The problem with right and wrong in learning language is that everything on the wrong side is considered ‘bad’ and we’re afraid of ‘bad’ things so we avoid them. Forgetting kanji is bad, forgetting a meaning is bad, misunderstanding is bad, reading something that’s too ‘difficult’ is bad, watching a movie where you don’t understand [...]
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The Irrelevancy of Right and Wrong – Part 1
A reader, phauna, recently added some interesting thoughts to several posts here. I originally wanted to respond to the points he introduced but HiddenSincerity and toadhjo came along with some great food for thought. But really, at the heart of these discussions is right and wrong. Recalling the right answer for a given kanji. Grouping words [...]
There Are No Difficulty Levels
Khatzumoto’s impromptu video on language learning over at AllJapaneseAllTheTime is a fun one. I recommend checking out the whole thing. I’d also like to reiterate my point in the last post on reading levels. Khatzumoto described his progress for listening to a language as moving from hearing gibberish, to hearing the occasional word, to hearing [...]
There Are No Reading Levels
This post has been a very long time coming. It’s about how we approach reading Japanese. It’s about expectancy versus expectation. Expectations are what happens in a perfect world. The ideal. What’s supposed to happen. It’s a list of vocabulary or kanji we’re supposed to know when we see them. Expectancy is anticipating and dealing [...]
What is Fun?
Fun is a difficult word. The range of meanings it can take is wide and everyone has their own interpretation. One person says watching classic Japanese films is fun. The other says that writing calligraphy is fun. Who’s right? Fun is in the eye of the beholder. Fun is never about the action, it’s about [...]
When Does Learning Occur?
Part of our natural tendency to want to study-study-study to learn Japanese is how we think learning occurs. We equate study with learning. They are certainly related, but there’s a lot more to it. Let’s start from another type of development activity for humans: exercise. Specifically, strength training and weight lifting. You go to the [...]
Collecting Sentences or Learning Japanese?
It’s become popular of late to “collect sentences”. As though this is a goal unto itself. There have even been a few discussions on the interwebs. Some have even blossomed into organized efforts with semi-elaborate controls on copyrighted works. I did my own experiment with these a while back because I thought this was a [...]
Are You Ready for the Answer?
Today we’re going to learn how to catch a ball. First we’re going to learn the Newtonian laws that describe the motion of an object under the influence of Gravity. With those equations memorized we’ll be able to accurately model the flight of any ball. We’ll go outside and, at first, we’ll launch the ball [...]