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Just Let Your Pup Flow
Feb. 27th, 2015 10:34 amJapanese is plodding along reasonably well, although I do struggle to find the time to commit to studying the language. I'm doing far better than I did with Russian though, but Japanese seems to be a language that I'm putting an awful lot of effort into but not getting much out of. I guess that's because it's so different to the standard Indo-European languages to which I'm used.
Despite time issues, I still passed the listening test from two weeks ago with a comfortable 58% (a pass is 40%), despite it being exceptionally difficult and me fearing the worst. This seems like a good if not stellar mark under the conditions but my view is as long as I pass these tests I'm pretty happy. They're doing what I want them to be doing - motivating me to study - and while they are quite nerve-wracking, this is probably the best way for me to overcome my innate laziness and procrastination. Added to this was that the entire class found the test difficult and I'm reassured that we are all in the same boat, with my mark being pretty average.
The speaking test is next week but as I'll be in Poland, mine will be deferred until the following week, which is a shame. This and the listening are the two that I always find most difficult so I'm not particularly looking forward to it. The class itself is interesting but I only really know one person in it, a lovely girl called Annabel whose quite bouncy and fun. She wanted to be my speaking partner but as I won't be here, I had to pass. I may have to do it with sensai, who has been growing a rather impressive bushy beard as the class has progressed. It'll be interesting to see how full it is once we have done the final eight classes.
I'm still undecided whether I'll do the second year - that may depend on whether there will be a class in the Rose Bowl in the City Centre or whether I'll have to go to Headingley for it. As I was at a show last week, I went to the parallel Thursday class in Headingley a week ago but as it was half-term, the usual rush hour problems weren't there. Even getting there for 7pm could be a struggle for me whereas 6pm in the centre of the city is far more doable. No doubt the 2015-16 classes will be announced in due course and I can ponder all this over the summer.
All I can say is that the classes are becoming a bit of a hassle and although I enjoy them when I'm there, sometimes I dread them a little bit in the lead-up. I think part of this is not being as proficient as I would like to be, but I imagine others feel the same and I can generally answer the questions that are asked of me. However as language is partly about performance, speaking it in front of the class, it can be quite nerve-wracking, particularly if you aren't as strong as you would like to be. Still again this is a motivator to learn and I am learning which is good. What I need to ask myself now is whether I want the basic grounding in around ten languages as I do now or do I want to see one through to complete fluency. That's the question I guess and I can see pros and cons to both. Certainly if you dropped me in any number of countries - particularly Germany and Spain - I could get by comfortably now and would be pretty fluent within about three months of living and perhaps that's all I'll ever need. Yes my job does see me edit in foreign languages so perhaps I will use them quite regularly but becoming fluent seems a lot of work for something that'll come naturally if I ever move abroad, when I'll really need to know the language. Then again, it would be nice to be fluent in a language other than English as that would boost my job options and boost my sense of satisfaction. It's a difficult one and something I aim to consider over the summer.
Despite time issues, I still passed the listening test from two weeks ago with a comfortable 58% (a pass is 40%), despite it being exceptionally difficult and me fearing the worst. This seems like a good if not stellar mark under the conditions but my view is as long as I pass these tests I'm pretty happy. They're doing what I want them to be doing - motivating me to study - and while they are quite nerve-wracking, this is probably the best way for me to overcome my innate laziness and procrastination. Added to this was that the entire class found the test difficult and I'm reassured that we are all in the same boat, with my mark being pretty average.
The speaking test is next week but as I'll be in Poland, mine will be deferred until the following week, which is a shame. This and the listening are the two that I always find most difficult so I'm not particularly looking forward to it. The class itself is interesting but I only really know one person in it, a lovely girl called Annabel whose quite bouncy and fun. She wanted to be my speaking partner but as I won't be here, I had to pass. I may have to do it with sensai, who has been growing a rather impressive bushy beard as the class has progressed. It'll be interesting to see how full it is once we have done the final eight classes.
I'm still undecided whether I'll do the second year - that may depend on whether there will be a class in the Rose Bowl in the City Centre or whether I'll have to go to Headingley for it. As I was at a show last week, I went to the parallel Thursday class in Headingley a week ago but as it was half-term, the usual rush hour problems weren't there. Even getting there for 7pm could be a struggle for me whereas 6pm in the centre of the city is far more doable. No doubt the 2015-16 classes will be announced in due course and I can ponder all this over the summer.
All I can say is that the classes are becoming a bit of a hassle and although I enjoy them when I'm there, sometimes I dread them a little bit in the lead-up. I think part of this is not being as proficient as I would like to be, but I imagine others feel the same and I can generally answer the questions that are asked of me. However as language is partly about performance, speaking it in front of the class, it can be quite nerve-wracking, particularly if you aren't as strong as you would like to be. Still again this is a motivator to learn and I am learning which is good. What I need to ask myself now is whether I want the basic grounding in around ten languages as I do now or do I want to see one through to complete fluency. That's the question I guess and I can see pros and cons to both. Certainly if you dropped me in any number of countries - particularly Germany and Spain - I could get by comfortably now and would be pretty fluent within about three months of living and perhaps that's all I'll ever need. Yes my job does see me edit in foreign languages so perhaps I will use them quite regularly but becoming fluent seems a lot of work for something that'll come naturally if I ever move abroad, when I'll really need to know the language. Then again, it would be nice to be fluent in a language other than English as that would boost my job options and boost my sense of satisfaction. It's a difficult one and something I aim to consider over the summer.
