Tags

, , ,

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.

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.

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!