Using Gaiwa: The impact this forum has had on my studies
Jan 16, 2014 21:04:21 GMT
LittleGaijin and Bokusenou like this
Post by Jembru on Jan 16, 2014 21:04:21 GMT
It has come to my attention that sometimes people come to this forum and scratch their heads, not sure how it can possibly benefit them in their studies. Sometimes it's simply that the place seems overwhelming to begin with. However in some cases, I fear that people are looking for tuition. To those people, I wish to explain that gaiwa is a learning community, not a teaching site; there are plenty of those already. However, if you want to know how to separate the good learning resources and methods, from the bad, then you have come to the right place.
Gaiwa is much more than just a forum of study methods however. It puts us in touch with other learners, who then in turn give us something our native speaking teachers cannot: a personal account of what works and doesn't work for them: answers to those questions and problems that simply don't come up when learning your mother tongue. A Japanese teacher may be able to share what helped them to learn English, but it is not the same as hearing from people who have actually tried and tested techniques.
As a general rule, I do not personally encourage learning from non-native 'teachers' (with the exception of tutoring for specific exams, as often people who've experienced that exam personally, are better resources than a native speaker with no experience of the exam, and who may not realise that some common speaking styles are not considered grammatically correct). However, when it comes to explaining the more ambiguous aspects of grammar, a native speaker of your mother-tongue is often better able to explain things in a way that make sense. I've often asked a Japanese friend about their language, only for them to confess they just can't explain it, then asked in the forums at gaiwa and had the confusion cleared up in a sentence or two.
There are countless other ways in which non-native speakers should be included in your exposure to the Japanese speaking world. I'm working on an article in fact, that explores in detail why having a study partner can be a huge asset to your learning. I'm more than willing to discuss this in more detail in this thread too.
For now though, I just want to share how Gaiwa has been one of the biggest boosts to my Japanese learning.
I only met the community here at Gaiwa last spring, when we were still using the old forum. Until then, I had mainly only met native speakers of Japanese, or those who knew just the very basics. Even the conversation group I co-run, didn't have any learners besides myself, until around June last year. The gap between myself and native speakers was so wide, that I had a slightly warped view of my ability, assuming myself to be far worse than I was. I had been interested in Japanese for many years, and in 2012, I studied it seriously for the first time, but felt I made very little progress. Then, in early 2013, I found the group that would eventually become Gaiwa. It was then that my ability to use Japanese, and most importantly my confidence, bloomed almost over night.
Finding Gaiwa gave me a reason to start typing in Japanese, something I'd never really done before and definitely not on a regular basis. It let me speak to other learners, some who had similar experiences to me and some who had a very different path. I could compare our highs and lows, strengths and weaknesses and understand that we all have different goals and different talents that we can share with one another. Finally, I was practice my output skills instead of just reading and listening to the language. A year ago, I used to say listening was my strongest skill.. and it was back then. Believe it or not, I now consider it one of my weakest. Not because it got worse, but simply because my other skills improved so much since then that they've kind of left it behind!
More than anything, the tips I have learnt from my friends here have revolutionised how I learn. My precious time is much better spent now, as I am using study methods that produce rapid results in the least time. Of course, I've had to develop my routine for myself, through trial and error, and I developed my own technique to train myself to speak more easily, but hearing others talk about what has really helped them, such as lang-8, anki and rikaichan/kun/sama has helped me discover the best tools for me, much more readily.
I owe so, so much to this forum. In fact, I would never have had the courage to write blogs on lang-8, had I not first built up my confidence by writing to my friends here, and having them understand what I was saying. This taught me that my Japanese is at least comprehensible, despite it being imperfect. That was a valuable confidence boost.
So to those wondering: How do I use Gaiwa? You use it by sharing your study methods.. you ask and answer (as far as you're able) questions about all aspects of the language. Even an absolute beginner has interesting new ways of looking at things that can inspire others, so never be shy to share your thoughts with us. Tell us your successes so we can applaud you, moan about your struggles so we can sympathise and tell you we know the feeling, and maybe even how we overcame similar obstacles. Share interesting links you come across that others might like. Get into chat and practice having a conversation in Japanese in a slightly more controlled environment than skype. Join in the games. Even if you can't read the monolingual posts yet, have a go at reading what people write and look up words they use (cautiously: we're only learning, so won't always use the language appropriately). Join in any way you can and if you wish, ask for feedback from your peers.
Teachers are trained to encourage self-correction and peer-correction. So if you don't have access to the classroom experience offline, you don't have to miss out on the value of interacting with other students. I honestly believe that while in the end, it was me who put in the work and effort, I would have struggled to move beyond pre-intermediate Japanese, had I never found Gaiwa.
That's it for now. If you have your own opinions on how Gaiwa works for you personally, or if you have ideas for how you'd like to see the community develop in future, please feel free to post below. In the coming weeks, I hope to start a few more threads that are specifically dedicated to particular study techniques, in the hopes that new comers can find such information more readily. So if you have a favourite ally in your studies, be it a website, application, textbook or study routine you've created for yourself, please feel free to start a thread for it.
Gaiwa is much more than just a forum of study methods however. It puts us in touch with other learners, who then in turn give us something our native speaking teachers cannot: a personal account of what works and doesn't work for them: answers to those questions and problems that simply don't come up when learning your mother tongue. A Japanese teacher may be able to share what helped them to learn English, but it is not the same as hearing from people who have actually tried and tested techniques.
As a general rule, I do not personally encourage learning from non-native 'teachers' (with the exception of tutoring for specific exams, as often people who've experienced that exam personally, are better resources than a native speaker with no experience of the exam, and who may not realise that some common speaking styles are not considered grammatically correct). However, when it comes to explaining the more ambiguous aspects of grammar, a native speaker of your mother-tongue is often better able to explain things in a way that make sense. I've often asked a Japanese friend about their language, only for them to confess they just can't explain it, then asked in the forums at gaiwa and had the confusion cleared up in a sentence or two.
There are countless other ways in which non-native speakers should be included in your exposure to the Japanese speaking world. I'm working on an article in fact, that explores in detail why having a study partner can be a huge asset to your learning. I'm more than willing to discuss this in more detail in this thread too.
For now though, I just want to share how Gaiwa has been one of the biggest boosts to my Japanese learning.
I only met the community here at Gaiwa last spring, when we were still using the old forum. Until then, I had mainly only met native speakers of Japanese, or those who knew just the very basics. Even the conversation group I co-run, didn't have any learners besides myself, until around June last year. The gap between myself and native speakers was so wide, that I had a slightly warped view of my ability, assuming myself to be far worse than I was. I had been interested in Japanese for many years, and in 2012, I studied it seriously for the first time, but felt I made very little progress. Then, in early 2013, I found the group that would eventually become Gaiwa. It was then that my ability to use Japanese, and most importantly my confidence, bloomed almost over night.
Finding Gaiwa gave me a reason to start typing in Japanese, something I'd never really done before and definitely not on a regular basis. It let me speak to other learners, some who had similar experiences to me and some who had a very different path. I could compare our highs and lows, strengths and weaknesses and understand that we all have different goals and different talents that we can share with one another. Finally, I was practice my output skills instead of just reading and listening to the language. A year ago, I used to say listening was my strongest skill.. and it was back then. Believe it or not, I now consider it one of my weakest. Not because it got worse, but simply because my other skills improved so much since then that they've kind of left it behind!
More than anything, the tips I have learnt from my friends here have revolutionised how I learn. My precious time is much better spent now, as I am using study methods that produce rapid results in the least time. Of course, I've had to develop my routine for myself, through trial and error, and I developed my own technique to train myself to speak more easily, but hearing others talk about what has really helped them, such as lang-8, anki and rikaichan/kun/sama has helped me discover the best tools for me, much more readily.
I owe so, so much to this forum. In fact, I would never have had the courage to write blogs on lang-8, had I not first built up my confidence by writing to my friends here, and having them understand what I was saying. This taught me that my Japanese is at least comprehensible, despite it being imperfect. That was a valuable confidence boost.
So to those wondering: How do I use Gaiwa? You use it by sharing your study methods.. you ask and answer (as far as you're able) questions about all aspects of the language. Even an absolute beginner has interesting new ways of looking at things that can inspire others, so never be shy to share your thoughts with us. Tell us your successes so we can applaud you, moan about your struggles so we can sympathise and tell you we know the feeling, and maybe even how we overcame similar obstacles. Share interesting links you come across that others might like. Get into chat and practice having a conversation in Japanese in a slightly more controlled environment than skype. Join in the games. Even if you can't read the monolingual posts yet, have a go at reading what people write and look up words they use (cautiously: we're only learning, so won't always use the language appropriately). Join in any way you can and if you wish, ask for feedback from your peers.
Teachers are trained to encourage self-correction and peer-correction. So if you don't have access to the classroom experience offline, you don't have to miss out on the value of interacting with other students. I honestly believe that while in the end, it was me who put in the work and effort, I would have struggled to move beyond pre-intermediate Japanese, had I never found Gaiwa.
That's it for now. If you have your own opinions on how Gaiwa works for you personally, or if you have ideas for how you'd like to see the community develop in future, please feel free to post below. In the coming weeks, I hope to start a few more threads that are specifically dedicated to particular study techniques, in the hopes that new comers can find such information more readily. So if you have a favourite ally in your studies, be it a website, application, textbook or study routine you've created for yourself, please feel free to start a thread for it.