☆ENGLISH UPDATE☆

This week I decided to take a different approach in regards to the way I study Japanese. 


I was reading a few blogs about study techniques, and one of the blogs asked me to question what is hindering my studies. I came to the conclusion that my lack of vocabulary is my biggest issue and it is really interfering with my Japanese language study. In fact, I am a little upset I didn't come to this realisation much earlier. I had thought about my lack of vocabulary and tried to build it up a little, but I didn't realise how serious an issue it really was, and therefore I tended to move on to other areas of study.


So, how exactly does a lack of vocabulary hinder ones learning? Well, a lack of vocabulary means:

• when you are trying to write, you have to look up lots of words,
• when you are trying to read, you have to look up lots of words,
• when you are trying to speak, you stumble and can't express yourself,
• and when you are listening, you are absolutely LOST. (oh, and depressed...)

You get the picture. 

Well, I kinda knew this ages ago, but you tend to forget the seriousness of having a weak vocabulary. It has now clicked just how important it is, and also how vital it is in order to actually be able to practice listening, reading, writing and speaking. To practice these, you need to know as many words as possible, because otherwise you feel like you don't know anything, and then the whole process of study becomes incredibly boring, daunting and depressing. (Hey, Deva! You mightn't be around for much longer! Muoahahaha!)

All the times I felt depressed about study was really due to my lack of vocabulary. All the times I opened my reading practice book, tried to read a passage and then closed it in frustration was ALL because I didn't have enough vocabulary to keep me going. 

Now, of course, for those who are learning Japanese out there, I'm not saying that you should stop focussing on reading, writing, listening or speaking practice. Not at all! After all, it is through this that you learn new vocabulary and set into concrete the words you have studied that you happen to come across while practicing your reading etc. By practicing your reading, writing and listening, you are seeing the words you have studied in use and in their correct environment (ie. with a certain verb combination etc).

So, what I plan to focus on is expanding my vocabulary as much as I can, so that when I do try and read or listen to Japanese, I don't get so overwhelmed by the words I don't know. By doing this, perhaps the 4 or 5 words of the sentence that I don't understand will turn into a 2 or 3. That could mean a big difference from having no idea whatsoever about the meaning of the sentence, to having an idea of the context and being able to fill in the blanks! 

Ah I feel much better now, so on that note, I will leave and study vocab! 皆、がんばってね！

辞書！

みなさん、こんばんは！I was just wondering if any other people out there studying Japanese could recommend a good Japanese-English-Japanese dictionary? For the last few years, I've been wondering whether I should bother buying a Kanji dictionary too. The trouble is, I am not sure if I should just stick to using Kotoba on my iPhone, which seems pretty good and seems to have most of the words I need.

みなさん、こんばんは！日本語勉強している人、良い辞書をおすすめ出来ますか。最近の数年間には漢字辞書を買うべきするかどうか知りませんでした。

コトバのiPhoneアップはすごく有用と殆ど僕のよく使った言葉があるから、使い続けるのがいいかどうか知りません。

その前の捕鯨についてエントリーは皆さんのコメントと意見を未だに聞きたいですね。

ここでクリックして、行けます：捕鯨について物議質問

昨夜はテレビで「空気人形の」という映画を見ました。開始を逃して、最後のパートはいいと思いました。見た事がありますか？

今日のボキャブラリー！

Last night I stayed up late picking out new words to add to my vocabulary list for the month. I thought I'd use my trusty iPhone app kotoba (which I highly recommend!), to look at all the level 3 JLPT kanji in hope of finding some useful words that will also familiarise me with the kanji at the same time.
I came across some useful words actually! I like the 各 - prefix especially! :)

羊毛　　　　　ようもう　　　　　　wool
羊肉　　　　　ようにく　　　　　　lamb, mutton (meat)
伝説　　　　　でんせつ　　　　　　tradition, legend, folklore
伝統　　　　　でんとう　　　　　　tradition, convention
争う　　　　　あらそう　　　　　　to compete, to contest, to quarrel
各 -　　　　　  かく -　　　　　　　 each - / every - 
当時　　　　　とうじ　　　　　　　at that time, in those days
全体　　　　　ぜんたい　　　　　　whole, entirely, whatever (is the matter)
皿洗い機　　　さらあらいき　　　　dish-washing machine
皮革　　　　　ひかく　　　　　　　leather, hide
皮肉　　　　　ひにく　　　　　　　cynicism, sarcasm, irony, satire
王女　　　　　おうじょ　　　　　　princess
王国　　　　　おうこく　　　　　　kingdom, monarchy
王子　　　　　おうじ　　　　　　　prince
氏名　　　　　しめい　　　　　　　full name, identity
修士課程　　　しゅうしかてい　　　master's course
丁度、恰度　　ちょうど　　　　　　just, right, exactly
産業　　　　　さんぎょう　　　　　industry
進歩　　　　　しんぽ　　　　　　　progress, development
進化　　　　　しんか　　　　　　　evolution, progress
真理　　　　　しんり　　　　　　　truth
特別　　　　　とくべつ　　　　　　special
特に　　　　　とくに　　　　　　　particularly, especially
募集　　　　　ぼしゅう　　　　　　recruiting, taking applications
作品　　　　　さくひん　　　　　　work (a book, film etc)
結ぶ　　　　　むすぶ　　　　　　　to tie, bind, link
全国　　　　　ぜんごく　　　　　　country-wide, nation-wide, whole country
被災者　　　　ひさいしゃ　　　　　victim (of disaster)
対震災　　　　だいしんさい　　　　big earthquake
絵画　　　　　かいが　　　　　　　picture, painting

I might try and write something later this week using the words in the list. Please correct my mistakes. If you find any in my list, please correct me here too!

今日はインタビューをあって、その前に中華料理店レストランで買った豚まんを食べました！とっても美味しかって、今はそれを再び食べたいんですね！日本料理のレストランはないのは残念ですよ！シドニーに行く次回は日本料理のレストランへ行って、たこ焼きを買った方が良いですね。いなり寿司も買うでしょう。
皆さんの一番好きな日本料理は何ですか？このビデオをYouTubeで見つけて、ちょっと怖いですね。豚のゼラチン状ナックルは美味しいですか？　それは美味しい見えなくて、とにかく僕は或る日食べて見ます！僕は変な食べ物を通常に食べてみますが、時々ちょっと怖すぎて、ですから食べられません。臓物は僕にとても変だと思いますがたくさん人はその食べ物が大好きです。「なぜ好きですか」と聞くはしたいんです。鶏ハートと腎臓とブラックプッヂングを食べる事があって、本当に好きじゃなかった。臓物の味か感触が好きですか？