最後に見たのは５ヶ月以上。でも、その日に、何も言わないで離れた。５が月以上たったんだ。私は、今、結構代わった人間である。
それでも、ここではなんにもできない。
一緒にいたい。あゆと呼ばれたい。甘えたい。甘えられたい。暖かい日差し浴びたい。あの母性愛感じたい。
2012年12月22日
2012年12月19日
2012年12月16日
english, business
Hello dear reader. How are you?
First, the pictures I took in 神戸, a young, european style, cosmopolitan city. LOVED IT. This is the kind of place I want to work in.
It's been 3 months and 5 days since I've arrived in Japan. And the first semester (semester? huh?) is already going to its last weeks. This is getting harder and harder, simply because I'm making some shocking discoveries about myself and the world. But it's like they say, if you continue on your comfort zone, you won't develop, so I'm taking all this with a positive attitude, as far as possible.
So I found out that I can't control my emotions. I don't know what I'm feeling. And indeed I find myself at times feeling something, but don't know what. Sometimes I feel mad without knowing why. Sometimes I feel empowered just by listening to music. I don't understand.
For the past days that I've been having constant ups and downs, loads of reports and no やる気, I'm also being the go-between a portuguese and a japanese enterprise, and kind of got a proposal to do translation, and want to go to China for 2 weeks in february. Don't get me wrong, I'm kind of used to dealing with stress, but it's a lot at the same time. What's funny is that, when I'm empowered, whatever the workload might be, I feel like I can do anything and actually get to be a lot more efficient those times.
But actually, I don't have that much workload. In fact, I tend to fear this kind of works (reports) because I always thought that my essays in the portuguese class were really weak, and that fact kind framed my mindset. I think I'm getting better. Even though I have no feedback from the japanese teachers (I wish I had, it's like, should I change the writing style, do I have any 癖 I should correct?...), I think that within some months from now my report writing skills will be far superior in the japanese language than in portuguese.
I should stop writing this late... -..-
First, the pictures I took in 神戸, a young, european style, cosmopolitan city. LOVED IT. This is the kind of place I want to work in.
鬼 （目が・・・・）
It's been 3 months and 5 days since I've arrived in Japan. And the first semester (semester? huh?) is already going to its last weeks. This is getting harder and harder, simply because I'm making some shocking discoveries about myself and the world. But it's like they say, if you continue on your comfort zone, you won't develop, so I'm taking all this with a positive attitude, as far as possible.
So I found out that I can't control my emotions. I don't know what I'm feeling. And indeed I find myself at times feeling something, but don't know what. Sometimes I feel mad without knowing why. Sometimes I feel empowered just by listening to music. I don't understand.
For the past days that I've been having constant ups and downs, loads of reports and no やる気, I'm also being the go-between a portuguese and a japanese enterprise, and kind of got a proposal to do translation, and want to go to China for 2 weeks in february. Don't get me wrong, I'm kind of used to dealing with stress, but it's a lot at the same time. What's funny is that, when I'm empowered, whatever the workload might be, I feel like I can do anything and actually get to be a lot more efficient those times.
But actually, I don't have that much workload. In fact, I tend to fear this kind of works (reports) because I always thought that my essays in the portuguese class were really weak, and that fact kind framed my mindset. I think I'm getting better. Even though I have no feedback from the japanese teachers (I wish I had, it's like, should I change the writing style, do I have any 癖 I should correct?...), I think that within some months from now my report writing skills will be far superior in the japanese language than in portuguese.
I should stop writing this late... -..-
2012年12月4日
ambition
So I just drank my usual cup of milk and my stomach is particularly satisfied by the warm feeling that came after drinking my hot milk. Now I can start. I miss writing here more frequently. really.
I want to talk to you guys about ambition. Well, I want to, but truth be told, I don't know what to write. I had some ideas some hours ago, but probably because it's almost 11pm, I kinda forgot. Need to get inspiration and write while sitting in a cafe in order to make a good post (seriously!)
I've always considered myself an ambitious person. I've always longed for big things, big goals. Thing is, I'm still in the stage of fulfilling those ideals. I'm still not a working adult, but a studying (or supposed to) kid. Just like the other day, when in the reading class we read a text called "人間藩のために生きるのか"(or something like this), in which it said that the teen years are supposed to be the period in which you find your goal, your purpose.
I'm actually 21 (ie: not a teen), and I pretty much now what I want to do for a living. Yes, I do know. There's only a problem. I want to do a lot of things.
As I said in previous times, I want to do interpretation/translation/business, well, anything will be okay as long as I work in an international environment, meaning that I want to at least use a different language than my own. Besides, I love asian people, really, I do, so I want to work with asian people.
Living in Japan is allowing me to live with different cultures (mostly chinese and japanese) and unconsciously (and consciously too) learn a lot of things that I can't even explain due to the nonexistence in my culture. Before coming here, I always read (and even wrote that in the motivation text, that I want to expand my horizons and have a broader vision of the world, but, again, before coming, that had no meaning, I mean, I could obviously read it but I couldn't understand it because was still to live it.
I could also realize some of the good things my home country Portugal has to offer, not only that, I'm also getting to know myself, when I' irritated, tired, pissed off, feeling down, feeling confident, etc etc, simple things that I could not realize up until I came here.
I miss some things too. first off, no secret at all, my teachers back in Portugal. my friends back in Portugal and some who are in China (I'm actually planning to go there soon, not only because I obviously want to go to China and to meet my friends, as I know that all the procedures in order to go will develop my independence even more.)
anyway, I'm really getting tired and sleepy and just want to make a few points clear.
- going to (re)start studying chinese again. I never stopped, but I'm not doing it seriously. From now on I will. Besides, I know a lot of chinese, and want to show them a little respect. And obviously, chinese is my major (on paper) right? Gotta put a name to the face.
- going to translate (if I don't get bored) a book as a side project. It actually feels good to translate if I'm in a good environment, good music, good latte, etc.
- reports. the semester is coming to an end, and this kind of work is starting to accumulate. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, but gotta do it. As opposed to what I used to think, it's actually not that hard. The trick is to do it first in portuguese and than translate it to japanese as opposed to doing it directly in apanese.
- business japanese. see if I start doing some light, very light training...
- business japanese. see if I start doing some light, very light training...
- indecision! I actually found a masters here in 龍大 that interests me a lot, but I'm also interested in a master course in translation (portugal). so, this is making me suffer a bit because I want both. Gotta weight in the advantages and disadvantages. There's a lot of them, but I'll let them to my next post.
cya. (goddammit, I really wanted to write something more, but I'm too tired to be able to develop new ideas at this point.)
2012年11月25日
日本に来て良かった
So please listen to my chirbit. I think that my pronunciation as improved considerably, I only noticed that now, when I listened to it.
Having JLPT N1 next week! Today I went to the mall and bought a book to practice 文字・語彙 which I intend on finishing in the next 2/3 days. It has around 500 questions, so I test myself, then see the answers and study the ones I failed and those I was not so sure about.
I want to make it clear that, 2.5 months have passed since I came to Japan, and the differences in myself are so many (or so I feel it) that I'm can't wait to go back. But on the other hand, I also feel excited because I still have a considerable ammount of time to spend here, which means more changes or improvements on what has already changes.
The other day an email come from the teacher who's responsable for my class and he wrote that 2/3 of the semester were gone. That kinda made me think that this is going by so fast. And I'm sure that the day I come back to Portugal and get established there (if that happens), that I will miss Japan a lot.
But, nevertheless, I now miss a lot of things I took for granted in Portugal, such as my lattes, bread, going to the library/cafe with friends. Those little thing,s that make your day worth and of course, people, my friends and people who I admire.
I'm learning so much here and it's not necessarily Japanese language. だから、日本に来て良かったなあ。
2012年11月19日
N1, project
So, less than 2 weeks to go to 京大 and take the 日本語能力試験Ｎ１. going to focus on learning as much vocab and will try to make more mock tests (have one left to do).
That said, having the test done I can finally start starting the plan of the project I've been thinking for some weeks now.
I've been reading this book (not so much lately, been busy), and already read its english version. I'd like to translate it to portuguese. I know it will take a lot, and I mean a LOT of time to translate. Not only it is a considerably complex subject to the western mind, as it contains words there that only exist on the japanese language. Just a matter of studying again and picking the best translation technique as possible.
I will probably give up at like page 1 or 2/318, but thinking about this for the past few weeks as been getting me kind excited, so allow me to continue in high spirits. Having this idea in mind makes me confident I can do it (because I really like the book and want to make it the best translation as possible) and makes me want to start studying translation (just let the N1 test pass and will go back to the book I was reading on traslation up until a few months ago).
Also, it's been 2 months since my classes started. My favorite japanese class is 作文力. It's really useful. I've been learning how to write emails and write essays.
In the 読解 we've been reading pieces of japanese literature and japanese 昔話.
In the 文法 class we've been learning and practicing, well, hum, grammar.
In the PC class we've been working with microsoft excel and in the second part of the class practicing speaking/intonation/speech.
In the media class we listen to the teacher explaining the latest news he brings to the class, we also make comments. In the second part of the class we usually watch a video and the teacher makes comments and explains the content.
In the 聴解 we have been listening to news and making listening exercices.
In the 速読 class we have been practising explaing the content of a part of text we read to our teammates (we also do this in the PC class), but now it's time to make presentations, so that each one of us has to prepare a news article and explain it to the class in spoken, 丁寧な japanese.
So, now I'm going to read a bit on twitter, then I'm going to take my milk and watch one or two episodes of desperate housewives.
thanks for reading ～
That said, having the test done I can finally start starting the plan of the project I've been thinking for some weeks now.
I've been reading this book (not so much lately, been busy), and already read its english version. I'd like to translate it to portuguese. I know it will take a lot, and I mean a LOT of time to translate. Not only it is a considerably complex subject to the western mind, as it contains words there that only exist on the japanese language. Just a matter of studying again and picking the best translation technique as possible.
I will probably give up at like page 1 or 2/318, but thinking about this for the past few weeks as been getting me kind excited, so allow me to continue in high spirits. Having this idea in mind makes me confident I can do it (because I really like the book and want to make it the best translation as possible) and makes me want to start studying translation (just let the N1 test pass and will go back to the book I was reading on traslation up until a few months ago).
Also, it's been 2 months since my classes started. My favorite japanese class is 作文力. It's really useful. I've been learning how to write emails and write essays.
In the 読解 we've been reading pieces of japanese literature and japanese 昔話.
In the 文法 class we've been learning and practicing, well, hum, grammar.
In the PC class we've been working with microsoft excel and in the second part of the class practicing speaking/intonation/speech.
In the media class we listen to the teacher explaining the latest news he brings to the class, we also make comments. In the second part of the class we usually watch a video and the teacher makes comments and explains the content.
In the 聴解 we have been listening to news and making listening exercices.
In the 速読 class we have been practising explaing the content of a part of text we read to our teammates (we also do this in the PC class), but now it's time to make presentations, so that each one of us has to prepare a news article and explain it to the class in spoken, 丁寧な japanese.
So, now I'm going to read a bit on twitter, then I'm going to take my milk and watch one or two episodes of desperate housewives.
thanks for reading ～
2012年11月18日
気
wth is happening? I have no energy. someone/something has been sucking it up to the bone. I haven't even been studying (probably due to the lack of energy) and all I want, not really want, it's like I have no other choice, is to sleep. Yesterday I went to bed at around 10.40pm (!!), woke up at 2, got back to sleep and got up at like 8. like wth?! My sensing skills are getting better alright, but omg I having 3 tests for god sake's.
I wonder if it related to my new 炊飯器... (lol, not)
like seriously, I have no energy, I'm not sick neither. wth should I do?! I'm tired and pissed off. can't do anything properly like this.
of course, there are those moments in which it feels good, but when it's against me...gotta thank mentally or just with a look to the koreans who helped me during the classes.
I wonder if it related to my new 炊飯器... (lol, not)
like seriously, I have no energy, I'm not sick neither. wth should I do?! I'm tired and pissed off. can't do anything properly like this.
of course, there are those moments in which it feels good, but when it's against me...gotta thank mentally or just with a look to the koreans who helped me during the classes.
2012年11月11日
2012年11月10日
2 months
And I think some major changes have occurred.
で、この曲を聞きたくなった。
で、この曲を聞きたくなった。
But as for the japanese language, to be honest, I don't feel that big differences, besides being constantly learning how to write texts, how to write emails (in the 5クラス we have this kind of classes).
My pronunciation is also getting better. but it's something one needs to pay attention even when one speaks and not only when one practices.
As for listening... the only thing I notice is that I can understand pretty much everything. Just yesterday when to a 就職活動 like seminar or something like that (well, it's for free and I get to learn something and practice japanese, so why not?) and was actually surprised because I was understanding everything.
Reading. I'm reading faster and faster and better. But not as much as I wanted. I tend to read like only a bit per day, like if I'm in the train, even for just like 10 minutes, I read, and lately I've only been reading in this kind of small intervals between some activity. What I read up until now, despite being not that much, it's knowledge that I will have for my whole life and that I hope I can put to practice. 日本語で読めば読むほど、もっとわかるようになる。
Taking notes. In the listening class we practice how to take notes. I'm not very good at it, as opposed to the chinese in my class (they write kanji fast : | ). and like if you're used to write something in kanji, but because you have no time to think and need to write in hiragana, making the transition from kanji to hiragana also takes time, so this is a bit frustrating. But despite feeling I'm not progressing I know I am.
(...)
I can't wait to come back and 見せる.
Then there's the bad part that it's when I feel "home"sick. really, seriously, influenced by what I know and see everyday.
and it's saturday morning, going to study a bit, then will have lunch and in the afternoon will do some shopping.
2012年11月4日
books
Finally went to lake Biwa. It's HUGE!
カードの習熟度
復習期間の長いカード: 10101 (87.3%)
復習期間の短いカード: 1466 (12.7%)
まだ見ていないカード 0 (0.0%)
now some statistics
カードの合計数： 11567
ファクトの合計数： 11567カードの習熟度
復習期間の長いカード: 10101 (87.3%)
復習期間の短いカード: 1466 (12.7%)
まだ見ていないカード 0 (0.0%)
A...nd the main subject.
In the past few weeks I've been a bit busy with homework. I have homework now only for the japanese language classes (divided by skills) and also have homework (not always) for the Japanese culture related classes. But anyway, homework is no excuse for anything,. It's no excuse, but it does take some time which makes me have less time for other things. One of those things is reading. It's not like I'm a huge fan of reading, BUT, I do like it. And when I do it, I try to make that moment the best as possible. In fact, just today when I was at the 膳所 station waiting for a friend, I went to the cafeteria, sat there drinking カフェ・オ・レー (my gosh ３百円! talk about gourmet!) and reading. . When I read I tend to underline the main points and make a circle around the words I don't know.
But anyway, I was reading and I was acquiring this really awesome, practical knowledge that made my brain, again, somehow move, or make connections or whatever. For that reason, I'm going to read as much practical, but within my interests, books as possible. I'm living in 京都市 and near my house there are (at least) two book shops and the one that belongs to the university. There are so many cheap books, so many interesting titles that it just makes me want to read a gazillion of 'em.
I'm reading two books now. Almost finishing one of them and the other will take some time.
One thing I noticed lately I think my reading speed has increased. This week I was reading the book I'm soon to finish and realized that I had already read half of it. And was kind of surprised. It's a small book, but for the time I had spent before reading it (not that much) I advanced quickly. Besides, it's a practical book, to its reading is pretty much straightforward. And I'm happy to say that the frequency of circling new words as decreased.
Just yesterday when I left my dorm to take some air, I stopped by a bookstore nearby, and saw an interesting book that presented トヨタ and its 改善 way as an example for japanese enterprises. But I'm going to look for them in the university library (though I really dislike this kind of time pressure, putting pressure on something one actually enjoys doing is kind of 酷い.
Tomorrow I'm meeting with a friend in 京都駅 at 12am, but since I need to buy/look for some stuff I'm going earlier. But first, obviously I'm going to study.
But anyway, no wonder why the japanese are so intelligent. They have books for everything, besides, books are tiny and cute, and are filled with colorful titles and letters and suggestive covers. Gotta love them.
2012年10月26日
time (management) etc
I really want to write something on time management, but I have no ideas at the moment. So let me apologize in advance for the weak content.
My time management
Because I have homework, and hours in which I enjoy doing some things and don't want to be bothered by study at that time, I need to manage my time.
.
For example, I do most of my reps in the morning, if I have lunch at home I do a few more and when I arrive home from school I do the last ones. Of course there are exceptions. There are days at night in which I still have like 200 reps.
Then, of course, not only reps, but actual study from school. I have japanese classes everyday (one class per skill) and culture classes everyday too (except for thursday). Not all classes need previous homework, but most japanese language classes do.
And then there's the time in which I enjoy doing certain things (taking walks, going to the mall, going to the café, internet, reading,, slowly studying, - this because I tend to do everything asap in order to save time).
Wait, what? Why do I feel the need to save time?
Actually, I view all this personal time management thing as a pseudo training for the future. Just like I consider learning as much japanese asap important in order to prevent having to study it when I have a job. ...Again...to save time, now that I think of it.
But why is it so important? I actually don't now. It's just something I've been doing for a while, and have been getting better at it.
And now I'm feeling a little tired (damn it, I've been feeling tired every day .__. ) so, I'm going to bed, hopefully will be able to play a bit of nintendo ds, but I honestly believe that as soon as I lie down I will want to sleep.
So anyway, tomorrow I'll go back to the portuguese employment system report and will make the points I've written up until now into a well structured text (I'll try at least), written obviously in japanese. I also have several homework, but let's take it easy and focus on one at a time.
My time management
Because I have homework, and hours in which I enjoy doing some things and don't want to be bothered by study at that time, I need to manage my time.
.
For example, I do most of my reps in the morning, if I have lunch at home I do a few more and when I arrive home from school I do the last ones. Of course there are exceptions. There are days at night in which I still have like 200 reps.
Then, of course, not only reps, but actual study from school. I have japanese classes everyday (one class per skill) and culture classes everyday too (except for thursday). Not all classes need previous homework, but most japanese language classes do.
And then there's the time in which I enjoy doing certain things (taking walks, going to the mall, going to the café, internet, reading,, slowly studying, - this because I tend to do everything asap in order to save time).
Wait, what? Why do I feel the need to save time?
Actually, I view all this personal time management thing as a pseudo training for the future. Just like I consider learning as much japanese asap important in order to prevent having to study it when I have a job. ...Again...to save time, now that I think of it.
But why is it so important? I actually don't now. It's just something I've been doing for a while, and have been getting better at it.
And now I'm feeling a little tired (damn it, I've been feeling tired every day .__. ) so, I'm going to bed, hopefully will be able to play a bit of nintendo ds, but I honestly believe that as soon as I lie down I will want to sleep.
So anyway, tomorrow I'll go back to the portuguese employment system report and will make the points I've written up until now into a well structured text (I'll try at least), written obviously in japanese. I also have several homework, but let's take it easy and focus on one at a time.
2012年10月20日
21
So I turned 21.
Don't know why, but I'm getting used to the ideia of being 21 faster than in previous years. It usually takes me around a week to get used to it.
Now it's 1.23 am in Japan, I'm drinking my night milk. It's late, I know.
My head aches (had to do some mental exarcises today for the hamasaki ayumi essay - ended up changing it a bit) and I'm physically tired too (wore my backpack all day). Tomorrow I'm going to kyoko station and roundabouts to buy something to offer myself. I might stay there doing my potential homework too.
Not that much of a day, but I was happy to have like 3 hours ago a Chinese and a Japanese friend coming over with takoyaki.
this morning I had no coffee and had to take the maccha thing instead. I feel sleepy many times ever since I came to Japan, but this morning was specially hard. For the first time I felt the effects of not having coffee in the morning.
This past week I've been so busy I barely have time to read. I don't know how, but time flies.
(gotta hurry otherwise will fall asleep)
So this Ayu turned 21.
2012年10月19日
作文 [８００字）
明日は文章力のクラスのための作文です～。訂正されてから、またここに投稿します～
私自身として、浜崎あゆみという歌手を勧めずにはいられない。なぜか、この人のおかげで私の人生を変えたのではないかと思う。
浜崎あゆみは日本の有名な歌手。モデルや女優としても活躍している。福岡県福岡市出身で、１９７８年１０月２日に生まれた。ファンによく「あゆ」と呼ばれている。浜崎あゆみ自身「Ｃｒｅａ」として、作曲を手がけている。ジャンルはポップ、「JPOP」である。
浜崎あゆみを勧める理由はさまざまある。あゆの曲の歌詞は（全部とは言えない）大変深く、聞き手に共感をさせる。あゆの原点であり、あゆにしか作れない曲がたくさんある。だが、私にとって、彼女の全てに共感する。表情、歌唱力、声質、雰囲気、容姿、ファッション、言動、歌の内容、など。
あゆの曲の特徴というと、「私」のかわりに、「僕」を使い、「複数を目指すときに「・・・たち」、「・・・ら」を使う。彼女の曲を詳しく分析すると、煌びやかなスタイルの反面、自身の心の闇の部分も歌詞に綴ることがあり、もう言ったとおり、男女を問わず多くの人から共感を得ている。
浜崎あゆみはＣＤは様々あるが、一番お勧めなのは昔の浜崎あゆみの「A Song For XX」、「Loveppears」、「I Am」である。
浜崎あゆみは、私にとって、非常に大切な人である。私が浜崎あゆみを聞き始めたのは２００８年である。そのときに、声質や歌唱力が魅力的だった。聞き続き、さらに好きになり、歌詞がわかるために、２００９年の始まり、日本語を勉強し始めた。日本語側落葉になり、あゆからいろいろ学んだ。歌詞の中の言葉や言外、「Ayu Ready」という番組も大変助かった。聴解の練習として、日本語の様々な表現、言葉なども覚えた。日本の文化の私の知識にもよく役立った。
将来の私の夢は日本語を使う仕事なので、浜崎あゆみはその希望に非常に影響を与えているといえるのではないだろうか。日本のポップの一部なので、浜崎あゆみは絶対にお勧めである。
あとね、今日は稲荷神社行きました。
2012年10月13日
奈良
So I went to 奈良 and intend on going back there someday because it's really beautiful it has deers everywhere, it is full of nature など. It's actually really interesting to finally see all these (these what? what are there? monuments?) things that I had only seen when I studied for the subjects of History/culture/geography of Japan.
I created an album just for today's pics, check it out:
http://s1273.photobucket.com/albums/y407/ayupt/Nara/
I created an album just for today's pics, check it out:
http://s1273.photobucket.com/albums/y407/ayupt/Nara/
鹿のフン、鹿、あゆ
東大寺
大仏 （でかっ！）
Now I'm going to relax a bit, today was a very tiring day. Tomorrow I'll dive into my endless (endless, because well, time doesn't stop, and as soon as one week ends, the other begins) homework (I even made a list!).
2012年10月10日
1 month
１ヶ月前、日本に着いた。
I arrived to Japan one month ago.
ここでの生活は居る人たちが居ないから、完璧だといえない。
I miss a few people, my stay in Japan would be perfect if they'd be here.
日本語の授業はオーケーですけど、日本の文化のクラスは一番好き。
Japanese classes are nice and all, but I like culture related classes the best.
日本語で本を読んでて、速読が結構速くなったと感じてはいるけど、本によりますね。
I've been reading books in Japanese and my reading speed (depending on the kind of book) has increased considerably, or so it feels. Again, it depends on what I read.
よくわからないですけど、話す力は前と同じだと感じている。まあ、口から速く出る、かな？
My spoken Japanese remains the same, it probably just comes out more quickly. Not really sure.
聞くこともたぶん、よくなった。なぜかとゆったら、すごい速く話している先生が居て、全部、全部とは言えないけど、９５パーセントぐらい？
My listening skills are probably increasing too (I'm sure they are), because I have teachers who speak incredibly fast and I can understand almost everything.
一日中、眠い。大問題。日本に来て、自分の体の限界がわかるようになった（なっている）。たとえるなら、ポルトガルでの図書館で勉強してたらば、眠くても、勉強し続けられたけど、日本ではそれは全然無理。なんかね、頭が、重くなっちゃって、中に何もないぐらい感じられる。
I'm constantly sleepy. I've arrived to Japan and actually started understanding how my body works. This is really weird to some extent because in Portugal, for example when studying in the library I used to feel sleepy but was able to continue studying, here if I start getting sleepy my head starts feeling heavy and like if it has nothing inside, so I need to stop otherwise it's just impossible to keep going without turning into a zombie.
たまに起こった。無理やりの昼寝。ポルトガルでこんなのをしたこと覚えないぐらいまれなことです。それでね、起きたら、「え、ここどこ？何時？授業？もう朝？」、道に迷ったみたいな感じかな？昼寝ってこうなの？怖くない？起きたら、すごい怖いよ。
It has happened a few times, involuntary naps. I wake up and feel so lost I just look at the watch and worry about going to school.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
この投稿の終わりとして、いつもと同じに、特別な曲。是非、聴いてください。
あの瞬間思い出したら、愛しく、恋しく、暖かく感じて、うれしくて、うれしくて、元気がなくなっちゃって、目が不思議にきらきらして・・・
なんだろうね。
I arrived to Japan one month ago.
ここでの生活は居る人たちが居ないから、完璧だといえない。
I miss a few people, my stay in Japan would be perfect if they'd be here.
日本語の授業はオーケーですけど、日本の文化のクラスは一番好き。
Japanese classes are nice and all, but I like culture related classes the best.
日本語で本を読んでて、速読が結構速くなったと感じてはいるけど、本によりますね。
I've been reading books in Japanese and my reading speed (depending on the kind of book) has increased considerably, or so it feels. Again, it depends on what I read.
よくわからないですけど、話す力は前と同じだと感じている。まあ、口から速く出る、かな？
My spoken Japanese remains the same, it probably just comes out more quickly. Not really sure.
聞くこともたぶん、よくなった。なぜかとゆったら、すごい速く話している先生が居て、全部、全部とは言えないけど、９５パーセントぐらい？
My listening skills are probably increasing too (I'm sure they are), because I have teachers who speak incredibly fast and I can understand almost everything.
一日中、眠い。大問題。日本に来て、自分の体の限界がわかるようになった（なっている）。たとえるなら、ポルトガルでの図書館で勉強してたらば、眠くても、勉強し続けられたけど、日本ではそれは全然無理。なんかね、頭が、重くなっちゃって、中に何もないぐらい感じられる。
I'm constantly sleepy. I've arrived to Japan and actually started understanding how my body works. This is really weird to some extent because in Portugal, for example when studying in the library I used to feel sleepy but was able to continue studying, here if I start getting sleepy my head starts feeling heavy and like if it has nothing inside, so I need to stop otherwise it's just impossible to keep going without turning into a zombie.
たまに起こった。無理やりの昼寝。ポルトガルでこんなのをしたこと覚えないぐらいまれなことです。それでね、起きたら、「え、ここどこ？何時？授業？もう朝？」、道に迷ったみたいな感じかな？昼寝ってこうなの？怖くない？起きたら、すごい怖いよ。
It has happened a few times, involuntary naps. I wake up and feel so lost I just look at the watch and worry about going to school.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
この投稿の終わりとして、いつもと同じに、特別な曲。是非、聴いてください。
あの瞬間思い出したら、愛しく、恋しく、暖かく感じて、うれしくて、うれしくて、元気がなくなっちゃって、目が不思議にきらきらして・・・
なんだろうね。
2012年10月6日
絆を見る
金閣寺へ行った。
京都駅の近くで友達を待てて、やっぱり早く来たので、知らない、大勢の人の絆を見ようとした。
親子、友達、恋人・・・・
いろいろ思い出して、暖かく感じて、胸キュンした。
GoogleのPicasaというやつでできないから、Photobucketに移動しました。私が京都工芸繊維大学へ行った日の写真も含まれている。
ご参考にどうぞ。
http://s1273.photobucket.com/albums/y407/ayupt/Facebook/Life%20in%20Japan/
追伸：明日はなんかの祭り（名前まだわかんない）を見に行って、その後また写真をアップロードする。
京都駅の近くで友達を待てて、やっぱり早く来たので、知らない、大勢の人の絆を見ようとした。
親子、友達、恋人・・・・
いろいろ思い出して、暖かく感じて、胸キュンした。
GoogleのPicasaというやつでできないから、Photobucketに移動しました。私が京都工芸繊維大学へ行った日の写真も含まれている。
ご参考にどうぞ。
http://s1273.photobucket.com/albums/y407/ayupt/Facebook/Life%20in%20Japan/
追伸：明日はなんかの祭り（名前まだわかんない）を見に行って、その後また写真をアップロードする。
2012年10月5日
weekEND!
I just returned to my bedroom. I went to the library for 1.30h to study (read) with a chinese friend, came back and then got out again to a コンビニ with another chinese friend. (both N1s and completely fluent, one of them worked for 3 years in China for a japanese company)
I have a cup of milk on my left side, and I'm going to continue writing (started before going to the library).
Despite the fact that they chinese, I want to make it clear, that japanese is the only language we are using. 残念なことに、even though I keep doing my chinese reps, I can't focus. Still, I often hear my chinese classmates speaking in chinese among themselves, so I can actually get some daily listening practice.
And...
WEEKEND! Yay. I never thought I would ever say this. but, finally, weekend! Still not safe though, loads of homework to do, but I came here for reason, and it wasn't to play around (well, that one too).
And I thought I'd never be this relieved for having 2 days without classes. It's like, classes aren't hard, but somehow I get really tired at the end of the day.
I went for the first time to the university library two days ago. Was there for around 3 hours doing homework and reading (I can focus).
Actually, studying in the library is a bit of a hard work because somehow I get really sleepy when I'm there, maybe the thing doesn't have that many oxygen, dunno.
I'm always sleepy to be honest. And I freakin' don't know why. I've been waking up sooner than usual (my usual is 6.30), true, but still...
BUT ANYWAY. As I said on twitter some days ago, I started reading a book called 「語学で身をつける」. Basically:
- how one can use its language skills to work
- how to improve skills
- how people learn differently and on how they should change their goals according to their job/occupation/age/etc
-language acquisition methods (just finished reading this - it actually divides the process in 5 stages)
- on what one can to do improve certain skills (作文力、翻訳など）
Well, it's interesting. I'm just not sure how this reading books thing really works because:
I read, I understand (of course there are times I can't really grasp the whole thing - those times when I start あくびing mostly), but does that mean I learned what I read? I mean, does the brain absorb the information and put it to use?
I've probably read more online/through books in japanese that in portuguese. And if I have not, than I will soon, because there's a lot of things I want to read while I'm here, and they're not written in portuguese nor english...
Now to change the subject for a bit... Instead of the now boring 食堂 I went to a restaurant near the university and ate 親子丼.
I have a cup of milk on my left side, and I'm going to continue writing (started before going to the library).
Despite the fact that they chinese, I want to make it clear, that japanese is the only language we are using. 残念なことに、even though I keep doing my chinese reps, I can't focus. Still, I often hear my chinese classmates speaking in chinese among themselves, so I can actually get some daily listening practice.
And...
WEEKEND! Yay. I never thought I would ever say this. but, finally, weekend! Still not safe though, loads of homework to do, but I came here for reason, and it wasn't to play around (well, that one too).
And I thought I'd never be this relieved for having 2 days without classes. It's like, classes aren't hard, but somehow I get really tired at the end of the day.
I went for the first time to the university library two days ago. Was there for around 3 hours doing homework and reading (I can focus).
Actually, studying in the library is a bit of a hard work because somehow I get really sleepy when I'm there, maybe the thing doesn't have that many oxygen, dunno.
I'm always sleepy to be honest. And I freakin' don't know why. I've been waking up sooner than usual (my usual is 6.30), true, but still...
BUT ANYWAY. As I said on twitter some days ago, I started reading a book called 「語学で身をつける」. Basically:
- how one can use its language skills to work
- how to improve skills
- how people learn differently and on how they should change their goals according to their job/occupation/age/etc
-language acquisition methods (just finished reading this - it actually divides the process in 5 stages)
- on what one can to do improve certain skills (作文力、翻訳など）
Well, it's interesting. I'm just not sure how this reading books thing really works because:
I read, I understand (of course there are times I can't really grasp the whole thing - those times when I start あくびing mostly), but does that mean I learned what I read? I mean, does the brain absorb the information and put it to use?
I've probably read more online/through books in japanese that in portuguese. And if I have not, than I will soon, because there's a lot of things I want to read while I'm here, and they're not written in portuguese nor english...
Now to change the subject for a bit... Instead of the now boring 食堂 I went to a restaurant near the university and ate 親子丼.
Okay, now continuing with the reading subject...
Besides 日本経済・経営 my favorite classes so far are 文章力 (learning how to write texts in appropriate japanese is going to be honestly useful in the future, not only that, the practice I have from reading japanese online is also a big plus because I'm pretty familiar with the partterns) and 読解. In the reading class we are reading japanese literature and, holy crap,the thing is seriously deep, to the point that my jaws are aching from my 我慢. It's like, all the things I've lived and seen are all comprised in that tiny bit of text. I could give examples, but I will abstain from doing that because the past 2/3 days were a bit of a pain thanks to that. And I'm sure the next time I read this, some years from now, that I'll still remember the kind (and I will keep all study materials, of course).
And then I've been communicating with friends in Portugal, China and Scotland, we all apart, but we all feel the same. And of course, there also other people I miss so much. This is kind of sad and beautiful at the same time. Again, I'll abstain from writing otherwise I'll end up in tears. Again.
Don't get me wrong, I like being here. Just like a friend of mine who's studying in Scotland said, "some people are just unique".
What's actually pressuring me is the fact that I'm apart from people I like, the fact that I want to read some books, want to take the N1 (and still couldn't find the damn mock tests!), the JBT and still have to brainstorm on the master course (this one is particularly hard, because I hate wasting time, and to take a master course here I'd have to wait 1.5 years since I'm not on time to enter the next semester and I'm not really sure on the scholarship thing, it's pretty hard to get one from what I heard) and on the subjects and 内容 I'll have to chose for the reports, and want to start practicing translation too, and want to visit several places.
So, hurrah! Weekend.
2012年10月2日
micro-agressions?
I seriously don't like writing so frequently. I mean, I like, because I have so much to share. This is supposed to be about my Japanese study, my Japanese study blog, but since I'm now in Japan, it's becoming more and more like a Japan life/Japanese journal.
Anyway. Today I went to the center of Kyoto alone for the first time. It was a bit scary on my way there because I got off on the wrong station, and had to ask for help a couple of times. It was scary, because I had time pressuring me. I got out of school at 4.30pm and had to be there (nasic, the place where I went to pay for the room rent and bed sheets) before 6pm. I arrived at around 5. Not bad.
Micro-agressions
(Just want to make sure that I don't like this expression, at all.
Japanese people are really kind when they help you, speacially if they are the one's that approach you. So this expression sounds a bit rude from my point of view. But I have read about this a few times and this was the expression that it was used, so I'm using it. I'll try to make up my own expression for this phenomena someday.)
When I was in the wrong station a woman saw I was a bit lost/confused and gave me some directions. She started speaking in english (and pretty fluent!) but changed to Japanese after I started talking.
It's funny, that even though she talked in english, how I automatically replied in Japanese. It's like I was conscious that she spoke in english, but I could only produce Japanese, once again, my mind was set in the Japanese mode.
The fact that I'm not interested in replying in english might also have some influence, but in the heat of the moment, one just doesn't have time to think about all this right? One just replies and thinks about it later, what I'm doing now.
Now that I think about it, this is very interesting, and I probably only felt this for the first time after coming here.
Continuing.
Not only when that woman assumed I could not understand Japanese but also in the train when I asked for help.
I was in the train, and was not sure in which station I should get out, and asked this guy (mid twenties?) that was standing on my side,
「あのっ・・・・すいません。京都駅で降りたいんですけど、どの駅で降りたらいいですか。 」
( I'm still now sure what the name of the station is, but I think it is 七条 something...)
「京都駅は次。」
「あ、ありがとう(ご)ざいます！」
Than, we turn faces, and the after some seconds in silence the guy turns to me again and 「日本語、上手ですね。」
So, was this really a compliment, accompanying the fact that he was surprised I could speak japanese or was it just the standard way to compliment a (every) foreigner? I mean...c'mon, what I said can be said by anyone with a travel guide, gotta be honest.
Also, I was not really sure how to answer, let's see:
いいえ、まだまだです。(this is what I replied)
Okay, this is (the parcial?) correct answer, because not only is true, as one is lowering itself. But the person made you a compliment, so, should one thank or not?
I think that answer I wrote above has some kind of an hidden "thank you" inside. Because I know I actually do know some Japanese for me, replying that way already feels like a "thank you", as in "thank you, still not there yet, but will continue working to get better. 「まだ」 implies that one will continue doing something it is doing at the moment.
By saying "thank you" one is acknowledging the fact that one (itself) is indeed 上手. Thus, making itself look cocky, at least to the Japanese people. In the west, this is no "problem" I think.
The most important thing from today was the fact that. I'm now home. I studied everything in the morning in advance, because I knew I had to go take care of these payments.
And I'm bored! I'm bored to the point of looking back and thinking something like: "today was fun, today was challenging, scary at first, but fun now that I think about it. I want to repeat it."Ironically or not, today I started reading a book 「語学で身を立てる」 so I think it's kind of appropriate.
Besides, before all this I had this 日本経営 class, in which we spoke about the differences between Japanese and american 就職, 雇用, about the 単身赴任、年功序列 (I was actually the one who brought this one up, and next class intend on bringing the "Japanese-women-and-their-lower-status-at-Japanese-companies" subject next class). And got out of the class pretty confident because it reminded me of so many things I saw and lived when I was in Braga.
Also a bit of a complex matter to me, because I'm going to have to make some important decisions, and this class kind of opened my eyes a bit and made me even more clueless. I will leave this subject to another time, because I still need to do some brainstorming before I can write something about it. For those who are curious in knowing what I'll talk about, let's say something like company loyalty. This is REALLY a complex subject for me at the moment and I seriously need to brainstorm first before I can say something.
So, I was bored. Actually writing here is becoming an hobby rather than just a diary. This blog is something I'll be able to read like forever, so it's going to be interesting to read this some years from now. I've been writing here a lot of things, Japanese language related, Japanese japan life related, feelings, etc. you can expect picture, and when the opportunity comes, videos.
And I cannot end this post without congratulating, once again, 浜崎あゆみ for her 34th anniversary. She has been by my "side" ever since I started studying Japanese Actually she is actually the main reason why I started studying it. So if it wasn't for her I'd never be here, I'd never met the most amazing people I know and idolize, I'd never be able to speak Japanese I'd never become this sensitive, I'd never be me.
Hence having posted the "honey" song in the morning.
おめでとう ♥
Anyway. Today I went to the center of Kyoto alone for the first time. It was a bit scary on my way there because I got off on the wrong station, and had to ask for help a couple of times. It was scary, because I had time pressuring me. I got out of school at 4.30pm and had to be there (nasic, the place where I went to pay for the room rent and bed sheets) before 6pm. I arrived at around 5. Not bad.
Micro-agressions
(Just want to make sure that I don't like this expression, at all.
Japanese people are really kind when they help you, speacially if they are the one's that approach you. So this expression sounds a bit rude from my point of view. But I have read about this a few times and this was the expression that it was used, so I'm using it. I'll try to make up my own expression for this phenomena someday.)
When I was in the wrong station a woman saw I was a bit lost/confused and gave me some directions. She started speaking in english (and pretty fluent!) but changed to Japanese after I started talking.
It's funny, that even though she talked in english, how I automatically replied in Japanese. It's like I was conscious that she spoke in english, but I could only produce Japanese, once again, my mind was set in the Japanese mode.
The fact that I'm not interested in replying in english might also have some influence, but in the heat of the moment, one just doesn't have time to think about all this right? One just replies and thinks about it later, what I'm doing now.
Now that I think about it, this is very interesting, and I probably only felt this for the first time after coming here.
Continuing.
Not only when that woman assumed I could not understand Japanese but also in the train when I asked for help.
I was in the train, and was not sure in which station I should get out, and asked this guy (mid twenties?) that was standing on my side,
「あのっ・・・・すいません。京都駅で降りたいんですけど、どの駅で降りたらいいですか。 」
( I'm still now sure what the name of the station is, but I think it is 七条 something...)
「京都駅は次。」
「あ、ありがとう(ご)ざいます！」
Than, we turn faces, and the after some seconds in silence the guy turns to me again and 「日本語、上手ですね。」
So, was this really a compliment, accompanying the fact that he was surprised I could speak japanese or was it just the standard way to compliment a (every) foreigner? I mean...c'mon, what I said can be said by anyone with a travel guide, gotta be honest.
Also, I was not really sure how to answer, let's see:
いいえ、まだまだです。(this is what I replied)
Okay, this is (the parcial?) correct answer, because not only is true, as one is lowering itself. But the person made you a compliment, so, should one thank or not?
I think that answer I wrote above has some kind of an hidden "thank you" inside. Because I know I actually do know some Japanese for me, replying that way already feels like a "thank you", as in "thank you, still not there yet, but will continue working to get better. 「まだ」 implies that one will continue doing something it is doing at the moment.
By saying "thank you" one is acknowledging the fact that one (itself) is indeed 上手. Thus, making itself look cocky, at least to the Japanese people. In the west, this is no "problem" I think.
The most important thing from today was the fact that. I'm now home. I studied everything in the morning in advance, because I knew I had to go take care of these payments.
And I'm bored! I'm bored to the point of looking back and thinking something like: "today was fun, today was challenging, scary at first, but fun now that I think about it. I want to repeat it."Ironically or not, today I started reading a book 「語学で身を立てる」 so I think it's kind of appropriate.
Besides, before all this I had this 日本経営 class, in which we spoke about the differences between Japanese and american 就職, 雇用, about the 単身赴任、年功序列 (I was actually the one who brought this one up, and next class intend on bringing the "Japanese-women-and-their-lower-status-at-Japanese-companies" subject next class). And got out of the class pretty confident because it reminded me of so many things I saw and lived when I was in Braga.
Also a bit of a complex matter to me, because I'm going to have to make some important decisions, and this class kind of opened my eyes a bit and made me even more clueless. I will leave this subject to another time, because I still need to do some brainstorming before I can write something about it. For those who are curious in knowing what I'll talk about, let's say something like company loyalty. This is REALLY a complex subject for me at the moment and I seriously need to brainstorm first before I can say something.
So, I was bored. Actually writing here is becoming an hobby rather than just a diary. This blog is something I'll be able to read like forever, so it's going to be interesting to read this some years from now. I've been writing here a lot of things, Japanese language related, Japanese japan life related, feelings, etc. you can expect picture, and when the opportunity comes, videos.
And I cannot end this post without congratulating, once again, 浜崎あゆみ for her 34th anniversary. She has been by my "side" ever since I started studying Japanese Actually she is actually the main reason why I started studying it. So if it wasn't for her I'd never be here, I'd never met the most amazing people I know and idolize, I'd never be able to speak Japanese I'd never become this sensitive, I'd never be me.
Hence having posted the "honey" song in the morning.
おめでとう ♥
2012年9月30日
what makes a language hard to learn?
First, please refer to the picture above. That's how the conversation that lead me to writing today's post began. (thanks ta132).
Second. As you might have noticed already, I sometimes start going off topic. Sorry. I tend to remember things I want to write when I'm writing something elso so that I don't forget.
What makes a language hard or not to learn is subjective. Everyone learns differently according to what one thinks is more effective to its study.
人には自分なりの生き方・興味・方法・考え方などがある。人間はそのものだから。
On chosing a language
Personally. I couldn't care less if a language is similar or not to my own. Would I ever chose to learn a language just because its similar to mine? Hell, no.
When I was in high school I had to chose between spanish and german. I chose spanish, not because its easier, not because its similar to portuguese but simply because I (even though I usually say I don't - プライドが高い) I like spanish. I do not consider myself a speaker though.
Actually, I've written about how I started studying japanese, methods, etc etc. But truth is, I also studied chinese. And when I was in my first year of college the competion between those two in my head was fierce. like seriously. If I studied japanese, "fuck yeah, japanese is better, Hamasaki Ayumi, Japan, yay!", and then I had to turn to chinese "holy crap, this one is cool too, humm, Wang fei's music is cool too...and our tests are so easy..."
Anyway, I did not know what path to chose, and those days were crazy. I simply can't focus on two languages at the same time because it would make even more imperfections on the study of the other one. And my 知恵袋 just doesn't stand that.
But anyway, since that time two years have passed. I'm 20 (almost 21), chose Japanese and I'm in Japan. Still a bit lost on what I want to do in the future, but one thing's I want for sure, to use the Japanese language. What made me chose japanese is too much and deep to write here, If I ever write a book, I'll write it there.
SO! In order to start (chose) a new language one should:
-have an interest in the language and culture of the country (learning the language just because one was made or had no other choise other than -unemployment- to live in the country must be so sucky and ineffective I don't even want to think about it)
- Be motivated. Having a genuine interest is a great motivator but not enough. I know people who love Japan but studying japanese is too 面倒くさい and takes a lot of time. oh and it has kanji.
- Know that the beggining is the hardest part. Unless one goes at a slow pace and never reaches other levels other than "rookie".
What makes a language hard to learn?
Not the grammar, not kanji, not whatever-else-is-related-to-studying-a-language. What makes a language hard is having no motivation. Wanting to do it but not doing it. I can relate. I want to do so much that I end up not doing everything. I might not do x, but I always do y to improve the same skill (like internet articles instead of literature, or like watching ayu ready or drama instead of the news).
Like, I'm not motivated right now, I'm not burning to learn japanese.
I think it's because I've reached a level where I'm allowed to "do" that because I do it everyday no matter what. the things I'm interested about are also in japanese so, do I have any other choice? Fortunately no. Besides I'm in Japan and whenever I open my mouth here is to speak japanese (unless I'm using skype).
But seriously, how I wish I could have that fire everyday. It changes me for real and makes me absorb japanese easily. It's like being empowered after having a strong coffee (by mistake in my case).
My motivator now is the daily small things I do in Japanese. The things I want to do in the future related to japanese. Japanese people and their beautiful sensitiveness, 絆, ways of thinking, and their endless knowledge, the Japanese language itself, the complexity and beauty of the Japanese culture.
What actually matters if the daily "effort" you put in daily. DAILY. But would I call it effort? No. I'd call it love. And I like studying the traditional way too, once in a while it really feels good. But I'd be tired if I had to do it like that everyday. I did it until I decided to take the risk and going for harder challenges. Glad I did it...
I'm talking on learning languages here. Learning practical skills such as translation is a whole different story. And those require serious work. And the hardest work is not necessarily with japanese but with our own.
I want to write some more, but it's getting late and my head just can't take it anymore. Damn, I can't expose all my thoughts if I keep writing at night... | :
2012年9月27日
英語わからない
Not that much of a post, but I want to register this.
Today I had to use a bus, and when I was asking how much it was, the driver answered to me in english.
"two, twenty"
and I kinda blocked because I really couldn't understand what the guy was saying. I guess my head was set with the japanese language mode (I really only use portuguese and english online)
"two twenty".
And I was like "はい？".
"two twenty"
Until it hit me, "にひゃくにじゅう円のことですか。あ、わかりました。はい。"
-..-
2012年9月26日
統計、授業の感想など
Hey there, こんばんは！
I miss writing those motivational posts on learning japanese and that apply for everything, but it's not about that that I'm writing today. Actually, I want to get back to writing those posts after being here for a while, I'd say within 2 weeks or so, and then I shall get back to them if I'm inspired.
These are the things I'm going to talk about on this post
1. Study statistics
2. Life in Japan
統計 or statistics, for those who happen not to be able to read
This is the first time I'm actually going to compare statistics on a post, because I haven't seen them for a while.
And still haven't... First, you probably will notice that I haven't added much in the past month. The main reason is because I was making the arrangements for Japan and did not wanted to get overwhelmed with the amount of reviews after arriving. In my first week here I probably also did not add much, since it was all new (and it obviously still is, at least outside of my area). But without further ado, let's check'em out.
カードの合計数： 11312
ファクトの合計数： 11312
カードの習熟度
復習期間の長いカード: 9786 (86.5%)
復習期間の短いカード: 1526 (13.5%)
まだ見ていないカード 0 (0.0%)
The last time I posted statistics was on the 28th of August, and I had the following number:
カードの合計数： 11098
This means that In the past month I added 214 cards. Not much. Cards don't necessarily mean words. Per card I have between 1-5 new words, so I can't never really know for sure the amount of vocab I know. Not going to the "Life in Japan" section.
Life in Japan
sleep, food, tiredom
A few things I noticed after getting here. I don't know why, but in Japan, I get really sleepy, many, many times. I know this happens to me after lunch, but I feel that way so many times a day since I arrived and have no clue on why. I'll assume its due to the changes in the environment. Japan is really hot (getting cooler gradually though).
Also, I have to go buy food many more times I used to in Portugal, because here the freezer is shared and I can't have it all for me, of course. And because japanese food comes in smaller amounts. It's actually pretty cool, because if you feel you want to eat something that day, you actually can. But not me, I just suck at cooking (I can cook, but it's 面倒臭い) and end up just making udon or soba with some vegetables and meat in like 5 minutes. But seriously, I ought to start cooking something else because I'm sick of udon, like seriously. Eating out would be ideal, but its expensive on the long term. Eating out on the 食堂 can easily get more expensive than actually eating out. And besides, I'm really けち and tend to only spend money on things I actually need so that I can save money for special things I might want to buy in the future.
And I lost myself here. I was talking about sleep. was I not...?
Anyway, as I was saying, having to be constantly going out to fill the water bottle, to buy milk, to buy bread and to buy the rest might actually have some influence and making me more tired.
And now I actually have classes, and have been reading more in Japanese so yeah.
Now changing the subject and moving out of the food and 睡眠 universe. I shall continue the challenges talk later.
Classes、授業
Besides the mandatory japanese classes (読解、文書力、速読、聴解、文法、and other I actually don't know the main skill that's being developed because in the first class we had to make a "test" on how skillful we are with microsoft office and email in japanese) I have classes on japanese culture. To be able to "graduate" I need to have at least 8 credits from classes on culture. Each class has 2 credits. I'm taking the following culture classes (今日は科目の選択の書類を出したばかりだから・・・・)
日本の宗教
The class on japanese religion seems really interesting, I already studied the content, but now, studying in Japanese, things actually stick better. I was actually going to chose the N1 preparation class instead, but the content of this class is far more interesting, and the content will change next semester so...N1 study I can do it by myself.
日本の歴史・文学
Well. History is not my thing, but I'll do my best. The teacher didn't really explain the content, but I chose this one because what was in the description of the subject was interesting. So, hope! And since now I'm going to study everything in japanese...not only I'm memorizing history, as I'm memorizing vocab and practicing sentence structure.
日本の経済・経営
This is the teacher's last semester teaching. He's really kind and was always talking about Portugal in the first class. This class is more related to the ways the japanese act (business culture I guess).
囲碁
I decided to take this class because not only I'm interested in getting a game hobby, as I'm interested in the fact that you pass the subject just by showing up. Besides, it's a board game! Who doesn't love board games?! The rules aren't that hard (so far at least). And to have this subject in the CV is always interesting, at least from my point of view. (yes! I'm a CV strategist)
日本の社会・文化 The teacher is from Osaka (actually, most of the japanese I met so far are from Osaka, teachers included), from Kyoto, so far only two, and it's the lady owner of a takoyaki place nearby and the other my 聴解 teacher. Anyway, the teacher is really funny, and speaks in dialect. And pays dinner every friday to students at the cafeteria.
I'm afraid I might get overwhelmed with the amount of work, but I just need to study everyday and I'll be fine. Problem is, I might have to sacrifice some social life (I'd do it anyway, cafe here is really expensive, and my social life is basically cafe with friends and going to the mall). Still can't talk much about the classes, because most of them were mere introductions, but these are my thoughts so far.
So, I'm actually taking more credits this semester than those I'd need to graduate. But you know, subjects content will change next semester so I need to take as much classes I'm interested as possible. No one said it was going to be easy, it's not easy (I think), but it's doable. And I'm here for that matter. I have classmates who chose the JLPT practice class, the 囲碁 class and a class on martial arts, so they pretty much will only study japanese. せっかく来たくせに・・・・
And I was just talking to some friends on skype for almost an hour and lost time and lost my ideas, so, hum, yeah.
お休みなさい。
(edit: I intend on giving 感想 on the japanese classes too and how I feel speaking in japanese only. ...But now I can't because time is short)
I miss writing those motivational posts on learning japanese and that apply for everything, but it's not about that that I'm writing today. Actually, I want to get back to writing those posts after being here for a while, I'd say within 2 weeks or so, and then I shall get back to them if I'm inspired.
These are the things I'm going to talk about on this post
1. Study statistics
2. Life in Japan
統計 or statistics, for those who happen not to be able to read
This is the first time I'm actually going to compare statistics on a post, because I haven't seen them for a while.
And still haven't... First, you probably will notice that I haven't added much in the past month. The main reason is because I was making the arrangements for Japan and did not wanted to get overwhelmed with the amount of reviews after arriving. In my first week here I probably also did not add much, since it was all new (and it obviously still is, at least outside of my area). But without further ado, let's check'em out.
カードの合計数： 11312
ファクトの合計数： 11312
カードの習熟度
復習期間の長いカード: 9786 (86.5%)
復習期間の短いカード: 1526 (13.5%)
まだ見ていないカード 0 (0.0%)
The last time I posted statistics was on the 28th of August, and I had the following number:
カードの合計数： 11098
This means that In the past month I added 214 cards. Not much. Cards don't necessarily mean words. Per card I have between 1-5 new words, so I can't never really know for sure the amount of vocab I know. Not going to the "Life in Japan" section.
Life in Japan
sleep, food, tiredom
A few things I noticed after getting here. I don't know why, but in Japan, I get really sleepy, many, many times. I know this happens to me after lunch, but I feel that way so many times a day since I arrived and have no clue on why. I'll assume its due to the changes in the environment. Japan is really hot (getting cooler gradually though).
Also, I have to go buy food many more times I used to in Portugal, because here the freezer is shared and I can't have it all for me, of course. And because japanese food comes in smaller amounts. It's actually pretty cool, because if you feel you want to eat something that day, you actually can. But not me, I just suck at cooking (I can cook, but it's 面倒臭い) and end up just making udon or soba with some vegetables and meat in like 5 minutes. But seriously, I ought to start cooking something else because I'm sick of udon, like seriously. Eating out would be ideal, but its expensive on the long term. Eating out on the 食堂 can easily get more expensive than actually eating out. And besides, I'm really けち and tend to only spend money on things I actually need so that I can save money for special things I might want to buy in the future.
And I lost myself here. I was talking about sleep. was I not...?
Anyway, as I was saying, having to be constantly going out to fill the water bottle, to buy milk, to buy bread and to buy the rest might actually have some influence and making me more tired.
And now I actually have classes, and have been reading more in Japanese so yeah.
Now changing the subject and moving out of the food and 睡眠 universe. I shall continue the challenges talk later.
Classes、授業
Besides the mandatory japanese classes (読解、文書力、速読、聴解、文法、and other I actually don't know the main skill that's being developed because in the first class we had to make a "test" on how skillful we are with microsoft office and email in japanese) I have classes on japanese culture. To be able to "graduate" I need to have at least 8 credits from classes on culture. Each class has 2 credits. I'm taking the following culture classes (今日は科目の選択の書類を出したばかりだから・・・・)
日本の宗教
The class on japanese religion seems really interesting, I already studied the content, but now, studying in Japanese, things actually stick better. I was actually going to chose the N1 preparation class instead, but the content of this class is far more interesting, and the content will change next semester so...N1 study I can do it by myself.
日本の歴史・文学
Well. History is not my thing, but I'll do my best. The teacher didn't really explain the content, but I chose this one because what was in the description of the subject was interesting. So, hope! And since now I'm going to study everything in japanese...not only I'm memorizing history, as I'm memorizing vocab and practicing sentence structure.
日本の経済・経営
This is the teacher's last semester teaching. He's really kind and was always talking about Portugal in the first class. This class is more related to the ways the japanese act (business culture I guess).
囲碁
I decided to take this class because not only I'm interested in getting a game hobby, as I'm interested in the fact that you pass the subject just by showing up. Besides, it's a board game! Who doesn't love board games?! The rules aren't that hard (so far at least). And to have this subject in the CV is always interesting, at least from my point of view. (yes! I'm a CV strategist)
日本の社会・文化 The teacher is from Osaka (actually, most of the japanese I met so far are from Osaka, teachers included), from Kyoto, so far only two, and it's the lady owner of a takoyaki place nearby and the other my 聴解 teacher. Anyway, the teacher is really funny, and speaks in dialect. And pays dinner every friday to students at the cafeteria.
I'm afraid I might get overwhelmed with the amount of work, but I just need to study everyday and I'll be fine. Problem is, I might have to sacrifice some social life (I'd do it anyway, cafe here is really expensive, and my social life is basically cafe with friends and going to the mall). Still can't talk much about the classes, because most of them were mere introductions, but these are my thoughts so far.
So, I'm actually taking more credits this semester than those I'd need to graduate. But you know, subjects content will change next semester so I need to take as much classes I'm interested as possible. No one said it was going to be easy, it's not easy (I think), but it's doable. And I'm here for that matter. I have classmates who chose the JLPT practice class, the 囲碁 class and a class on martial arts, so they pretty much will only study japanese. せっかく来たくせに・・・・
And I was just talking to some friends on skype for almost an hour and lost time and lost my ideas, so, hum, yeah.
お休みなさい。
(edit: I intend on giving 感想 on the japanese classes too and how I feel speaking in japanese only. ...But now I can't because time is short)
2012年9月20日
2012年9月16日
2012年9月15日
day 5
And I'm not all settled yet.
I still need to buy some things such as food and kitchen utensils. I can't withdraw money still (my bank told me I could do it anywhere in Japan but so far 無理. tomorrow I'm going to try again with the help of a friend).
I miss some people, I miss having my latte and bread in the morning, I miss reading articles - no time, always busy, I miss classes, oh my gosh I miss having classes, and still 5 days to go. I miss studying in the library, I miss going to the café with my friends at night, など.
some pics taken today.
I still need to buy some things such as food and kitchen utensils. I can't withdraw money still (my bank told me I could do it anywhere in Japan but so far 無理. tomorrow I'm going to try again with the help of a friend).
I miss some people, I miss having my latte and bread in the morning, I miss reading articles - no time, always busy, I miss classes, oh my gosh I miss having classes, and still 5 days to go. I miss studying in the library, I miss going to the café with my friends at night, など.
some pics taken today.
my room's view
today's breakfast
kitchen front view
kitchen left view
kitchen right view
today's lunch
2012年9月12日
日本だ、本当
So, as you could see in my previous post, I'm in Japan! Finally! I still have a lot to do and a lot to explore. I still have no pictures. Simply because it is really hot and I can only go out in the morning and in the late afternoon and I usually go out to shop.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to have a test to divide the class by japanese level, what's weird is that so far, at the international students dormitory where I live, besides me there are only more 4 student who arrived for this semester, so I don't how's it going to be. I assume some more will appear.
I still have to by a cellphone, learn how o cook japanese food because otherwise I'm doomed to cup ramen and restaurants
Japan is really hot and humid. I can't wait for this weather to go away.
Tonight I intend on eating at some 中華ラーメン屋 nearby.
Already saw a videogames's store (did not enter though), loads of 自動販売機 snd loads of other typically japanese things that I can't remember now.
Japanese bicycles are so comfy! Still don't have one but already rode on one.
I have a japanese friend in Japan (kobe) and we are arranging some free time to meet again.
This is cool and all that but I just want to start classes and have a routine again. I haven't been sleeping much lately so got to take care of that too before starting for real.
If on one hand I'm looking forward for classes and spending a good time here, I'm also eager for September 2013.
日本がすご～くきれいですね！
2012年9月11日
2012年9月8日
today
Last day.
Normal day. I want to study, take a walk, enjoy some media (whatever it is).
I want to rest.
Going to sleep at 8pm to wake up at 1am.
I've been a bit tired lately, and today, probably from my lack of sleep, this headache is making me feel exhausted.
Went to sleep at 1am and woke up at around 6. stayed awake for some 30 minutes and then out of morning exhaustion got back to sleep till 9. This is happening to me quite frequently and I will assume it is due to all this going to Japan thing. And I've been thinking a lot too, action which can make me very happy and hopeful at times, but can also get me confused and clueless on the future too. I think I'm afraid. So that might also contribute.
But anyway, I have no idea how my body will react to the time difference, in order to prevent some deregulation, I'm hoping to get some sleep today, enough to make it through Frankfurt til I enter the airplane. I also intend on staying awake during the first 3 or 4 hours on my way to Japan and then sleep for the rest of the time.
I'll land in the morning in Japan (japanese time). So yeah, to get some good time of sleep in the airplane would be awesome so that I can start exploring right on the first day.
And the reason why I'm so worried with my sleep time is that right on the third day I'll have a test and if I'm tired I can't take the most out of my brain. Which will lower my grade. And I want to enter in the highest japanese level class as possible. So good sleep kind of matters.
Speaking of which, I'll practice my kanji skills during the flight. Fortunately writing one time is enough for me. And automatically knowing several readings for kanji also help a lot, but then again, if I'm tired (as it happened several times before) I might confuse kanji and instead of using x kanji I'll use a kanji with the same reading.
I will still make a post before leaving for good.
Wish me luck.
Normal day. I want to study, take a walk, enjoy some media (whatever it is).
I want to rest.
Going to sleep at 8pm to wake up at 1am.
I've been a bit tired lately, and today, probably from my lack of sleep, this headache is making me feel exhausted.
Went to sleep at 1am and woke up at around 6. stayed awake for some 30 minutes and then out of morning exhaustion got back to sleep till 9. This is happening to me quite frequently and I will assume it is due to all this going to Japan thing. And I've been thinking a lot too, action which can make me very happy and hopeful at times, but can also get me confused and clueless on the future too. I think I'm afraid. So that might also contribute.
But anyway, I have no idea how my body will react to the time difference, in order to prevent some deregulation, I'm hoping to get some sleep today, enough to make it through Frankfurt til I enter the airplane. I also intend on staying awake during the first 3 or 4 hours on my way to Japan and then sleep for the rest of the time.
I'll land in the morning in Japan (japanese time). So yeah, to get some good time of sleep in the airplane would be awesome so that I can start exploring right on the first day.
And the reason why I'm so worried with my sleep time is that right on the third day I'll have a test and if I'm tired I can't take the most out of my brain. Which will lower my grade. And I want to enter in the highest japanese level class as possible. So good sleep kind of matters.
Speaking of which, I'll practice my kanji skills during the flight. Fortunately writing one time is enough for me. And automatically knowing several readings for kanji also help a lot, but then again, if I'm tired (as it happened several times before) I might confuse kanji and instead of using x kanji I'll use a kanji with the same reading.
I will still make a post before leaving for good.
Wish me luck.
2012年9月6日
setting goals, boredom and emotional connection (and associated success)
I'm inspired now, I have a lot I want to write about, but..
...First. Let me apologize for my countdown posts. For those who actually read this, you know that I'm leaving to Japan soon, as the posts count, in 4 days. So I just want to post in japanese, because you know, it's special for me, that how I started this blog, and that's how I'll enter Japan, in Japanese.
But I also do know, that my writing differs considerably in both english and japanese. When I write in english, it's a strong self who's writing, a more confident self. On the other hand, when I write in Japanese, my posts tend to be more sentimental and more personal. This disparity is also a thing I intend on making disappear (but I'll talk about it later on the post).
It's been a time of a lot of thinking, a lot of solitude. I'm in summer vacations. My friends from university are either in China or live far from me. My friends from my hometown are either working or with other friends.
I feel lonely, classes are over, my friends are gone, I'm going alone to Japan. That's why I like twitter so much. It gives me the opportunity to interact not only with people with the same interests I have but it also gives me the chance to actually learn something on subjects I'm interested about and to put my japanese to practice.
But anyway, let's get to the bottom of the tittle and shut up about the rest.
I took a walk.
As I previously said, I like to take walks. I can enjoy music, podcasts and podcasts that lead me to more deep and creative thinking. And I say creative thinking because what I just listened made me think about it and it actually led me to other things to which I can connect and relate.
Think about it like this. You know something, and that is it, you just know it. But then, you learn something new that you can connect to what you already know. And! And that makes you feel like you are broadening your thoughts, your knowledge, your brain (like seriously, this is probably normal, but whenever this happens I feel something moving in my brain).
My first point. Though it's really all connected but still...Setting goals.
Setting specific goals.
I've written a lot on what I want to do in Japan. It's true I have and I do want to do a lot. But I did not mention specific goals. Gotta be specific, concrete, 具体的, am I right?
Obviously I intend on studying Japanese. Of course, I mean, who doesn't?! I remember, when I first entered college my main purpose, goal or dream, was to be fluent in both chinese and japanese. And with those skills I'd just work with translation or whatever.
But times have changed, I myself have changed a bit (or maybe a bit more than just a bit). Back then I was a brainless kid. I still am, Really! I'm probably the stupidest and dumb person you'd ever know, if you could get the chance of meeting me. But now a little more "brainful" than I used to.
Continuing...
I've come to have a grown interest in Japanese culture. I'm gonna do my best to behave as a japanese person and to "become" japanese. I want to work with japanese my whole life, so when in rome, do as romans do, right?
The japanese are a very special, and very sensitive people. I want to "become" japanese so that I don't do harmful things to them. So I'll study japanese culture more deeply through books, though people and though japanese culture itself (as one I was told on twitter, the so called "branching" - my main interests on "palpable" japanese culture are calligraphy and Haiku (the sensitiveness, to which I can to some extent relate).
Among those two, I'll pick Haiku. Small poems, That will force me somehow studying classic japanese (yay, finally going to put N1 grammar to practice!)
I mean, let's face it, gotta be realistic. setting loads of goals will lead you nowhere. So, gotta focus first in what you really want to, and then comes the rest.
As for the japanese language. the following are my main goals.
I want to be able to write this kind of posts in Japanese. I haven't tried it yet, but I know it'd take a lot of time.
I can understand keigo pretty well, but I rarely have the chance to use it, so I actually want to see to what extent I can use it in Japan (had to write quite some emails in keigo this summer).
As I said before, Haiku will eventually lead me to Classical japanese.
And to improve my overall japanese through living and studying the regular way - sentence which, will lead me to my next point.
Study. Study is boring! I'm always saying study should be fun, yeah! But it isn't! Look at me! Why do you think I need to separate my study throughout the day? Because I'd get bored if I didn't! Reps are boring! Why do you think when I use the word study I always use brackets""? Because the way I "study" is not study really. It comes all down to interest. I "study" what interests me. I "study" though internet articles for my reading skills and for interest. I study through dramas because it makes me learn not only japanese, not only japanese culture but also because it's a moment when you forget all the rest.
What I want to make it clear is that. It does not matter how you study, what really matters is that you use what you have learned. And if you use are using that means you have an interest in it, which will give you even more motivation and lead you to more "studying".
I was talking to a friend the other day and asked him "do you like studying (without brackets)?". The answer I got was "no, but I like to be able to understand what I enjoy thanks to that study". It comes all to this, the feeling you get when put what you learn to practice. That's what moves us. For myself, it's not so much being able to read that makes me feel good and happy, no, not at all, what really makes me feel happy is when I put my language skill to practice when I speak to japanese people. That's why I'm always saying I'd rather be an interpreter to becoming a translator. You won't see me really smiling until you've seen me talking to japanese people.
Yes, this is the ultimate goal, to use japanese on my daily life. Which in turn will lead me to my next point.
Emotional connection to your goal.
Whatever your goal, your purpose in life it may be, whatever, without having created that connection you most likely will fail in achieving it.
As for myself. I want to be fluent in Japanese, what kind of keeps me studying japanese, doing my daily reps, getting bored with my reps, enjoying japanese through the internet, helping out those who I like with japanese (this is actually a pleasure, I might teach something but I also learn a lot, I say this because I've always said I don't want to be a teacher, but it's not that bad after all), is my goal of one day using japanese daily in a job of some sort, preferably using oral language ie, interpretation, or working at some company where I have to speak. I'm sure you have a goal too, and since you're reading this it's probably related to the japanese language.
Be that as it may, define your goals, your concrete goals, then create a connection with it, and then work your way through it. You can do it, you just love doing it.
As for the person who is writing this, me, well, I don't know what will happen, I don't know how I'm going to be when I come back from Japan, the only thing I do know is that whatever happens, it's all thanks to you.
The japanese learner, the japanese person (anyone really), that drives me. If it wasn't for the japanese learner, I'd never get motivated to get my japanese to its level (intermediate I'd say), if it wasn't for the japanese person, I'd never have the dream of using it daily.
And if it wasn't for 浜崎あゆみ, I'd never even try to study japanese, so...
今日も一日ありがとう。
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