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  • in reply to: TextFugu Season Completions for Great Motivation of Heart! #35802

    Miki
    Member

    Ah, yeah. That’s what I was thinking about music, since I noticed a lot of times they’ll pronounce things technically ‘incorrect’ many times to keep to the melody. (Like pronouncing the “su” fully in “desu”.)

    Anyway, thanks for the advice! I’ll look into watching some dramas with Japanese subs. Hopefully that’ll help me some with listening and maybe I can pick stuff up. (:

    in reply to: TextFugu Season Completions for Great Motivation of Heart! #35780

    Miki
    Member

    So do you think it’s better to study more vocab or grammar? I’ve heard you can understand Japanese even if you don’t understand grammar so well. But I tend to like grammar more, since you can practice it a lot. According to my Japanese friend, my listening comprehension is very good (But you know how Japanese people are..Though she’s pretty honest with me). If I’m going to understand it at all, I can usually get it at normal speed no problem. If she has to repeat herself, I probably just don’t know what she said and won’t get it anyway, regardless of how slow she repeats it. (My speaking is another matter entirely though..ha..)

    I listen to Japanese music every day, in fact – all I listen to is Japanese music. I’ve removed all English songs from my phone (with the exception of a select few – and I mean, very few. Like 3 songs if even..). I’ve been considering getting some podcasts and watching more dramas, but I feel like the passive listening does little for me. Maybe I’m mistaken though and just don’t realize that it helps. I’m not sure. I also talk with my Japanese friend every week, sometimes several times a week if our schedules permit. Though most of our conversations are English, she does try to throw Japanese in to help me every time we talk. I notice that if we say something every single time we talk (like asking if we had a meal, what we ate and if it was good. Asking what time we woke up, etc.) then eventually it becomes second nature for me and I get better at the conversation.

     

    I’ve been studying for about a year now but I haven’t gotten very far, being a college student with a busy schedule. And of course, trying to maintain a 3.9 (so I can study abroad). OTL

     

    Would you say that podcasts or dramas help more than music does? I always hear people recommend podcasts before anything else. Are any of these more efficient than the others? Because music doesn’t seem to help me all that much, although I do get happy if I can understand a phrase or something from it.

    • This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by  Miki.
    in reply to: TextFugu Season Completions for Great Motivation of Heart! #35765

    Miki
    Member

    I’m wrapping up season 3, excited to get into season 4. But it’s really discouraging that I still can’t understand most of anything I see written by natives and I have little to no hope of understanding a conversation without extreme context clues – and even then I can only guess. I don’t actually KNOW.That is, I have a Japanese friend who will suddenly switch to speaking in Japanese, after we have been talking in English. If the topic is consistent, and I know a few of the words and grammar points she uses, I’ll usually be able to guess at what she’s saying. Otherwise, I’m left saying “え!?もう一回?” And even when she repeats it slowly, I sometimes (usually?) can’t get it. ;___;

    It’s also discouraging that most of the topics I CAN understand and engage in are so basic, like talking about what I ate today, which is hardly interesting. So seeing other people here saying that they still can’t understand much after completing TF…makes me sad. u__u

    I’m not expecting to be fluent, but it’d be nice to be able to engage in more interesting conversations, even if I’m making silly mistakes here and there.

    Any other good sources to help speed up my studies? I’m hoping to study abroad next year, so it’s imperative to me that I learn at least conversational level before then. I don’t want to be struggling at that point; I’d rather be able to focus on my classes as much as possible.

    • This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by  Miki.
    in reply to: Podcasts? #35538

    Miki
    Member

    I don’t know about podcasts, but I like to listen to live broadcasts (生放送) on NicoNicoDouga (http://live.nicovideo.jp) . It’s free (although you usually have to join their community to listen – and you may get kicked if they’re very popular and you aren’t a premium member.) and on top of that, a lot of the people who do them are very funny and entertaining.

    All you need is a Nico account, which is easy. If you don’t know Japanese very well, it’s not that difficult to stumble around until you find yourself in a live broadcast.

    • This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by  Miki.
    • This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by  Miki.
    in reply to: Tofugu E-Book #28070

    Miki
    Member

    Koichi stated that Textfugu members will always have a 66% discount on the e-book from what I saw on his twitter. It’s not free, but we do get a special price, so I wouldn’t complain too much.

    You have to keep in mind that Koichi has allowed us to pay a one-time fee, which means that once we sign up..he gets nothing from us. And so, if he isn’t getting a lot of people to join, he isn’t making a ton of money. He has to do other things to make up for it then, and if he has to spend time finding other ways to make money, that means less time to update this site. But he has given us other options to help us continue on without this site. So there’s that.

    Anyway. I agree though, he should at least be up front and tell us he won’t have lessons as often as he claims. Or at least say that he likes to TRY to have lessons added at certain intervals. But, it would be nice also to get updates saying if he can’t for whatever reason. (Maybe he does? I haven’t been on lately. College keeps me busy).

    Anyway – to stay on track. I would love to buy the e-book. Especially at this low price! But I have a convention coming up and I need my money to be in other places. /LE SIGH. But it seems it’s more just motivational tools, things we already have here. Anyway, I might purchase it in the future.

    • This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by  Miki.
    in reply to: Yes, we ARE real people #11355

    Miki
    Member

    Wow, that’s a really gorgeous portrait! You have really wonderful skills. n__n

    in reply to: Yes, we ARE real people #11336

    Miki
    Member

    @Lemur: God, you’re really attractive. <3
    (:

    in reply to: A New Introduction for a New Forum #11302

    Miki
    Member

    Yeah, several people have been pointing me toward the JET program. My only concern is that it must be quite competitive and hard to get into it, right?

    At any rate, I don’t mind so much about not having too many actual responsibilities at first. I mean, if it’s your first time living in Japan (and possibly living on your own in general), I think you can be pretty over-whelmed already. It’s probably nice to not necessarily have too much to worry about in that aspect, and to just get the exposure and experience and to feel helpful in some way. (Though eventually I would like responsibilities! Thats what makes the fun and ‘challenge’. ;D)

    As for your words on living in Japan..Thank you! Im certainly not expecting it to be a magical thing. Though, I do expect it to be very different! BUT, I’m nervous for it because I do know that communication won’t be the same and many things Americans take for granted will be completely different as well. Also, I fear how I will be looked at by the natives. I know that there’s the saying “You will always be a Gaijin”. I’m okay with that, I suppose. But do they look down on you or treat you particularly nasty? I don’t want to feel as though they’re trying to tell me with their behavior that I don’t belong there and I don’t have the right to be there. u__u;

    Anyway, I truly appreciate the insight here. (:

    in reply to: A New Introduction for a New Forum #11265

    Miki
    Member

    Sounds good to me!

    Being an English teacher in Japan is a dream career of mine. Do you mind sharing a little bit about your experience with that and the JET program? I’d love to hear about it!

    in reply to: Yes, we ARE real people #11225

    Miki
    Member

    Interesting idea, though I’m not sure how many people would really want to post their pictures/voice. xD

    Anyway. I’m in my pic ovah there.
    <—–
    So. Yeah. I just wanted to feel cool like Koichi, yanno? He's all "-PUTS PICTURE OF MYSELF-" So. I thought I'd do the same. And maybe be cool. Or something like that. Yeah. B]
    (Don't mind me. I'm a derp ~ )

    in reply to: RTK #11223

    Miki
    Member

    @Winter: Thanks! It really encourages me when I hear that I’m on the right track with things. (:

    (I feel I should also mention. Sheepy. I does be likin’ your pic. I felt it necessary to point this out. Not sure why. xD ANYWAY -slinks away- )

    • This reply was modified 13 years, 7 months ago by  Miki.
    in reply to: OHAI. 8D #11222

    Miki
    Member

    Thank you everyone! I appreciate the warm welcome ~

    Also, @Winter, aha. You think so? xD
    Most people tend to pronounce it like “Mickey”, which I don’t think sounds too cool. Just makes me think of Mickey Mouse…and it gets a lot of people singing “Hey Mickey, you’re so fine! You’re so fine you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey, hey, hey Mickey!” to me. ._.’

    in reply to: A little survery on Motivation #11221

    Miki
    Member

    I filled it out last night, but I thought I’d mention that I did. (:

    in reply to: The Study Thread #11178

    Miki
    Member

    @Sheepy: Thanks for reassurance! I feel a lot better continuing with that now, since I was a bit on edge wondering if it would just be better to follow the lessons faithfully. But it seemed to make sense to me, since I’ve noticed that Katakana is actually used quite a bit mixed in with Hiragana.

    in reply to: The Study Thread #11166

    Miki
    Member

    Hmm, I’m trying to study Katakana. I’m not sure when Koichi actually goes over it in the lessons and I feel I should learn it as soon as possible. So I’m trying to go about that as best I can. xD

    Not sure if it’s the smartest thing to do right now though.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 22 total)