+1 Challenge Weekly Update #1

We have lift-off ... the Kevin has cleared the tower and reports no major language learning malfunctions thus far. So, this week I've been uncharacteristically organized ... and whaddayaknow (that's a word I picked up in Australia by the way) ... having a plan, having the support and encouragement of my fellow +1 Challengers ... wow, what a difference it makes!

At the beginning of the challenge, I decided that seeing as I was being such a proper grown-up and being ever-so-organized, that I would make rough scribbleydoodle (that's not an Australian word btw) notes and then deconstruct and compress everything into neat little review cards that I can then review on my rest day (Sunday).  The plan for this week is shown below:

WEEK 1:

Monday
TKG: 36 – 40
3.3.4 The 「が」identifier particle J
3.4.2 The na-adjective J
Grow 10 new words on Memrise. J
Speak Japanese for 30 mins. J

Tuesday
TKG: 40 – 43
3.4.3 The i-adjective J
Grow 10 new words on Memrise. J
Speak Japanese for 30 mins. J


Wednesday
TKG:  43 – 47
3.5.1 Role of Verbs J
Grow 10 new words on Memrise. J
Speak Japanese for 60 mins. J

Thursday
TKG: 47 – 50
Grow 10 new words on Memrise. J
Speak Japanese at Japanese Conversation Group. J  (although not with Japanese people).
3.6.1 Conjugating verbs into the negative

Friday
TKG: 50 – 53
Grow 10 new words on Memrise. J
3.7 Past Tense J

Saturday
Water Memrise and Anki J
Speak Japanese for 60 mins.J

Sunday
Write stories for each word that I can’t remember from the new 50. [tbc]
Learn 2^nd verse of Taiyou no Uta.   [tbc]
Make update J
Review the grammar concepts learned. J

END OF WEEK 1: 
50 New Words Grown,
3 Hours 100% Japanese Spoken  and quite a lot of Japaddling.
21 Pages of Tae Kim’s Grammar Guide Studied

Notes from this week's st

na-adjectives

i-adjectives

ru-verbs, u-verbs and negative congregation

past tense congregation

Saying "What that [coloured] thing?"

Vocabulary

Whilst I've been using memrise.com to learn new vocabulary words, I've also created an Anki deck specifically for this +1 Challenge. There are still a few vocabulary words that I trip up over, so for these words, I write a sentence using the word and then read the document back to myself a couple of times. If I still can't recall a word, then I create "mem" cards for the ones that I consider worth spending the time on ... I mean, amusingly, I've been using the CORE 1000 course in the Japanese language section of memrise ... and I could never remember the word for "pickle" (see I would write it ... but nope ... haven't got a clue) ... maybe "pickle" is the key to understanding Japanese ... I mean, yes, I often find myself in a pickle ... but is it really a word that I need to know ... I say, "no thankyou, I'll abstain from knowing the word pickle for the time being thank you very much". 

Anyway, this is the current list of vocabulary words (shown in romaji).

このじょこの女れらるはとてもきたないだ。  (kitanai)
パソコンおそいを使う。(tsukau)
みどりのものはなんですか。それはとかげです。 (tokage)
どこにいきますか。ほいくえんにいきます。(hoikuen)
かれはりんごをうる。(uru)
でんしゃはえきにでる。(deru)
犬はかばんにいれる。(ireru)
くだものはここにおく。(oku)
かのじょはかににくれる。(kureru)
あとひとつきにいきます。(hitotsuki)
もんだいはにほんごをならいますがこたえるはなんですか。 (kotaeru)
はじめにやさしくなかったをしました。(hajimeni)
今日は曇りをならました。 (naramasu)
あしたは果物のあまいをたべたい。(amai)
かのじょはかのじょのいぬをみせる。(misete)
いろがどう思いますか。あかいとあお とみどりときいろいと銀と金とむらさきとくろとしろです。(iro)

I haven't needed to make 'mem's for any vocabulary words this week (not that I'm a vocabulary sponge by any means ... just don't know which words are going to need the special ... er ... kick into long term memory). But this is the sort of thing I make for those words that just go into my head and then find their quickest route to exit my head ...

Other Videos

On the first day of the challenge, I recorded a video of myself talking to Mikie-san. She very kindly agreed to let me share the video on youtube. I think it will be great to reflect on where I started when I get to the end of this challenge. I also think it's great to show all the struggle and tarzan-speak ... Benny Lewis and Brian Kwong have recently both inspired me by sharing videos of the early stages of learning Japanese ... it was such a relief to see that I wasn't alone!