Friday, June 17, 2011
Fun Way of Studying
こんにちは!
It's still only the beginning of summer with 81 more days to go. I've been super busy with my two jobs, I finally got a day off after working two weeks straight. As much as I hate working without a balanced payment like this (both my jobs are within the restaurant business), I know it'll be completely worth it in the end.
Because I've been busy it's been hard to keep up with my Japanese studies. Getting home from work, usually at night, I don't want to open my textbook and go over what I need to (such as the last chapter we did for JPN 102 since I was sick basically that whole chapter.) But I think I found a solution.
Someone once mentioned to me of a video game on the Nintendo DS called My Japanese Coach. So I decided to look into it. I was able to find a rather cheap one in good condition and bought it. I just got it today and it is completely wonderful. In the beginning of the game it makes you take a little placement test and I was able to jump all the way to lesson 11, though there were words on the test that I hadn't learned.
Even though it is lesson 11 it is still pretty basic for me since taking a whole college level class for a year but it is going over other vocabulary and different counters that we didn't learn in class. But the game is designed to force you to practice the vocabulary before being able to move on to the next level by practicing writing, speaking and by playing games to earn points.
I think this is really good for me personally to keep up to speed. The game is already designed to help you study instead of opening a textbook and creating your own way of studying. Though the game is still no replacement for the textbook that I need to start going over again, the game will keep something fresh in my mind everyday. I'm not sure how many lessons there are, but it looks like a lot so I'm excited to get through the whole game.
My suggestion to those who may want to study abroad at a country that doesn't speak your native language and has a totally different writing system try searching for games or application on phones that will help you learn the language. Textbooks are a great resources to access but sometimes learning through games can be just as effective and personally more engaged.
It's still only the beginning of summer with 81 more days to go. I've been super busy with my two jobs, I finally got a day off after working two weeks straight. As much as I hate working without a balanced payment like this (both my jobs are within the restaurant business), I know it'll be completely worth it in the end.
Because I've been busy it's been hard to keep up with my Japanese studies. Getting home from work, usually at night, I don't want to open my textbook and go over what I need to (such as the last chapter we did for JPN 102 since I was sick basically that whole chapter.) But I think I found a solution.
Someone once mentioned to me of a video game on the Nintendo DS called My Japanese Coach. So I decided to look into it. I was able to find a rather cheap one in good condition and bought it. I just got it today and it is completely wonderful. In the beginning of the game it makes you take a little placement test and I was able to jump all the way to lesson 11, though there were words on the test that I hadn't learned.
Even though it is lesson 11 it is still pretty basic for me since taking a whole college level class for a year but it is going over other vocabulary and different counters that we didn't learn in class. But the game is designed to force you to practice the vocabulary before being able to move on to the next level by practicing writing, speaking and by playing games to earn points.
I think this is really good for me personally to keep up to speed. The game is already designed to help you study instead of opening a textbook and creating your own way of studying. Though the game is still no replacement for the textbook that I need to start going over again, the game will keep something fresh in my mind everyday. I'm not sure how many lessons there are, but it looks like a lot so I'm excited to get through the whole game.
My suggestion to those who may want to study abroad at a country that doesn't speak your native language and has a totally different writing system try searching for games or application on phones that will help you learn the language. Textbooks are a great resources to access but sometimes learning through games can be just as effective and personally more engaged.
Welcome
私の名前はサマンサです。よろしく。
Profile
Samantha ChristensenNorthern Arizona University : Kansai University
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Japanese & Asian Studies.
