My Renaissance
(It just struck me how the first five letters equate to [恋愛] - れんあい - romantic. That elicited a smile.)
I'm still running off the high that was Japanese class. People always seem impressed when I tell them that I work full-time and then took class and was out of the house from 8:30AM - 9:30PM. It was no big deal. In fact it wasn't a big deal to have a 3 and a half hour class, and I thought it felt kinda short.
After it concluded, I realized that there was an enormous amount of time after work that was just empty and that I could use this time constructively to keep learning, and that I still wanted to learn Japanese.
The fruits of my labor found the website AJATT - All Japanese All the Time which advocated a "revolutionary" way of learning a language. I suddenly found myself enamored with the teaching techniques he described, notably SRS using Anki, using subconscious learning, and doing a little at a time over a long period of time. SRS actually really helped hammer home the Woody Allen quote: "80% of success is just showing up." It practically shows up for you!
I study about 2 hours of Japanese a day, actively, spread throughout the day with a morning RTK session and Anki on for most of the day. There's some passive learning in there like when I attempt to read Azumanga or some of the J+E magazines I picked up, listening to Japanese music, and occasionally downloading a podcast. Only 2 hours a day spread throughout, and yet I still have tons of time to do lots of other things.
So what's next?
1: Photography
I think I've read all that I need to read. There are only two things I need to do: Take pictures (preferably using a theme for each session) and look at good pictures. A photo shoot every now and then will brush up the technique.
2: Fitness
I've definitely read all that I need to read. Rule #1 of fitness is consistency, get my ass in the gym 3 times a week. Even if I use lighter weight or don't do all the reps, as long as I'm there I'll get there.
Additionally, I forgot about my goal to become CSCS-certified. I want to do it just to say I did it and tell everyone I'm a certified PT. That'd also be hilarious if I got a few clients. Just gotta order the book and read it.
3: Education
I'm getting more and more interested in the science of learning. People have often accused me of picking up a hobby, getting just average at it, and then quitting. You know why? I love learning. I love learning about new learning methods. I love learning about how people become great. I'm tempted to apply for an MS in Cognitive Psychology or Cognitive Science, but I'll look into it some more.
4: Gaming
Tetris 30 minutes a day at least. I also want to take a shot at making a game for once instead of programming an RPG for 3 hours which was just Arn Anderson and the 4 Horseman killing you. I'm thinking about picking up Neverwinter Nights and scripting in that, or finding some game where I can build maps.
5: Blogging
During my time of trying a bunch of random stuff and attempting to achieve a level of expertise, I want to chronicle it properly and create blog entries that actually mean something. No more of this "LOL I WENT TO THE BANK TODAY ROFL, I HATE SO-AND-SO BECAUSE THEY R DUMB AND THEY LIKE THE TACOS BUT I DUN LIKE THE TACOS" but to actually write something that people want to read, that people can take something out of. It probably means I have to move off LJ, and I'm thinking about buying a host again.
So that means this is my last post here. Time to stop writing a journal that makes no sense, never did, and probably not too entertaining to read.
-Joe
I'm still running off the high that was Japanese class. People always seem impressed when I tell them that I work full-time and then took class and was out of the house from 8:30AM - 9:30PM. It was no big deal. In fact it wasn't a big deal to have a 3 and a half hour class, and I thought it felt kinda short.
After it concluded, I realized that there was an enormous amount of time after work that was just empty and that I could use this time constructively to keep learning, and that I still wanted to learn Japanese.
The fruits of my labor found the website AJATT - All Japanese All the Time which advocated a "revolutionary" way of learning a language. I suddenly found myself enamored with the teaching techniques he described, notably SRS using Anki, using subconscious learning, and doing a little at a time over a long period of time. SRS actually really helped hammer home the Woody Allen quote: "80% of success is just showing up." It practically shows up for you!
I study about 2 hours of Japanese a day, actively, spread throughout the day with a morning RTK session and Anki on for most of the day. There's some passive learning in there like when I attempt to read Azumanga or some of the J+E magazines I picked up, listening to Japanese music, and occasionally downloading a podcast. Only 2 hours a day spread throughout, and yet I still have tons of time to do lots of other things.
So what's next?
1: Photography
I think I've read all that I need to read. There are only two things I need to do: Take pictures (preferably using a theme for each session) and look at good pictures. A photo shoot every now and then will brush up the technique.
2: Fitness
I've definitely read all that I need to read. Rule #1 of fitness is consistency, get my ass in the gym 3 times a week. Even if I use lighter weight or don't do all the reps, as long as I'm there I'll get there.
Additionally, I forgot about my goal to become CSCS-certified. I want to do it just to say I did it and tell everyone I'm a certified PT. That'd also be hilarious if I got a few clients. Just gotta order the book and read it.
3: Education
I'm getting more and more interested in the science of learning. People have often accused me of picking up a hobby, getting just average at it, and then quitting. You know why? I love learning. I love learning about new learning methods. I love learning about how people become great. I'm tempted to apply for an MS in Cognitive Psychology or Cognitive Science, but I'll look into it some more.
4: Gaming
Tetris 30 minutes a day at least. I also want to take a shot at making a game for once instead of programming an RPG for 3 hours which was just Arn Anderson and the 4 Horseman killing you. I'm thinking about picking up Neverwinter Nights and scripting in that, or finding some game where I can build maps.
5: Blogging
During my time of trying a bunch of random stuff and attempting to achieve a level of expertise, I want to chronicle it properly and create blog entries that actually mean something. No more of this "LOL I WENT TO THE BANK TODAY ROFL, I HATE SO-AND-SO BECAUSE THEY R DUMB AND THEY LIKE THE TACOS BUT I DUN LIKE THE TACOS" but to actually write something that people want to read, that people can take something out of. It probably means I have to move off LJ, and I'm thinking about buying a host again.
So that means this is my last post here. Time to stop writing a journal that makes no sense, never did, and probably not too entertaining to read.
-Joe