khatzumoto
Just to start, let me say this. I love confessing other people’s sins. You know how it is — other people are just so messed up! Other people have so much crap for me to be angry at them for. And it’s so much easier than dealing with my own stuff. I could go on…
What It’s Like In The Beginning When You Don’t Know Jack. Or, How To Watch Japanese TV.
by khatzumoto
A while ago, someone asked me what it’s like in the beginning. What it was like for me when starting on this journey to becoming one with Japanese. It’s a great question, and I think the answer will be valuable, so here are some points I thought up. 1. It’s scary When starting out Japanese,…