Hello, everyone! Sorry for not posting for such a long time. I’ve decided to vlog instead.

At first, I didn’t want to post my YouTube on here, as I wanted to keep this blog and that separate. I wanted to keep the YouTube a little more private, but now I just don’t care haha.

As of now, there isn’t much content on there, sorry! But I promise there will be more to come in the future. I only have one week left here in Japan, so hopefully I’ll be able to crank out a few more videos before I leave!

Here’s the link: http://youtube.com/travisv10

Post your YouTube’s below! I’d love to subscribe and watch your videos

-Travis

みんなさんのこんばんは！

So about a year ago when I started this blog, I found out a girl at my school (yes, I’m in high school) went to Japan on foreign exchange.  I then found out she got a scholarship to do so through a program called YFU (Youth For Understanding).

First of all, when I was younger I used to think foreign exchanging was very odd and that I’d never want to do it.  Over the past 3 or 4 years, I have had relatives have foreign exchange students, a friend of mine host and go to Germany, and another friend of mine foreign exchange to Japan.  Every one of them said that they loved it!  Well, except for my relatives, but they had only hosted   Anyway, after discovering the girl from my school foreign exchanged to Japan, I decided that it’d be amazing if I could do the same thing, and next year would be my only opportunity to go for a long time!

Later last year, I went through all the steps of completing an application to YFU for their summer program to Japan.  This involved 5 short essays, tons of school and medical records, a teacher recommendation, and lots of other hoops to jump through.  YFU has several corporate, governmental, and regional scholarships that they offer to various countries.  Japan is one of their main destinations, and there were several scholarships available.  When applying, you can list several different scholarships you with to apply for and in the priority by which you want them.

I submitted my application by November (most scholarship deadlines were December or January) and waited 5 months to hear the results.

Well, today I got a giant envelope in the mail saying that I got a full ride scholarship to go to Japan through FCCLA/Kikkoman, my first choice!!!  I screamed when I opened the envelope, which doesn’t happen often or ever.

I do not know any host family information yet, and I don’t know many specifics.  I know I’m leaving June 17th for a 3 day orientation at UC Berkeley and then flying to Japan.  The trip ends August 1st, and school starts back up for me around August 9th, I think?  Anyway, on the trip, most people attend Japanese high school, which I’m unbelievably excited for.

So throughout this experience, I will be blogging (hopefully) very often.  I’ll post pictures and share every bit of detail that I can!

Since I found out about the program, I have been following the blogs of previous students that have gone and watched their vlogs and what not.  All of their posts have been incredibly informative, and I hope I can help anyone who’s thinking about going next year!

That’s basically it.  Let me know of any suggestions you guys have, or any experiences you’ve had in Japan that are noteworthy! Thanks for reading, -Travis

OH and next time you need soy sauce, BUY KIKKOMAN BRAND!!!

EDIT: Oh and as a side note, the girl from my school stayed in Sendai her host family is perfectly okay though! They were far enough away from the coast.

So this post is a lot different than what you’re probably used to.  I wanted to have a discussion in the comments because I’m really curious to see what you all think about the TV method to learning Japanese and what your SRS techniques are.

Questions:

1. What do you think of the TV method to learning Japanese? (the TV method is watching tons of TV in the targeted language and trying to absorb as much as you can naturally)
2. How do you SRS? (brief description, “I SRS sentences and vocab”)
3. How do you go about choosing sentences, and what format do you use?
4. How many new cards to you study and add each day?
5. Have you “done” RTK, and if so, did you SRS the Kanji from it?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you all! Thanks, -Travis

Hello, everyone!  I’ve decided to take a new direction with the site, which includes a new layout

Now, the new layout isn’t better in my opinion, but it isn’t worse.  I really just wanted something new.  It’s simpler, too.

Anyway, the new direction I want to take is one that’s less formal.  I’m going to start posting more about SRS progress and what not, which basically deters away from the original plan of the site XD But whatever, I suppose.

Also, posts will probably be less dense, but more frequent.

I hope you like the changes!

Hello, everyone!  I apologize for the lack of posts.  The past 5 months have been really busy, and April and May won’t be any better XD.  But I am on break right now and have decided to get back into the blogging business!  I’ve gone through a lot of my old posts and decided that some desperately need revisions.  I’ve decided to start with which textbooks I’ve found are the best for beginners! You can read the original post here.

Looking back, I don’t think ranking textbooks by 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and so-on is a very good idea.  First of all, it can be discouraging to see one’s favorite textbook with a low placement.  Secondly, textbooks cannot really be defined as “best”.  Although some are clearly better than others, most textbooks are all good for certain purposes which cannot be ranked side-by-side with other features.  So, instead, I will list my personal preferences in order with the first one being the one I find most helpful/important to have around.  Also, I feel as though a rating system on different aspects will help learners find the textbook best suited for them.

Best Japanese Textbooks for Beginners

(ordered by my personal preference first)

Genki

INTRO Genki is the textbook of choice for many universities and self-learners.  Genki 1 is part of a 2 book series that covers the first 2 semesters of a first year college-level Japanese course.  The first 2 chapters feature Kana along with Romaji to help out total beginners that are still learning their syllabries.  The books are divided into units, and the first book has 12.  The units have a dialog, a vocabulary page, a grammar section, and then practice exercises on the material.  Each lesson basically takes up a weeks time in regards to a college schedule, but I’m sure most learners will find themselves having to take it much slower if they really want to know the material.

LIKE Pretty much everything is satisfactory.  The grammar is well explained, and conjugation tables make it easy to refer back to.  The exercises help one practice the material.  The pace of the book is good.

DISLIKE Some complains of mine are that the vocab seems very random, and some words such as disco are taught before essential verbs.  Also, the majority of vocab words are featured with all the Kanji that goes with the word.  Now, some people might like this because you are seeing the word as you actually would in a Japanese text, but some of the Kanji in the most basic words are very complex.  Also, Kanji lessons are taught separately in the back of the book.  Please keep in mind, this review is based on the last edition as there is a newer, revised edition of Genki 1 available now.

• Grammar explanations and content 4/5 – Covers a perfect amount of grammar points, but is not very in-depth

• Vocabulary list usefulness/effectiveness 3/5

• Practice exercises 4/5

• Speed 4/5 – The book moves a little fast for my taste, but is manageable

* Cultural notes n/a

* Form factor and quality 4/5 – Paper is high quality, and the book is a perfect size

OVERALL RATING 9/10

Buy Genki

Elementary Japanese

INTRO I’ve pretty much finished Genki 1, so I decided to dust off this book and work through it before moving on to Genki 2.  Elementary Japanese was developed by the UC Berkeley Japanese Program, and was piloted at Berkeley before hitting the market.  Each lesson is equivalent to a week’s lesson based on a college schedule.

LIKE I’ve been incredibly pleased with every aspect of this book.  This book is similar to Genki, but does things differently.  In Genki, you’ll find the affirmative and negative conjugations taught in one lesson, while this book breaks it down in to several separate lessons.  The Kanji is also mixed in with each chapter, and they do not replace Hiragana with the appropriate Kanji unless they’ve been introduced through the Kanji lessons.  The grammar explanations are far more in-depth than Genki.

NEUTRAL The book utilizes more of the polite form than Genki does.

DISLIKE I really don’t like how they tag certain grammar points such as “Pre-ますフォーム” and what not.  It gets very confusing, and I prefer how Genki labels the conjugations.  The book doesn’t seem as nicely formatted as Genki, and I feel as though Genki is a little more thorough and widely accepted as a standard.

• Grammar explanations and content 5/5 – Very in-depth

• Vocabulary list usefulness/effectiveness 3/5 – I don’t like how they do vocab.  All it is is a table in the back of the chapter, but it the words taught are more useful than Genki

• Practice exercises 3/5 – I’ll admit I haven’t done many of their exercises because I’m mostly just going through and reading the grammar points.  They exercises are not as effective as Genki’s are

• Speed 4/5

* Cultural notes n/a

* Form factor and quality 4/5 – LOVE having a hardback textbook

OVERALL RATING 8/10

Buy Elementary Japanese

Beginning Japanese

INTRO Beginning Japanese is a high school textbook that is part of a soon to be finished 3 part series.  By the third book, students should have enough knowledge to pass the AP Japanese exam.  My friend bought this and recommended it to me, so I decided to try it out.

LIKE Much slower pace than the two previous books.  The curriculum is for high school students, and has a very unique formatting to it.  I love the dialogs and the half-English/half-Japanese paragraphs.  Overall, the book seems very modern in comparison to other textbooks and does a lot of things right.  It’s available in hardback, and the book is in color! Major plus

DISLIKE I purchased the book because of a very positive recommendation, but I already know all of the material.  For me, the slow pace isn’t an advantage, and the second book, Intermediate Japanese, will not be released until September.  Another thing I dislike is that they don’t actually define the vocab words.  Pictures are used instead, and the images are often vague.

• Grammar explanations and content 4/5 – Goes slower, easier to comprehend

• Vocabulary list usefulness/effectiveness 2/5 – As I mentioned earlier, they use pictures instead of words to define the vocabulary.  Also, the list isn’t very extensive.

• Practice exercises 2/5 – Lots of partner exercises.  Not as effective as Genki or Elem. Jap.

• Speed 3/5 – Some may like the slower pace

* Cultural notes 5/5! There’s a lot of culture to learn form this book, unlike most textbooks.

* Form factor and quality 5/5 – Again, I love having a hardback option.  Having it in color is another huge pro.

OVERALL RATING 8/10 – This book isn’t really for my level, but if I was just starting out, it’d be a perfect resource!

Buy Beginning Japanese

So you may have noticed that I completely got rid of Japanese from Zero!, Japanese For Busy People, and Japanese For Everyone.  After further evaluation, I do not think these books are good enough to recommend.  If you find them useful, however, please continue using them!  Whatever works for you is truly the best textbook.

Let me know what you think about these books, and if you know of any good learning resources, please comment below! Thanks for reading, -Travis

Before learning just from self-immersion, it’s good to have a firm grammar and vocabulary basis to work with. As for my learning, I feel as though I should get through all of Genki I and some of Genki II before starting to rely solely on books and movies for learning. If you’re like me and have work or school that keeps you busy, it’s hard to find time each day to sit down and study Japanese. This is why a plan is essential to progressing at all because without some form of structure, I don’t think I’d ever be efficient when I study. So, I’ve made this post to outline a study method so I (and you all of course ) can study efficiently!

I’ve found that trying to create a method that involves “30-minutes a day” or “one lesson per day” don’t actually work for me. With homework, I never know home much time each day I’ll have or how tired I’ll be. So the guide below is only going to be on a “study when you want to” basis.

Step 1: Read over the vocab

Step 1 when starting off a new lesson is reading over and getting familiarized with the vocabulary.

Step 2: Read over the grammar

The most important part of every unit is without a doubt the grammar. Read over it once or twice.

Step 3: Complete all the practice activities

This is great for practice with the grammar and the vocab. Definitely a must.

Step 4: Identify your weak areas

This step involves finding out what you struggle with the most in that lesson. Let’s say you don’t know the vocabulary all that well. In that case, you could get creative and create flashcards for the vocab you don’t know, do lessons from the last chapter, but replace the provided words with the vocab from your current unit, etc. If you’re struggling with the grammar or don’t think you’ve mastered it, try working through the practice activities a few more times or continue to step 5…

Step 5: Create sentences

Using the new vocab and grammar, make as many sentences as you possibly can. Open up Microsoft Word or Notepad and just start typing away. Try to include as many aspects to each sentence as you can. That is to say, “I ate” doesn’t help you as much as “I ate an apple yesterday in the park with my friend Sue.” This is probably the second most important step with each unit because it actually proves mastery of the content: actually being able to use what you’ve learned.

(Optional) Step 6: Review

Step 6 is optional depending on how much you feel it’s necessary. Ideally, each lesson you should go back and do the practice from the previous lessons, but I understand that it’s probably more fun to just go onto the next unit. Step 6 can be done whenever.

If you have any other suggestions, please please please post them in the comments!

Hello again, everyone!

First of all, I apologize for the lack of posts. I’ve been preoccupied with other website-related ventures and school. I have been studying lots of Japanese lately! Anyway, I felt as though I had to express my opinions on AJATT (All Japanese All The Time) in a quick review rant.

First of all, let me explain what “AJATT” is. Some people use the term AJATT as though it’s a whole studying method. In a way, it is. AJATT is an acronym meaning All Japanese All The Time. The concept became popular though the blog alljapaneseallthetime.com. Many Japanese users swear by it, and consider it the solution to learning Japanese. I have some very strong opinions on this

All Japanese All The Time is what the name suggests, making all your surroundings Japanese in order to create a synthetic immersion environment. It’s a good concept, but the blog takes it to the extreme (in my opinion). Khatzumoto, the blogger behind AJATT, believes in little to none textbook usage. This, in my opinion, is absolutely ridiculous.

If you’re like me and you’ve watched Japanese movies, you don’t understand a lot of it. And probably, by watching it over and over, will begin to pick up a few things. I don’t understand how someone could watch a movie or “read a Japanese book” and just instantly pick up how to pronounce Kanji. It’s impossible.

Most of the posts on the blog are long and winded. Each post could easily be condensed into five or six brief bullet points, as opposed to five or six paragraphs, and a lot of the information is repeated with each post. Khatzumoto is also a hypocrite when it comes to Japanese. He studied before he began to immerse himself. Also, he says that everyone should read Remembering the Kanji. Over the past month or so, I’ve come to the conclusion that RTK is far from the best method to learning Kanji. In fact, I don’t use it at all. I think that someone who progresses through RTK will come out with a extremely vague understanding of Kanji and no practical uses of it. In my opinion, Kanji shouldn’t be studied, vocabulary words should be studied with Kanji in them. But that’s a post for another day

Khatzumoto had lots of time on his hands when he learned Japanese. And I mean a lot. I’m pretty sure when he started studying, that’s all he did. If someone had the time to spend all day sitting at their computer or TV watching J-Drama, they’d definitely learn Japanese.

Although you can learn Japanese through this synthetic immersion, you aren’t really learning the roots of the language, as you would with a formal textbook. In my opinion, Japanese study should be learning all the grammar basics and basic vocabulary (everything from Genki 1) and then they should start to watch movies and read books. This is what I’m doing at least.

Why do I care? Why does this blog even matter?

Because so many really smart Japanese learners I know love it. They promote in on their blogs.

Now, there are some good things to be said about AJATT. It motivates people to have fun with learning and it does have some good content. And I really don’t mean for this post to be aggressive or mean towards Khatzumoto. He obviously knows more Japanese than me and has a very popular blog. Also, I very much respect everyone that uses his method. Most of my favorite learners love it, but everyone I’ve talked to uses an “altered version of AJATT” to fit their needs.

Is AJATT worth the hype that it gets? No. Is it somewhat useful? Maybe.

I’ve read a lot of the posts there. I love the fact that there’s a side to the learning spectrum that doesn’t involve intense studying. Also, I think SRS is a great study method, and I use Anki myself. The main conflict I have with AJATT is how extreme the methods are. Overall, the idea of having an immersion environment is only beneficial. Even though I don’t agree with some of his methods, I’m going to continue to read AJATT every now and then.

I’m sure this post is going to get some very *ahem* interesting feedback, and I’m open to all opinions! Please leave a comment below. じゃあね。

-Travis

After reading some of the feedback, I’d just like to reiterate that these are just my opinions. If you love AJATT, that’s great. If it works for you, that’s great, too. Regardless, this is how I feel.

Hi guys! So I was searching around the web for some Kanji wallpaper because I thought it would be a great way to get a few Kanji down without any real studying.

Well, I didn’t find any, so I decided to make some of my own and share ‘em with you guys!

This works exceptionally well with Windows 7 because you can automatically shuffle between wallpaper after a certain amount of time. Also, you will probably want to set Picture position to Center and the background color as white.

Another use could be a photo screensaver and have it rotate to a folder with only the Kanji wallpaper! (:

I hope you guys like them! I’ll make whatever words you want by request– just shoot me an email!

Thanks, -Travis

Just save each one of them to a folder:

Hello everyone!  I’ve been working on a new project recently and I thought I’d sorta announce part of it.

I’m planning on providing some Kanji flashcards and I wanted to let you guys try the first batch!  Now, I know this isn’t a hugeee Kanji list but but it should help you with your basic numbers (:

It’s a PDF file and printing instructions are on the page.  If you have ANY questions let me know!

Please report any questions or comments you have.  If you have any trouble opening or printing or if fonts aren’t the way they look on the example above, let me know! I have a contact image in the right sidebar for lotsss of contact mediums (:

Download Free Kanji Number Flashcards

Thanks, -Travis.

If you ever plan on reading Japanese, you have to know your Kana.  Kana are sort of the Japanese alphabet.  Kana is a term that groups together two syllabaries: Hiragana and Katakana.  Hiragana are used for grammatical aspects of Japanese, such as verb conjugations and particles, and are also used for some words.  Katakana are primarily used to write out loan words from other languages and brand names and such.

Kana is not hard to learn.  And, after a while, it will be second nature.  Here are some methods to learning:

Method #1: Buy iKana for your iPod, iPhone, or iPod touch

I’m not really gonna go in depth a whole lot on this post because I’ve already written a full review of iKana.  Read the review here: Best iPhone / iPod touch / iPad Application for Learning Kana (Hiragana / Katakana). Summary: iKana is an app that shows you all the Kana and gives you multiple choice as to the definitions.  It’s great and it’s how I learned all my Kana!  Okay, Okay, I’ll admit my Katakana isn’t perfect, but I can read it just fine (:  I know Hiragana like the back of my hand though.  Highly recommend this app!

Method #2: Get a study book, mnemonic book, or workbook

Books can be insanely helpful with anything Japanese related because you get advice from the learners first hand.  I recommend a few books:

Remembering the Kana: A Guide to Reading and Writing the Japanese Syllabaries in 3 Hours Each (Manoa) (Japanese Edition) (part 1)
Let’s Learn Hiragana: First Book of Basic Japanese Writing (Kodansha’s Children’s Classics)
Let’s Learn Katakana: Second Book of Basic Japanese Writing

If you do not know Kana at all and are looking for a textbook, I HIGHLY recommend getting Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals.  It slowly introduces Hiragana in the first book and gives you a workbook-like practice.  It’s amazing!  The stoke order may surprise you and, after a while, you’ll find it imperative to writing!  Stroke order really does help with the speed of writing and helps produce a proper looking symbol.  I highly highly highly recommend this to someone who knows somewhat basic Japanese or has had a little experience listening to the language and does not know their Kana!

Method #3: Just writing it

Probably the most efficient way of learning is just to write it over and over again.  It may not be as fun, but you’ll get it quicker.  If you’re a self learner like me, try writing words in Kana when you’re bored in class!

If you plan on writing it, here are some Hiragana and Katakana charts I pulled up.

Dakuon & Handakuon / Youon

Do not stress over Dakuon & Handakuon / Youon!  When I first started learning, I was overwhelmed with these two sets.  Well, if you pay close enough attention, you’ll realize that it hardly involves any new knowledge and just some simple memorization to get it.  Dakuon AKA the little quotation-like marks in the corner of a Kana (“) mean to make it a deeper sound.  For example, all Kana beginning with T would be replaced with D.  Handakuon AKA the little circle in the corner means to replace the first letter with a P.  These are just some really quick and rough tips to Dakuon & Handakuon!

As for Youon, it’s simply combining the two Kana.  Nothing worth memorizing a whole another syllabary for!

Summary

To learn your Kana, use all methods you can and just try to surround yourself with it.  Keep writing and reading Kana whenever you can.  Memorize the methods to Dakuon & Handakuon / Youon so you don’t have to waste time learning lots more than you need to.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our RSS feed or bookmark us for later! Thanks for reading, -Travis