Category: learning strategies
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How to start writing in Japanese
One of my goals for November is to write in Japanese every day for a month. I have been thinking about how to write in a foreign language if you don’t have a native to correct you, and I thought that I would write about it today. If you are like me, writing is not […]
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Impersonation and language learning
Today’s post is about speaking, which is rare on my blog! What triggered it is this video I found on YouTube: It was a commercial, and for once, I didn’t skip it after 5 seconds. This Korean guy learns English by doing impersonations of Sherlock Holmes from the series by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. I always feel […]
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My new study method: the One-week challenge/immersion!
I think I got it at last! The method that suits me best to learn a language. Learning Japanese on my own has been a mess of trials and errors, of abandoned study plans and seemingly revolutionary but unrealistic study methods. But somehow, it has been fun trying different things, and designing study plans is […]
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Back to study mode!
I am back, after a two-week break from writing my blog. Even though I promised myself that I would continue learning Japanese, I almost did nothing to learn or be immersed in Japanese during these two weeks… Some say that taking a break from time to time is not a bad thing and some say […]
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Read in Japanese: self-improvement books
I am mainly talking about novels on my blog, but I am also reading some non-fiction books. I realised some time ago that self-improvement books were surprisingly easy to read in Japanese and can be a good start for anyone looking for easy reads. Of course, I haven’t read enough books of personal development to […]
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Learning Japan Prefectures
Since I started reading the news in Japanese, I am telling myself that I must learn Japan prefectures. I have finally taken the first step by doing my own map with furigana and English. Why learn Japan prefectures and region? I suppose that Japanese learners who studied Japanese at school or university have gone through […]
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My method for the JLPT reading part
Last week, I got the results of the second session of the JLPT (December 2017), and I was happy and relieved to see that I passed with 156 points! I thought that I would pass because, after the test, I felt that my performance was similar to what I did in July 2017, when I took […]
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Bullet Journal: daily log or how to spare willpower
Even if I have a lot of things I want to do, I often end up spending most of my time wondering what to do next, overwhelmed by the multitude of materials to study. Every time that I have time to study Japanese, I think that I should make the best of it but I […]
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Collecting collocations: how to take notes to improve one’s writing skills
I am concerned about how to improve my writing skills and I have tried a method that seems to work well. The idea is to thoroughly study an article in order to collect collocations and expressions that we can use for writing. Until now, I have entirely relied on Anki to learn new words. This […]
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How I chose my electronic dictionary and why I love it
I bought a Casio electronic dictionary some time ago and I am using it all the time. I was very afraid to put so much money in a device I wasn’t sure to use. But I am so grateful that I did! In this post, I explain how I chose my dictionary and all the great features it has.
Inside That Japanese Book 