Whine complain blah meh.
Pffft my dog is sleeping on her back with her legs all sticking out and it's so hilarious looking. WHY ARE YOU SO ADORABLE, KRICKET?
Okay, I'm not really sure what to talk about, I'm just...bored. I've felt pretty lethargic for the last couple of days. I think my sleep is just out of whack...or, at least, I'm hoping that's the case. Maybe I'll be able to fall asleep at a decent time tonight and see how I feel in the morning. :D;
My mom wanted me to get something to help me study languages--a program, a book, whatever--since I'm not in school and can't get a job (though apparently just recently a store opened near here and they are hiring. Mom thinks it's a party store or something. I bet they wouldn't HIRE me but I could try? *dies*). Well, anyway, I felt a little leery about the whole idea since a lot of those computer programs and stuff are for beginners and I was afraid it'd be a lot of stuff I already learned in school. On the other hand, I do kind of need a refresher, and maybe they would have some things I haven't already learned? (And maybe grammar help. I fail so bad at grammar. D: I mean, it's easy to remember vocabulary and, for Japanese, kanji and things, but when it comes to grammar it just refuses to stick in my head.)
Anyway, so I got two at the store just to appease her (and the reviews on Amazon seemed okay). Well, uh, I was just going to get one (German) but we saw them at the store, mom was like OH! and I looked them up online when I got home, and then dad took me back to the store to buy it and dad was like THEY ARE CHEAP, YOU SHOULD BUY TWO! So...yeah, I got two because he said so and he knows I like both German and Japanese. The Japanese program automatically comes with Mandarin. And, looking through the programs, they both seem pretty decent. I'm not sure how helpful they'll be with grammar (though I only looked at one section of the program) but they have some vocab I don't know, at least? And the audio is all nice, even if the videos are super cheesy and oozing with 90s fashion. (I couldn't find good audio for Chinese, though: I looked and looked, and although they had plenty of native speakers telling you how to say words or sentences, I couldn't find any videos with acting where the dialogue is spoken naturally. Bummer.)
The only problem is, with the way the programs are organized, they give you a variety of options on how to learn depending on the way you learn and what you need to learn. But then... I have no clue where to START, because there isn't anything that says START HERE. I know, a lame complaint, but. *dies* I've been pretty tired so I haven't been able to really use it, just check it out. But I hope they're useful and I actually learn something out of them and I'm not stupid. ;_; (It comes with this ... audio thing where you speak into a microphone and the program tells you how close to a native speaker you sound. I'm not really sure how accurate it really is...I tried it with Japanese because I know my German sucks, and with the low-pitched woman's voice who said the whole sentence comparing it to mine it always said mine sucked. But if I compared mine to the high-pitched woman's voice who said the words individually, the computer said 80% of the time I sounded EXCELLENT. Uh. Yeah. Though now I worry that my Japanese actually SUCKS. No one's ever said my Japanese sounded good or bad so... I can only judge by my own ears, which is a poor judge. Blah.)
The Japanese program automatically comes with Mandarin Chinese too, which I think is... uh, stupid, but okay. (You could buy Spanish, French, Italian, and German all by themselves. But the Asian languages? Let's put them in the same box. PFFFT ASIANS JUST LOOK AND SOUND THE SAME ANYWAY, AM I RIGHT?!) The only difference, as far as the amount of content the German and Japanese/Chinese one has, is the German one has four audio CDs while the Chinese only gets one audio CD and the Japanese one gets only one. Which is...dumb, but whatever. The computer programs for them have the same amount of features.
I really don't know if I should even bother with the Chinese. I considered trying it out if it would help with my kanji but both the Japaense and the Chinese write everything in English lettering. :| You only get hiragana/kanji and hanzi if you use the flashcards, I think. (I might be wrong since I didn't explore the program thoroughly, but it WASN'T in the reading or video section). That's just... stupid. I could really use more kanji practice so... meh. :| I wish there was an option that let you show the writing in kanji/hanzi OR English lettering according to which you wanted. I know the program needs it in English lettering for beginners, but WHAT IF YOU AREN'T A BEGINNER? 8|
I've had people suggest I should try learning Chinese based on my interest in Japanese ("Chinese is so much easier!" "If you learn both, it makes learning the other so much easier!") but... man, I just think it'd be too hard for me. It's the tonal stuff: not only is it really hard for me to hear the differences, but to have to pronounce it all? I don't exactly have the best speaking skills in the universe. And apparently the tones change when words are combined and...holy crap. I already want to learn Japanese AND German, I don't think it's best to tack Chinese onto that too. I also don't...get Mandarin. I like Cantonese more. But, of course, no one cares if you learn Cantonese because Mandarin's more common.
...Yeah, I dunno. Wish me luck as I poorly attempt to learn more German and Japanese. And fail horribly at doing so blaaaah I should stfu I got straight A's in both my language classes but I feel crappy anyway.
Okay, I'm not really sure what to talk about, I'm just...bored. I've felt pretty lethargic for the last couple of days. I think my sleep is just out of whack...or, at least, I'm hoping that's the case. Maybe I'll be able to fall asleep at a decent time tonight and see how I feel in the morning. :D;
My mom wanted me to get something to help me study languages--a program, a book, whatever--since I'm not in school and can't get a job (though apparently just recently a store opened near here and they are hiring. Mom thinks it's a party store or something. I bet they wouldn't HIRE me but I could try? *dies*). Well, anyway, I felt a little leery about the whole idea since a lot of those computer programs and stuff are for beginners and I was afraid it'd be a lot of stuff I already learned in school. On the other hand, I do kind of need a refresher, and maybe they would have some things I haven't already learned? (And maybe grammar help. I fail so bad at grammar. D: I mean, it's easy to remember vocabulary and, for Japanese, kanji and things, but when it comes to grammar it just refuses to stick in my head.)
Anyway, so I got two at the store just to appease her (and the reviews on Amazon seemed okay). Well, uh, I was just going to get one (German) but we saw them at the store, mom was like OH! and I looked them up online when I got home, and then dad took me back to the store to buy it and dad was like THEY ARE CHEAP, YOU SHOULD BUY TWO! So...yeah, I got two because he said so and he knows I like both German and Japanese. The Japanese program automatically comes with Mandarin. And, looking through the programs, they both seem pretty decent. I'm not sure how helpful they'll be with grammar (though I only looked at one section of the program) but they have some vocab I don't know, at least? And the audio is all nice, even if the videos are super cheesy and oozing with 90s fashion. (I couldn't find good audio for Chinese, though: I looked and looked, and although they had plenty of native speakers telling you how to say words or sentences, I couldn't find any videos with acting where the dialogue is spoken naturally. Bummer.)
The only problem is, with the way the programs are organized, they give you a variety of options on how to learn depending on the way you learn and what you need to learn. But then... I have no clue where to START, because there isn't anything that says START HERE. I know, a lame complaint, but. *dies* I've been pretty tired so I haven't been able to really use it, just check it out. But I hope they're useful and I actually learn something out of them and I'm not stupid. ;_; (It comes with this ... audio thing where you speak into a microphone and the program tells you how close to a native speaker you sound. I'm not really sure how accurate it really is...I tried it with Japanese because I know my German sucks, and with the low-pitched woman's voice who said the whole sentence comparing it to mine it always said mine sucked. But if I compared mine to the high-pitched woman's voice who said the words individually, the computer said 80% of the time I sounded EXCELLENT. Uh. Yeah. Though now I worry that my Japanese actually SUCKS. No one's ever said my Japanese sounded good or bad so... I can only judge by my own ears, which is a poor judge. Blah.)
The Japanese program automatically comes with Mandarin Chinese too, which I think is... uh, stupid, but okay. (You could buy Spanish, French, Italian, and German all by themselves. But the Asian languages? Let's put them in the same box. PFFFT ASIANS JUST LOOK AND SOUND THE SAME ANYWAY, AM I RIGHT?!) The only difference, as far as the amount of content the German and Japanese/Chinese one has, is the German one has four audio CDs while the Chinese only gets one audio CD and the Japanese one gets only one. Which is...dumb, but whatever. The computer programs for them have the same amount of features.
I really don't know if I should even bother with the Chinese. I considered trying it out if it would help with my kanji but both the Japaense and the Chinese write everything in English lettering. :| You only get hiragana/kanji and hanzi if you use the flashcards, I think. (I might be wrong since I didn't explore the program thoroughly, but it WASN'T in the reading or video section). That's just... stupid. I could really use more kanji practice so... meh. :| I wish there was an option that let you show the writing in kanji/hanzi OR English lettering according to which you wanted. I know the program needs it in English lettering for beginners, but WHAT IF YOU AREN'T A BEGINNER? 8|
I've had people suggest I should try learning Chinese based on my interest in Japanese ("Chinese is so much easier!" "If you learn both, it makes learning the other so much easier!") but... man, I just think it'd be too hard for me. It's the tonal stuff: not only is it really hard for me to hear the differences, but to have to pronounce it all? I don't exactly have the best speaking skills in the universe. And apparently the tones change when words are combined and...holy crap. I already want to learn Japanese AND German, I don't think it's best to tack Chinese onto that too. I also don't...get Mandarin. I like Cantonese more. But, of course, no one cares if you learn Cantonese because Mandarin's more common.
...Yeah, I dunno. Wish me luck as I poorly attempt to learn more German and Japanese. And fail horribly at doing so blaaaah I should stfu I got straight A's in both my language classes but I feel crappy anyway.