visions of clarity...do as infinity

Monday, November 08, 2010

Sweet November

O November November, have you come already? Time is moving along without me noticing it and before I've awoken, it's all already gone. Halloween has passed in a blink of an eye, and so has the Singapore Food Festival.

All that awaits now is the dratted JLPT exam that is coming up in December in Chicago... That and you know, classes... papers... and so forth.

Previously I had adopted a rather blase attitude toward the JLPT exam. After all, I'd always studied for Japanese before and emerged unscathed (usually) so surely it couldn't be that bad... But of course, life has decided (once again) to prove that such an attitude can never be rewarded. Because this silly JLPT is all about testing your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, more than whether you know how to express yourself in a coherent manner. How Asian. [And I can totally say that because I'm just discriminating against my own kind.] But the main reason I protest this method is because, obviously, those are pretty much duds in my Japanese learning career.

Look at this homework I'm doing right now. Is it worthy of my attention? Yes, because I need to hand it in soon. No, because unless I use these regularly I'll probably never remember them. And let's be honest here, they are surely useful and marvellous when used appropriately but will you really deliberately construct sentences that make use of all these vague and precise grammar? Of course not. That would make for sentences that go at whale-pace, referencing Finding Nemo.

Then again, I really should be adopting the attitude of yes! I will learn all this grammar, internalize everything and dole them out appropriately in my Japanese discourse with other people just like my classmates do! But I really don't work like that... rote learning has never been my strong point and memorization is like hitting me with a book - painful and it really doesn't do anything in the long-run (except cause brain damage probably).

Then there's the vocabulary. It is not possible, at all, to learn every single word in any language. Not only are there too many, there are also a gazillion obscure words no one will understand, and words that are being created all the time by movers-and-shakers like Ris Low. But at the same time, in order to read Japanese books or watch Japanese dramas without having to stab in defeat at my 電子辞書 (denshi jisho or electronic dictionary) or type repeatedly into dictionary website, I probably do need to brush up on my vocabulary skills. I did learn a ton of words in Kyoto which I cannot remember off the top of my head but I'm sure I did. Like テンション! Which no one ever taught me before.

And no one ever taught me useful words like 試食 (shishoku or sampling food) or 試着 (shichaku or trying on clothes) which would have been so useful in you know, daily life, as opposed to words that I'll never use.

Then again, I'll never know which words I'll never use so I might as well learn as many as I can. It's not like English or even Mandarin [which I'm terrible at but is still considered a first/second language for me] which is much more internalized and I won't sound too off speaking it, but Japanese.. Gosh. It's a new language and no matter how much anime/drama I watch for listening practice, sounding Japanese is going to be really hard.

Not that that is an issue since the JLPT has no speaking component. Woohoo. I'll just practice more on my own. And in class since we have to. But still grammar! (T_T) Vocabulary! (T_T) These are depressing topics...

But yes. Internalization! I need to achieve this over the next month. Does that mean I can watch more anime and dorama as practice? If I pretend to not read the subtitles, it might actually be useful because honestly, they speak wayyy faster on shows than in those listening comprehension passages.

And as I strive to complete this soon so I can sleep...

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Millennium Actress soundtrack!]
[mood : sleeeeepy]
[food : vegetables!]

Labels: Japanese Lessons, thoughts

Welcome

visions of clarity...do as infinity
by witchstone

My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark

Wish List

ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!

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spoonerisms*inc a food blog (by wendy & I)
my translation blog

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Checklist: EAT!

The Common Grill, Chelsea
The Black Pearl, Ann Arbor
Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes, Detroit
Bella Ciao, Ann Arbor
Craft, NYC
Momofuku, NYC
Alinea, Chicago
The French Laundry, California
Goto, Singapore

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