It's the first time I've encountered an airline fee structure so detailed as AirAsia's. For Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur... (AUD (though slightly stronger) = approx. 1 USD)
Baggage fees depending on weight of luggage,
e.g. 15 kg = 17 AUD, 20 kg = 25 AUD, etc.
Select a [standard] seat (vs having them assigned during check in) ("hot seats" cost more)
= 15 AUD (per person per seat)
Check-in at airport counter (vs online)
= 3 AUD (per person)
Pay with credit or debit card (vs directly from bank through PayPal)
= 8 AUD (per person per leg)
(And other fees, but those are probably the ones that affect us two the most.)
As indicated above, the fees are charged *per* xyz and they give you quite a bit of flexibility in only paying for what you deem important. For baggage fees, it's per leg per person, so if you have one connection, i.e. two flights, you pay fees for each leg. For selecting a seat, it's per seat. For two people traveling on two legs, you would pay for each of the four seats if you were to select four seats. But, you may choose to only select one seat, or two, or three, etc. Checking in at the airport is charged per person. I don't know why two people traveling together would decide to have one person check in online and the other check in at the airport, but they do give you that flexibility.
I've quoted the fees in Australian dollars above, but the fees actually differ according to the actual flight. The fees are less when, for example, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok: baggage 35 RM (~11 USD), 40 RM (~13 USD), seat 6 RM (~2 USD), check-in 10 RM (~3 USD), and credit card 8 RM (~2.5 USD), respectively. At first, I thought the fees were based on point of origin, but analytically-minded K noted that it would, for example, make more sense if seats were charged based on the duration of the flight. After checking out the fee schedule on AirAsia's site a bit more, it seems he may indeed be right!
It also costs drastically more to add the baggage at the airport vs doing it online ahead of time. Jetstar actually takes this one step further, with a 3-tier fee structure: while booking the flight, online after booking the flight (slightly more $), and at the airport (much much more $$$). Also, these baggage fees are non-refundable, so if your bag ends up weighing less than you paid, tough luck. Can you just have carry-on luggage and skip the baggage fees? That's what I do in the U.S., but supposedly AirAsia can be quite strict about following their carry-on weight (7kg = ~15.4 lbs) and size (56cm X 36cm X 23cm = ~22in x 14in x 9in) limits. Our one suitcase is carry-on size but it would definitely go over the 7kg weight limit. (I haven't paid much attention to it in the past, but I think it's usually between 15 and 20kg.)
We take a lot of the costs of flying for granted. I certainly didn't expect to pay "extra" for selecting a seat, paying by credit card, and checking in at the airport (a new fee since this September). But, beyond getting a traveler from point A to point B, there's a lot more that's "hidden" in the fares we pay. The fares that we're used in seeing do include all these other factors; it's just that we're all paying for everything. AirAsia simply splits out each "additional luxury" from its base fare. It was a little shocking at first as I discovered each little fee, but now that I've had some time to digest it, it [somewhat] makes sense.
It'll take some getting used to and it certainly makes comparing airfares a little more difficult. I guess something we'll have to think about while traveling now is the cost of internet (in terms of both time & money) to check in online vs the fee for checking in at the airport...
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
2011 trip?
(I thought I was going to write about travel-related stuff in the previous post, but apparently I had a jumble of other thoughts.)
I'm planning our next trip.
I haven't posted much about our travels from last year. I want to. See, it would have been fine if not for a mishap during our final night in the Pantanal region (actually back in Cuiaba), which was about halfway through our trip (that's nearly a month). I accidentally deleted my journal entries. It's ironic (and I think this actually would be a correct usage of "ironic"). My intention that night was actually 1. backup, 2. copy into drafts on blog. Unfortunately, I never did get to 2. I lost them while trying to back them up, the details of which I won't go into. I used to write my thoughts on paper and then type them up later. During the Europe trip two years ago, I started just directly typing them up and foregoing the paper >_< So, "digitally lost" really is lost. I did try recovery software to no avail. I knew my best bet was to re-write them right away while everything was still somewhat fresh in my mind, but I had lost my motivation for writing. (I think it's a general personal weakness I need to work on, getting over emotional baggage humps.)
Anyways, so here I am now, planning our next trip while only having written a little about the previous trip. I really should have just timeboxed it. <sigh>
This next trip is, well, I hope I can make it happen. Time to get back to work ^-^
I'm planning our next trip.
I haven't posted much about our travels from last year. I want to. See, it would have been fine if not for a mishap during our final night in the Pantanal region (actually back in Cuiaba), which was about halfway through our trip (that's nearly a month). I accidentally deleted my journal entries. It's ironic (and I think this actually would be a correct usage of "ironic"). My intention that night was actually 1. backup, 2. copy into drafts on blog. Unfortunately, I never did get to 2. I lost them while trying to back them up, the details of which I won't go into. I used to write my thoughts on paper and then type them up later. During the Europe trip two years ago, I started just directly typing them up and foregoing the paper >_< So, "digitally lost" really is lost. I did try recovery software to no avail. I knew my best bet was to re-write them right away while everything was still somewhat fresh in my mind, but I had lost my motivation for writing. (I think it's a general personal weakness I need to work on, getting over emotional baggage humps.)
Anyways, so here I am now, planning our next trip while only having written a little about the previous trip. I really should have just timeboxed it. <sigh>
This next trip is, well, I hope I can make it happen. Time to get back to work ^-^
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
ramblings on a blog
Less than a month later and I'm already writing another post? (Not to mention the update I added to my previous post) <pat myself on the back> ^-^
I was reading back on a few of my previous posts... some things made me smile, and a couple of things made me cringe. I usually try not to be too judgmental. I say not "too" because I don't think people can help having opinions about things, at least I've realized that I can't. Even if I don't voice an opinion or viewpoint (often I don't), it doesn't necessarily mean that I don't have one. Or, have I actually started to develop more opinions as we've traveled more? Hmm... tough one. However, being opinionated is not quite the same as being judgmental, right?
I recently read an entry by my lang-8 friend M about the permanence of writing. Our thoughts and views change all the time, by the things we read, see, and experience. But, when we write about our thoughts at any particular moment, for example, on a blog, we give a sort of permanent home to those thoughts. Something so transient that may change the next day, hour, or minute now lives on in written form.
And, someone may read them, and associate them with you, the present you, when in fact, you may no longer think that way. It's not the present you, but because those people are reading it in the present, it binds to the image of the present you in their minds.
Inevitably by writing about our/my experiences, even if I don't directly state an opinion or comment on something, it might just come through by whatever else I say. And even if I don't necessarily hold those thoughts anymore, they live on in this blog. Of course, I can delete all those old thoughts, but since I keep this "blog" partly (mainly?) as a journal for my own sake, I probably won't.
The other thing M discussed in her entry is that people sometimes write about very personal thoughts on a blog, thoughts that they may never share with "friends". This is often true in my case. One reason is just that everyone is so busy. Nice, one-on-one, "deep" conversations are just uncommon. Two, I don't often voice my opinions/thoughts, especially in non-one-on-one environments. Three, I don't want to impose my random ramblings on anyone (which is kind of related to two). When I write here, I don't force anyone to read what I write, so I feel more free to just write about whatever I feel like writing about. Four, I'm a "few close friends" type of person. Supposedly this is true of most people, but I feel like I'm a more private person than most (which is why I have a blog? ^-^;;).
I was reading back on a few of my previous posts... some things made me smile, and a couple of things made me cringe. I usually try not to be too judgmental. I say not "too" because I don't think people can help having opinions about things, at least I've realized that I can't. Even if I don't voice an opinion or viewpoint (often I don't), it doesn't necessarily mean that I don't have one. Or, have I actually started to develop more opinions as we've traveled more? Hmm... tough one. However, being opinionated is not quite the same as being judgmental, right?
I recently read an entry by my lang-8 friend M about the permanence of writing. Our thoughts and views change all the time, by the things we read, see, and experience. But, when we write about our thoughts at any particular moment, for example, on a blog, we give a sort of permanent home to those thoughts. Something so transient that may change the next day, hour, or minute now lives on in written form.
And, someone may read them, and associate them with you, the present you, when in fact, you may no longer think that way. It's not the present you, but because those people are reading it in the present, it binds to the image of the present you in their minds.
Inevitably by writing about our/my experiences, even if I don't directly state an opinion or comment on something, it might just come through by whatever else I say. And even if I don't necessarily hold those thoughts anymore, they live on in this blog. Of course, I can delete all those old thoughts, but since I keep this "blog" partly (mainly?) as a journal for my own sake, I probably won't.
The other thing M discussed in her entry is that people sometimes write about very personal thoughts on a blog, thoughts that they may never share with "friends". This is often true in my case. One reason is just that everyone is so busy. Nice, one-on-one, "deep" conversations are just uncommon. Two, I don't often voice my opinions/thoughts, especially in non-one-on-one environments. Three, I don't want to impose my random ramblings on anyone (which is kind of related to two). When I write here, I don't force anyone to read what I write, so I feel more free to just write about whatever I feel like writing about. Four, I'm a "few close friends" type of person. Supposedly this is true of most people, but I feel like I'm a more private person than most (which is why I have a blog? ^-^;;).
Thursday, September 22, 2011
jk-dramas '07 to date
I believe MISA was the last Korean drama we watched... which means no Korean dramas since '06!! Five years later and we're now watching (and almost done with) "the" classic, Winter Sonata. (Edit: Somewhere along the way after MISA, we watched Delicious Proposal... can't remember when though.)
In the meantime, we've watched a few Japanese dramas. J started us off with "Zettai Kareshi", which just happened to coincide with me starting to learn Japanese, so I was more inclined to give jdramas a try ^-^
A summary of K's ratings after the fact...
- Zettai Kareshi (Aug-08) -- 1-2 / 5 (the robot thing was too weird for K)
- Buzzer Beat (Oct-09) -- 3-4 / 5 (K was annoyed that the "pros" couldn't really play basketball)
- Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (May-2010) -- 3-4 / 5
So, no dramas during '07 but then one jdrama each year afterwards. The ratings are ranges because K can't remember very well. ^^;;
I also watched a few jdramas on my own...
Gokusen I & II (2008?)
Atashinchi no Danshi (2009-10?)
Hana Yori Dango I & II & Movie (2009-10?)
JIN I (2010)
JIN II (2011)
"Gokusen" and "Atashinchi no Danshi" are probably both too episodic and too much on the comedy side for K. We watched the Taiwanese version of HYD and K was blah about it.
JIN is a period drama, which is unfortunate. It's not a problem for me though since I basically grew up on wuxia cdramas, which are sort of a type of period dramas. "JIN 2" is the only drama I've ever watched while still being broadcast. It would air in Japan on Sunday night (Japan time; Sunday early morning U.S. time) and be available for download on DA Monday evening. But, the Japanese subs wouldn't be up until Tuesday-ish and the English subs not until Thursday-ish, so sometimes I just watched with only jp subs and sometimes without any subs. ^^;;
As for reading, I now have goodreads to keep track of the books I read ^o^
-------------------------------
Update Oct 8th:
Adding K's ratings for Winter Sonata and BOSS, which we watched right after finishing WS...
- Winter Sonata -- 0.5 / 5
A "classic". K was too annoyed by the pacing (*really* slow), the in-decisiveness of the main girl character during the middle third of the drama, and the too many either irrational or out-of-character (according to K) actions by various people. Regardless, we both cried during the ending. As K says, "just because a drama ends up with a low rating, it doesn't mean it won't draw me in and make me want to watch the rest of it." -- I suppose that's how it got half a star instead of zero stars.
- BOSS -- 5 / 5
This was a departure from the usual jk dramas we watch. Detective drama (and pretty much non-existent romance). I chose it because I'd heard good things about it and I realized recently that K seems to like detective stories. The drama was indeed done well, with a small and not over-the-top amount of J-style comedy to break the seriousness every now and then.
In the meantime, we've watched a few Japanese dramas. J started us off with "Zettai Kareshi", which just happened to coincide with me starting to learn Japanese, so I was more inclined to give jdramas a try ^-^
A summary of K's ratings after the fact...
- Zettai Kareshi (Aug-08) -- 1-2 / 5 (the robot thing was too weird for K)
- Buzzer Beat (Oct-09) -- 3-4 / 5 (K was annoyed that the "pros" couldn't really play basketball)
- Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (May-2010) -- 3-4 / 5
So, no dramas during '07 but then one jdrama each year afterwards. The ratings are ranges because K can't remember very well. ^^;;
I also watched a few jdramas on my own...
Gokusen I & II (2008?)
Atashinchi no Danshi (2009-10?)
Hana Yori Dango I & II & Movie (2009-10?)
JIN I (2010)
JIN II (2011)
"Gokusen" and "Atashinchi no Danshi" are probably both too episodic and too much on the comedy side for K. We watched the Taiwanese version of HYD and K was blah about it.
JIN is a period drama, which is unfortunate. It's not a problem for me though since I basically grew up on wuxia cdramas, which are sort of a type of period dramas. "JIN 2" is the only drama I've ever watched while still being broadcast. It would air in Japan on Sunday night (Japan time; Sunday early morning U.S. time) and be available for download on DA Monday evening. But, the Japanese subs wouldn't be up until Tuesday-ish and the English subs not until Thursday-ish, so sometimes I just watched with only jp subs and sometimes without any subs. ^^;;
As for reading, I now have goodreads to keep track of the books I read ^o^
-------------------------------
Update Oct 8th:
Adding K's ratings for Winter Sonata and BOSS, which we watched right after finishing WS...
- Winter Sonata -- 0.5 / 5
A "classic". K was too annoyed by the pacing (*really* slow), the in-decisiveness of the main girl character during the middle third of the drama, and the too many either irrational or out-of-character (according to K) actions by various people. Regardless, we both cried during the ending. As K says, "just because a drama ends up with a low rating, it doesn't mean it won't draw me in and make me want to watch the rest of it." -- I suppose that's how it got half a star instead of zero stars.
- BOSS -- 5 / 5
This was a departure from the usual jk dramas we watch. Detective drama (and pretty much non-existent romance). I chose it because I'd heard good things about it and I realized recently that K seems to like detective stories. The drama was indeed done well, with a small and not over-the-top amount of J-style comedy to break the seriousness every now and then.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
feeling progress
I'm a pack rat. I know the principle of "if it hasn't been used in two years, it's time to say goodbye", but sometimes (to K's dismay), I just can't do it. The two "textbooks" from my Streamlined Chinese 3 & 4 classes still sit on our bookshelf. The classes were nearly eight (!) years ago and I hadn't touched the books since, but even as we were doing a massive toss/donate during our move last year, I couldn't let them go.
Streamlined 3 & 4 were really hard for me. I had never paid attention to simplified characters before and all of a sudden I was expected to be able to read material at the same level as what I was being asked to read in traditional. And my knowledge of traditional characters (and reading fluency) was also woefully inadequate for the classes. I didn't have the extra time to really work on filling in the gaps either; after all, my major classes were more important. What saved me was the teacher having recorded all the text so I could listen and understand it to a decent degree, and it was her first year teaching at the school so she was quite lenient in terms of grading. Still, it was by no means easy nor a definite A.
I finished the DeFrancis Intermediate readers earlier this week (yay!!), and for the first time in all these years, I opened the two S3&4 books and flipped through them. I could read the text! Sure, there were characters here and there that I didn't recognize, but it was not the helpless feeling I remember from back then. One might say my memory's just fuzzy, it wasn't so bad back then, etc., but just looking at the note-filled pages, I know I'm currently at a better level than I was at then. There are characters and vocabulary that I underlined, wrote the pinyin in for (sometimes wrong, it seems!), etc. that I don't have difficulty with now. And my reading fluency feels "ok".
Sometimes it's really hard to actually *feel* progress. With the DeFrancis readers, each page of reading feels the same. There's always the characters and words you already know and approximately the same amount of new material that you're getting adjusted to. The passages *are* harder, but I don't *feel* it.
As I mentioned in my 2011 focuses post, I was going to finish the second Intermediate reader and move on from DeFrancis, not do the advanced. Each reader sits at plus or minus 600-700 pages. There's only one advanced reader but it's also roughly 600 pages and like the move from the beginning to intermediate readers, the text is supposedly smaller font. The thought of "I'll stop here" was there as I impatiently trudged towards the end of the intermediate book, spurred by needing to return it to the library. But after opening those two S3&4 books and feeling that it really does work (really though, how could reading 2500 pages of gradually more and more difficult text NOT work?), I put in a LINK+ request for that last reader. It'll get to my local library, and I'll probably spend months on it (and have to re-request several times), but the motivational fire has been re-sparked. I guess I'll see what the last book is like and then decide what to do from there.
(I still have my main S1&2 books, too, but I think I'm finally ready to let go of them now.)
Streamlined 3 & 4 were really hard for me. I had never paid attention to simplified characters before and all of a sudden I was expected to be able to read material at the same level as what I was being asked to read in traditional. And my knowledge of traditional characters (and reading fluency) was also woefully inadequate for the classes. I didn't have the extra time to really work on filling in the gaps either; after all, my major classes were more important. What saved me was the teacher having recorded all the text so I could listen and understand it to a decent degree, and it was her first year teaching at the school so she was quite lenient in terms of grading. Still, it was by no means easy nor a definite A.
I finished the DeFrancis Intermediate readers earlier this week (yay!!), and for the first time in all these years, I opened the two S3&4 books and flipped through them. I could read the text! Sure, there were characters here and there that I didn't recognize, but it was not the helpless feeling I remember from back then. One might say my memory's just fuzzy, it wasn't so bad back then, etc., but just looking at the note-filled pages, I know I'm currently at a better level than I was at then. There are characters and vocabulary that I underlined, wrote the pinyin in for (sometimes wrong, it seems!), etc. that I don't have difficulty with now. And my reading fluency feels "ok".
Sometimes it's really hard to actually *feel* progress. With the DeFrancis readers, each page of reading feels the same. There's always the characters and words you already know and approximately the same amount of new material that you're getting adjusted to. The passages *are* harder, but I don't *feel* it.
As I mentioned in my 2011 focuses post, I was going to finish the second Intermediate reader and move on from DeFrancis, not do the advanced. Each reader sits at plus or minus 600-700 pages. There's only one advanced reader but it's also roughly 600 pages and like the move from the beginning to intermediate readers, the text is supposedly smaller font. The thought of "I'll stop here" was there as I impatiently trudged towards the end of the intermediate book, spurred by needing to return it to the library. But after opening those two S3&4 books and feeling that it really does work (really though, how could reading 2500 pages of gradually more and more difficult text NOT work?), I put in a LINK+ request for that last reader. It'll get to my local library, and I'll probably spend months on it (and have to re-request several times), but the motivational fire has been re-sparked. I guess I'll see what the last book is like and then decide what to do from there.
(I still have my main S1&2 books, too, but I think I'm finally ready to let go of them now.)
Monday, March 14, 2011
the level question
We were at dinner with E-J-V yesterday. I don't remember how it came up but I was asked what level I'm at in Japanese. I responded intermediate. It was the first time I ever really "thought" about level. I say "thought" in quotes because I didn't really think about it; the answer came out pretty quickly.
But, I did think about it afterwards. And actually, on second thought, perhaps I have "thought" about it. After all, when I make a decision about whether to use or not use some resource, "level" sometimes comes into play.
I wouldn't classify my level as beginner anymore, that much I know based on jpod101 and what I think gets taught in Beginner Japanese classes (though never having taken one). But then, it's confusing.
It's confusing because I have Chinese with which to make comparisons. Some people may say that I'm "fluent" in Chinese. I would say that we differ on the definition of fluency. I used to say that I can handle "everyday conversation" in Chinese. But actually, I lack a lot of "everyday vocabulary". Stove? Mouse? Keyboard? Monitor? Sink? Perhaps I passively know some of these words (if I were to hear them in conversation), but they're certainly not in my active vocabulary. There are things I can do in Chinese -- I can talk to my parents (but the conversation is quite basic) and I can watch dramas and understand enough to never feel lost or feel like I need subs. Actually, that list is quite short, it seems. I think I would be able to understand the news if I were to watch/listen to it a bit every day for a month, maybe. After various "what is your level" type questions regarding Chinese, I've determined that an appropriate answer might be "upper-intermediate".
Can I say my answer for Japanese is "lower-intermediate"? I'd like to answer "well, there are certain things I can do in Japanese -- watch an "everyday" drama or anime without subs and understand some portion of it, talk about what I did over the weekend using "basic" vocabulary, write short blog posts with the aid of an online dictionary, not get *too* lost in a 2-hour conversation, etc. -- and there are many, many things I can't do in Japanese", but no one wants a long, detailed answer like that (and, it's filled with subjective words -- "some portion", "basic", "short", "too lost"). They want it all summed up in one word.
So, "lower-intermediate" it is. If that's the case, then this "intermediate" road would seem to be a very, very long one O_o
But, I did think about it afterwards. And actually, on second thought, perhaps I have "thought" about it. After all, when I make a decision about whether to use or not use some resource, "level" sometimes comes into play.
I wouldn't classify my level as beginner anymore, that much I know based on jpod101 and what I think gets taught in Beginner Japanese classes (though never having taken one). But then, it's confusing.
It's confusing because I have Chinese with which to make comparisons. Some people may say that I'm "fluent" in Chinese. I would say that we differ on the definition of fluency. I used to say that I can handle "everyday conversation" in Chinese. But actually, I lack a lot of "everyday vocabulary". Stove? Mouse? Keyboard? Monitor? Sink? Perhaps I passively know some of these words (if I were to hear them in conversation), but they're certainly not in my active vocabulary. There are things I can do in Chinese -- I can talk to my parents (but the conversation is quite basic) and I can watch dramas and understand enough to never feel lost or feel like I need subs. Actually, that list is quite short, it seems. I think I would be able to understand the news if I were to watch/listen to it a bit every day for a month, maybe. After various "what is your level" type questions regarding Chinese, I've determined that an appropriate answer might be "upper-intermediate".
Can I say my answer for Japanese is "lower-intermediate"? I'd like to answer "well, there are certain things I can do in Japanese -- watch an "everyday" drama or anime without subs and understand some portion of it, talk about what I did over the weekend using "basic" vocabulary, write short blog posts with the aid of an online dictionary, not get *too* lost in a 2-hour conversation, etc. -- and there are many, many things I can't do in Japanese", but no one wants a long, detailed answer like that (and, it's filled with subjective words -- "some portion", "basic", "short", "too lost"). They want it all summed up in one word.
So, "lower-intermediate" it is. If that's the case, then this "intermediate" road would seem to be a very, very long one O_o
Friday, February 11, 2011
2011 language focuses
It's confusing right now actually. Even though last year turned out entirely different from what I had imagined initially, I at least had a vision of sorts at the start. As for this year, I know I want to do something in the language arena, but I'm not sure what... which might be the reason I'm writing this post now -- to figure out *something*. (RV says I'm goal-oriented. Am I? I think I just like knowing there's some sort of light in the tunnel so I can start making my way towards it.)
I'll start with the easier one. Chinese.
I have one focus for 2011. Finish DeFrancis Intermediate part 2. Advanced? I don't know if I want to do it. DeFrancis is *not* fun; it's entirely a discipline thing. If I get through this, I'll know this many more characters and more vocab. I should do it. Let's sit here for the next 30 minutes and get through more of it. It's that kind of thing. The problem is the content, which is the opposite of exciting. It's a good method, but it just needs better stories. By now, with all the people studying Chinese, there must be better graded readers out, right? I'll have to take another look.
Japanese.
Last week, I would have written, "I've decided to start working on speaking." But now, I'm not so sure. I found a conversation group that meets for two hours every other week. I went for the first time last night. The group is supposedly composed of 50% native speakers / 50% language learners, but even the language learners seemed quite advanced to me. Maybe I should have considered the "serious learners who have passed JLPT 2-kyu" semi-requirement. I've never thought about taking the JLPT, so I have no clue what 2-kyu level really is. I merely sent my email in both English and Japanese to the organizer and figured if he didn't think I was at the right level, he'd reply saying "study more and then come back to us". Of course, writing ability in a short email doesn't say anything about speaking ability.
We were broken up into smaller groups, and in my group of three, I understood most of what was said, but I couldn't respond. Even my simplest sentences were littered with grammatical errors. Despite my horrid display at last night's meeting, I've been invited back. I'm hoping my speaking will improve as I continue to attend the meetings and be forced to speak. It's totally outside my comfort zone (introvert), but yes, I intend to go again. And I guess I'll see what happens from there.
I think part of the problem is that output makes me impatient -- why can't I speak better *now*?? This extra social stress makes me not want to speak. I started all this because it was fun, not because I wanted more stress in my life. But if I don't do any output activities, I won't be able to communicate? Good input contributes to better output, but input alone won't result in good output, unfortunately.
I'm hoping that I'll find my comfort zone in speaking like I found in writing. After being on lang-8 for a while, having some regular "friends" who correct my writing, and seeing all the mistakes English learners make, I don't feel nervous about writing anymore.
Writing: one post a month on lang-8. I should be able to do that, shouldn't I? Aiming for consistency.
Listen-Read: Miyazawa Kenji's 銀河鉄道の夜 (Night on the Milky Way Train) (2+ hours of audio)
Listen-Read: あのときの王子くん (Japanese translation of The Little Prince, which I've never read in any other language yet ^^;) (2.5+ hours of audio)
Grammar: Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
Kanji: Basic Kanji Book, Vol 2
Phew! That should be enough of a start.
I'll start with the easier one. Chinese.
I have one focus for 2011. Finish DeFrancis Intermediate part 2. Advanced? I don't know if I want to do it. DeFrancis is *not* fun; it's entirely a discipline thing. If I get through this, I'll know this many more characters and more vocab. I should do it. Let's sit here for the next 30 minutes and get through more of it. It's that kind of thing. The problem is the content, which is the opposite of exciting. It's a good method, but it just needs better stories. By now, with all the people studying Chinese, there must be better graded readers out, right? I'll have to take another look.
Japanese.
Last week, I would have written, "I've decided to start working on speaking." But now, I'm not so sure. I found a conversation group that meets for two hours every other week. I went for the first time last night. The group is supposedly composed of 50% native speakers / 50% language learners, but even the language learners seemed quite advanced to me. Maybe I should have considered the "serious learners who have passed JLPT 2-kyu" semi-requirement. I've never thought about taking the JLPT, so I have no clue what 2-kyu level really is. I merely sent my email in both English and Japanese to the organizer and figured if he didn't think I was at the right level, he'd reply saying "study more and then come back to us". Of course, writing ability in a short email doesn't say anything about speaking ability.
We were broken up into smaller groups, and in my group of three, I understood most of what was said, but I couldn't respond. Even my simplest sentences were littered with grammatical errors. Despite my horrid display at last night's meeting, I've been invited back. I'm hoping my speaking will improve as I continue to attend the meetings and be forced to speak. It's totally outside my comfort zone (introvert), but yes, I intend to go again. And I guess I'll see what happens from there.
I think part of the problem is that output makes me impatient -- why can't I speak better *now*?? This extra social stress makes me not want to speak. I started all this because it was fun, not because I wanted more stress in my life. But if I don't do any output activities, I won't be able to communicate? Good input contributes to better output, but input alone won't result in good output, unfortunately.
I'm hoping that I'll find my comfort zone in speaking like I found in writing. After being on lang-8 for a while, having some regular "friends" who correct my writing, and seeing all the mistakes English learners make, I don't feel nervous about writing anymore.
Writing: one post a month on lang-8. I should be able to do that, shouldn't I? Aiming for consistency.
Listen-Read: Miyazawa Kenji's 銀河鉄道の夜 (Night on the Milky Way Train) (2+ hours of audio)
Listen-Read: あのときの王子くん (Japanese translation of The Little Prince, which I've never read in any other language yet ^^;) (2.5+ hours of audio)
Grammar: Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
Kanji: Basic Kanji Book, Vol 2
Phew! That should be enough of a start.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
a look back at 2010 language focuses
Last year's main focuses...
- jp: finish RTK (1, 2, & 3)
This changed a month into it. Considering my background, RTK was not a good choice for me.
- jp: finish Assimil (currently halfway through active phase)
DONE! YAY! I was really happy about finally getting through this ^o^
- ch: finish DeFrancis readers (beginning, intermediate, & advanced)
Finished two beginning books and the first intermediate book, i.e., halfway through.
- ch: read HP 1 and 2
Nope.
Looking at just the above, my track record for last year was pretty bad. It's interesting to set "focuses" because our focuses will inevitably change as new circumstances come to light.
In what other ways did I progress?
Looking at LRWS, I spent most of my time on listening, a bunch on writing, and some on reading. Speaking, none.
What happened to Chinese? Besides DeFrancis up to end of Intermediate part 1, I didn't do much else >_< I did start listening to cpod lessons again during our drives to and from Yosemite during the summer. I didn't attend any meetups.
Most of my language study occurred during the first half of the year, up to mid-May-ish. Life got in the way after that. Bad excuse, but then again, are there ever any good excuses?
Though I didn't do much with CJ past mid-year, I did touch Spanish a bit -- attended two conversation meetups, reviewed some grammar, listened to SpanishPod and SpanishPod101 to get myself used to the sounds again after more than 12 years of non-use, and went through the eight hours of MT Foundation (and 1+ months in Spanish-speaking countries ^_~). I don't remember how well I knew the language at the end of my three years of taking it in high school, but I do remember watching a Spanish telenovela (drama) that was on TV during my last year. By the end of the drama (which I actually missed T_T), I had substantially increased my listening comprehension.
Like my other previous temporary language studies (I, K), when we returned from South America, I had a hard time putting Spanish away, but I finally managed to ween myself off it. It's sort of sad though; I feel like I really should work on Spanish and bring it up to fluency because I seem to have retained some amount of passive knowledge, but then again, I don't think that reason alone would keep me motivated for long enough.
Aside from not being able to keep up semi-active CJ study for the whole year, I feel ok with how much I did manage to do.
- jp: finish RTK (1, 2, & 3)
This changed a month into it. Considering my background, RTK was not a good choice for me.
- jp: finish Assimil (currently halfway through active phase)
DONE! YAY! I was really happy about finally getting through this ^o^
- ch: finish DeFrancis readers (beginning, intermediate, & advanced)
Finished two beginning books and the first intermediate book, i.e., halfway through.
- ch: read HP 1 and 2
Nope.
Looking at just the above, my track record for last year was pretty bad. It's interesting to set "focuses" because our focuses will inevitably change as new circumstances come to light.
In what other ways did I progress?
- (Listening) "Up to date" on jpod101 podcasts. The current advanced audioblog ones have been much harder than the past, and I feel are above my level right now. I feel like even the upper intermediate level has gotten significantly harder.
- (Listen-Read) A bunch of fanta-jikan stories (which total only 8 hours T_T but I repeat-listened to quite a few)
- (Listening) Podcasts that I call KviaJ... in Japanese teaching Korean ^^ They have a good chunk of chatter in mostly Japanese at the start of each podcast that takes up maybe 1/5 (but sometimes up to 1/2) of the podcast.
- (Listening) Nikkei economics-related podcasts for the layperson (young people just graduating from college and becoming a part of society). A lot of it was just over my head, but I actually understood a portion, so I was happy with that.
- (Writing) 18 lang-8 posts from Jan to May (in reality, 22, but 4 of them weren't "real" posts, just asking for corrections I had made in the comments of my own entries) = averaging one post every ~1.2 weeks during that time period
- (Grammar) Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. 600+ pages of "basic" grammar. Really, really good.
- (Kanji) Basic Kanji Book, Vol 1. Only covered 250 kanji, but it was all high-frequency, I learned readings, and there were good exercises.
- (Misc) Japanese in Mangaland 1 & Workbook. Looking back, I guess it was blah compared to everything else, but it was decently fun and somewhat useful.
- (Listening) Though I hate the way they ended it and it was partially just for fun (the dialogs are very male Japanese), I re-watched all of HnG, while covering up the subs. 44 hours x 50% dialog x ~50% of that dialog being actual comprehensible input = ~11 hours
- (Just for Fun) Two dramas, but they don't really count hehe.
Looking at LRWS, I spent most of my time on listening, a bunch on writing, and some on reading. Speaking, none.
What happened to Chinese? Besides DeFrancis up to end of Intermediate part 1, I didn't do much else >_< I did start listening to cpod lessons again during our drives to and from Yosemite during the summer. I didn't attend any meetups.
Most of my language study occurred during the first half of the year, up to mid-May-ish. Life got in the way after that. Bad excuse, but then again, are there ever any good excuses?
Though I didn't do much with CJ past mid-year, I did touch Spanish a bit -- attended two conversation meetups, reviewed some grammar, listened to SpanishPod and SpanishPod101 to get myself used to the sounds again after more than 12 years of non-use, and went through the eight hours of MT Foundation (and 1+ months in Spanish-speaking countries ^_~). I don't remember how well I knew the language at the end of my three years of taking it in high school, but I do remember watching a Spanish telenovela (drama) that was on TV during my last year. By the end of the drama (which I actually missed T_T), I had substantially increased my listening comprehension.
Like my other previous temporary language studies (I, K), when we returned from South America, I had a hard time putting Spanish away, but I finally managed to ween myself off it. It's sort of sad though; I feel like I really should work on Spanish and bring it up to fluency because I seem to have retained some amount of passive knowledge, but then again, I don't think that reason alone would keep me motivated for long enough.
Aside from not being able to keep up semi-active CJ study for the whole year, I feel ok with how much I did manage to do.
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