Random Stuff

[jedishampoo]

1. Dieting sucks. And the two-bite poppyseed lemon scones from Whole Foods (aka "Whole Paycheck) are ruining it for me, as well as the leftover waffles I made yesterday. But I want to fit easily into my clothing again. It's so much easier to diet during the week, when I'm busy with work and whatnot, than on the lazy weekends. Back on the horse!

2. We had a leak under the sink, and I thought, OHNO, we have to call our landlord again, for yet another leak! But I tightened a plastic pipe that seemed to have become loose, and the drip appears to have stopped. Go me! I like to stay under the landlord's radar as much as possible.

3. My attempts to write are just not working, right now. So I guess I'll do my Japanese homework; I have a vocabulary quiz and a kanji assignment due next class. And I've already forgotten most of the kanji from last semester. D'oh!

3.5. Or maybe I'll play some Super Nintendo again... Super Mario World, here I come!

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Comments

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

I love shopping in the health/vegetarian foods section at the grocery store, but you're right -- expensive! *pouts*

Good for you on the quick fix.

Can I ask about your Japanese classes, if you don't mind? Do you attend a language school, or is it a university class?

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Hello! :) Expensive is right... bulk and produce stuff isn't too bad, but there's so much cool stuff to buy at Whole Foods!

My class is at the "College of Southern Nevada," and it's a regular college course. I'm in 2nd year Japanese, second semester. It's hard! ;) But it's really cheap! Three credit hours for like $200. I'd like to see about continuing but I might have to go elsewhere, if the university system out here keeps cutting programs. :(

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool. I hope you won't have too much trouble finding someplace to continue classes, though.

What are the classes like? I guess there's a lot of oral work, like making speeches or doing group skits and stuff? Do you think this course will enable you to do professional translation work and such after graduation?

Eek, I'm really sorry for bombarding you with 101 questions. It's just that I'd really like to make a serious syudy of the language and I'm wondering how best to go about it, so I'm really curious about other people's experiences.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

No problem! :)

Well, I don't really know about taking it in a degree capacity-- I'm just taking Japanese as sort of a continuing ed thing, no degree program, I fear. I have my BA from years back and so this is a "learning a language for fun" situation for me. :)

There's a lot of writing and grammar and some asking each other questions in class, reading questions and giving the answers orally. Some lab stuff we have to listen to where people talk and we're supposed to write the answers. In first year we had oral interviews as part of our final-- 5 mins, very easy, and this year we do "oral presentations" at the end of the semester, where we give a 3-5 min speech to the class (with notes).

They do offer a kanji class I've not yet taken, and so I might go for that next-- I guess it prepares you for the JPLT or whatever it's called. Our sensei has said if the department stops cutting funding, that they might offer an advanced Japanese course. If so, I'll definitely do that! Or just continue studying on my own-- though I will say the class atmosphere keeps me going and studying.

I guess there are a couple of students in the class majoring in languages, and so they plan to finish at CSN and then go to UNLV (bigger university here in Las Vegas) and perhaps work as teachers or translators in Japan. I could ask them about their courses of study.

:)

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for the lovely, long reply!

I think it's great that you're taking on this study as a hobby, because in some ways it's probably not too great an idea to turn your passion into something that you HAVE to do for work. *grin* And I agree with you about a class being a real motivator. It's tough to self-study anything.

Your class format sounds nice and varied. It's the oral classwork that freaks me out, though. I flunked French class in high school, and I also dropped out of a little 8-week Japanese class a few years back, because the oral work really ignites my social phobia. I guess I really need to get a grip on this if I want to study language.

You should totally take the kanji class! That would be really neat and probably very helpful. And then you could read all kinds of neat stuff. How cool would that be? ;) Are you aiming to take the JPLT at some point?

Thank you for the kind offer to ask your classmates for info. What I probably should do, though, is contact some schools around here and see what they recommend, or something. Hmm.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Ah, I spoke to my sensei last night, and she tells me that the kanji class is way too easy for me, and that it covers kanji we already know. Darnit. I don't know, really, if there's anything else I can do at the community college. :(

What a couple of the kids in my class are doing, the ones who want to either teach Japanese or translate, is taking everything they can at Comm Coll, then during the summer, either doing one month or three-month study in Japan with the Japan club. They do classes there in Japanese over the summer (with teachers who use words they already know to teach-- must be handy). When they're done taking classes at Comm. Coll., they'll move on to the university level.

Heck, I don't even go to Japan club meetings, because everyone there is 23 and under. I'm a little past that, I think (and when class is over, I want to get home and EAT. I have a full-time job!). :) I'd really like to continue, though... I may ask my sensei for options in town that she knows of.

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

That's a shame about the kanji class. It would seem to make more sense if they offered a kanji class that their Japanese students could take. One would think they'd get more enrollment that way. Hopefully your sensei will have some good suggestions for what you can do to further your studies. Good luck!

I've looked at the info on some of those language classes in Japan. I had my eye on a year long program, but it is so expensive. :(