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Hi All,
Lorna from Idaho here. I returned from a trip to Japan a couple of weeks ago. What an amazingly beautiful country! We love the people, the culture, the mountains, and most of the food. However, I realized very quickly that I am not a huge fan of being illiterate. It was SO difficult to be unable to read even the simplest things – like what button to push on the toilet. :o| -eek.
Our family may be moving to Japan for a couple of years, so I am studying hard to at least be able to read as well as a Japanese 1st grader by August; 1-2 hours a day. I am a home educator, with two girls ages 11 and 13. My first language is English, but we are proficient in Spanish as well. Rosetta Stone was my program of choice to start learning Japanese this year, but it is almost useless for learning how to read. If you want to listen and practice speaking, it is an excellent program. If you want to learn to read, TextFugu is the place to be.
The girls are learning as well, but not at such an agressive pace. I purchased a hiragana poster for our wall and a couple of young children’s books while I was in Japan. Browsing in a bookstore was just one more place where being illiterate was beyond frustrating. But, with 3 hours, some helpful bilingual customers, and my “survival phrases” practice, I came home with some useful materials. Looking forward to being an official member in Season 2. I completed Season 1 in 11 days and I’m studying Kanji with WaniKani simultaneously.
ローナP.S. My profile picture is me in HigashiHiroshima eating おこのみやき. Although I enjoy sushi, cooked food is nice too. :)
ローナWelcome! Good luck with your studies. I went to Japan almost three years ago with nothing more than a phrasebook, some half-remembered kana and kanji, and a few words I’d picked up from anime, but yeah, it’s tricky being almost illiterate. Why are you moving to Japan? Someone’s getting a job transfer?
Did you take photos on your trip? Keep a blog? =D
I did take photos and I keep somewhat of a record on Facebook, but I’ve resisted blogging so far. Maybe if we actually go, I’ll take it up. You guessed it – possible job transfer. We’re in that limbo-state, where we wait to see what happens. So, while I wait, I study Japanese. It gives me something concrete to do. :)
ローナShow photos? =D
I kept a blog and took lots of photos when I was there, but didn’t really put many of the photos on the blog (though my friend did). I did make a digital scrapbook, though, the pages of which I’ve uploaded to Facebook…
Here is a link to my facebook photo album I created. I guess you could say that the stuffed bunnies; Nibbly-san and Pinkerton-san are “yuru kyara” for our family. :) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151336272020951.1073741828.710410950&type=1&l=9d26c2ffdf
ローナ
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