Today in class the teacher asked the question: What is ぐらい (gurai)? I don't know what got into me - but I said quickly and pretty loudly "approximately!" And then I quickly realized that everyone was looking at me kind of wondering how in the world I knew this word. I don't know how it got into my Anki set but it did. And for some reason it will not stop showing up - I just couldn't seem to ever remember it. Anyway, it just came out today when she asked the question. I really didn't mean to exclaim it the way I did... I hate being that person... but... it also made me realize that maybe the spaced repetition is really working.
I spent yesterday afternoon at the library studying and doing homework. It was actually really good and I think I'll probably go back next week. I made friends with a dictionary that I've been thinking of buying (I have to say I was a little disappointed, I think I'll look at other ones next week) and found the Japanese book collection at the library! YAY!
On the walk home, as I walked through Chinatown I actually recognized some kanji. (yay!?)
I know, this all sounds super lame. I find it hard to know how much I'm learning without acknowledging moments like these. It really feels like I'm putting in a lot of time and still struggling to get simple sentences out (this is definitely getting better though.) Little moments like these, where I catch myself understanding things I wouldn't have expected kind of make me feel like I'm making some sort of progress, it's somehow rewarding.
I'm still feeling pretty lame from the Chicago trip... And for some reason I am still sore from last week's floor hockey game. I'm really quite out of shape. As I walked home tonight I was thinking that I should set myself a very specific goal to work towards - I was thinking of maybe running a race or something along those lines (I've been thinking about this one for a while now... I just need to commit tons of time to actual training.) And then I was reminded of my cycling... I used to do "enduro" type races (single-track x-country races that would last about 2 hours - 25+ kilometers)... I think I used to actually be pretty good at endurance type sports. I was never a strong runner though. If only I could channel my cycling endurance into my running - I'm sure I could, I just need to figure out how. And for a moment tonight I had this sudden urge to ride my bike again. It's been a while since I've felt that way. And it's way too cold here (and the streets are much too salty) to even begin thinking about taking it out this early... and now that I think of it... spaced repetition in cycling.... I used to totally do spaced repetition in cycling when I was training. See? It's all related.
Monday, February 23, 2009
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9 comments:
Sounds interesting - a lot less lame than if I tried blogging about automobile insurance courses I'm taking :S
For some reasone, Russian and German were two languages I wanted to study. I was also interested in ancient Egyptian, but I don't think there's a lot of places to pick that up, and it would be hard to use conversationally.
Oh yeah, the bike show this spring:
http://www.bicycleshowtoronto.com/
:)
... why are you taking automobile insurance courses?
Russian and German would be interesting - would you ever consider trying to learn either of them? I think German would be easier (it has some shared words with English I think?) I really don't know anything about Russian.
Lately I've been thinking Mandarin would be interesting / useful too...
and the bike show... you thinking of going? I've been trying to decide whether I should or not. I'm not going to buy anything but it would be nice to see what's out there and maybe watch the demos.
I take insurance courses because I work at an insurance company. Yes, as a software developer, but they really believe that knowing the business helps when developing the software. I do agree to an extent - the people who write up the requirements don't have to spend as much time explaining things and I've even caught a couple of errors (and probably saved a crapload of wasted time) by having a very good idea of what they're talking about.
And as long as the company is willing to pay for the courses, I'm not gonna complain too much. ;)
I'd consider taking more language courses if I thought I had time. Maybe I'll skip out on the next couple semesters of insurance courses and do somethig interesting. My past experiences with other languages hasn't been too good, so that's probably why I haven't bothered yet.
Mandarin would also be useful. And if I somehow DID learn it, I could surprise a lot of people at work!
Yeah I'll probably go to the bike show. I don't buy much there, usually just essentials (chain lube and cleaner, one year I got a good floor pump) - and novelty jerseys on sale! :P
The demos are kinda fun to watch too. Last year I saw some tables promoting a number of organized multi-day rides across S.Ontario and Niagara region. I wish I had taken their flyers becaus later in the summer it seemed like a great idea. If they're back this year, I'm definitely getting more info.
I have to be honest here - I don't think I could sit through an automobile insurance course. What exactly does that even consist of?!
I just realized last night that they may not be offering level 3 of Japanese this coming term. This is disastrous and depressing! I don't know what I'm going to do... I'm actually starting to think that maybe Mandarin could be an interesting "in-between" option. Either that or I'd have to spend the next few months doing intensive self-study of Japanese. And I wouldn't want to lose the Japanese I've learnt so I don't know if I'd have enough time to do both learn Mandarin while keeping up my Japanese.
Which day are you thinking for the bike show?
I'm doing it as a "distance learning" course, so basically, I read the book and write an exam. The material covers the basic concepts behind car insurance in Ontario, which involves a lot of legal concepts and definitions, and the specific legislation the governs the industry (car insurance is more heavily regulated). There's a classroom version too, but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend time on it (the scheduling isn't always great). I may reconsider in the future...
How would you do self study Japanese? I guess you could get books or magazines or movies or something from the library. You could keep in touch with other people from class and only speak in Japanese maybe...
I was thinking Sunday for the bike show.
Self-study Japanese - well, it wouldn't be that hard. I thought about it a bit last night and I would really need to set some specific goals for this to work. I would probably work on the next level of the book we use in class (which happens to be the one that they use for level 3.) I would have to meet with someone who speaks Japanese on a weekly basis to practice (a language exchange type of arrangement - I'm actually trying to find a language exchange partner again.) I would probably work on two chapters of the book a week. Set aside a couple of nights a week to study - that kind of thing (one to introduce new material, and one to review. I already have a nightly study regimen for helping me learn new vocabulary.) I have a goal I'm working towards right now with learning Japanese so I need to keep up the studying if I want to get there in the near future. Taking three / four months off during the summer would set me way back and mess with my plan.
So for your distance learning course you just have to write an exam? That's not so bad.
When we get closer to the bike show let me know if you're looking for someone to go with. I might make an appearance. ;)
I don't know how easy it would be to find someone to practice speaking Japanese with just for the sake of practice... maybe you and a classmate could try to have Japanese-only conversations? Or maybe radio or TV or magazines? And then there's the internet... HAH!
"...you just have to write an exam? That's not so bad." Spoken like someone who's never read these books or taken these exams! :P OK, it's not THAT bad, but you have to believe that I sometimes find nail-clipping a welcome diversion.
Bike show's in less than 2 weeks... hey, I don't think Ryan's ever been to one, has he?
Finding people to practice speaking Japanese? I don't think it would be that hard - there are groups that meet once a week where the whole point is to exchange English for Japanese. I've been to a few of them and it's actually kind of helpful but it could be that the people I met were actually trying to teach me Japanese. And yeah, there's tv and magazines but I want to be able to speak - not just understand.
"...you just have to write an exam? That's not so bad." - I was trying to think positive. I still don't think I could do it... I'd be completely bored. But at least you don't have to listen to someone talking about it. You can move at your own pace and just study for the exam.
AHHHH! Bike show's in less than 2 weeks!? TRUE! So much to do! Ryan's never been to the spring show I don't think? maybe he has... He could potentially be suckered into going.
You could try ordering in Japanese at a Japanese restaraunt. You get 100x points if the ordertaker is Japanese but actually only speaks English (and then you could pretend to be confused and baffled by English) :)
Heh... yeah the "move at your own pace" is not as easy as I had thought. This is the 3rd such course, but I think I actually might prefer the classroom setting with lectures and tests. It might help me focus and retain the information better. But I think I will take a break for a term or three after this one's done... Maybe find some other program to do.
Are you SURE he's never been? I thought he had once. Well, there's always a first time!
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