I've done it!

Hi, I'm probably a couple of months late on this, but I got my JLPT N5 certificate!
That means I've passed the N5 exam. I should be on cloud nine because of that, but I feel rather depressed. And the reason for that is my score. Because my reason for taking this exam was to check my progress, getting 91 out of 180 was very disappointing. 

Anyway, no reason to dual on a past, when the future has so many opportunists. This year I'll try my luck at N4. It's going to be harder then N5, but I have no other option rather then to keep going forward.

JLPT here we go

I have finally found a time to go to the Japanese embassy to register for the JLPT test. It was on 10 of September. The date of the exam is 5 of December. And the registration ended in 14 of September. Why!? It's a good question, but knowing the Japanese, they need need a lot of time to prepare for anything and this exam is not an exception. 

This year I'll take the easiest exam N5. This time will be low on participants (blame COVID-19) but at least the test will be held. I still have time to prepare properly, but the two and a half months which left, not making me fill less stressed. Of course I have taken a course to prepare for the test. It included a lot of grammar, speech and listening practice and some kanji. but I still feel un prepared. Now, to get accustomed with the question types, I need to start practicing on the exams from previous years. And don't forget the kanji. It's going to be hellish 2.5 months. Wish me luck.

I'm back again

I was missing from the blog again. And I have many excuses, but they  not relevant. What is important, that I'm back to learning Japanese. Now I have time to listen to the NHK world lessons in Japanese. Now that I'm finished with the publication of 2011 lessons, I'm diving head first to the 2015 lessons. Now it looks much easier, because I'm filmier with the basic topics which covered in  the 2015 lessons.

Also I have finished  the "Human Japanese" app and moved to "Human Japanese intermediate". Now it contains more advanced topics and Kanji.

It's depressing to think about the JLPT test. It should take part in December, but I'm not sure that COVID-19 will allow it. Nevertheless, I should start practicing  previous exams fir the N5 level. Just in case the virus spread will die down until then.

It's been a while...

It's been a while since my last update. My Japanese learning also halted for a while now. I'm blaming the "24 hours a day" limitation for that. I'm just don't have enough time for all the things I want to get done.
My morning hours at work were committed to writing the posts for this blog. Now I use this time to analyze the orienteering maps I have archived for half a year.
My hour train rid a day, now devoted for reading books instead of learning Kanji.
My walk to the train ones was free for listening lessons practice, but now my husband's work changed and I walk with him.
At home there is always so much work  to do, that I'm not even considering to find time for my studies.

I must find other dead time to use for the Japanese learning, but currently it proves to be a little  difficult. Any suggestions?
I'm waiting for the moment to finish with the maps, to start updating the blog again...

Milestones along the way

After months of poor learning and non updating this blog, I have a new wind in me. I set a target for myself. It's true that universal goal for me is to learn 2136 Kanji (and some Japanese along the way) but now I understand that this goal is too far away to motivate me. I need a closer destination to aim for. To put milestones along my long journey if you must.
The best way I found is the proficiency exam (JLPT). This exam contains five levels N5-N1, while the N5 is the easiest. It contains not only Kanji, but also vocabulary and grammar, so it will force me to study Japanese as whole.
Unfortunately in 2010 the ministry of education in Japan stopped publishing the official lists of Kanji, needed for each level of the exam. So for now the numbers are approximate:
N5 ~100
N4 ~300
N3 ~650
N2 ~1,000
N1 ~2,000
And what left after the level N1 to the 2136 characters.
Now my journey is divided into small parts and I can concentrate on every part individually. Moreover, I intend to take the proficiency exams along the way.

What am I signing for? A little scary...

Little progress

After I started this blog I did very little progress in learning Japanese. I'm still listening to the audio lessons of the NHK World. Now I'm in lesson 22 out of 50. It's almost a half way, but the time it took me to go over them is not proportional. Maybe I need to invest more time to see more progress.
I also have an App on my smartphone (I'll write about it some other time). But there I also have little to no results.
I'm not giving up just yet. Maybe it'll get better soon when my work will stop being so demanding. Or maybe not.

The sun is rising

Hi, I'm Kat. I'm starting to write this blog about my experience in learning Japanese (hoping it will give me some motivation to improve my knowledge).
Currently I know three languages: Russian, Hebrew and English. English isn't my first language but it's international, so I'm trying to write the blog in this language. I hope you'll excuse me my grammatical mistakes.
Many times when people discover that I'm learning Japanese, they ask questions as:
Why? Isn't is useless for you? Where you can use it except in Japan? etc.
So before I start, I think I should explain why I have started to learn Japanese. No, It isn't useless for me. I'm encountering Japanese I my daily life all the time. Maybe it will sound little exaggerated, but I see more Japanese films and anime then movies in English.
So that's the reason for my Japanese studding. I'm inviting you to join me. I'll be glad to share with you my discovery of this language and to listen to your opinions and advise.

P.S.
The first of September is every symbolic date to start new things (especially studding new things). Good luck for all the students around the world in their new academic year.