-My copy of "Genki 1: An integrated guide to Elementary Japanese" has just arrived in the mail.
A minimum goal of an hour a day, still waiting on the workbook portion but I can start with this and as I master it I can move up to Genki II and Genki III, each is like a years worth of courses at college.
2) 1-3 Hours a day at learning College Algebra, Matrix Algebra, and Calculus II. Haven't decided if I'll do about an hour a day of a different math subject each day repeating or just to do all three each day 3 hours.
3) Computer Science related stuff, I'm still figuring an action plan, but at least an hour a day learning C#, I have C# 2008 text book an a few others but start small.
Updates forthcoming.
Posted by Aros (Member # 4873) on :
Is this a "share my resolution" thread for everyone? Or is it just for us to learn about Blayne? If the second, I vote to change the title to "Blayne's Blog". Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
Changing it to a blog would discourage me from reading it, I see the forum as being enthusiastic support for Blayne's resolutions.
Yeah Blayne learn that Japanese!
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
I think we all get to give Blayne resolutions to keep.
ETA: Also, there will be 2011 of them.
[ March 31, 2011, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: MattP ]
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:I see the forum as being enthusiastic support for Blayne's resolutions.
Are you talking about this forum?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
quote:Originally posted by MattP: I think we all get to give Blayne resolutions to keep.
*like*
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
quote:Originally posted by Aros: Is this a "share my resolution" thread for everyone? Or is it just for us to learn about Blayne? If the second, I vote to change the title to "Blayne's Blog".
I take it as a given you can also suggest to yourself resolutions in this thread yes.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Nope. It's Blayne's 2011 resolutions. If I'm gonna be suggesting resolutions, they're gonna be for you.
Wanna guess what one of them is?
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
No.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus:
quote:Originally posted by MattP: I think we all get to give Blayne resolutions to keep.
*like*
Did Hatrack just become Facebook?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: No.
One of my resolutions for you is to start guessing what Porter is going to say when he invites you to do so.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Oh, come on, Blayne. I'll bet you can guess if you try.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
RT @Strider Did Hatrack just become Facebook? #BBRes2011
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: Oh, come on, Blayne. I'll bet you can guess if you try.
I imagine he has a good guess, but he doesn't like it.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: RT @Strider Did Hatrack just become Facebook? #BBRes2011
I'm blocking you from my feed!
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
He doesn't have to like it. Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
Hatrack like facebook?! If that ever happened I would dissapear, for facebook is thine sweared enemy! Oh noes I told ya'll how to get rid of me /: ------------------------------ To Blayne, 4. Quit 1 bad habbit, anything from as small as bitting fingernails and sneezing out into the open, or as big as smoking!
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
quote: I imagine he has a good guess, but he doesn't like it.
"Stop posting threads"?
quote: To Blayne, 4. Quit 1 bad habbit, anything from as small as bitting fingernails and sneezing out into the open, or as big as smoking!
But I like biting my nails.
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
quote:But I like biting my nails.
I like to aswell... I just have beef against nail-clippers always cutting my nails too short:x
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I just peel at them with my thumb and fore finger, its just second nature and always the right distance.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Strider:
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: RT @Strider Did Hatrack just become Facebook? #BBRes2011
I'm blocking you from my feed!
Man, that's harsh. Your feed is delicious.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley:
quote: I imagine he has a good guess, but he doesn't like it.
"Stop posting threads"?
While I might make some suggestions about where and what you post, no, I wouldn't actually recommend that you stop making new threads.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
I bite my nails and I feel absolutely no reason to stop.
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
I don't feel like stopping either .__. as long as you wash your nails before you bite into them, it's not really a bad habbit.... but that's why I was inspecific.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
My concern with these goals are that they are too ambitious. Better to say you'll spend 15 minutes a day studying Japanese and meet that goal for a month, then to say you'll study it for an hour per day, meet it for a week, then give up and stop.
Posted by Ryoko (Member # 4947) on :
quote:Originally posted by Phanto: My concern with these goals are that they are too ambitious. Better to say you'll spend 15 minutes a day studying Japanese and meet that goal for a month, then to say you'll study it for an hour per day, meet it for a week, then give up and stop.
Not necessarily. I listen to over an hour of audiobook a day. I've spent months listening to mp3's, learning French with the Michel Thomas Method. I listened on the weekends while I was cleaning the house. And I passed the French CLEP (no easy task).
It's a lot of work. It's as big goal. But it's achievable.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
That is a really nice site. Some day I'd like to tackle Chinese, but I'm still just an "intermediate" in Japanese, so right now it would only confuse me. So many Kanji, so little time.
Still, I will bookmark this site for a later date.
Blayne, I used Genki for 1st and 2nd year study. The second link in particular was a lifesaver for vocabulary quiz days.
Best of luck!
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
quote: The area beneath the nails harbors a wide variety of bacteria and viruses, and easily picks up more from the environment. Biting your nails is an excellent way to catch every cold, flu strain, and other infection in the area. In addition to that it is hard on your teeth, and your cuticles may become infected due to damage from the biting or from bacteria in your mouth. Finally, you hands look like hell, and mark you as a nervous person with poor hygiene.
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
Dawn soap with bleach will clear that bacteria right up.... and your hands will smell good too! ++
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
Still can chip the enamel off your teeth.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I've learned my first kanji 本
book, also in the compound word "Japan" and "Japanese".
ま ma and the hiragana for su, but having difficulties pasting it here.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: I've learned my first kanji 本
book, also in the compound word "Japan" and "Japanese".
ま ma and the hiragana for su, but having difficulties pasting it here.
本? So you learned how to write book, simple, fundamental, or Japan?
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
book and Japan.
Somewhat worried that I'm not drawing them write with my pencil though I'm told elsewhere that this isn't a big deal.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: book and Japan.
Somewhat worried that I'm not drawing them write with my pencil though I'm told elsewhere that this isn't a big deal.
Stroke order is important so that you get a system down when writing a new character. If you have the stroke order down you only need to memorize the radicals and you can write it down perfectly every time.
Caligraphy is nice, essential if you plan on writing comics, so at least learning to make the characters legible and aesthetically pleasing is a worthwhile investment. People lose patience easily with bad handwriting when it comes to comics.
If you don't plan on hand writing characters, then none of that matters, you can use computers to write Japanese and Chinese extremely effectively. And unfortunately, your ability to read Japanese has zero bearing on your ability to write it out. At least with Japanese though you've got katakana and hiragana so you have a chance of writing proficiently by hand.
Posted by Ryoko (Member # 4947) on :
Stroke order (and direction) is very helpful in remembering the Kanji.
If you happen to have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, there is a really nice kanji app that I use for drawing kanji.
It is called "Kanji LS Touch".
It is a bit expensive ($12), but I found it to be worth the money.
Yes I'm memorizing the stroke order, the difficulty comes that my hand writing with the dang pencil differs with the example shown in the book that used calligraphy :grrr:
Because you know whats going to happen now!? Another hobby!!! Now I *must must must* get a proper calligraphy set and order expensive inks from kazakstan! Low quality ink will NOT be tolerated!
quote: Calligraphy, at its simplest, is not too expensive. Paper needs to be workable, which is not necessarily expensive. Nibs and/or pens (even reasonably nice ones) can put you out a few bucks a pop, but unless you don't really know what you're doing, they'll last you for a few pages at the least. Ink can cost next to nil, or a whole lot, depending on what your needs are, though getting different colors is something you should hold off on until you need them. But when you get into the nice stuff (e.g. vintage nibs — a single Gillott Principality could put you out around $20, and they aren't getting any more numerous), the price of the hobby can spike from a minimal under-$50 to thousands of dollars depending on what you do.
Now the book gives me stroke order, but I'm not too sure on stroke direction. Is the end where its 'fatter' where it starts?
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ryoko: Stroke order (and direction) is very helpful in remembering the Kanji.
If you happen to have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, there is a really nice kanji app that I use for drawing kanji.
It is called "Kanji LS Touch".
It is a bit expensive ($12), but I found it to be worth the money.
Now I suddenly want to buy an itouch...
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
You don't need expensive calligraphy stuff. Besides without proper instruction you won't be able to replicate the characters you see in the books. If you are left handed you literally have no chance in hell of doing it. They also use special paper with a specific amount of absorbancy to get some of those strokes to come out the way they do.
Just worry about learning the characters, calligraphy can always wait.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
quote: If you are left handed
WHAT!? Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
It's just rice paper.......
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Working on my Hiragana.
I think I got "a" down.
あ
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
すみません。
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
When squiggles attack....
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley:
quote: If you are left handed
WHAT!?
I don't know which hand you are dominant with. I personally write left-handed. All Asian calligraphy assumes the writer is right-handed, and is designed accordingly.
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
You can always teach yourself to be right handed!
Aha #5. Learn to use the opposite hand functionably.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I can't even write my own name with my right hand...
Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :
Blayne the first step is positive thinking!
You CAN write your name with your right hand, just very badly... ( I miss italics)
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rawrain: Blayne the first step is positive thinking!
You CAN write your name with your right hand, just very badly... ( I miss italics)
Why? Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Added 3 more Hiragana.
か き く
ka, ki, ku.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
(I'm assuming that is how you would spell your name in katakana)
I started learning Hiragana and Katakana on my own several months before I took my first course.
Since I was using "printed" hiragana as my model for writing the characters, I was not aware that there is a significant difference between "handwritten" vs. "printed" characters.
Anyway, I had been writing "sa" like this:
さ
However, on the first day of class I discovered that it wasn't quite right. It turned out there is a small space in the curved part.
(You may already know this, but I thought I'd share my experience in case it helps)
Keep on rockin those kana... Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Heya I missed your response, do you have msn?
I've finally after much procrastination made it down to the "m" category.
so in order: a i u e o あ い う え お ka ki ku ke ko か き く け こ sa shi su se so さ し す せ そ ta chi tsu te to た ち つ て と ha hi fu he ho は ひ ふ へ ほ na ni nu ne no な に ぬ ね の ma mi mu me* mo ま み む め も
*me is now my favorite character as I pronounce it "meh."
yo's next.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
Glad to see you're sticking with this, Blayne. Keep up the good work! Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Got the last of Hiragana memorized, learning some basic hiragana grammar stuff like how double consenants have what looks like the tsu kana between them. That yes, if there is a double vowel like 'ee' I simply pronounce it longer.
Also that ya, yu, yo is written "smaller" to show when its a compound syllable, like kyu/kyo/kya. Which freaks me out, as its a little difficult to properly control my brush size with a pencil.
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