Its been a bit over a month since the blog post and I wanted to update a little bit…

What you are recommending here is really great, it really is. Sincerely, thank you for taking the time to address my questions. But unfortunately, because this class is through a private academy (even though it is one on one), my teacher can’t really take me into the real world beyond the class room, which really limits almost all you suggested, unfortunately.

I have managed to make my class much more effective though. We switched textbooks, from a crappy overly-colorful piece of TP, to a speaking-centric book that is regarded as the best in Korea for learning to speak. As verbal communication is my priority, it seemed to fit best…. and it has worked out really well. I enjoy my classes more, my teacher is more confident in the material, and I’m more confident in the value of what I’m learning. Confidence all around.

Side bar:
One thing I really have noticed about my learning — When I understand the material, I REALLY enjoy learning and I’m a really fun and enthusiastic student. But as soon as I run into something very difficult or confusing (my teacher can’t explain everything as she doesn’t speak english 100%, which is good because it keeps the class in Korean mode), I kind of “turn off” for a while, my momentum is killed. I think this means I need to pass through crappy parts more quickly and come back to them later so as not to kill my momentum while learning because I find momentum, especially in a 3 hour class, is really important.

I also snagged a Korean girlfriend, so that is where I get a lot of these “mommy” type questions and real life usage benefits… but I’m trying a bit to separate the relationship a bit from the mommy analogy as my Oedipus complex needs no more fuel on the fire~^^

My skills are improving a lot, but I’m a little worried I’m going to hit a wall in 6 weeks when I stop the lessons ($$$)… That is when I’m really going to switch to your method much more religiously and amp up my sentence practice and media consumption.

Anyway, things are great and I’m trucking along… thanks again. Will continue to be a dedicated reader (and learner and self-developer)…

“Jason”

It was really amazing! In a number of ways:

1) It`s live speaking practice.
2) My friend helped me write down words I didn`t know, so now I have several pages of notes that I can put into Mnemosyne.
3) I got complimented a lot – it was probably done mostly out of politeness, but it was still extremely motivating.
4) I actually realized that my listening and speaking are both better than I had thought = even more motivation.

There are prolly more benefits to this than I care to think of right now. I really recommend this type of thing to anyone who gets the chance to do it. =D Brilliant idea, khatz.

kids.yahoo.co.jp/

Yahoo Kids, Japanese version. It was everything, in simple words 😀 Can’t praise it enough.

I think there is more to said about being a good ‘son’/’daughter’ too. Because, if you match the state your in you’ll be more successful growing from there.

That state is childishness, being eager about what you do not know.

I’ve found that by putting myself in a childlike mode I’ve turned a seemingly barren-of-Japanese-people life into one full of them. I’m learning Japanese after decades of anime watching with basically no language skill acquired. I didn’t start with any Japanese people around.

This part is redundant cause it’s mentioned in the article already, but first thing is of course go to where the Japanese is and ninja/pirate (legally of course) what you can and keep it close to you. As for people…

They are harder fish to catch…I thought. But I’m finding if I repeat what I hear; bring what I read or write show Japanese people they brighten up and just open up the floodgates. I make mistakes….I didn’t know “お前たち” would be a bad thing to say to people I just met…(thank you years of anime watching…*grumble grumble*) but after I used it they politely told me , “that’s bad” like kind polite parents. It’s like everyone wants their own foreign kid to mentor; To share what they have an abundance of. Everyone wants that feeling.

So, I go find them not really expecting anything, other than I might get to hear Japanese, and make the most of it.

I’ve been ”ちょっとごめんね”’d few times. Cause the grown ups (people who are fluent) need to talk. It’s all amusing to me so I play along, so to speak. But my results have been….well, lots of opportunities and people. 　And fun!

So, to reiterate, be a kid. Eagerness is the signature as well as mindlessness.
かわいいから何でも許させます。

Also, I’ve had the most fun being in groups of Japanese. I don’t know that I learned a whole lot, but I certainly had quite a lot of fun every time. So, Jason as much as you’re able recruit other Koreans during your class time and do stuff or just go to where more Koreans are being Korean.

The only thing that’s really at work here is Play. Since I really can’t put a meter on my skill level after every event, I don’t know how well I’m doing…but I know I’m doing well because I pick up a manga or watch a drama or hear a line in a song that suddenly I got…for the first time. (^.^) And this happens daily, now.

Awe is made by people for kids. If you’re gonna be a kid go for the ‘aww’s.

I speak from experience- I love my Japanese girlfriend to death, but she’s done very little in the last year to teach me Japanese- she’s great to speak with, awful to learn from. It’s the same from her perspective too, I’m a sucky English teacher but good language partner.

お陰様で、一年間続いて来た。

もう一年を続けるように・・・・

トム

www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A2%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BA-%E3%80%88%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA%E3%83%B3%E3%80%89-DVD-%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0/dp/B000Z0Z8N4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1257732366&sr=1-1

Sounds like you have a breakthrough idea! Patten it! XD