I've always known that there was a difference between studying and learning, just as there is between listening and hearing or between looking and seeing. I've been studying Japanese on and off for years, but I've never learned it. By enrolling in a Japanese class, I've made my own commitment to learn. (This is not the approach many would take, I know, but the structure and the camaraderie is what I require.)
I could get by with studying only an hour or two between classes. I could race through my homework and cram vocabularly to pass the tests. I did just that in high school Spanish for four years. And, no, I can't speak a word of Spanish, even though I made straight A's in school, it's the language of the majority here in Texas and my mother is a native speaker of Spanish.
To learn a language requires much more effort and time than the average student can or will devote. I'm lucky because I want to learn Japanese simply to learn it. This class is not a prerequisite or requirement for some degree. I don't need it to get a job. I'm doing it only to please myself.
So I practice constantly. I do the assigned work and I do the work not assigned. I memorize vocabulary, but I also look up the kanji so that I can learn that, too. I listen to the language CDs in the car. I review my kanji cards when waiting in lines.
The area that is most difficult for me is generating sentences. I can understand most questions and give short answers, but asking a question or making a simple declaration, or combining various vocabulary words into new sentences is really hard for me. Not only do I have trouble putting the ideas together, I have trouble getting my mouth to spit out Japanese syllables in the correct order. Rather like Dave Barry, I get all tang-tungled; I mean, all tongue-tangled, uh, tongue-tied.
"...I decided to start with 'Thank you.' According to Japanese at a Glance, the way you say this is: DOH-moh ah-REE-gah-toh. For some reason...I found this almost impossible to remember. 'DI-mo ah-bli-GA-toh,' I would say. Or: 'DE-mi AL-le-GRET-oh.' Or: DA-mo o-RE-ga-noh."
--Dave Barry Does Japan. Dave Barry. 1992. p. 28.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
September 25, 2002
Comments
Hi, M.
It was really interesting to how a person learns Japanese as a foreign language. And you have exactly the same problems as my students have!
They can understand most questions and give short answers, but asking a question or making a simple declaration, or combining various vocabulary words into new sentences is really hard for them.
Maybe they don't even notice the above, but I am really concerned about it and I have no ideas what to do...
All I can say to them is a one-hour-a-week English lesson is not enough to learn a foreign language and that they should practice at home as well...
Comment by: Eri. Posted September 27, 2002 09:35 AM.
My Japanese textbook, Yookoso!, emphasizes conversation (and teaches grammar and vocabulary in the context of conversations), which I know that most English textbooks in Japan, do not. To get to the next level, expressing my own thoughts in Japanese, I'll just have to start doing it.
Inspired by you and Kiyo-san, I'm thinking of writing a journal in Japanese. Of course, since I'm just a beginner, it will be restricted to such simple sentences as, "Yesterday, I woke up at 7:30." But if I don't start somewhere, I'm not going to get anywhere.
When I taught English in Japan, I had my third-year students write a diary. I would help them with grammar and spelling, but I never took off points for those kind of errors. I even let them mix Japanese in. The most important thing was to get them to communicate some idea, any idea, in English.
Comment by: M. Posted September 27, 2002 11:09 AM.
Keeping a journal in Japanese is a good idea. And we comment in Japanese. That'd be fun! I'd be glad if I could be of any help to your Japanese learning!
Comment by: Kiyo. Posted September 27, 2002 07:18 PM.
Same here! I'd be happy to read your Japanese blog and post a comment. (^_^)
Comment by: Eri. Posted September 27, 2002 11:32 PM.
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"All three had been taught French at school. How deeply they now wished that they had learned it!" -- The Railway Children. E. Nesbit.