Update

My study plans from last week:

•     Try tracking my hours using a graph paper
•     Using the Pomodoro technique
•     Writing at least one sentence on Lang-8 every four days. (My last sentence was "今日は日本のドラマ見ました" It means "Today I watched a Japanese drama" Which if you're interested I watched エイジハラスメント Age Harassment) 

I didn't get to follow all of my study plans from last week. However, I did use the Pomodoro technique, and writing sentences on Lang-8. I didn't get to try out tracking my hours with the graph paper, though.

The Pomodoro technique proved to be really helpful. It helped keep me on track with what I needed to do. There were times I was distracted by my kids, but overall it really helped.

I've been doing my Anki and Wanikani reviews daily. When the cards in the apprentice level on Wanikani gets below 15 I go through the lessons until its at or over 15 again. 

Next week plans

• Try again with tracking my hours
• Continue using the Pomodoro technique
• Continue posting on Lang-8
• Keep up my Anki reviews (If you haven't already heard about Anki it is a great SRS/flashcards system. Anki spaces out the cards for you and only shows you cards you're about to forget. I have a few add-ons added to mine.)

• Keep up with my Wanikani reviews (Similar to Anki in that it's an SRS, but it for kanji learning. They also provide the mnemonics for you and teach them first using radicals)

がんばれ！Don't give up!

Study log update

I missed the update last week. Sorry! すみません！I also forgot to track my studying hours this week. I would like to find something that can help me track my hours. I've heard people say it helps them to see how many hours they've studied so far. I'm going to try using a graph paper to keep track of my hours. I saw that method of tracking mentioned in a youtube video not long ago. I'll try to find the video, if I find it I'll link to it.

I think it helps when someone asks how long you've been studying. You can say "I've been studying for 2 years now" however if you say "I've studied Japanese for 200 hours". I think it shows much better for why one person might be improving faster or slower than someone else. You can then try to make a change to your study habits. If someone says "Oh, I've studied Japanese for 1 year and I still can't make basic sentences". Instead, if you were to say "I've studied Japanese for 1 year, but only about 1 hour a week." it becomes clearer how much effort was put into studying and why or why you might not be improving in your target language.

Since I didn't track my hours this week this is only an estimation.
   Vocabulary - 2hrs
   Grammar - 2hrs
   Listening - 5hrs (this includes music and anime/dramas)

   ~Future study plans~

•     Try tracking my hours using a graph paper
•     Using the Pomodoro technique
•     Writing at least one sentence on Lang-8 every four days. (My last sentence was "今日は日本のドラマ見ました" It means "Today I watched a Japanese drama" Which if you're interested I watched エイジハラスメント Age Harassment) 

がんばれ！Keep at it! ^^

Kids and Japanese

Previously I've posted that I'm learning Japanese, however, I didn't mention anything about my kids. I have 3 girls whom I'll call Nique (8yrs) Kai(6yrs) and Liz(4yrs). I use vocab I've learned with them and they occasionally pick them up. For example, they understand when I say some words in Japanese. Such as ”なに？(what?)” ”ありがとう” and ”ありがとうございます(Thank you)” They can also repeat some of the words back. I've considered enrolling one or all of them in a Japanese school near me, but it's so expensive which is expected. I've been trying to think of ways to include some fun but low cost/free Japanese resources in our daily life. 

They love Pokemon, Yokai watch, and other Japanese shows, but they usually watch them in English. Liz loves listening to Japanese children's songs on Youtube! She can sing along to some parts of the songs. Her favorite song is おにのパンツ(Oni no Pantsu) ^^ They also love going to the Japantown in our city. We go to some of the shops and get Japanese snacks, toys, and other items sometimes their curious and ask what the packages say. Nique and Kai have expressed interest in learning Japanese however, I don't want to push them and they then change their minds. That's all I have for now. Thank you for reading!

Do you have any advice or tips for including a 2nd language in your or your kid's daily lives?

Weekly Study Log

To help me keep track of what I'm learning and doing each week, I decided I should try to keep a weekly study log. I've learned how to use the の particle in few ways, here are some examples "私のえんぴつです。(It is my pencil.)" also "とうきょうのスーパーです。(Supermarket of/in Tokyo.)" and finally "この犬はわかいです。(This dog is young.)"

Here are my study times
 Grammar - 2hrs.
 Vocabulary -  30min.
 Kanji - 20min.