JLPT N5

August 26th, 2011, 21:44 | No comments

Got the application papers today – in December I’ll write the test!

Category: English, Japan
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ぼん祭り@スマートデリ

August 22nd, 2011, 13:55 | No comments

人が多いいました。

色をちょっともっと強くにしました。：）

彼女はたこ焼きを作りています。とてもおいしかったです！僕の一番うまい日本料理になりました！

野菜のお好み焼きもおいしかったです。

Category: Japan, Japanese
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My first year as a self-learner of Japanese

August 18th, 2011, 20:35 | 1 comment

Happy birthday to me! Yes, today exactly one year ago I started to learn Japanese. 18th August 2010 was the day that my friend 真吾 came to my flat for our first tutoring session. There would be a total of 30 sessions over the year. These dates with 真吾 was the most constant part of my Japanese year; even when I felt down or hadn’t studied much he always suggested we meet. In the calendar above, 真吾 is the red head.

As you can also see in the calendar graph, I started out pretty heavily, conquering the first volume of Japanese From Zero in less than a month, and the second one as fast. The reason was that I had a lot of time, because I spent three weeks in Prague, monitoring the printing of my book, which mostly meant a lot of waiting until the actual printing began. The same day as I took the train to Prague, I searched for the DHL guy on the street and found him some blocks from my flat. I asked for my Amazon package and he searched for it among all the other Amazon packages until he found it. Very happy I headed for my train and was absorbed in the first chapter during the whole trip.

I think it was good to start out boldly. I’m impatient and I want results – fast! But this manic way of learning always comes with a backlash. Mine came in my third month, as you can see in the calendar. However, after having realised I was about to throw away my first two months, I got back my passion and continued learning.

I’ve used several means of learning. In the beginning, I relied mostly on textbooks:

  • I started with Japanese From Zero, volumes 1 – 3.
  • Then I read Genki I pretty fast, to let that book repeat what I had learned in JFZ 1-3.
  • I continued with Genki II, as that one was more complicated than JFZ ever became. I’m still at chapter 18 in Genki II.
  • In April I added Elementary Japanese to my textbooks. The first chapters worked as repetition – it’s much more fun to repeat from a new book than from the old one! Now I’m at chapter 11 in Elementary Japanese volume 1. (I also bought Volume 2, but it’s not included in the total sum.)
  • In January I started using Smart.fm as a spaced repetition system of learning new words. I loved it.
  • In February, Smart.fm closed and transformed into Iknow.jp. Many of the courses I had taken disappeared, and I lost my lust, as you can see in the graph. But since I decided to start paying for Iknow, I’ve used it very regularly and have as of today started 1335 items (words) and mastered 932 of them. I’m about to finish the last 3 parts of Japanese Core 1000, which includes the 1000 most common Japanese words. Then it’s time for Core 2000, etc, up to Core 6000. I just hope the company will stay in business.
  • In May I advertised in a language school that I looked for Japanese tandem partners. I met several once or more times, but the one who stuck was コウヘイ – he’s the green head in the graph. We’ve met a total of 28 times during the last 3 months. He studies German close to my flat, so we usually have coffee after his classes end. With me he trains his English though. We speak Japanese for 30 minutes, then English for 30 minutes, and so on. The regularity of our sessions (not to mention their number!) have meant a lot to my Japanese skills.

So, how is my Japanese now, after one year of self-studies? I was hoping to be able to show you that today in a video or something, but there was no time. But yes, I can speak Japanese now! I can keep up a simple conversation. And I’m thrilled about it!

Ok, no more time to write now – my friend Andreas is waiting on my terrace with some rosé prosecco! But I want to end by thanking those who were involved in my Japanese studies. Most of all 真吾先生, who was with me from the very beginning and remained the most consistent feature of my studies. Then コウヘイ, who has worked wonders with my Japanese in the last 3 months. And then the rest of my tandem partners: あゆみ, まさし, まゆ, and especially みずき, whom I met four times before she went back to Tokyo. And my tandem partners’ friends and girlfriends: なおこ and あかね. Thanks also goes to my old friend たすく and that guy I met on the street in Prague almost a year ago, ゆすけ.

ありがとうございます！

This year cost me 559 euro (796 USD). It might seem a lot, but keep it mind it doesn’t only include all the text books, but also 30 private tutoring sessions of one hour each.

Hope to continue serving you with reports of my progress – cheers! :)

Category: English
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Tacheles Berlin, Tuesday at 11:33

August 9th, 2011, 12:59 | No comments

Just took some photos of police arriving to Tacheles, where a private security company in Harley Davidson hoods waited. I suppose we can expect riots tonight …

All photos by Karl Andersson, free to share under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Category: English, Politics
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I ♥ noise

August 7th, 2011, 13:15 | No comments

There is a lot of noise in my new area. My apartment faces the street – a four lane boulevard full of cars most times of the day. In the night, loud music from tuned BMW’s mix with police sirens and shouts. On the weekends, honking wedding caravans. When I had just moved in, I thought people were fighting when I heard screams on the street, but it was just the Turkish fruit and vegetable dealers who shouted out their prices, as they do every day in the hour before closing.

I love it. Because I love noise. It makes me feel less alone.

Hugo Macdonald writes in the July/August 2011 issue of Monocle:

There’s no denying that cities are noisy places, but there’s a difference between noise and sound, and it’s possible to measure the quality of life in a city depending on whether its din veers more in one direction than the other.

Screeching sirens, car horns and alarms, hiphop on full volume in convertibles, public shouting matches and drunken roaring are all noises that convey a crime-ridden, angry population keen to be heard in whatever way possible. Church bells, the tring of bicycles and the gentle hum of chatter and laughter suggest a city with a healthy street culture and a happy population, enjoying their city – not fighting to be heard in it.

Yes, I know that Monocle is a lifestyle magazine which deals with ideals, I know they chose Helsinki as the “most liveable city” and that their editor is in love with Stockholm. But still, who wants a “healthy street culture” – honestly? Or a “gentle hum”? I prefer the hip hop anytime, but I guess I always had a soft spot for the crime-ridden.

Shortly before I left Stockholm, I saw this “quality of life” campaign from the city:

It reads: “Robert sleeps without noise.” That image so brilliantly summed up everything that I found boring with Stockholm that I had to take a photo of it. I sometimes use it as a reminder of what I love with Berlin. No, we don’t sleep without noise in this city. In fact, we hardly sleep at all.

Category: English, Personal
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