Just in case you were doubting my persistence…
Still persistent
Language Study: Persistent, yet also lazy
Yes, I’ve been studying for TWO THOUSAND TWENTY FIVE DAYS.
Yes, I am now doing this as lazily as possible: I’m in one of the lower-achievement leagues. And I’m comfy there.
My katakana (Japanese alphabet for foreign words) is slowly improving… But I’m studying so slowly that I’m forgetting kanji (more complex characters representing entire words) that I learned a year ago. (Ooops.)
Language Study: 2000 Day Streak
Yes. 2000 Days. I’m not putting as much energy into my studies as I need to, but I am doing at least a brief practice every day.
Language Study: Slow, and also Slow
Am I still studying? Yes. Am I putting a minimal amount of effort into my Japanese lessons, waiting for my brain to come back online and take this more seriously? Also yes.
Language Study: Feeling Less Than Literate
I feel like I’m somehow both succeeding (because I’m really good at multiple choice) and failing (because I am mentally exhausted from work and can’t communicate basic concepts coherently). This isn’t anyone’s fault but my tired brain’s.
I appreciate Duolingo for giving my language anxiety an outlet, and for making me practice my weakest alphabet, Katakana.
Language Study: 1900 Days of Duolingo
I have some plans that may keep me from being able to maintain this streak through the end of the year, but in the meantime, here’s to celebrating my language obsession! [clinking of virtual glasses]
Yes, I’m back to Japanese. No, I’m not very good at it.
Language Study: Hiragana
I had to ice my arm, but I do think starting over beginner-level practice in writing hiragana (one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets) will help me with my language study.
My recent studies remind me too much of what I do NOT remember, while I disregard things that I recall as ‘easy.’ (Yes, I am a terrible self-critic.) Yes, I do want to get back to a ‘decent tourist who can read a little’ skillset!! And perhaps even to have my niche art supply vocabulary back, which has served me so well in museums during my other travels.
It is exciting to have a trip planned to Japan. It’s also fun to speak regularly with the colleague who encouraged/coerced me into booking my trip. Our meetings on other topics eventually (or immediately) turn to sharing what he most liked during his recent visit, and I share what I plan to see and do during my upcoming 3rd visit to the country. The venn diagram of these things are two minimally overlapping circles, but the differences sound fun, so we are each developing lists of things to do on our NEXT trip. We are basically providing each other an encouraging feedback loop of fun things, and I joke that we will each have to go annually to cover all of this delight.
I could see that being a happy habit!
But meanwhile, I’ll study fiendishly.
Language Study: Persistence
I am… diligent.
Language Study: Returning to Japanese
きゃーーー！(Me screaming, “kyaaaaa!”)
Sure, I got 14k in experience points in Japanese during the COVID safety era; sure, I made it to Section 2 / Unit 32… but I don’t feel like I remember a thing.
きゃーーー！
Language Study: 1850 Days
Yes, but I still feel lazy, because it is relatively easy to make progress in German, but I haven’t resumed studying Japanese.