by xSovereign at stock.xchng

There are times in your life where there are so many things you would love to get done, but simply do not have the time to do. Then there are other times when you are just too lazy to get them done.

I am in the latter situation.

Procrastination is my enemy. And yet I seem to give in to that small desire every day. I’ve found it easier to do ever since I left my job at Mr. Big Box Retailer. I have all this time on my hands and I think to myself, “Oh, I can do it later. I have the time!” I constantly use that phrase and get myself into so much trouble when it comes to my schoolwork.

The next two weeks are Finals. I have a final exam today in my Web Animation class, and my Advertising Layout and Web Design finals come next week. but, on top of that, I have final projects and portfolios that I have to finish for all three classes as well. If I had been working on them throughout the semester like my instructors recommended I do, I would not be in this situation. But I procrastinated constantly, and now here I am in a heap of trouble.

So, this means I will not be studying Japanese as much as I would like to this week. In fact, I have not studied at all in the last few days. I have instead been working on my final projects. It’s about priority, I guess.

I’d still like a nice flash card app, though.

by lumix2004 at stock.xchng

I’ve already managed to hit my first road block. I can’t seem to really memorize the first 10 kana out-of-order like I thought I had.

The only way I have right now of studying kana is by writing them down on a sheet of paper. I’ll randomly point at one and try to say it out loud. But if I get stuck on one, I’ll end up just counting the rows and columns to “add up” the sound that I should be making. I don’t really feel like that’s how I should be doing it.

So, I’m wanting to return to an old friend from elementary school: the flash card. They were so simple, yet so effective. But this is the 21st century, so I can’t just use card stock and index cards, now, can I? No, I have to use my almighty iPhone and iPad! (No, I really don’t, and, no, they’re really not almighty. Really.) But, I’m thinking it would be a really great use of my iPad for educational use, which is why I even considered buying one in the first place.

So, does anyone know of any good applications that are available (or even in development) that follow the flash card concept? It would have to allow Japanese kana as text, at least. I’ve looked at a couple of apps for my Mac, but nothing’s really caught my attention yet.

by just4you at stock.xchng

That pretty much describes how I feel at the current moment.

Ever since I left my job at The Big Box Retailer, I’ve had issues keeping with a normal routine. I had a set routine for almost three years: get up, go to work, go to school, etc. This is the first time in recent memory that my schedule has been so radically changed. Even switching from working nights to mornings to a flex shift didn’t seem this radical.

As part of my learning Japanese, I’ve been instructed to get myself organized. And, to me, part of that is sticking to a schedule. Flexibility is key, but as long as I follow along with what I plan to do, I should be alright. Well, I’ll find out soon enough how I am doing with that.

So, what have I learned so far? Here we go.

あ　い　う　え　お

か　き　く　け　こ

I am able thus far to identify these 10 kana both visually and audibly, with much success. Sometimes it takes me a bit of thinking before I go “oh yeah, it’s that one!” It’s not a lot, but eventually I will learn all the Hiragana and get going from there. I didn’t realize just how many kana there really are! It’s crazy, I tell you! Crazy!

Yawn. It’s too early for me to be thinking…

By melissalus at stock.xchng

In the past, I’ve always set up some sort of website, blog, or whatever the awesome-cool thing to have was. But I never used them. Why, you ask? (Even though I know you’re not asking that…) I never used them because they never had a purpose. Sure, I’d set it up to be some sort of portfolio or hub for whatever I was doing at the time, but I never thought it through, and it showed.

This time it is different. This is just a blog, plain and simple. Eventually I’d like for it to be for more, but that will come with time. For now, it’s a blog. And I’ll mostly talk about my progress in learning the Japanese language. But why Japanese, and not Spanish or Mandarin? Well, I’ve always had a thing for Japanese culture. And some TV shows (I’m looking at you, Ninja Warrior!) have furthered my interest. But I hate subtitles. Having to read subtitles because you can’t understand the language always bothers me. And eventually I’d like to travel to Japan, but I don’t want to look like a stereotypical tourist when I get there. I want to know how to fend for myself.

But the big thing I want to do with Japanese is to use it to help understand the advertising and design world embedded in Japanese culture. It’s so remarkably different, and it fascinates me. But I feel that to truly understand it, I need to know the language. So learning Japanese is my first step towards that.

I know it’s not going to be easy. I’m going to have to really dedicate the time to it. (And with the Fall semester of college, things are going to get crazy!) I’ve always used the excuse that learning a new language is difficult for me, but it is for everyone. I will just have to work for it. I also have the entire internet to help me out when I need it. I have used the excuse before that I have no one to help me if I get stuck. But that’s just not true, and I will not allow myself to quit.

So, with that said, here I go into learning the Japanese language!