16 Weeks

For about 3 months, I've been moderately lazy. I've broken the cardinal rule: DON'T STOP STUDYING, even for Christmas, even for family, even for your job. I told myself I would study a little bit each day. I didn't. I'm sorry, self. I let me down.

I forgive me.

There are 16 weeks left until the first week of December, which is when I'll be taking the JLPT 2 test. 16 weeks to learn all the kanji, the vocab, and the grammar.

I feel a little better about it, this year. I did study a lot, early this year, and it has paid off: I can read faster, listen a bit better, and recognize more kanji. I feel like the fundaments are laid down, and all I have to do is apply myself.

Today I saw a Japanese tutor. She's a teacher I had at a language school. I'll be meeting with her one-on-one once a week until test-time. She'll also answer questions by email. She's assigned me a lot of homework: 9 pages every week in three textbooks, as well as making sentences for each new vocabulary word. Oy. That's a lot of work.

Ah well. Gambarimashou!

休み

I won't be able to post until Wednesday, due to a photo assignment in New York.

5 Down...

and it only took me 5 hours... I've got to streamline this process, but the examples and translations are really hurting... and so are my eyes. Going to sleep now.

Tomorrow: 預, 汗, 遊, 値, 与

Plans

This year, the JLPT2 test is mine. Last year was a warm-up.

There are about 750 new kanji on the 2-kyuu. I'm a little shaky on the 181 JLPT3 kanji, so together that's 931. I want to learn these by September, so I can focus on review and grammar by then. I don't want to learn new ones on the weekend, though. There are 185 weeknights left until 9/1.

931/185 = just over 5 kanji a day.

I can DO that.

Strange English: Crispy English

You can use "crisp" to describe many things. Food, weather, paper, people's personalities...

• I like to eat my cereal quickly, while it's still crisp. If it sits in milk too long, it gets soggy.
  
• It's finally fall! The air is crisp and cold.
• You can tell this book has been well-loved. Its pages are soft and curled, no longer crisp.
• Her attitude was crisp when I told her I was coming in late.
  

But you can only use "crispy" for foods--maybe only a few foods.

• Potato chips, lettuce, deep-fried foods, and maybe apples can be crispy.
  

Why? I have no idea. But if you call anything else other than food "crispy," it sounds totally weird.

A Blog for Japanese Learners?

I'm always looking around for good study materials. When I got my Google Reader account, I searched and searched for good, daily Japanese-oriented blogs. Blogs that were in elementary Japanese, or that dealt with little pieces of grammar that I hadn't read yet, or that would teach me a word or two each day in a way that would stick with me.

I know too much for a basic level, and I don't know enough to easily read real Japanese blogs. So I decided to make this site, since there was obviously a need for something like a bridge between beginner Japanese and advanced.

Are you beginning to see the problem? If I'm so lazy that I want a daily blog to teach me Japanese, I'm probably too lazy to keep up my own version.

Of course, I blame my work, but if I really felt strongly enough about it, I could set aside an hour or so each day to study. I'll try to do that from now on.

I'll try to record something every day in Japanese. I can't guarantee the grammar will be good. If I have time later, I'll edit my entries for grammatical exactness.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to keep up this blog and my studies, I'm listening.

Cool Scrabble Word: ASEA

I would have thought this was obvious. I've known ASEA for as far back as I can remember the concept. But, in a recent Scrabble game, ASEA was nearly challenged. So I'm going to set the record straight: ASEA is a word, and totally cool.

ASEA

(adj)

being at sea;

on the ocean;

on a boat on the ocean;

(adv)

in the direction of the ocean

Why it's useful: This is a "vowel dump." When you have too many vowels, look for vowel dumps, to get rid of as many useless vowels as you can.

Why it's cool: Not only is it good to use when speaking of nautical friends, ASEA can be a metaphor for intense feelings. How many times have you been asea on an ocean of doubt and dismay? If I had a nickel...

Check this sentence out, pulled from a search in Google Books:

Both in politics and economics he is "asea"; he shows the political acumen of a
Yahoo when it comes to grasping where conservatives stand on New Deal issues...

So there is a sense of helplessness with this word. Asea, you are tossed from one wave to the next. You are not altogether in control. This sense, I assume, comes from the time when sailors were gone for long periods of time, and their wives had no idea, really, where they were.

"Where is your husband?"
"He is asea, sir."

Use ASEA whenever you are adrift, and don't quite know which way to go or what to do. Your listener will hopefully throw you a line.

Cool Scrabble Word: VUG

I'm combing the list of Three-Letter Words, but it's hard to say that many are cool. They are either commonplace or obscure. This word is obscure, but it suits a purpose I didn't even know existed, but now that I know the word, I plan on using it.

VUG

A small cavity in a rock or vein,

often with a mineral lining of different composition

from that of the surrounding rock.

Wikipedia says

"The word vug was introduced to the English language

by Cornish miners, from the days when Cornwall

was a major supplier of tin.

Why it's useful: V, U, and G are unhelpful letters that don't go with other letters very well. Best to get rid of them quickly.

Why it's cool: Whenever you see a rock that has an opening with crystals inside, you are looking into a vug. Here are many examples of what I'm talking about. But you can use the word to describe any opening in a rock. Verdict: cool.

Cool Scrabble Word: PAWKY

I've been thinking of doing some posts for cool Scrabble words. There are certain words that Scrabble players find immensely useful. ZAX, for instance (a tool for cutting roof tiles). ZAX has the Z, which is 10 points, and the X, which is 8. Plus, it's made of at least two two-letter words, ZA (pizza) and AX (alt. spelling of AXE). Highly useful in Scrabble, but not very useful in everyday life. Unless you're a roofer?

But Scrabble is a great game which can teach you many English words. To this end, I will post words that are useful in Scrabble and useful in life. And, hopefully, cool.

First word.

PAWKY

sly, shrewd; dryly humerous

(from Scottish pawk, a trick)

Why it's useful: P(3)+A(1)+W(4)+K(5)+Y(4)=way more than just WAY. Also, PAWKIER, PAWKIEST, and PAWKILY are all bingos.

Why it's cool: You can now call someone who tricks you a "pawky bastard." Or you can tell the jokester to stop being so "pawky." It's a great synonym for clever with the added connotation of deceitfulness or tricks.