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!