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Post by MidoriAbby on Dec 24, 2013 19:01:00 GMT
I really want to start participating in this, it seems like really awesome practice. I just got my new iPod touch so I can record audio files more easily- because my computer has problems recording sound I've been using my dad's to make YouTube videos (which I really need to edit and upload ugh I'm behind on everything) So anyway, hopefully I can record stuff with my iPod and store it on SoundCloud or something and start doing this, because this is really cool. JembruYour Japanese sounds really good by the way ^^
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Post by Jembru on Dec 27, 2013 8:53:23 GMT
Aww, thanks for saying that! I actually thought my progress was only detectable to myself, because I'm still very clumsy when I speak. I say way more when I speak to my Japanese friends.. complete sentences now instead of just a word or two (well, okay, old habits die hard.. I still cheat much of the time >.<), but none of them have acknowledged the difference. The conversations continue in Japanese for longer and flow better, yet not a single 'Jem, your Japanese is getting better..'. I'm thinking the 'wow your Japanese is amazing', even when it's terrible, is only for people they've just met. I need to start making new Japanese friends for the false flattery. I miss the 'oh, you speak just like a native' hahaha.
All the same, since that 'boot camp' I did at the end of September, I definitely feel that it is less mentally draining when I speak. I'm pleased that I can measurably see that I speak more freely, because at one point, I was going to walk away from Japanese after Christmas, if I hadn't made any progress at all.
Oh yeah, what I actually came for, was to say I'm going to have to take down my last video, just to be on the safe side, (due to the location, I don't THINK I'd get into trouble for it, but I'd rather not risk it), but I might record the audio from it and share that. If any of my friends at gaiwa missed it and want to see, just PM me and I'll give you the link.
I'll make another at some point though. I still very much intend to do a rehearsed version... like a uni student! It's just finding the time to do that. An off the cuff video might be littered with careless grammar slips, but at least I can make it in any spare 10 minutes I can find. A polished one would require a whole afternoon and I don't have many of those :s
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Post by MidoriAbby on Dec 27, 2013 18:40:09 GMT
JembruNo problem! ^^ Yeah I get what you mean. I myself have recently been really putting in effort on studying Japanese and although my YouTube channel has been kind of dead for a while because of schoolwork, I hope to resume uploading more videos soon, including hopefully a video blog at some point because I've been working on my speaking and my vocabulary as well. For a while I had the feeling that progress had stalled. Kind of the opposite of how you were feeling, I felt like my Japanese really wasn't going much of anywhere, yet everyone kept telling me "oh my gosh your Japanese gets better every time I talk to you" and I just felt like saying "I'm not as good at this as you think I am! My Japanese has been awful lately, I am way out of practice!" Oh well. So I started a new study schedule, which I may post about somewhere at some point on the forum, and it's been going well.
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Post by Bokusenou on Dec 27, 2013 22:04:47 GMT
Aww, thanks for saying that! I actually thought my progress was only detectable to myself, because I'm still very clumsy when I speak. I say way more when I speak to my Japanese friends.. complete sentences now instead of just a word or two (well, okay, old habits die hard.. I still cheat much of the time >.<), but none of them have acknowledged the difference. The conversations continue in Japanese for longer and flow better, yet not a single 'Jem, your Japanese is getting better..'. I'm thinking the 'wow your Japanese is amazing', even when it's terrible, is only for people they've just met. I need to start making new Japanese friends for the false flattery. I miss the 'oh, you speak just like a native' hahaha. All the same, since that 'boot camp' I did at the end of September, I definitely feel that it is less mentally draining when I speak. I'm pleased that I can measurably see that I speak more freely, because at one point, I was going to walk away from Japanese after Christmas, if I hadn't made any progress at all. Oh yeah, what I actually came for, was to say I'm going to have to take down my last video, just to be on the safe side, (due to the location, I don't THINK I'd get into trouble for it, but I'd rather not risk it), but I might record the audio from it and share that. If any of my friends at gaiwa missed it and want to see, just PM me and I'll give you the link. I'll make another at some point though. I still very much intend to do a rehearsed version... like a uni student! It's just finding the time to do that. An off the cuff video might be littered with careless grammar slips, but at least I can make it in any spare 10 minutes I can find. A polished one would require a whole afternoon and I don't have many of those :s LOL, I know what you mean about Japanese people only commenting on your Japanese when you first meet them. It's like this blog post I read about the things Japanese people say about gaijin's Japanese. I'm 2 or 3 on speaking a lot of the time, but 4 on writing... OK, I completely understand about the video. You made it, and got speaking practice from it, so it served it's purpose anyway.
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Post by Jembru on Dec 27, 2013 22:47:40 GMT
Haha, thanks for sharing that article! I think in my case, I was bluffing my way through conversations for so long, that my friends thought my Japanese was better than it really was. I say more now, so make more mistakes. So I probably seem the same as ever to them.
When I was out with my friends on Monday, we said we're going to try to meet up far more often next year. I fully intend to uphold that, at least on my part. My hope is actually to ease off from studying next year, or rather, give it less priority. So to compensate, I hope to continue practicing and perfecting what I DO know, and just learn new grammar and vocabulary as it comes up. Less learning, more doing.. that's my motto for 2014! Lol
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Post by Bokusenou on Dec 28, 2013 22:31:41 GMT
Yeah, it's really easy to get by in Japanese with just using 相槌, especially if there's at least three people in the conversation, so it's possible to get away with just nodding and using aizuchi the whole time.
That's a good idea! Maybe there should be a thread for new year's resolutions.
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Post by Jembru on Jan 10, 2014 21:28:39 GMT
BUMP!!
I just thought I'd give this thread a little nudge in case people have just forgotten about it. I hope it doesn't end up dying altogether. I'd like to change my last question to...
'What are your hopes for 2014?'
If no one replies by Monday (when I next have time to myself at home), I'll make a video of me asking that. I won't have a chance before then.
Oh btw.. I discovered that shiku really can be used for laying down flooring! I used this verb in my first video but it was totally a guess (I only knew it because I sleep on a Japanese-style futon* and this just happens to be the verb used for laying out futons). I'm not sure if it's normal to use shiku with flooring, but I found an example of it so I'm feeling quite smug now. She shoots, she scores.. lol
*Not by choice! I just had it when I slept in a teeny room and couldn't afford a bed until now. I'm buying a bed in the next few weeks and can't wait. Futons are really comfortable, but I don't recommend them outside of Japan. They're just much hard work. UK homes aren't built with balconies so airing the blasted thing is a nightmare and with me sleeping through the day, it is down too long in a 24hr period which causes dampness to build up and a musty smell. I can't wait to see the back of it now! ^^
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Post by MidoriAbby on Jan 14, 2014 22:45:52 GMT
JembruI'm recording a video response to the "what are your 2014 goals" one I'll try to post it tonight or tomorrow
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Post by Jembru on Jan 15, 2014 20:18:38 GMT
Aww, looks like I'm a bit too early. I got dressed and made up early tonight in case there was time to get a quick video out to you before work. I have to go to the shop on my way tonight due to a complete lack of food.. well, a complete lack of salad, which is almost the same thing! ^^ So, I'd have no chance of making a video and uploading it to youtube before I have to leave for work. It would be tomorrow evening at the soonest now. Well, I COULD make one before bed if I'm too excited, but after the last video, I want to show people that I can look normal too, when I'm properly dressed. I wish I hadn't had to take down my last video. I often make my journal entries at work because that's usually the only time I have the privacy to do them other than just as I climb into bed in the morning. For a public video, I'm more limited to when and where I can take them. Unless... hey, I wonder if the laptop at work has a mic? Maybe I could record a message directly to soundcloud? I'll look into that.
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Post by Jembru on Jan 22, 2014 23:31:10 GMT
LOL, I know what you mean about Japanese people only commenting on your Japanese when you first meet them. It's like this blog post I read about the things Japanese people say about gaijin's Japanese. I'm 2 or 3 on speaking a lot of the time, but 4 on writing... Hey, you'll never guess what.. I was actually complimented on my Japanese tonight! I denied it profusely as is the proper protocol, but inside I was going 'squeeeek' lol It was hardly the 'omg your Japanese is sooo good' that you get when you first meet someone, but it was a heartfelt, albeit passing, 'no no, honestly, your Japanese is really improving Jem' and that meant so much more somehow. JP and I were the only non-native speakers tonight and JP really made an effort too, to use Japanese. It was a really cool, submersive environment. The best part is that we're gate-crashing a university Japanese society meeting tomorrow night; just me and 2 Japanese friends (JP's working late). I'm not sure I'm welcome, not being a student and all, but I'm hoping having native speakers in tow will work as levy to get me in. lol The best part is that there are 1 or 2 native Japanese there too, so I have the 'wow, your Japanese is amazing!' to look forward to again!
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Post by Bokusenou on Jan 23, 2014 0:29:17 GMT
LOL, I know what you mean about Japanese people only commenting on your Japanese when you first meet them. It's like this blog post I read about the things Japanese people say about gaijin's Japanese. I'm 2 or 3 on speaking a lot of the time, but 4 on writing... Hey, you'll never guess what.. I was actually complimented on my Japanese tonight! I denied it profusely as is the proper protocol, but inside I was going 'squeeeek' lol It was hardly the 'omg your Japanese is sooo good' that you get when you first meet someone, but it was a heartfelt, albeit passing, 'no no, honestly, your Japanese is really improving Jem' and that meant so much more somehow. JP and I were the only non-native speakers tonight and JP really made an effort too, to use Japanese. It was a really cool, submersive environment. The best part is that we're gate-crashing a university Japanese society meeting tomorrow night; just me and 2 Japanese friends (JP's working late). I'm not sure I'm welcome, not being a student and all, but I'm hoping having native speakers in tow will work as levy to get me in. lol The best part is that there are 1 or 2 native Japanese there too, so I have the 'wow, your Japanese is amazing!' to look forward to again! Wow, congrats! I bet it'll get even more common as your Japanese improves^^
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Post by MidoriAbby on Jan 26, 2014 23:18:37 GMT
Jembru sorry I never uploaded that video; my editing software totally went wacky when I tried to upload it and that totally failed... I have a day off from school tomorrow though, so I can definitely post it. I really like this thread and want to continue it.
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Post by MidoriAbby on Jan 27, 2014 15:26:36 GMT
Jembru Okay, I uploaded the video!! I uploaded it unlisted to youtube so I could get the link here. Here's my response to your 2014 goals question
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Post by Jembru on Jan 28, 2014 6:56:09 GMT
Thanks for getting this up. Honestly, you didn't need to edit it. It's better to let everyone see our natural Japanese and not some rehearsed and polished performance, don't you think?
I'll make a reply once JP goes to work (unless I go back to bed ^^). BTW, I actually already knew 先伸ばしする! If you check my lang-8, someone taught me this in the very first post I made and I of course added it right away to anki! ;p Of course, you can also just say, 怠ける, if you just have no motivation to do the thing you should be doing. ^^
Okay, like I say, I'll reply when I get a chance..
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Post by Jembru on Jan 28, 2014 17:19:20 GMT
Hey, I've already explained to Midori, but I couldn't upload my video because the sound went weird somewhere between getting it from my phone and onto youtube. I uploaded 2, because I started another one and quit when I realised I didn't know what I wanted to say.. then my cat attacked me (the sound worked on that one...). I wanted to post them both together. I'll mess about and upload if I can, and if not, I'll make a new one.
I the meantime, please enjoy the outtake (the sound is poor, but audible at least);
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