@cubo:
Again, this thread is fantastic.
Again thank you :)
So, let me ask you first a couple of things about motivation and context.
What motivates you to learn Japanese,
Hmm well I know about Japanese stuff because of One Piece which as everyone else on this forum, as you know likes haha. After a few years I started reading other manga, manga that shows festivals, lifestyle, food, customs in Japan and I really enjoyed it, I liked it. I came across a manga called Love Hina, and it is, I must say what motivated me. There was a quote somewhere towards the end that basically made me think about my life and what I wanted to do for work, I realised I didn't like what I am doing now sitting in an office bored to death. It's hard to explain but I like Japanese people, their personality, and way of thinking for the most part so I wanted to be able to speak with them and get to know them.
There's a lot more to it, but I'd have to sit down and explain my trail of thoughts on this on a much deeper context.
Just to add, I played a lot on Ps4 and always tried to talk to Japanese because I thought they were cool and it was an invaluable opportunity, I've made friends with them and even MET them in Japan. I mean one guy I was talking to with google translate, I told him "I'm gonna study Japanese!" and he's basically seen me develop to a higher level through the past almost 9 months.
We message all the time about the game, about ourselves, talk about random stuff, gossip you name it, we probably do it. That gives me the most motivation, seeing my improvement in action. Not to mention I've made nice Japanese friends in Sydney which are absolutely fantastic.
and what are you trying to achieve, exactly?
I just wanted to be fluent at first, read, speak everything. I got told about the JLPT early on in my studies so I wanted to do the JLPT1, not just for a pass mark but I want to Ace it. That's my goal, I like setting these types of goals.
Where (approximately) do you live, and which kind of job do you do?
I work Monday-Friday, 7:30am start 4:30pm finish. I work in a Customs brokerage. We customs clear goods entering the country for clients.
I saw you wrote about commuting-learning strategies, but I live in NYC and commute by bike for about 20 minutes (I work at the U.N.), so I can't learn much at that time. But my job is not too taxing and have several breaks, so I could use the time then.
I live in Sydney, Australia. A round trip commuting is about 3 hours everyday. I guess the 20 minutes on a bike is not so convenient, you wouldn't be able to do your Kanji flashcards while riding haha!
I found that the best time to study is in the morning. I mean going off Anki on your phone to learn phrases, Kanji is unbelievably convenient. I would probably wake up a bit early, study new Kanji, then review the ones you have newly studied during work breaks. Most efficient I think, I can help you plan it if you like.
I have learnt Japanese for a few years, but always on and off - I read Hiragana and Katakana, and started Kanjis but know only around 100 or so. I know expressions, and I can have a polite, correct, yet fairly limited conversation. What was your starting point one year ago? Total zero?
That's really good, you have a nice little base there. My starting point was 0. I had no idea what to do first, I had no idea what to study, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I had a private teacher when I first first started for a few lessons and she basically told me, "Hiragana is simple, it's just a sound, you combine them, you can read". I'm like oh that's easy so I memorised both Hiragana and Katakana in 1.5 weeks, I downloaded a chart on my phone and wrote them on a piece of paper continuously while commuting . Of course in the early stages I confused a couple here and there, but that's what it's always like right? Now I have no problem except for unfamiliar Katakana written words which I read slower compared to when I read Hiragana.
My (newly wed! :D ) wife is Japanese, and we are thinking of moving to Japan in a near future. I speak fluently (and on a daily basis for work) Italian, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese, so languages are easy for me, but I learnt them almost always by living in the country or forced exposure to natives.
Right now, I am facing the struggle of having to learn Japanese without that much language/culture exposure.
Congratulations, a very nice one indeed. Now the fact that you are married and together, it would help you BIG TIME. Also UN sounds great, very nice language skills indeed~!
You are correct, the best way to learn a language is through exposure and you yourself have experienced it. I was only in Japan for one month and I upped considerably, I could only imagine how much I would improve if I was there for a year or 2, but currently that is impossible as I will start university in 2018.
What Japan really doesn't help you too much compared to doing it in your home country with is power learning Kanji and vocabulary words.
I go through a new set of 15 words everyday, and if I pick up something else through talking and practice, great!
By all means move to Japan, if it's possible I would definitely go for it. It's where I want to be so I guess that's why I say it.
Now yes, it is a struggle to learn Japanese without language exposure, but in the mean time, you can take a route I found, in which I from the beginning I knew nothing and in about 7-8 months I can recognise 2200 Kanji which I found covers 99% (literally) in what I see in articles on the net and newspapers and you can have a vocabulary of 2000 with phrases and expressions memorised along that route.
This is what I did, and I must say, if you REALLY want to be able to read and progress much more enjoyably, gain motivation and see progress.
I hope I'm not being too nosy with my questions, I put down all this details about me to paint a better picture, and maybe give you references for what might be useful to me. I have a couple of Japanese colleagues, too, btw, and if my Japanese were near-fluent (not anytime soon though), I could ask to be trained and work-professionally in Japanese, too.
Going to sleep now! Happy weekend!
Not nosy at all, maybe to some people it is, but I am a very open person.
Colleagues and a wife will definitely play a factor in assisting your improvement, I'm sure. Outside of my study routine I;
Read a lot of articles in Japanese when I feel like it
I message friends in Japanese (I am very friendly so I made friends I screw around with)
I ask Japanese people questions as well as people who study the language.
Anyways, I wrote this at work so I gotta get back to it being a Monday morning :)