New Words I Learned Today

奇遇 だ ね - "what a coincidence"

人種差別 - racial discrimination

What Day Is It Today?

I didn't expect to be able to study Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I also didn't expect to get laid up with a sinus infection. The 26th, I could not think, let alone study. I'm a bit dazed, but I was at least able to eke out a little studying time today.

I studied for an hour and a half, reading a random blog entry and doing Anki (flashcards), and then chatting online with a Japanese friend (in romaji). I also spent 2 hours at least watching an anime (Rurouni Kenshin) and then started watching Kagemusha.

Studying Pays Off

I just posted about learning 無視する, and look what I found an hour later: a wacky-Japanese-TV clip about a cat that uses 無視! (You don't have to watch the whole thing; it happens pretty early.)

1st Day: 3 Hours

I studied approx. 3 hours today, copying out sentences, doing a Japanesepod101 lesson, and plugging new and old words into Anki and doing the flashcards.

New words/expressions:

いい気味 - literally, "good feeling," but it's what you say to yourself when someone you don't like gets what was coming to them. Kind of a smug "that's right."

無視する - to ignore

JLPT Failure & Starting Over

Well, my 4-month vacation from studying really took its toll. I was unable to complete any of the sections on the 2級. Out of the questions I answered, I had a good feeling about 20% of them. There is no doubt that I failed.

It's okay. I didn't expect to pass. I did, however, expect to at least finish the sections by guessing. My reading speed was so slow that I could not even do that.

So it's time to start again. I'm taking two Japanese classes in the spring semester at the University of Maryland. They're pretty high-level, so I'm implementing a study regimen starting now. I will document my progress here on this blog (mainly because nobody who reads my other blogs will be that interested). My goal is to do four hours of studying every day until the spring semester starts.

So far today, I've done one hour of review. It's a bit depressing. I'm going through my old JLPT 3級 book and copying out sentences, to get back in the habit of writing kanji. I don't remember how to write nearly as many kanji as I can now read. This is a major block to my fluency.

I'm thinking I will do as the Japanese kids do: copy out kanji ad nauseum. Maybe that can be half an hour every day.

I will also start using JapanesePod101.com again, going through their lessons one by one. They've added a lot more features recently. Video kanji drills, dialogue-only clips, kanji focus, etc. Going to do that now.