semperfiona | (no subject)

Japanese has been on my mind again of late. Last week, Britton sent me a link to this story (or one like it), about a hamster and snake OOSSLQ. At the end of his email, he commented "Shinji-rare-nai (Believed-to be possible-not)." This tiny snippet had an interesting effect. First, I was slightly affronted that he felt the need to translate it. But then, I quickly realized that if he had not, it would have taken me quite a while, and probably recourse to the dictionary, to figure out the meaning. Then, I was disappointed in my forgetfulness, because it's a quite simple construction and something I learned very early in my Japanese language lessons. Though I remembered the construction; it was the original verb that I didn't recognize.

A couple months ago, Tammie looked up information for me about the Japanese classes available at UMSL. She even found a number for the department advisor so I could talk to her about what course program might best suit my particular needs. I didn't actually call as yet, but I'm feeling like I should.

Then even more recently, she pointed out to me a scheduled trip to Japan through UMSL. $2500 for about three weeks. That's a very reasonable price, but it's still daunting from our position of financial struggle.
I'm dreaming...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was bothering me that I'd lost much of my fluency in Hebrew, so I've started watching an Israeli TV news broadcast every day. (Streaming video on the internet.) As I watch, I deliberately mentally translate, taking note of words I do not know or had forgotten. My fluency is greatly improved, and so is my vocabulary.

Maybe you could find a Japanese show to watch on a regular basis, as a first step?

An excellent idea, thanks.