Plans for the new year. 新年の抱負
I dunno if I want to say "New Year's Resolutions" but more just goals I'm setting for myself for 2010.
All in all, 2009 was a pretty craptastic year. I think the first 6 months were mostly taken up by reverse culture-shock and general separation anxiety from my friends and Japan. While I'm over the worst of it, I still suffer from a bit of reverse culture shock. I just haven't been the same since I came back.
But anyways, time to forget all of that and start looking forward to 2010. So let's see what I have in store. The year is going to start of fairly well with a nice vacation to Japan for a little recharge. That will hopefully help get some of my focus and determination back because lately I've felt like I've lost focus of my goals and dreams. Furthermore I want to be finished with school this year and work on finding a job back in Japan and moving on with my life.
I'd also like to meet a nice boyfriend :)
Now as for learning goals. I really proud of how much my Japanese studies have progressed this year. Looking back at my Japanese abilities a year ago, I have come a long way. A year ago I was about JLPT3 level (300~400 kanji) and now I'm about JLPT2 (~1000 kanji). I did slack for a good first half of the year as due to depression it was very hard to get started on my studying, but if I continue my pace and hard work from now I should be able to get about to JLPT1 level (~2000 kanji) by the end of this year. I would also like to work more on my grammar as I feel that will be my weak point in 2010 as opposed to vocabulary being my weak point in 2009.
So at my present level I can read most manga fairly easily now, so it's about time I graduate to something more difficult. I've been really proud of myself that I've been able to follow most of the dialogue and story in Final Fantasy 13 so my goal for 2010 is to start being able to read Japanese novels (小説). As there are no pictures or furigana to help infer what is going on it will be much more difficult, but I believe it is an obtainable goal.
And I've actually already bought my first novel to read! My first Japanese novel is "Summer Wars." If you're an anime fan then you may have already seen the movie which was based off the novel. I bought this one because I enjoyed the movie very much and I don't think it was that hard to follow. In addition I'm already somewhat familiar with the characters and plot so it will be good for my first book. I can't wait to start reading it! I'll probably read a lot on my plane ride to Japan and back.
Oh! And if you haven't seen it already yet, JapanNewbie.com interviewed me about my Japanese studies and experiences in Japan. Please read if you haven't, I think you'll find it very interesting!
JapanNewbie.com Interview Part 1
JapanNewbie.com Interview Part 2
All in all, 2009 was a pretty craptastic year. I think the first 6 months were mostly taken up by reverse culture-shock and general separation anxiety from my friends and Japan. While I'm over the worst of it, I still suffer from a bit of reverse culture shock. I just haven't been the same since I came back.
But anyways, time to forget all of that and start looking forward to 2010. So let's see what I have in store. The year is going to start of fairly well with a nice vacation to Japan for a little recharge. That will hopefully help get some of my focus and determination back because lately I've felt like I've lost focus of my goals and dreams. Furthermore I want to be finished with school this year and work on finding a job back in Japan and moving on with my life.
I'd also like to meet a nice boyfriend :)
Now as for learning goals. I really proud of how much my Japanese studies have progressed this year. Looking back at my Japanese abilities a year ago, I have come a long way. A year ago I was about JLPT3 level (300~400 kanji) and now I'm about JLPT2 (~1000 kanji). I did slack for a good first half of the year as due to depression it was very hard to get started on my studying, but if I continue my pace and hard work from now I should be able to get about to JLPT1 level (~2000 kanji) by the end of this year. I would also like to work more on my grammar as I feel that will be my weak point in 2010 as opposed to vocabulary being my weak point in 2009.
So at my present level I can read most manga fairly easily now, so it's about time I graduate to something more difficult. I've been really proud of myself that I've been able to follow most of the dialogue and story in Final Fantasy 13 so my goal for 2010 is to start being able to read Japanese novels (小説). As there are no pictures or furigana to help infer what is going on it will be much more difficult, but I believe it is an obtainable goal.
And I've actually already bought my first novel to read! My first Japanese novel is "Summer Wars." If you're an anime fan then you may have already seen the movie which was based off the novel. I bought this one because I enjoyed the movie very much and I don't think it was that hard to follow. In addition I'm already somewhat familiar with the characters and plot so it will be good for my first book. I can't wait to start reading it! I'll probably read a lot on my plane ride to Japan and back.
Oh! And if you haven't seen it already yet, JapanNewbie.com interviewed me about my Japanese studies and experiences in Japan. Please read if you haven't, I think you'll find it very interesting!
JapanNewbie.com Interview Part 1
JapanNewbie.com Interview Part 2