It’s a sad day when I have to take a picture with my laptop. By the way, the author of Study Hacks really recommends DS as a study tool. I don’t spend too much time with it these days.
I’ve brought language immersion to a great new heights (lows). I dropped my iPhone into the toilet while listening to Japanese music. I’m relying on Facebook, email, Skype, and landlines to communicate. Is this how our ancestors survived? 🙂 They had to rush to their computers at home to find out how cute Japanese cats jumped into boxes?
I’m convinced that my iPhone’s possible demise (it’s been sitting in a bag of rice for the past three days) was a result of betrayal. The other day I thought it would be a nice idea to take out my DS Lite and play around with it. I used to use it for my primary electronic dictionary using a program called 漢字そのまま。Just by using the stylus I could write out kanji words and look up the meanings. When my iPhone and Midori entered the picture, I realized that I could just leave the very heavy DS at the Writer’s Room. The other day I decided to trot it back out. I think that’s when my iPhone decided to take the “plunge.”
While my iPhone has been hanging out in a bag of rice and silica packets in an attempt to dry it out, I’ve been experiencing phantom iPhone experiences:
- at the elevator, hoping to do one more Japanese flashcard repetition
- on my commute to and from work when I listen to Japanese music, podcasts, or Japanese101.com lessons. (I’ve found that after doing a long period of immersion, I am appreciating and understanding the grammar lessons more. I limit my lessons and pay attention to grammar explanations but don’t do anything to consciously use or remember grammar rules. I don’t know if that is the best method, but I have momentum and am enjoying it)
- looking for my evernotes for music scales, etc…luckily all that stuff is on a “cloud”
- checking for mass Japanese emails on how to learn English…thanks Silverspoon for that idea
On the other hand, without an iPhone I’ve discovered that I have more time to think. Supposedly that is good. :). I’ve also pulled my old fashioned pen and paper samurai notebooks and have been reviewing those on the train, when I would normally be looking at my “device.” Still, when I try to make up for lost time and do a Japanesepod lesson at the Writer’s Room, I am astonished by the amount of time it takes. I was able to do a lot just walking to where I needed to go.
This is a fun app. There are various ways to look up vocabulary including drawing kanji. There are oodles of sample sentences though I don’t completely trust all of them. The flashcard option is just to study single words which is useful but not necessarily the most effective way to learn vocabulary.
Update: I took my iPhone to apple and had to get a replacement. I did anki and surusu flashcard reps on the store computer while the nice “Genius” helped me get hooked up. Once I got the new device the almost sad loss was my word history on Midori. I had accumulated so many words through my summer travels and readings. Though I have the app back, I don’t have the words I collected. However, I was beginning to realize the limits of using the single word flashcard program. (It’s a lot better to study vocabulary as it is imbedded in sentences.) I also haven’t figured out how to load my music from my ancient computer onto my ipod. The new device has a nifty podcast app that makes it easier to manage podcasts, but music is beautiful brain candy.
You don’t have to have a smartphone to immerse. It’s just really one really helpful tool. Books and notebooks are still around, right! They are also a lot safer (and cheaper) to take to the bathroom. Stay flexible, stay samurai mind!
I am using Surusu for a non-Japanese related project and have to admit that while I was initially very unimpressed (with the look of it) I am now very impressed (with how fast it's helping to remember key items).
Completely with you on grammar, by the way. I don't think ditching grammar completely is wise. There's a time and a place for everything.
The grammar explanations seem to make more sense because I've already been experiencing the language.