The Lazy Way Out, Khatz may be on to something…

Yo. Brent here.

(I’m not even sure why I start these things off like that anymore >>;; Just habit, I suppose.)

Anyway, on to the main topic.

Now that I have power back, I was checking out AJATT, and I saw an older post I thought was interesting here.

It’s changed the way I’m thinking about going about this, and has a lot to do with how Japanese input would effect your work. (I think.)

It seems now he’s wanting to make sure you stay above the critical frequency. So…I don’t think breaks are good (like I said, I’ve been binging and purging…almost like a yo-yo diet, but for Japanese…>>;;)

Now. I’m gonna continue working on Japanese, but I’m not gonna stop. I need to keep going. But I also need to be lazy about it. My main problem is, I haven’t been changing my environment. I’ve changed my computer, sure. And some of the sites I’m on.

But if it gets too hard, I revert back to English. English is a huge crutch for me right now.

And I even feel bad sometimes, because I’ll get on here, and tell everyone (the 5 of you that visit now…) that I’m going to do it. I’m gonna take the plunge.

But then I don’t.

Then all the willpower in the world won’t help me, y’know? So…I think I’ve got it.

I’m gonna start. But, instead of treating it like one big, All Japanese All the Time movement, I’m just gonna start in Japanese. I’m already listening to Japanese. 1 point.

My computer’s in Japanese, 1 point.

It’s like, everytime I’m exposed to Japanese, I’m gaining EXP. Everything I do is like a monter, and the more I defeat (times I’m exposed to Japanese) the higher my level (ability) becomes.

Now, I’m posting on Lang-8.com. It’s a great site, with a wonderful community.

And, despite my short posts, I’ve noticed improvements. And I take the native corrections, and I SRS them. Because it’s something that I would say in real life.

I’ve also started to post videos of me speaking my Lang-8 posts. So, my Japanese is hideously incorrect, but it lets people correct my speech as well. However, I still listen to tons of audio (music mostly, because I’ve been really busy…-_-) and it seems to be helping my pronunciation.

Whenever I get Skype for Ubuntu downloaded, I’ll be using that…but that’s besides the point.

The main point here is the same point I keep trying to make (to you and myself): Be Lazy.

However, there’s a point that needs to be made in addition to that: You have to be lazy in Japanese.

That’s the hardest part for me…So, I’m gonna be finally changing my environment. I’m actually going to document it, and I will give myself a week. (I always seem to be doing it within a day, and I think that’s part of the problem. I’m not giving myself the time to adjust.)

Anyway, to sum it up today, be lazy in Japanese. Forget what your parents told you about being lazy. It’s good for you in this case.

Jaa, mata na!

9 Comments

  1. You’ll get it down soon enough. Just remember I’ve been around Japanese since I was 10 years old(I’m 23 now), from very little frequency(weekends at 10pm watching a public access channel broadcast of Urusei Yatsura….watching the Spanish dub “Lum la chica invasora” as I type this…) to high frequency. (I listen to Japanese talk radio at least 30 minutes a day, watch at least one drama “Perfect Report” or a movie (watched RaSen (Ringu 2) last night) , anime, or read at least one chapter of manga a day. (Naruto chapter 300 something right now…so much to catch up on!)

    And I always, ALWAYS try to think in Japanese at all times. While speaking to people in English I may throw some Japanese phrasing. While doing the dishes I’ll have Hikaru Utada, YUI, Bonnie Pink, Ore Ska Band, and Porno Graffiti playing. When I’m out for a walk I’ll consciously make the effort to think in Japanese about my day, the area around me, etc.

    Use any and all time you have to learn the language you want to learn. I apply what I learned from learning Japanese to make learning Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin a lot simpler and more fun. AND MORE EFFECTIVE.

    When I first started learning Japanese, age 13 or 14, I crammed a bunch of grammar concepts and tried learning some basic kanji. I’d say the kanji was more effective. Grammar should be done in the advanced stages rather than the beginning.

    Either way, you should glance at grammar, but don’t pull your hair out or you’ll just stress yourself out.

    Also, my lang-8 account is アレックス so feel free to try to find me….

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  4. And if you’re a little confused. I am transgender and proud of it. I used to keep it a secret but there’s only pain in hiding who you are. I am waiting to see a therapist so I can start estrogen, so I still wear guy’s clothes. I don’t like making people feel uncomfortable, because I still look like…a guy! When the hormones start my second puberty(oh dear God!) I will slowly start transitioning in a way that is comfortable for me.

    If I’m not comfortable, then it doesn’t matter what others think, I’ll feel unattractive.

    I still feel very unattractive when I am reminded that I am still masculine. My family doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t want to be a manly, handsome man. Many men in the world want that VERY MUCH, but I am not a man in my heart.

    Either way, I know that if I am patient and diligent, I will be able to become who I really am.

    Many people struggle in life to become who they really are. It can be anything, Japanese speaker, world champion chess player, actor/actress, singer, you name it! Once you are truly who you are there is way to describe how happy you can become.

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  7. I neglect using it a lot. I mean to write every day but a lot of the times I feel like I have nothing to write about. I know that this was a major road block for my English journals, so I know that if I keep pushing I will get to the point where I just CAN’T STOP writing.

    Maybe I can just talk about the shows I’ve been watching? Talk about the themes and what symbolism I see from it… talk about what I did that day no matter how boring it may seem…what I ate…if I went outside…I can journal about my Spanish class…I should start writing journals in Spanish about my Spanish class as well…

    SO MUCH STUFF THAT I NEGLECT!!! >_<;

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  8. I only go to nyaa for Vicissitude’s Weekly Shounen Jump scans…I’m downloading them every week but I’m actually like… 8 or 9 issues behind, so I have more to catch up on.

    You end up getting realllllly tired of seeing manga and anime…but I like reading manga so I put up with it. Anime is virtually unwatchable for me unless it’s one of my old favorites and in another language I’m learning (Lum la chica invasora and Ranma 1/2 for Spanish, Inuyasha for mandarin (((tudou.com you can find a lot of stuff in Chinese there, and if you look closely at the category filters, you’ll notice you can find stuff from Japan in Japanese)

    Strangely enough, I haven’t really found anything in Korean that I particularly like, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I’ll probably end up watching Sailor Moon or Pokemon Korean dubs… maybe Love Hina…. YuGiOu would be awesome. I’m sure there’s Naruto but that’s my Japanese project. I read the manga and watch the anime to review it.

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