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Articles : March, 2010

Japanese Music Recommendations from AJATTeers

Comments have a way of getting lost here in the vastness of AJATTistan. So, for purposes of future referential convenience, here are some comprehensive music recommendations from recent comments by AJATTeers.

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Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

Original AJATT Products

Read on:
  • 10,000 Sentences: Music Lyrics
  • The Best Japanese Bands
  • Shopping Japanese Online Stores from Abroad
  • Japanese Bands: The List 2
  • Khatzumoto Server Update/Temporary Downtime Announcement
  • Japanese Music Info
  • More Japanese Websites
  • All-Star Comments
  • Table of Contents
  • Comments (6)

    Lazy Kanji Cards: An AJATTeer Shares A Personal Status Report

    Jimmy L. is a member of that proudest, most handsome breed of human beings: AJATTeers. This proud, handsome man recently sent me an email wherein he shares a sitrep (situation report) on his progress with the lazy kanji card format we discussed a short time ago.

    Jimmy isn’t just good-looking. He’s also blindingly insightful. He has put his finger on something I, in all my verbosity, had not been able to express. You see,  Jimmy has managed to verbalize what it is that makes the Heisig method so great.

    And it is this: order. It turns out that the true genius of Dr. James Heisig’s kanji-learning method — his greatest gift to us kanji-learners — is not actually the keyword system. It is the idea of learning kanji in a deliberate sequence based on incremental logic rather than straight usage (i.e. not car, book and house (車、本、家) but big, plump and hound (大、太、犬)). Having said that the keyword system is a pretty freaking sweet idea that has made the kanji world a better place: attempting to learn every nuance of a kanji from the word go does not scale well. Keywords only start to pinch when we spend more time building, maintaining and collating them than actually kanjiing it up.

    Anyway, here’s Jimmy’s email [formatting and emphasis added by me]:

    Hey Khatz,

    A[n abridged] version if you’d prefer brevity:

    • “Lazy Kanji” format = Good!
    • Dictionary Meanings instead of Keywords = Good!
    • Color instead of Stories = Good!…

    I just entered my 600th kanji card using the “Lazy” format you talked about a short while back. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve found it to be far, far more effective than the straight Heisig method that I was using before.

    The problem with the Heisig method is the very thing that makes it so great: the singular keyword. I’ve come to find that very often the keywords are somewhat off of what is actually implied, or it’d be exactly the right word and I was using it inappropriately because I had no context for its usage (God bless double meanings…).

    With this new format, I have simply been taking the kanji (in the order that Heisig presents them – I believe that to be the true genius of his method), and taking the dictionary entry for that kanji and pasting it directly into the answer field. No longer is the keyword an issue, because now I actually have a sense of feel for the broader idea and meaning of the kanji.

    But I also think that book you’ve been recommending, Brain Rules, has played a large part in this new formats success as well. In the chapter, I believe it’s in the chapter about attention spans, he mentions that memories tied to emotions stick the best.

    I am a person who feels “in color”. That is, when I think back upon a sad memory, it has a certain hue. Happy has one, angry has one. So what I’ve been doing is using color with the cards that highlight the general mood of the kanji. Coupled with the fact that it makes the cards more fun - which also makes the meanings stick better – I’ve seen a dramatic improvement.

    Well, just wanted to let you know how your suggestions have been helping your readers. Thanks a lot. I know I’m only 1/4 through and that I’ve a long way before I’m out of the kiddie pool, but I think it’s been a good re-start, and the enthusiasm is doing a great job of propelling me forward.

    Thanks, Jimmy ;) . As I said before, this is still very much an experimental thing, and neither of us have any long-term data — yet. But, the short-term data are very promising; I find that I”m:

    • Enjoying my kanji reps a lot, and doing them in greater quantity and frequency (consistency) — which is what counts, because if we don’t practice, it’s game over, no matter what the system is.
    • Actually making contact with the kanji — not just “thinking about” how I “should” be making contact with them, and
    • Actually actively starting on learning new characters rather than queuing them up in some inert “to learn” list somewhere.

    That’s all from us — let us know any insight/experience you may have on the topic.

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    Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

    Original AJATT Products

    Read on:
  • Success Story…Kinda: SRS and the Power and Value of Memory
  • Surusu Update: Autofeed Cards
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-09-05
  • Tortoises and Hares
  • Surusu: Update and Announcement, Or “When Backups Back Up”
  • SRS Precedence Rules
  • Surusu Update: Decks! et alia
  • Kanji, SRS
  • Table of Contents
  • Comments (29)

    AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2010-03-27

    • YouTube
      - 陳奕迅 – 愛是懷疑 ktv.playinmel.com
      http://bit.ly/bhKgy2 #
    • 心理学は科学ですか? – Yahoo!知恵袋 "心理学は、哲学から派生して、「哲学離れ」「科学の仲間入り」をずっと志向してきた学問分野です。" http://bit.ly/bB8IZG #
    • YouTube
      - 周杰倫 – 火車叨位去 [KTV] ktv.playinmel.com
      http://bit.ly/bClcgA #
    • Has a nice Bone Thugs N' Harmony vibe to it :D YouTube
      - 陳冠希-香港地KTV
      http://bit.ly/cAI13D #
    • ハッカーと画家 vs Joel on Software http://bit.ly/dwDfOo #
    • The true purpose of rules and routine is not to make you "disciplined" (read: "obedient") but to create fun and ease. #
    • 知識探索サイト:ジャパンナレッジ http://bit.ly/b4JPPm #
    • My kanji process is like the Matrix: there've been many versions, but we only ever really talk about the one that achieved pwnage. #
    • Q: "Hey Khatz, I have an idea for a method X that you've never tried or even heard of! Will it work?!"
      A: "Dunno. Try it." #
    • YouTube
      - MIDICRONICA|rust [.co.lab]
      http://bit.ly/amXdVJ #
    • YouTube
      "Dragon Ash – Let yourself go, Let myself go" http://bit.ly/b6UISK
      歌詞情報 – goo 音楽 http://bit.ly/dyKHU3 #
    • YouTube
      - サカナクション/アルクアラウンド
      http://bit.ly/awQf5l #
    • Chinese Characters Spliced into English Text | Sinosplice http://bit.ly/d3yoUC #
    • @nicksan カルメンサンディエゴに聞いてみて(^^) in reply to nicksan #
    • YouTube – 男兒當自強 成龍 "男兒當自強 成龍 " http://bit.ly/dsOtLj #
    • YouTube
      - 4L5O 的頻道
      http://bit.ly/90lFFN #
    • “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” http://bit.ly/brhwGA #
    • @neharungta Already. Did. Mine. Now to upgrade my Mac OS installation… :) ~ in reply to neharungta #
    • TI-89 シリーズ – Wikipedia http://bit.ly/9T24HV #
    • TI-92シリーズ – Wikipedia http://bit.ly/aFlO8O #
    • @lordsilent LoL it was a big day for links yesterday :D … thanks for the note in reply to lordsilent #
    • "It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little – do what you can. " http://bit.ly/cV5PPZ #
    • "血で血を洗い" http://bit.ly/9hY8l0 #
    • Langalot Blog | "11 Language Learning Blogs You Should Read" http://bit.ly/bbfMyG #
    • "無意識にであれ" – Google 検索 http://bit.ly/9OFM4y #
    • SuperMemo | FAQ: Knowledge Structuring "You generate redundancy with prolific cloze deletions." http://bit.ly/a2TcHL #
    • ブラック・スワン[上] http://bit.ly/cduCgX | 'ブラック・スワン[下] http://bit.ly/crxIVL #
    • RyanLayman.com | Stop the Grammar Study and Enjoy the Process http://bit.ly/bslC2F #
    • PINK! PINK! PINK!
      YouTube
      - DOPING PANDA – majestic trancer feat.VERBAL(m-flo)
      http://bit.ly/bQOvEt #
    • "Fear stops people from performing…[but] that doesn't mean they can't" http://bit.ly/bNfiTg #
    • "Everything's gonna be perfect…get a luxury ride"
      どんだけ自動車万能主義かよ(笑
      YouTube - Luxury ride feat. ZEEBRA PV- Foxxi misQ http://bit.ly/drBd0H #
    • "the more people perform
      mental activities…the better they get at them." http://bit.ly/aOS4lz #
    • There's a new version of "QRG: The Movie" out with no background music, so…yay. :D http://bit.ly/deZpdh #
    • "self-esteem appears to be an important variable in second language learning" http://bit.ly/aEjEjP #
    • RT @AlexGervais Fun at Seijin Shiki, Tokyo (Japan) – http://bit.ly/c2ZkyU #
    • "adding more kanji generally reinforces many of the ones you’ve already learned because they share so many elements." http://bit.ly/cTzQ5H #
    • Ask not "am I getting good at my L2", ask "am I getting more used to my L2?" #
    • @sevarg Cheers :D . Momoko made it ;) in reply to sevarg #
    • The real question is not "how could am I at language X?", but "how accustomed am I to language X?". #
    • Have you given yourself opportunities to get more used to your L2 this hour? #
    • 1980年の20ギガバイトと2010年の32ギガバイト:ビタミンDX http://bit.ly/dqjvcn via @nac_est #
    • なにここたのしい!:ビタミンDX http://bit.ly/cdX9PL #
    • 日産:ノート [ NOTE ] コンパクトカー Webカタログ ホーム http://bit.ly/9OvHkr #
    • オリゴ糖 – Wikipedia http://bit.ly/ahmKK6 #
    • You may or may not be able to change your position instantly, but you always have control over your general direction. #
    • Latest experiment: record a Chinese friend reading aloud to me (Star Trek@Wikipedia), then use the recording in SRS sentence cards #
    • YouTube
      - Girls' Generation(소녀시대)_RunDevilRun(런데빌런)_MusicVideo(뮤직비디오)
      http://bit.ly/dnyEeO via @AnayaKay #
    • YouTube
      - Wyolica feat. Kenji – kaze wo atsumete
      http://bit.ly/bPwUkh #
    • ”名曲すぎる泣" YouTube
      - wyolica『星』
      http://bit.ly/aKuoRD #
    • @sevarg Sweet! It really does work out, huh? Content that you want, WITH a transcript and with natural pronunciation… in reply to sevarg #
    • @sevarg It feels to me a lot like the "oral transmission" of natural pronunciation, speaking/reading conventions etc. that natives get… in reply to sevarg #
    • @sevarg …and the SRS allows you to repeat it efficiently without bugging your friend to say it a million times in reply to sevarg #
    • NHKオンライン http://bit.ly/bSoj61 #
    • Resistance (against Mandarin) is futile, part 1 http://bit.ly/cBKJtr #
    • Resistance (against Mandarin) is futile, part 2 http://bit.ly/a1Ui3X #
    • しゃべくり007春の芸能界スキャンダル2時間半SP 2010年03月22日(月) | 批評の泉 http://bit.ly/c8XBvd #
    • YouTube – しゃべくり007 1 http://bit.ly/bBJcvh #
    • Relax. You'll do better that way. #
    • Verbal static ("um", "ah") is part of the language, too. Seek it out. #
    • 世に生を得るは事を成すにあり 坂本竜馬 - 名言から学ぶ幸せのヒント "
      『世に生を得るは事を成すにあり』" http://bit.ly/dn1UEF #
    • 収穫加速の法則 – Wikipedia http://bit.ly/9exLrB #
    • 黑米公主 – Princess Remy's Podcast http://bit.ly/9J8u0m #
    • @danielpwright whoops! glitch…it's fixed now… :D in reply to danielpwright #
    • I used to think that the fact that I returned most library books unread was due to some character flaw on my (cont) http://tl.gd/jqen1 #
    • Discomfort and growth are not the same thing — if they were, people with ill-fitting shoes would be the (cont) http://tl.gd/jqgld #
    • All Japanese is good, except the boring kind http://bit.ly/aZTNQs #
    • ついにアメリカが「常識」の国にCHANGE 医療保険改革がついに(gooニュース・ニュースな英語) – goo ニュース
      http://bit.ly/aSKpmN #
    • "Let the media motivate *you*: that’s its job.  All you have to do is put yourself in the path of the media" http://bit.ly/bSyeLF #
    • "I love to sing (yes I’m one of those people who sing in the car, shower, cooking, cleaning, ect.), and I love (cont) http://tl.gd/k23ee #
    • 千代麿日記。 http://bit.ly/9JVmPY #Random #Japanese #blog #
    • ザ・仁丹 – こでけんの小屋 – 楽天ブログ(Blog) http://bit.ly/apz8RP #
    • キムは今・・・ | キム今~世界一周編2005年11月前半 http://bit.ly/aUD1CS #
    • "Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free." | Emerson http://bit.ly/b1IQXD #
    • (cont) http://tl.gd/k2uh7 #
    • "Not even" Spanish speakers can spell *Spanish* correctly. Why don't they just give up on the written word altogether (!!!?!?!!) #
    • @sinosplice John on getting rid of boring crap (actual technical term) from your SRS http://bit.ly/9NrxhQ #
    • "Spaced repetition mentioned in JET Japanese learning materials. Made me smile." | HiddenSincerity http://bit.ly/cHnkCV #
    • Babelhut's Thomas (@tummai) presents RhinoSpike : Foreign Language Audio on Demand! http://bit.ly/a006fJ #
    • "Not possible" is emphatically not what gives people trouble with languages. "Not personally important enough to make possible" is #
    • Emerson | "All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." http://bit.ly/9nyKO5 #
    • "Some parts of the brain are just like a baby's and can grow new connections…" http://bit.ly/arVjIJ #
    • One can never come to understand native-level material by avoiding it: contact precedes comprehension. #
    • "We have the ability to learn new things our entire life. " http://bit.ly/arVjIJ #
    • "[Using SRS] I know things…better one year after taking a course than a freshman who just finished the same course." http://bit.ly/cdM8P4 #
    • YouTube
      - Just A Band – Ha-He
      http://bit.ly/bFb70H #
    • If you ever have to choose between keeping an item because you "should", and doing more reps, delete and do more reps. #SRS #
    • I'm finding that 10~15 seconds is my ideal time for audio on SRS cards in terms of context/length. Too long = boring. #
    • "這是最後的底線,絕不再退半步!他們應該付出他們該付的代價!" Resistance (against Mandarin) is futile, part 1 http://bit.ly/cBKJtr #
    • Information is no respecter of persons. You either have the information or you don't. It has nothing to do with where you're supposedly from #
    • YouTube
      - Miss Luxury (PV) feat.MACCHO, GIPPER, KOZ, HI-D, Foxxi misQ
      http://bit.ly/bU9B47 #
    • "Do not give yourself the option to suck." http://bit.ly/bNfiTg #
    • サイマルラジオ http://bit.ly/aIk5Qi #
    • というより、感動した。(^^)http://bit.ly/dlucAR #
    • YouTube – 猫ラーメン 第01話 http://bit.ly/dlKSBq #
    • YouTube
      - インパルス – 美容室
      http://bit.ly/bcUI5P #
    • YouTube
      - インパルス インターネット自殺
      http://bit.ly/9vDjeB (爆笑)。 #
    • お雇い外国人 – Wikipedia http://bit.ly/aQ6dZ2 #
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    Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

    Original AJATT Products

    Read on:
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-10-24
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-10-24
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-11-07
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-09-05
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-08-29
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-08-15
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-09-19
  • Twitter Tweets
  • Table of Contents
  • Comments (2)

    世界読書コンクール/International L2 Reading Contest

    Hey Team.

    Today’s is a guest post by Maya, whom you may know as one of AJATT’s most prolific contributors of sweet links of the “reliving childhood joy” variety. Recently, she’s also enjoyed great SRS success with extensive one-by-one deletion of crappy cards.

    Anyway, the being known as Maya has now graduated from simply being a good-looking Japanese learner with great taste in blogs, to a good-looking Japanese learner with great taste in blogs who does bribery and extortion ;) . I’m not saying she threatened my family and offered me money for this post. I’m just saying…I have a PayPal account. So, without further ado, here’s a guest post from Maya herself about a new, free and friendly reading contest!

    Maya:

    Hey, you! Yes, YOU!

    Do you remember what it was like being a kid? Those good ol’ days, when decisions were made by going “eeny-meeny-miney-moe”? When money problems were settled by the banker in Monopoly, and “old” referred to anyone over 20? When having a lunch box plastered with Power Rangers stickers made you the coolest kid in school, and a trip to Toys ‘R Us seemed way cooler than going to the mall?

    Back then, everything you did in school had some connection to something fun. Y’know, those good ol’ days when “learning physics” really meant “watching ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ videos”, and math class involved as many pictures and drawings as it did numbers. Back when fifteen whole minutes of reading guaranteed you getting a big, sparkly sticker, thereby making you the superstar of your class.

    This April, 2010, I (Maya) am inviting you to go back to those times – to get back into the “if it’s not fun, #’!#& it” mentality. I’m inviting you to join…

    世界読書コンクール:L2 Reading Contest Ghetto Fun-Blasting Machine

    That’s right – a reading contest. Here’s the scoop:

    • The contest is web-based; everyone, regardless of location, is welcome and encouraged to join
    • Contest starts April 1st, 2010 and ends April 30th, 2010 local time (whatever that is for you)
    • Winner = whoever reads the largest number of pages
    • One “page” = a page in a manga; a page in a book; a webpage; one newspaper article, etc
    • Participants will be encouraged to give weekly updates of their progress (for extra drama), but only the end (monthly) results will be considered final
    • Winners will be awarded sparkly e-stickers, along with the glory of looking cool on the Internet
    • Non-winners will be awarded… not sparkly e-stickers
    • All participants will get the chance to be inspired to do more reading in a month than they might have done otherwise
    • Learners of languages other than Japanese are also welcome to join

    That’s all. Participation is (of course) free, and dropping out halfway through is also allowed. If you’d like to join, please leave a comment either under this post or under the post in this link with your name (doesn’t have to be your real name) and the language(s) you will be reading in (for this contest, any reading done in your native language(s) will not count).

    That’s about all. Let’s get the reading started!

    That’s it. Let the fun begin. Feel free to send any questions/comments you have about the contest to Maya directly since…they’ll actually get answered that way :) .

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    Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

    Original AJATT Products

    Read on:
  • How To Read Out The Things That Aren’t Written Explicitly In Japanese: Postal Addresses
  • How To Score Yourself On Repetitions 2
  • Japanese Websites: Buying A Region-Free DVD Player
  • How to Score Yourself on Repetitions
  • Stephen Krashen on Reading
  • 10,000 Sentences: Input Before Output
  • Chinese Project Notes 7: How To Read Books That Are Too Hard For You + Crossing the OS Rubicon
  • Reading
  • Table of Contents
  • Comments (33)

    Learning Songs Using the SRS: My Current Method

    Just by way of sharing concrete tactics (rather than, I guess, the abstract strategy I usually share (?)), I thought I’d write about how I learn songs using the SRS.

    Keep in mind that this is just what I do right now. Yes, I am the Great Khatzumoto, but you know what? Really I’m just a 27-year-old boy who drinks peppermint tea and plays with his cats. I don’t know jack about jack. This is just what was most fun and least annoying for me. You’re bound to have a better idea and I’d love to hear about it if you’d like to share ;) .

    Put another way: a lot of AJATT strategic principles are universal, I think. But the tactical stuff is totally a matter of “what works for you”. I mean, we might not even be running the same OS, so…you know. Anyway, here we go!

    The Steps

    1. Have a song that you love, love, love and wish you could sing along to
    2. If at any point in this process you get bored…stop. The worst thing you could do for your Chinese/Japanese/any language is start to associate it with boredom. That there is the gateway to failure. Having fun with and in the language is the name of the game.
    3. Get an mp3 file of the song.
    4. Split the file into 10~30-second clips with ~5 seconds of backward overlap
      • I add a 5-second backward overlap because a split on strict time boundaries is bound to be imperfect in that it’ll cut right in the middle of something good.
        • Adding the overlap provides a way to automatically compensate for this without going through the psychological and computational heck of attempting to split on something like silence-points.
      • I use EZSoftMagic’s MP3 Splitter & Joiner for this automated splitting
        • They’re not paying me for this endorsement, but they should :)
        • If you know of any other software that does a good job at this, feel free to share in comments.
      • The reason we split the file and not just throw the whole thing into the SRS is because we are trying to do what the SRS does best – optimize the management and memorization of discrete chunks of information. Throwing the entire song in there is (1) boring and (2) defeats the purpose of even having an SRS.
    5. Get the lyrics of the song
    6. Put the audio clip into the SRS on the back of the card
    7. Put one line or less of the lyrics on the front of the card
      • i.e. the lyrics of a segment of the 10~30-second clip, not of the whole clip
    8. Put the lyrics of the whole 10~30-second clip, or of the entire song, on the back of the card.
      • I prefer putting the lyrics of just the whole clip because it’s easier to read
      • But sticking the lyrics of the entire song on the back could save you a lot of fiddling
    9. Do your reps.
      • The task is to read aloud or sing the line/segment of the line of the song
      • Check your “answer” against the actual song clip
    10. Final note: if any of this feels like too much work, then stop. Abort. Delete. Whatever. Because you obviously don’t like the song enough. You may like the song, just not enough, not that much. And that’s fine. Remember, the idea is to be like Soviet Russia: let the media motivate you — that’s its job.  All you have to do is put yourself in the path of the media.

    Sample Card

    FRONT

    男兒當自強

    [Youtube]

    BACK

    [media: naam yi dong ji keung- 007.mp3]

    廣闊浩氣揚 既是男兒當自強 昂步挺胸

    jìshì【既是】
    …であるからには.…である以上.

    gei si naam yi dong ji keung

    Benefits of this method

    • Over time, with very little effort, you learn the entire song
    • As per SRS principles, the parts of the song that give you the most trouble – and that therefore need the most practice – will get seen the most
      • Ever notice how almost everyone knows the chorus of a song no matter how complex the vocabulary? (I remember being about 6 years old and singing Bobby Brown’s “it’s my prerogative!”). That’s because the chorus gets repeated so much. SRSing the song turns the entire song into a “chorus”, in that all the parts of the song will get repeated to the degree necessary to ensure their memorization.
    • No need to fiddle with carrying lyric sheets in your bag or on your computer – it’s not like you can ever get them out on time anyway.
    • Even after the song stops getting playtime on your mp3 player, the SRS will ensure that you keep getting practice with it. This is a microcosm of how the SRS is a powerful partner to an immersion environment – even after you stop immersing in, say, technical documents from a certain field, the SRS will guarantee you keep getting the practice in that field that you need to retain your proficiency in it.
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    Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

    Original AJATT Products

    Read on:
  • AJATT Twitter Tweets for Week Of 2009-08-15
  • KhatzuMemo Update: Speed-Up, View Stats
  • Success Story: More in a few months of AJATT than in 4 years of school French
  • Japanese Bands: The List 2
  • Surusu Update: Anki Card/Deck Import; Rep Undo; Deck Ops
  • Chinese Project Notes 9: Making Your Own Music
  • Lazy Kanji Cards: An AJATTeer Shares A Personal Status Report
  • Chinese Project, Music, SRS, Sentences
  • Table of Contents
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    Success Story: I’ve finally figured out this AJATT thing

    Drewskie sent me this really cool email the autre jour. You may know him from comments :D , being as it is that he is incredibly good-looking and has wonderful taste in blogs. Here he is in his own words (links and emphasis added by me):

    [勝]元先輩、[Khatzumoto-sempai]

    Maybe it’s that I finally found some really chill Japanese music that fits my taste (I’ve been aching for something besides upbeat pop), or maybe I’m in new-blog-post afterglow, but I’m about to write some sappy thank-yous along with a short life story, both of which I’m sure you get a lot, but I have no idea if you like or dislike. Can’t help it, it’s coming.

    I’ve finally figured out this AJATT thing — specifically the “how it teaches you Japanese” part. A little late, I know. I’m coming up on a year since I found your website, skeptically examined articles here and there, thinking how full of [%&#!] this guy was – probably because deep down I really didn’t want to have to do so much for Japanese. But I warmed up to the idea. I made sure my music listening was in “This is almost done” mode as I approached the end of RTK (I took that advice immediately and put off immersion, I couldn’t do it so fast). All of that motivational material just marinated in my brain. People around me noticed a difference.

    But I’m an engineer, [Khatz]. I’ve been trained to “figure out” and “understand”. I thrive on that desire to understand and the energy it produces. So when I started sentences, I was constantly struggling to “get it”. I think I went through three separate weeks where I proclaimed I understood the basic particles. They just slid off of me, and I’d do it again, “That’s RIGHT, に is for contexts and を is for targets and blahblahblah”.

    I understood the input hypothesis, but I didn’t understand the implications, specifically on our biology. I figured that was just “We learn better by seeing examples than by trying to use grammar to produce sentences” — but that’s only half way there. I’m realizing that we learn better by seeing examples and not attempting to understand them.

    The vast amounts of language learning power in our brain get to take over uninhibited at that point, and by forcing myself to take the role of the observer while that happens, I’m experiencing some very interesting things. Everything has a feeling. It feels right or it feels wrong. You’ve said this before, I’ve read it all, it just never clicked. I never stopped thinking, and that was a really big problem.

    But all of that energy was just GONE. I was really down about all of this. But I kept going forward (vector normalization is a wonderful motivator). I set a minimum “new sentences” goal of 5 per day, which I never even approached, because every time it was starting to get late or I was busy with other things, I thought “Just read until you have 5,” and by the time I actually stopped I had more like 15. It wasn’t like before though, there was just no excitement, no “I must figure this out,” nothing — but after about two weeks of that, I started to realize that I was enjoying myself again just on a more general level. It wasn’t directed, and that’s why I liked it.

    Japanese is now one of the only things in my life that isn’t directed in some way by logic and higher brain functions. It’s now a self-sustaining reaction producing pure spiral energy, and I was suddenly hitting more 30-35 card days, and now I hit spring break and I’ve had four 60+ card days, and the reviews are getting just silly-large, but I just keep going, and I love it. I love it so much.

    Thank you. Thank you so much for running the blog, for cracking a whip on Twitter, for not keeping your methodology hidden and safe so your skills stay super-valuable (if this ever hits mainstream, sorry [Khatz], your days of “wow, that guy’s good” are toast). This entire endeavor has had a profoundly positive influence on my life. Thank you.

    A most sincerely thankful

    Drewskie

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    Yea, verily and it was written, that [your name goes here] did donate to AJATT. And it was good.

    Original AJATT Products

    Read on:
  • Japanese Music Recommendations from AJATTeers
  • Success Story: Tried Many Methods Before AJATT
  • Japanese Learner Success Stories
  • Success Story: Motivation Brings Results Bring More Motivation Brings More Results
  • The Other Other Other White Meat: Yet Another Japanese Success Story
  • Not Yet?
  • The End of AJATT
  • Success Stories
  • Table of Contents
  • Comments (57)

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