Tag Archives: Self-study

App Review: i-Sokki Japanese Vocabulary for JLPT

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When preparing for the JLPT, one of the biggest problems learners face is the large amount of Japanese vocabulary. If you live in Japan or at least get enough Japanese input then the listening section of the exam is easy enough. You can cram on the grammar and learning kanji intelligently will greatly ease your pain. With vocabulary though, there’s no getting around it. You have to expose yourself to the language and put in enough time to learn it.

As I mentioned here, I am planning to take N1 this summer. I have always been lazy about the JLPT but I figure that the certification might come in handy someday. One of my friends mentioned that he was using a free app called i-Sokki (limited version) for drilling vocabulary for the exam. I downloaded it last week and I really like it so far.

I-Sokki is easy on the eye. It’s a nicely designed app. It comes with the vocabulary for N5 unlocked already. You have to pay to get access to the other levels, but at $1.99 per JLPT level or $4.99 for all levels, the price is reasonable. I’m mainly working on N1 words but, just in case, I’m brushing up on the N2 vocab too so I bought the whole set.

There are three different quiz modes for testing your vocab knowledge. All of them are multiple choice.

Japanese Mode tests from Japanese to English so it is probably the easiest test as you can intelligently guess a lot of words without truly knowing them.

Kanji mode tests from Japanese to the kana reading. I use this one a lot. One small gripe I have with the Kanji mode is that you can only see the English meaning after you have finished the review session. I would like the option to quickly remind myself of the meaning but anyway, it’s a minor flaw.

Finally, there is Reverse Mode which, as you might expect, tests you going from English to Japanese. I rarely use this one.

The app tests you based on your “familiarity” with the various vocabulary. I think they do a solid job. I’m using I-Sokki during the little moments when I’m sitting on the train or waiting for a friend. I look up new words in my Wisdom Dictionary (reviewed here) and read through the example sentences to help the meaning take root in my mind. This strategy is working well so far, although I passively know most of the vocabulary already. Depending on your Japanese level, your results may differ.

I-Sokki is not a perfect app. Sometimes I find the same vocabulary repeatedly coming up on the tests, so I’m confused how the algorithm works. Also, there is obviously no way that the app can know your starting knowledge so you have to review a bunch of known words in the beginning. The biggest downside for me though, is that the other words in the test are usually very different from the correct answer. The kanji mode, for example, will often show three ridiculous meanings that are obviously incorrect with one reasonable looking answer. This makes things too easy as you can guess the answer without even knowing it. In the JLPT, similar looking answers are displayed to confuse you. I wish this app did the same. One way to get around this is to mentally test yourself before looking at the four choices being displayed.

With the few caveats I mentioned, i-Sokki is a handy tool for studying for the exam. I recommend you pick up the free version and see how you go.

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How to learn any language

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“To have another language is to possess a second soul.” 

- Charlemagne

Learning another language can be a lonely and frustrating process. Sometimes we need a gentle push to give us a break and boost our motivation. In this post, I am going to introduce a couple of books that serve as inspirational and practical resources for those who want to forgo expensive and ineffective language classes and go it alone in learning any language.

How to Learn Any Language – Barry Farber

If you must get a book on language learning, get this one. I have mentioned it before on this blog, but Barry Farber’s How to Learn Any Language Quickly, Easily and On Your Own has positively impacted my life in a huge way. I was lucky enough to read the book as a teenager. Without a doubt, my international exploits were made possible by Farber’s wise words. In all likelihood, I would never have gone to live in Italy, let alone Japan without reading this book. It is a classic take on how to study a language on your own.

I rarely read physical books these days (no room in my tiny Tokyo apartment!), so I was pleased to see a Kindle version had recently been released and promptly bought a copy. So why would I own two versions of this book? In short, because this book is inspiring and my other copy was getting pretty worn. Like other classic books, it is something you can return to again and again when you need encouragement.

The first part of the book is auto-biographical and details the author’s early life. Farber accounts how falling behind in Latin grammar class at school led him to learn Chinese. You get this comical image of a little American boy trying to speak Chinese with sailors stationed in Miami Beach during World War II. What started out as escapism from a class he detested eventually turned into a lifelong pursuit of Chinese and many other languages. Now in his 80s, Farber is said to have a working knowledge of more than 25 languages.

One downside of the book is that it was written in the pre-internet era. There is no mention of some of the great online resources that have cropped up in recent years. However, concepts like making the little moments count, using mnemonics and the multiple-track attack (using many resources at a time to attack the language from different angles) all hold true to this day. Another great insight is that if you are self-studying, you are free to buy as many books and resources as you need! The reason? It is still going to be cheaper and more effective than taking classes. I couldn’t recommend a book more highly.

The Way of the Linguist – Steve Kaufmann

Another helpful guide to learning languages via self-study is Steve Kaufmann’s The Way of the Linguist.

Kaufmann speaks 10 languages fluently. Some may think he is naturally gifted, but he is certainly no linguistic “genius” and makes no claims to be. Despite how that might sound, I mean that as a compliment. He has learned languages through a combination of hard work and lifestyle choice. Kaufmann has lived in various countries throughout an illustrious business career which he admits “would not have been possible” without learning languages.

On Amazon, there are a couple of negative reviews that seem to suggest that Kaufmann’s book is all about self-marketing. It didn’t strike me that way. I got a lot of practical value from it as I do from reading his language blog. He is much more realistic than certain others out there who make claims of reaching “fluency” in a matter of months, all with the goal of selling their latest eBook.

In a nutshell, Kaufmann’s learning approach focuses on getting as much input as possible by listening and reading content you’re interested in. I like this philosophy. Like detective novels? Pick one up in Chinese. Prefer tennis? Watch the latest Grand Slam on Japanese TV. Want to become an entrepreneur? Read stories of successful businessmen in Korean.

Some learners who wouldn’t usually watch the news in English somehow think they “should” when they study a foreign language.They are making the language into a chore.. Kaufmann encourages learners to do what they feel like doing. Find stuff you like and the language will follow. I agree. This is 2013! There are a wealth of resources out there, so follow your interests and find some content that you will enjoy.

What I like about Kaufmann is his willingness to air his views and speak on camera, in whatever language. Of course, anonymous users on YouTube sometimes pick at his grammatical mistakes or intonation. It is much easier to be a critic than to truly put yourself out there.

Like Barry Farber, Kaufmann is a strong advocate of self-study. He also laments the damaging status quo that exists in second language education. Despite the woeful results, schools continue to use the same methods to “teach” languages. Languages are learned, not taught. How tragic that negative classroom experiences are discouraging people from taking up foreign languages. It’s a lonely battle, but I admire Kaufmann’s personal crusade against the establishment. Every little helps.

I am not going to break down his language ability here (that is for native speakers of the respective languages) but I can personally attest that his French is excellent. You can get the Kindle version of his book here.

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It all adds up! (Or how to master a foreign language)

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Do you ever feel like all your time and effort studying your target language hasn’t amounted to much? Ever feel frustrated with your progress? Well, join the club! Once you pass the intermediate threshold, it gets harder to judge your growth in the language. You are entering what I refer to as intermediate fatigue. It’s one of the bumps along the road to mastering a language.

What’s intermediate fatigue? 

Intermediate fatigue is where you start to feel discouraged with your rate of progress in the language you are learning. You might even lose motivation too. I’ll lay out the possible symptoms before suggesting how to get through it.

  1. You are at the stage where you no longer need textbooks.
  2. You’re definitely not a beginner, but not yet advanced.
  3. You study online with the help of some amazing language extensions (shameless plug :) ), reading material intended for native speakers
  4. You listen to podcasts in your target language but get frustrated you can’t fully follow what is going on.
  5. You can slowly read books in the language but you struggle without a dictionary.
  6. You are frustrated that you still fumble for words when speaking to native speakers.
  7. You haven’t finished Heisig yet (that’s an in-joke for Japanese learners)
  8. You are constantly berating yourself with variations of “I should be better by now!”
  9. You have moved onto reading literature but still get stumped by questions from the restaurant waitress.
  10. You have no problem talking to your native speaker friend but get lost in group situations when he brings his friends along.
  11. You can follow the whole dialogue of comedy sketches but don’t get the punchline.
  12. You receive constant praise for your linguistic ability, but the taxi drivers don’t understand you. And so on…

Once intermediate fatigue sets in, all the gains you make in the language feel much smaller than before. Sometimes they will even seem nonexistent. But the important thing to remember is that you are progressing. All the time you spend picking up vocabulary and exposing yourself to new content in the language builds up into something much greater. Even if you don’t feel that you are improving, you need to suspend disbelief. Just when the fatigue seems to be at its heaviest, you are about to step up to the next level.

It all adds up! 

Always remember the snowball effect. As the renowned polyglot Alexander Arguelles reminds us, 15 minutes of study every day adds up to over 90 hours in one year. 30 minutes a day is over 180 hours! These are amazing numbers. Just imagine what is possible with just 45 or 60 minutes per day. In fact, Arguelles used this fact to study multiple languages at the same time, dedicating hours per day to keep them up. You don’t need to become a language monk like Arguelles, but a steady time commitment each day will build into a sizable snowball over time. It all adds up!

When I can, I like to sit down with my books for extended periods, but it’s tough to find the time. Life gets in the way. Being a true Tokyoite, I can be on-the-go for several days at a time. This makes it challenging to keep up my study regime. Sometimes it even gets discouraging but but there is no need to despair! All the time you invest will pay off. Language is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to remind yourself that it all adds up.

The little moments

Barry Farber is a talk show legend with a knowledge of more than 25 languages. He brilliantly describes in his book How To Learn Any Language about making the little moments count. What do you usually do when you are on the train or waiting in line? These periods are fantastic opportunities for learning.

Micro-study

I would estimate that over 50% of my language knowledge comes from micro-study during those little moments. Minutes spent on the bus and waiting for traffic lights to change add up to hours over time. Use them! Not only does it all add up but it also makes those moments more pleasant. As well as learning a language, you are improving your daily quality of life! Not a bad deal if you ask me. And guess what? It all adds up.

Farber is old school. He prefers to use index cards for his mobile learning (iPhones didn’t exist when he was learning the ropes) but I think that he would approve of helpful flashcard apps like i-Sokki and Anki. In any event, it’s much better than wasting your commute tweeting and looking at wedding photos on Facebook!

One more tip.

Still not feeling it? If you are lacking motivation, one good tactic is to look at old emails or letters you have written in the foreign language. It’s like looking at homework you did when you were a kid. You will laugh at your mistakes and wonder how you used to write so badly.

Reading old examples of your writing is a great way to show yourself how much you have improved. It reminds you that all the time you put in was worth it and motivates you to battle on. One glance at my gmail account is undeniable proof of my progress in Japanese. Give it a try! And remember, it all adds up!

I hope this post was helpful. Do you have any other tactics for beating intermediate fatigue? Let us know in the comments below!

For those of you who are interested in a wider discussion of mastering a skill (such as learning languages), I recommend reading Robert Greene’s latest work on mastery. It’s a very enlightening read.

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The Kindle Paperwhite: A godsend for Japanese learners (if you’re in Japan)

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Happy New Year everyone! I don’t know about you, but the New Year has got me motivated to get back to studying languages and reading more Japanese. I also plan to take the N1 this summer. I will touch on that in future posts. Another of my long-term goals is to become more literate in Japanese and to read books that Japanese people read.

I like reading Japanese news and blogs like Itai News on my PC and iPad but I have always wanted to read more Japanese content offline. It’s more relaxing with a book and looking at a screen all day makes my eyes sore. However, I hate looking up kanji and new vocabulary manually. It takes a lot of time and distracts me from the book I am reading. This and a lack of space in my tiny Japanese apartment has meant that, over the years, I haven’t bought that many books in Japanese. Up until now, there haven’t been many Japanese e-books available either. Well, I have finally found my solution.

Amazon’s answer to e-books in Japan

As you may well know, Amazon released the Kindle Paperwhite in Japan at the end of last year. I preordered mine and have been pleased with it so far. It’s a beautiful product and much lighter and easier to use than the previous models (My Kindle 2 looks like it came from a different century!). You get a Japanese-Japanese dictionary with it as standard which really lightens the load of looking up new words. Granted, the lookup function is not quite as good as Perapera (a tricky feat to be fair :) ) but it’s much better than trying to work out the readings and manually inputting words into an electronic dictionary.

One big downside at the moment is the Kindle Store in Japan. Amazon have apparently struggled winning over Japanese publishers who are hesitant to embrace e-books and see their cosy business model crumble. The lack of publishers definitely shows. Compared to the Amazon.com Kindle store, the selection of books is woefully lacking. Hopefully this improves in the future (knowing Amazon it probably will!). That said, according to Amazon there are already more than 10,000 free e-books available which should keep Japanese learners busy for a while.

Also, as far as I am aware, the Kindle Store for Japan is only available for people in Japan with a Japanese IP. I haven’t been able to find much information on this, but it would be good if someone could provide some more information on this. Anyone?

What am I reading?

So far, I have been reading the following free books:


Kokoro

I admit that I have not read a lot of Japanese fiction. I’m usually more of a non-fiction guy but figured I’d give this one a short as one of my colleagues highly recommended it.


Botchan

Another famous novel by Natsume Soseki that most Japanese seem to have read.


The Japanese Constitution

I downloaded this because I fancied reading the post-war original in Japanese but unsurprisingly, it is boring as hell.

I have also bought one paid book, Michi Wo Hiraku (The Path) which is a Japanese business classic that I have always wanted to read. The author, Konosuke Matsushita, founded Panasonic so I guess he knew what he was talking about.

So all in all, there are some negatives but I can still recommend the Kindle Paperwhite as a great tool for intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese. As I progress I will update you on what I am reading. I will also share in another post how I am using my Kindle to learn and review new vocabulary.

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How to learn a different language with self-study

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This is the first post in several about how to learn a different language on your own. Is it possible to learn “difficult” languages like Japanese or Chinese by self-study alone? Absolutely. We did it and so can you! This post tells you why determined self-study beats language courses every time.

I arrived in Japan in 2005 to teach English at a language school in Saitama. I had a few lessons of Pimsleur Japanese under my belt but an otherwise rudimentary Japanese level.

Having read Barry Farber’s inspiring book How To Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own, I decided to go it alone. I avoided Japanese schools, classes and teachers like the plague. I bought a bunch of books and audio courses and did a lot of trial and error.

In the end, I probably made more progress in my Japanese studies than my students did in English. It’s totally possible that I sucked as an English teacher but something bigger is at work here. Simply put, self-study is the way to go. I learned a great deal in that six months of studying alone and all this before helpful tools like Perapera :)

So why is self-study so powerful for learning a language? Here’s some of the reasons I think learning alone beats language courses or academic studies.

1. It’s fun

I found it was more enjoyable to learn alone. Not because I was a loner, but because self-study gave me more freedom and was more fun than a class. Japanese study time became the best part of my day and I would look forward to hitting the books. The kanji were fascinating and it was satisfying to hear a new vocabulary word I’d learned that day on TV or in the local bar.

2. It’s cheaper

However you look at it, studying alone will save you a load of money. You could conceivably buy all the books out there available for learning Japanese and it would still be cheaper than taking language classes! I often reminded myself of this when I was getting stingy about the price of a particular book. I did buy some less helpful books along the way (avoid our mistakes by sticking to our 10 best books for Japanese) but it was definitely worth it in the end.

3. Self-reliance

When you study by yourself there’s no homework. Nobody is there to put pressure on you to learn new vocabulary. This is liberating but it also means that you have to get on with it and take responsibility for your learning. Time and time again as a teacher I’d have students who evidently thought that coming to my English class a couple of times a week was “enough” English learning for the week. It’s easy to fall into this way of thinking when you are a passive student in a class where someone “teaches” you the language. When you self-study, this kind of self-deception doesn’t happen because you are lovingly grappling with the language day by day.

4. Efficiency

Self-studying also saves you time. No more lost time getting to class. The classroom is your bedroom or your favorite cafe. No more classes that are below or beyond your current level as we all know ourselves best. You are in a better position than any teacher to see your weak points in a language and work at them.

5. Immersion

With the vast resources available for any foreign language, it is today easier than ever to immerse yourself in the target language without living in the country of said language. The subject of immersing yourself in your target language is a fascinating one that deserves its own post.

6. Native speakers are your teachers

Spend too much time in a language class and you will pick up bad habits and non-native intonation. When you watch a Japanese variety show you’re not just enjoying some fun entertainment. You are also learning real and authentic Japanese and getting a glimpse into Japanese culture. The irony of language classes is that you end up making friends with other non-natives and speaking English with other students becomes your routine. Getting out there and struggling in the language and making friends will serve you better in the long run. Even if you don’t live in the country where the language is spoken, there are now many options for language exchange by email or Skype that make your current location irrelevant for learning a language.

7. Your learning material can be anything

Studying is a lot easier when you are interested in the content. Enjoy baseball? Watch the Japanese major league in Japanese. Fashion buff? Buy a Japanese apparel magazine or even better, read it online with Perapera and save the new words :) The freedom of choice self-study gives you is truly exhilarating.

Of course, the learning never ends. I still encounter kanji I can’t read or miss the meaning of something in a meeting. But when all is said and done, I still have to pinch myself at times. I have reached a level of proficiency I never dreamed of when I bought my first Japanese book. My job and daily life now depend on my Japanese and it all started with a humble few books and audio courses.

Have you successfully learned a language on your own? How did you do it? We would love to hear your stories!

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