Regular Training, v2.0

Last month, I started my own daily programme, with a few books and since I studied some entirely, I took the next step.

Speaking

I finished the Shadowing book 日本語を話そうfor beginners, so I started the next level one, whose use is a bit different.

 

There are 8 units, and the first seven are divided into two sections each, one intermediate and one advanced, the last unit containing only advanced level sections. Conversations are much longer than the beginner’s book, and one section has to be practiced 10 minutes a day for 2 or 3 weeks, versus 10 minutes once for the first book. I have just finished the Unit 1 Section 1, and I found that repeating the same section at least 20 times was quite effective as I remembered well the dialogues at the end.

 

Grammar

Even if I took a JLPT N2 Class last year, whose content was mock tests using very difficult books, I found out that I needed to strengthen basics and decided to review JLPT N3 grammar. The 新完全マスターseries is very well-made, and seems to cover the essential.

 

Explanations are in English, which makes it easier for self-study, and there are a lot of exercises after each lessons.

 

Kanji

Although grammar is a weak point for me, Kanji are even weaker. I tried different books and methods, that kind of worked but I still need to increase my very poor level. I bought for the first time a book from the series 日本語総まとめ because it looked more learner’s friendly than the 新完全マスターones.

Students are supposed to cover the book in 6 weeks, each week being divided into 7 days : the first 6 are lessons introducing new kanji, and the seventh is a small test reviewing the previous lessons and to be done in 15 minutes. I finished the first week and I find it perfect for self study, because the number of kanji to learn each day is reasonable, about 8, and the layout is very clear : 2 pages per day, the left one introduce the kanji with context and with new vocabulary using them. The right page has 3 types of exercises, quite similar to those in the real JLPT exam.

 

Vocabulary

If kanji are my bête noire, then I could not choose between them and vocabulary. So I also bought the 日本語総まとめ語彙.

Same principle as the Kanji’s one, the vocabulary is explained with a lot of pictures and the quantity to digest is bearable, and it seems a bit easier than the vocabulary book for the same publisher I have 日本語語力彙アップトレーニングbecause the pace is determined by the 2 pages a day, whereas you have to decided your intake with the latter.

 

Reading

In my self-training last year, I did not really practice well reading, and gave up on my Tintin, because the level is a bit difficult. I found this bilingual book of 赤毛のアンthat I already read, and whose story I know very well as I watched the 1980’s TV movies many many many times since my childhood.

 

Although it is aimed for Japanese who wants to read in English, the simplified version of the text and the double page : one in English on the left and its translation in Japanese on the right, makes it easy for a Japanese learner like me to read and understand it. Instead of reading until I am tired, I decided to read one page a day.

 

In conclusion

I have learned a lot about how to learn Japanese lately. I tried so many books, as you can see in my previous posts, but not all of them worked for me. Unless you try, it is difficult to know whether a book is suitable, that is why it took me a lot of time, and money, to find out.

In this regards, the 総まとめ and Shadowing series are very good because it limits the quantity and time I spend studying every day. Two pages a day seems doable in the long term. Last year, I was overwhelming myself with studying long hours every day to the point I was discouraged and even began disliking the language itself, in addition to the studies and also avoided to watch Japanese dramas and movies.

Now I begin to start enjoying learning on my own, not the whole day, and look forward to watch some drama regularly.