1. Speaking Japanese regularly
2. Expand my vocabulary
3. Revise sentence structures / grammar that had become rusty.
2. Expand my vocabulary
3. Revise sentence structures / grammar that had become rusty.
On Add1Challenge #3, I did a CELTA (English Teaching) course. This definitely proved to be a positive step towards securing a job in Japan, but it did cost me a 4 week outage in learning Japanese.
My spoken Japanese became very rusty, very quickly. So when I planned what I was going to do on this 4th Challenge, I knew that my priority was going to be getting back into the routine of speaking Japanese regularly. Add1Challenge #4 has been keeping me accountable to my plan, but also most importantly - maintaining the fun of the journey itself!
You see, something I began to understand during Add1Challenge #2 was that, under normal circumstances, nobody around you actually cares too much about your language learning endeavours. Honestly, that sounds really harsh doesn't it? Maybe I should re-phrase it.
OK, as much as your friends, family, work colleagues etc can appear to be supportive; unless they are learning a language themselves, at best they won't really understand your elation at certain achievements. In my experience, during the long-haul of language learning, I often find myself getting discouraged from even talking about learning Japanese. It's like this - friends and family are spectators and they're not so interested in watching your training sessions. They are however, delighted for you when they see the results. When it comes to speaking another language, they have problems understanding what you have achieved. Initially, the very fact that you are able to string some words together might impress them. But then as time goes on, you don't appear to speaking like a native; so it becomes very difficult for them to identify that you are actually making progress. It's not just them either; it's often hard enough for yourself to identify that you are ACTUALLY making progress!
You see, something I began to understand during Add1Challenge #2 was that, under normal circumstances, nobody around you actually cares too much about your language learning endeavours. Honestly, that sounds really harsh doesn't it? Maybe I should re-phrase it.
OK, as much as your friends, family, work colleagues etc can appear to be supportive; unless they are learning a language themselves, at best they won't really understand your elation at certain achievements. In my experience, during the long-haul of language learning, I often find myself getting discouraged from even talking about learning Japanese. It's like this - friends and family are spectators and they're not so interested in watching your training sessions. They are however, delighted for you when they see the results. When it comes to speaking another language, they have problems understanding what you have achieved. Initially, the very fact that you are able to string some words together might impress them. But then as time goes on, you don't appear to speaking like a native; so it becomes very difficult for them to identify that you are actually making progress. It's not just them either; it's often hard enough for yourself to identify that you are ACTUALLY making progress!
A vBlogger I follow, Hikosaemon says that "in language learning, the brain is a muscle that needs to be flexed regularly in order to grow stronger." The same rules of physical exercise apply to language learning - you have to excercise every day. So in keeping with this analogy, if my exercise was running, then joining the Add1Challenge is comparible to joining a running club. You quickly find that you are not alone; your stories of struggles will resonate with others who also aspire to become stronger. Why the Add1Challenge works so well is not only the encouragement I receive from the other participants, but the accountability I feel towards the group. That's why its a challenge; if it wasn't fun it would be called an ordeal.
How have I progressed in the last 30 days. Well, I think I've done OK. I'm definitely back to learning consistently, I'm making progress (even when I don't feel I'm making progress) and my conversations in Japanese are becoming more interesting. I'm not talking with the same clickity-clackity flow of words I was able to after a month of immersion; but I think this is simply me comparing the way I could talk after a month of only speaking Japanese ... I put that down to the sheer amount of Japanese I was speaking during that month of immersion. But I am pretty much where I wanted to be at this stage. I feel that I have greater conversational range and can happily converse about quite a broad range of topics. To mark the 30 day milestone, I recorded this video with one of my italki tutors; Yuri.
To give you a rough idea on what I do in my Skype sessions with an italki tutor; I usually begin the session by talking about something that has recently happened. I bash and crash around telling a story. Essentially, I set a context in which to discover where I have difficulties. I use a text book to give myself a curriculum framework; but by providing my own context to practice; I find that more language learning "sticks" than by using the contexts provided in a book. My theory is that, unless language means something to you personally or affords you to do something you couldn't do without being able to speak it, it's easily forgetable!
To give you a rough idea on what I do in my Skype sessions with an italki tutor; I usually begin the session by talking about something that has recently happened. I bash and crash around telling a story. Essentially, I set a context in which to discover where I have difficulties. I use a text book to give myself a curriculum framework; but by providing my own context to practice; I find that more language learning "sticks" than by using the contexts provided in a book. My theory is that, unless language means something to you personally or affords you to do something you couldn't do without being able to speak it, it's easily forgetable!
So this is my video update to mark 30 days on Add1Challenge #4. Sure, I'm just bashing and crashing around; but that's because I'm pushing myself forward.
