Well...

Well, I have no allusions of being able to pass the upcoming test this weekend. *SIGH* -_-
I had too much going on and not enough time to study. There was too much vocab-cramming to do, and I just am not retaining it.

SO! I've resumed my Heisig studies, and will be taking it from there for next year. A thoughtful year of study should yield me a better chance than 4 months of OMGCRAM. But making this test a goal got me to learn a lot more Japanese in a short amount of time than I otherwise would have. So setting my sights to next year, I look forward to learning much, much more. I also look forward to reading the Japanese novels and issues of Frontline I have squirreled away.

Kanji writing practice is slow, but is my favorite thing EVER-EVER. I am doing writing practice along with my Heisig study, which helps the kanji to "stick" for me. I love it! Back to the fun stuff instead of vocab-cramming!

Also, I sincerely believe that writing skill is a valuable asset. With the ubiquitous word processor taking over, many Japanese even forget how to write kanji. My partner, who is fluent, knows how to write less kanji than I do, all because his studies are mostly confined to reading & writing on a computer. I hope that being able to write kanji will help us when we (maybe, eventually?) move to Japan.

Moving on, got Fallout: New Vegas over the Black Friday weekend for $39! I promised myself I would not get it until the JLPT passes, but meh, I couldn't pass that deal up. It is great fun, with lots of improvements on Fallout 3, but there are some disappointments. Like, why have the same set of (mostly terrible) haircuts to choose from? ;_;

Design, Lately

I've had the opportunity at work to do some creative things lately. Which is always fun. :D

Some t-shirts we printed recently for WDJC, a local religious radio station.





















And a logo design option for a local church. I looooove my Wacom tablet at work.

日本語総まとめN2 漢字 Review

日本語総まとめN2 漢字
"Nihongo Soumatome N2 Kanji"
Japanese Roundup of N2 Kanji
ISBN 13: 978-4872177275
160 pages
Published April 12, 2010







This book covers 732 kanji likely to be on the N2 test and presents them in groups. "Signs Often Seen in Train Stations," "Warnings," "Remote Control Devices," "Cell Phones." The book tries to make them relevant to things seen in everyday life in Japan. Certain groups ("Food") work better for me than others ("Composition" or "Business Emails"). But I do like learning the kanji and then "checking" myself quickly by deciphering the items at the top of the page.



The sections are further grouped by week, making this book an 8-week course in kanji. 6 days are taken up by about 15 kanji a day. The final day is for a JLPT-style quick test and some ancillary kanji.



At the bottom of each regular daily page is a short set of questions designed to test the kanji you are learning. I did not find these questions very helpful at all, and after the first week just started skipping them altogether. The JLPT format quiz at the end of each week was a good benchmark, however.


I find that this book is best used to get myfeet wet in kanji/vocab practice. At 732 kanji, it is only covering about 73% of the kanji I should know for the test -- not great odds, even if I know them well.

Also, this book includes English translations, which made me go, "Yay! English translations!" However, I have noticed some mistakes and lack of clarity in the translations. They cannot be fully depended upon. For instance, 通路 is defined as "isle" when it should be "aisle," or even more clearly, "passage/pathway." There is no differentiation between words like 暖かい and 温かい (warm atmosphere/air vs. warm things/liquids). So you will have to look up nuances on your own, but this seems like standard practice for study books.

One thing that was lacking was a short and sweet definition for each kanji. Knowing the definition of the kanji really makes the compounds click for me, so I have to look up a lot of them. Not all of the meanings can be ascertained by the context of the vocab presented.

Overall: 3/5 Stars
Pros:
-Groups kanji into logical sections, making them easier to learn (vs. learning abstractly by something like grade level)
-Images at the top of each page are a good way to test your progress and become exposed to how the kanji would typically be used
-JLPT quizzes at the end of each unit are a good way to gauge your mastery of the previous section and become accustomed to the testing format

Cons:
-Cannot trust the English translations in all cases
-Not a comprehensive guide
-No definitions for the actual kanji - you must glean that from the vocab presented
-Lame duck daily quizzes are all but worthless

Forthcoming reviews:
-実力アップ!日本語能力試験2級漢字単語ドリル
-Anki Mobile App for the iPhone

Really feeling the crunch

Two vacations in October, who do I think I am? ^_^;
I have already enjoyed one lovely vacation with another in a couple weeks that I will be taking with a friend. So I am feeling relaxed and just wanting to get outdoors and enjoy the AMAZING WEATHER. Hence... my studies have taken a hit.

The Heisig method has helped me tremendously, but I must abandon it and just cram vocab into my head as best I can. I hate route memorization, but I've been slacking, and I feel that things are truly down to the wire. Thus, I've switched gears to my kanji book. I've recently completed "Week One" and am cruising through "Week Two." Just trying to memorize the terms in the Unicom book was proving too abstract, so that will come next.

On my most recent vacation, I picked up 5 Japanese novels, the first of which (英国庭園の謎) I am just now breaking into. I have to wrap up my last, enjoyable little volume of Yotsuba that I've been saving and delve into Frontline articles and 英国庭園の謎 in my free time. Sigh.

So, some upcoming things will be:
-A review of 日本語総まとめN2 漢字
-A review of 実力アップ!日本語能力試験2級漢字単語ドリル
-More about the Japanese novels I purchased and the amazing used bookstore where I got them. :D

Sidewalk + SHOUT Film Festival THIS WEEKEND!

It's coming up this weekend, hooray! Not only will there be both Sidewalk and SHOUT, but also the Japanese film festival at the Birmingham Museum of Art (and that is free!). Needless to say, there are lots of difficult decisions for us to make. But we're planning to see all or parts of:

Friday
6:00 - Jigoku Mon
IMDb 7.3/10

Saturday
11:00 - Trans Francisco
SHOUT's transgender doc this year.

1:45 - Life of Oharu
IMDb 8.1/10
Fictional chronicle of a former prostitute, set in 17th century Kyoto.

3:30 - Sasame Yuki
IMDb 7.2/10
Exploration of pre-war life in Osaka, seen through the eyes of 4 sisters.
OR
3:40 - Parking Lot Movie
IMDb 7.1/10
Doc about parking lot attendants in Charlottesville.

Might duck in for part of 6:00 - Beijing Taxi
Doc about taxi drivers in Beijing.

7:15 - Make Believe
IMDb 6.8/10
Documentary about a competition between young, aspiring magicians.

9:15 - Mutant Girls Squad
IMDb 7.5/10
From the makers of RoboGeisha. So, obviously, we have to see it.

Sunday
11:00 - Clean Flix
IMDb 7.0/10
Doc about a company that took "objectionable" material out of blockbuster films and the backlash they received.

1:30 - Barbershop Punk
IMDb 8.0/10
Internet privatization doc.
OR
1:40 - On Coal River
Coal pollution doc.

4:15 - Ready, Set, Bag!
IMDb 8.9/10
Grocery baggers' competition documentary. :D

Probably will be bushed by then, but might choose see all or part of Evil Things or Raspberry Magic to finish out the weekend.

Luckily I will have my iPhone and Anki App with me so I can study during the downtime. :)

Well, I got an iPhone...

...and it has CHANGED MY LIFE. And sucked up a lot of time that I should have spent studying... ^_^;;

My drive to work, which under normal conditions would take ~20 minutes, takes a full hour. So now, I use the Anki iPhone app to study during my ~30 minutes of being at a dead stop. Of course, I don't use it when in motion. :D

I will be reviewing it later. Thus far, I get some sort of error every morning that prevents me from finishing each deck (and I have 3 right now - Heisig Kanji, Reading Vocab & Unicom Vocab). It's a little frustrating when the app costs a premium $24.99.

So, I'm more than halfway finished with よつばと! Vol. 7. It is something I really look forward to reading, and I'm gleaning a lot of new vocab (or new kanji for vocab words I am familiar with). Some pages are very easy to understand, and fly right by (as *cough* in the picture at left). But some exchanges between Fuuka and her friend, "Shimau," or Asagi use more complex diction/structure. So there are some pages that take me a while to get through, as I laboriously add flashcards for every little thing that isn't second-nature.




I am also continuing with the Heisig method of learning kanji, where you learn the meaning of the character only, and none (or in my case, few) of the readings. I use the Reviewing the Kanji site to share and find interesting stories for each character, then add it to my Anki deck. I am practicing writing each character to cement them in my mind.

I was going to discontinue the Heisig learning, but in just a few short days I have seen how easy it makes studying vocab for characters I have already learned the meaning of. Smooth like butter! So I am continuing with this, but trying to hurry it up... I know I don't have much time.


Right now, out of my study books, the Unicom Jitsuryouku Up! N2 book is my focus. The words are divided up by their sounds, and a number of compounds for each kanji are presented. I started off adding both the words and the sentences to my flashcard deck, but realized it was taking an inordinate amount of time. So my plan now is to whiz through and add all the words, then make a second pass through the book, adding all the sentences. Translating all of those sentences should reinforce the vocab that I will already have a jump start on studying.

In non-study news, we attended an amazing tea ceremony last week courtesy of the Urasenke Birmingham club. We will be going again this weekend, and I am very much looking forward to it. I would like to give learning the complexities of 茶道 a try!

A Perfect Day

Temperatures in the high 60s, a beautiful clear sky, and a shady, screened-in porch, a 3-day weekend. Lovely conditions for being able to calmly study. Learned about 50 kanji this morning. My goal is to learn about 350 more over this weekend (and by learn, I'm following Heisig's method, where I am just learning the basic meaning).

Also want to finish　よつばと！　this weekend and add more vocab flashcards. But for now, I'm going to head off with my lovely partner to the AT&T store. We need a charger, but this means that I get to check out the iPhones, yay!

I'll be posting photos of the books and reviews as I use them more. :)

JLPT N2 Study Materials

...Are on their way! Curse you, Amazon.co.jp, for yet again seducing me with your outstanding selection of books and somehow conning me into paying your outrageous ($60!!) shipping fees. SIGH. But after much, MUCH searching, I could not find a cheaper alternative. They are really making a killing on their international orders. AND they won't ship バブ fizzy bath salts to international addresses. What the crap, why not?

So, after much deliberation, I decided on the following texts. Might also need a supplementary listening text w/CDs, but I won't be studying for the listening portion until (probably) November (and White Rabbit Press has a good listening book anyhow).

1. どんなときどう使う日本語表現文型辞典/Donna Toki Dou Tsukau Nihongo Hyougen Bunkei Jiten

Grammar dictionary. Seemed to be universally recommended. Grammar is my weakness. ;_;


2. 「日本語能力試験」対策 日本語総まとめN2 文法 /Nihongo So-matome JLPT N2 (Grammar)

This is a lighter guide to grammar on the N2 with cute pictures and practice problems. I figure if there are cute pictures, I am 80% more likely to use it. :unsmith:


3. 「日本語能力試験」対策 日本語総まとめN2 漢字/Nihongo So-matome JLPT N2 (Kanji)

Yay, the fun book! This book not only has cute pictures, but also covers KANJI! This will help me focus my kanji study and fully comprehend the nuances of the kanji on the N2 test (I hope?). P.S. cute pictures.

4. 実力アップ!日本語能力試験2級漢字単語ドリル/ Jitsu Ryoku Up! N2 Vocabulary

This is a hardcore vocab book. I'll be busting my a** to learn all the words in this book ASAP with the help of Anki.



5. にほんご500問 ~中級~/Nighongo 500 Mon (mid-level)

JLPT drills specifically designed to help me find my weaknesses. I think the detailed answer information will be very helpful for me to learn the whys for missed questions.


6. よつばと! Vols. 8 & 9

What better way to start learning to be comfortable reading than with the most adorable (and low-level, difficulty-wise) manga on the planet? I'm reading Vol. 7 right now.


So, obviously, if I'm starting with Yotsuba, I'm not very advanced at this stage. But this is my plan of attack, and I will be posting updates and reviews as I progress through my study.

-September: Cram vocab, creating custom Anki flashcard decks from the Unicom Jitsu Ryoku Up! book. Also start focusing my kanji study and migrating away from the Heisig method. I will pick back up with my Heisig-centric studies if I don't feel too pressed for time.

-October: Grammar, boo. I will be studying grammar as well as continuing with vocab & kanji studies. I should also be finished with all Yotsuba manga and be moving on to more difficult pursuits.

-November: Continue with any vocab, kanji, and grammar left to study. Read, read, and then READ SOME MORE. I hope to be reading lots of essays at this point and starting a Japanese novel. Also, I'll be doing drills and practice tests through out the month.

Test is December 5, so I really need to buckle down and get going.

I was inspired to shoot for the N2 (when I was originally considering the N3 or N4) from kaeru's post at Nihongo Pera Pera.

Wish me luck! ^_^

Tanabata Festival was a Success!

Woohoo! Around 700 people attended the Tanabata festival at the Birmingham Museum of Art this past Saturday. I snapped a few shots of our area as things were winding down. Most of the time, all of the seats at our table were full, and Brian and I didn't realize it until it was all over, but it left us exhausted.


All of the kids were really polite and interested in drawing, and there were a lot of kids with outstanding talent. We were even given drawings from some of the kids. ♥

P.S. The drawing sheets are up now at the Greater-Birmingham Anime Club files page.

Almost finished with our Tanabata Materials!

Well, Saturday is almost here, and I'm just about finished with our materials for the Tanabata Festival at the museum. I've got 3 step-by-step drawing sheets (one for a girl, a boy, and cute animals), a sheet of simple Japanese, and a sheet of 6 different expressions (below).


The expressions were the most fun to do. I stayed late at work so that I could use the super deluxe Wacom tablet I have at my disposal there. It makes me REALLY, REALLY want to own a tablet. ;_;

Recycling Art

Used some clipart to make some quick designs for United Plastic Recycling today. Stuff like this is always fun to do. ♥

Let there be CAKE

Birthday time! Brian's birthday was yesterday, and we had a little get-together in honor of the event this past Sunday. And his birthday surprise was fresh strawberry cake with buttercream icing and white chocolate butterflies, lovingly crafted by Dreamcakes in Homewood!

I got them to do it in the style of Akaiito, the game that Brian has been translating. Even though that translation has been stalled for a while, the cake was nevertheless SCRUMPTIOUS. They must have used a ton of fresh strawberries in it.

Dreamcakes was a "dream" to work with too. Highly recommend them for all your cakey needs. :)

Radium

So, searching for a font today, I pull up MyFonts.com, which has got to be my favorite font site ever. And what did I see?


Check out this beauty! It's called Radium, designed by Robert Wilson. The different weights are so lovely and work so well together. Only $40 for the whole set! Add this one to my birthday list. ♥

Tanabata Festival This Saturday!

Free family day event this Saturday at the Birmingham Museum of Art, from 11am - 3pm!
Check out the flyer

My husband and I will be here with some tables set up with stations for kids to learn to draw things manga-style and learn some simple Japanese.

Schedule!

11AM - 3PM
-Paper crafting: Kokeshi dolls and fans
-Face painting
-Anime drawing
-Scavenger hunts
-Free snacks and drinks, including Lychee Lemonade!

NOON
-Storytelling

1:00PM
-Bon festival dancing and Taiko drumming

1:30PM/2:30PM
-Aikido martial arts demo

2:00PM
-Screening of The Cat Returns

Did I mention that IT IS 100% FREE to attend!

So come spend a fun Saturday with us and show the museum that Asian cultural activities will bring a crowd. :)

Photoshoot with Gena

Had my first photoshoot ever with a friend from work, Gena. She needed some headshots for promotional purposes for her ministry, A Living Sacrifice. She was wanting a sort of earthy, 1970s feel to them, so I got to play with some textures and color balance.

These were taken at the pleasant Aldrige Gardens in Hoover. The hydrangeas had unfortunately just gone out of season, but there were plenty of lovely things still in bloom, and a good deal of shade which was helpful in trying to stay cool... but we had to call it quits after a little while because it was just too hot.

Had a fun morning though! :D

Happy Fonts

I've been noticing some really fantastic fonts lately that I have to pass over for pretty much every job, but I always pause on them first... sigh a little... then move on. The first is Henry Morgan Hand by Manfred Klein. Oh lordy. I have had a love affair with this bad boy for quite some time. Major props go out to Bitch magazine, who had the courage to use this divine font in their spread about Isabella Rossellini's short films about the mating habits of insects. What an amazing collision of sweet, sweet indulgence there.

A font that has become lodged in my heart more recently is PR8 Charade.

It's one of those cursive fonts that is just bursting with this free-wheeling spirit. And check out those lower-case z's and the upper-case W. GORGEOUS. Enough variation in the thickness of the strokes to keep it really interesting.

On the topic of fonts, I've been noticing Freeport everywhere. Am I the only one?

P.S. Thanks to Vintage Vectors for the sweet vintage balloon I used.

Hello Old Friend

I'm going to try to breathe life back into this, but not just as a place to do book reviews. It'll be all sorts of things from daily life. So, hooray!