Baking spree

I recently also have been on a baking spree...

Some of the things I made recently...

(apple pies, wholeweat and white flour---white flour home made crust was not great; somehow, home made wholeweat flour is easier to do and nicer to eat)

(pizza)

Knitting spree

knitting a kind of haramaki (cover around the waist, to keep one's stomach warm) for a friend.

Here is me doing it...
and the final result...

On another project, with Momo.

I have been on a knitting spree these days...

Sewing

How I saw the inside of my pants.

This is a little difficult to explain:

I saw my own pants and don't like to zig zag the inner part. Years ago, I found a good way to have it nice inside as well.

I saw the materiel together, usual way. I usually cut material so that I have about 2-3 cm between the border and the stitches.

I then cut one of the two sheets of fabric (about 5 mm to 1 cm from stitch).

I fold the longer sheet of fabric on the cut one. Its border comes next to the original stitch.

I fold it again, it goes on the stitch.

I saw the fold.

Movie Die Herbstzeitlosen (Latebloomers)

Just back from a Tokyo movie theater, where I saw with other Swiss ladies a Swiss German movie called Die Herbstzeitlosen (Latebloomers, site in English here).

It was really funny, with old Swiss ladies, nice scenery.

Today was ladies day with cheaper tickets for ladies. The movie theater was packed. Some viewers were even sitting on the floor.

Most of the viewers were Japanese. I wonder if any could understand Swiss German. Luckily for the rest, there were subtitles in Japanese

Reading ebooks with iPod Touch

I am very happy to say that I found a great iPod Touch application to read ebooks on the iPod Touch: a free application called STANZA.

Unlike some other ebook applications for iPod Touch I tried, it is easy to use and has a great library of free books. These books are classics, out of copyright and available for free in the Stanza library (you download them onto your iPod touch through wireless connection).

Most of them are also available on Gutenberg, but they had even two books of Agatha Christie.

The library carries mostly books in English. I found books in French too and they are starting to have books in German.

Some of the features I really like (and was missing when reading ebooks on my Nintendo DS) are:
1) one can go from and to any chapter (for example, to view one's favorite parts, hehe)
2) one can easily scroll within a chapter
3) one can easily change the font type and size
4) one can easily change the background and font color

I have now to figure how to transfer self made ebooks into the iPod Touch. It can be done only wirelessly (unlike notes on the iPod Nano).

When reading...

When browsing chapters, etc...


PS: it also works on iPhone...

New Japanese word: Natsubate

OK, let's try to remember this new Japanese word: Natsubate.

Means Summer Fatigue.

Japanese summer is pretty tough for the body, between the heat, the humidity, the temperature changes every time you go anywhere (hot and humid on the streets, cold in trains, subways, stores, etc), food poisonning (got a light one two-three weeks ago, one friend is not yet over a pretty tough one), etc. etc.

I try not to use air con too much, because my body does not agree with it. But there are times we don't really have a choice.

Let's look forward autumn (but not typhoons) and winter (but not very dry air).

Accepting one's limits

This week, I had to face a hard fact of live: we all have limits and need to accept and embrace them. Even moi ;-)

I have been having a hard time recovering from the PE incident last March (pulmonary embolism), with high daily doses of Warfarin (blood thinner), a busy life and now the terribly hot and humid Japanese summer.

I had the PE incident just three days after registering (and paying for) the Japanese intensive class. I had therefore no choice, but take the course. Which I did for 3 months. I registered to the next level and paid half of the course. Pace was getting faster, amount of material to know heavier and quizzes/tests more difficult.

It was getting too stressful and on Tuesday, I had a panic attack in the classroom. I left and rested for a while. And decided then that I would just quit the course. I felt much better afterwards. Surprise, surprise...

I had thought about it before, wondering and pondering what would be best for me. And I got the answer.


This does not mean that I am quitting my studies of the Japanese language. In the contrary. I will just do it at "my pace" (how they like to say it here).

I am working steadily on my kumon worksheets, both nihongo and kokugo.

I also registered for JLPT Level 2 test in December and will try. Honestly, I am not yet there, but hey, I have nothing to loose.

In addition to Kumon, I am also trying to improve my reading, among others with a book called "kanji from the start" (out of print, but available at second hand bookstores). The Nakanuma reading serie is also on my table, never out of sight.

Gambarimashou...

Learning Japanese with Kumon

Japanese Language: Learning Japanese with KUMON
(originally published online in 2003, updated regularly)

To contact KUMON 

For "nihongo" (Japanese for foreigners): http://www.kumon.ne.jp/jpn/english/index.html 

For "kokugo" (Japanese for Japanese children)： http://www.kumon.ne.jp/ 



Some background

During my first stay in Japan (1995 to 1998), I had a Japanese teacher who came once a week to the office. I was not always as serious as I should have been and we enjoyed a little too much small talk. It was fine for me, because I did not have the pressure of learning Japanese the fast way: basics were sufficient for my daily use (to make phone reservations, for shopping, etc). Little did I know that I would spend the rest of my life in Japan and, thus, really need the language ...

I left Japan in 1998, but left behind me a boyfriend who later became my (dear) husband ... I moved back in 2001. In February 2002, almost one year after my return, I realized that my Japanese had not improved much. I did not like it. Not only because of a short stay at the hospital, where communication with the doctors and the nurses had been, how to say ..., challenging. But also because I (or my ego) just did not like the idea of being an illiterate woman in Japan. 

One of my problems: I did not use Japanese very often. And when I did, I needed more than just "basic" Japanese. Somebody once said that you should have a boyfriend/husband who speaks a language in order to learn or improve it. Wrong ! My husband is Japanese, but we communicate in English, a foreign language for both of us. 
I was a teacher for one year.
Because of my irregular work schedule, I could not go to a school. I also didn't want to pay high fees only to realize later that I just couldn't commit (I had done it in the past ...).
Somebody introduced me to KUMON. Soon, I began learning "nihongo" (Japanese for foreigners). I was studying daily, writing a lot of worksheets. Study was fine. 



KUMON method ("nihongo" for foreigners):

Students can either go to a school and/or fill in the sheets at home. Because of my very irregular schedule, I decided to do it by correspondence. 
I began at Level 4A (total beginner). Although I could speak basic Japanese, my reading and writing of kana were not very good. To refresh was the best.
Each Level/chapter (at the beginner stage at least) has 200 pages B5 format, printed both sides. 
I finished the levels 4A and 3A in about one and half weeks (to the surprise of the teacher, I think :-)). From the level 2A, it became more difficult and my pace became slower. 

If you go to the schools, you pay 8400 Yen a month. From home, it costs 9400 Yen a month. Each chapter has a tape (or CD) that costs 1050 Yen. The fees are the same whether you send your teacher 10 or 400 sheets a month. There is no registration fee and you can cancel with one-month notice. If you suddenly get too busy, you can also take up to 3 months break. But KUMON recommends studying everyday, even a little.

I have to say that I surprised myself: I have been working on these sheets almost every evening. After 2 weeks or so, I could read and write most hiragana. 

For those who don't know the KUMON method: the same words and sentences are repeated many times. It is not boring at all. And it works, especially for the persons who need to read and write in order to learn. This is not a conversation course; it is about reading and writing Japanese. 



Switching to "kokugo" (Japanese for foreigners)

In the meantime, I had left my teaching job to become a hotel concierge. With this new position, I use Japanese on a daily basis. I mainly take care of foreign guests, but once in a while, Japanese guests dare to come to my desk. I also use Japanese to communicate with co-workers, make all kinds of reservations, inquiries, etc. 
Learning Japanese became stressful. Kanji were introduced at a pace that I felt too fast for me. One morning, I decided that it was just too much for me. I looked on the net at Kumon's kokugo (Japanese for Japanese children) and liked what I saw. Since my "nihongo" teacher was not a qualified "kokugo" teacher, I had to leave her class. I went from correspondence class to normal class. But ... not so normal. The teacher allowed me not to study with other (noisy) kids and I just go there to bring the sheets, get new ones and discuss any problem I may have.

"kokugo" (Japanese for Japanese children)

For kokugo, I pay 6300 Yen a month (children's fee). It is a completely different world. I had to go back to pre kindergarden sheets. And I still did not understand everything. We just don't imagine how much vocabulary small children already have ... 
Everything is in Japanese, the teacher speaks to me in Japanese only. The pace is slower: for elementary school, 400 sheets for each level (ie year/grade). There is no grammar, no explanations. 



"nihongo" vs "kokugo"

Until the level D, learning "nihongo" was fun. After that new kanji were introduced too fast and too often. It was also difficult to find reading material, etc, because the kanji were not introduced in the same order as children's kokugo. 
The advantage of kokugo over nihongo: it follows the official introduction of kanji (80 for elem 1st, etc). It makes it easier to go to the bookstore and buy reading material. And it is also easier to buy the drill books (for some more kanji revision).
Important: if somebody plans to study with kokugo, he/she MUST love kids stories, because there are a lot of them in the sheets (normal, it's for children :-)). 
To begin learning Japanese, nihongo may be better: there are English and grammar explanations. It's probably easier. One can always switch later to kokugo, the way I did. 



February 2003, one year later

I just completed ichinensei (elementary school, first grade) and began ninensei (second grade). I repeated the Level A sheets twice and did a lot of drills to remember the kanji. This intensive revision was more than needed. And helped me a lot as well. 
Studying Japanese became a routine: half an hour in the morning before work and half an hour during my lunch break. I always carry the sheets with me and work on them when there is any waiting time somewhere. 



Kanji dream ... 

Once, I read an interesting article in the Japan Times, about having a dream or purpose while learning Japanese and kanji: mine is to be able some day to read and understand Japanese magazines (women and gossip) and manga. What is your dream? 



To contact KUMON ... 

For "nihongo" (Japanese for foreigners): http://www.kumon.ne.jp/jpn/english/index.html 

To see some samples of the worksheets, click "Learning Materials." 

For "kokugo" (Japanese for Japanese children): http://www.kumon.ne.jp/
Worksheet samples: http://www.kumon.ne.jp/comeon/material/japanese/
Kumon also teaches calligraphy/pen writing, etc. (in Japanese): http://www.kumon.ne.jp/lil/index.html 

And, by the way, KUMON has regularly 2 weeks of free trial at their schools. Contact KUMON for more information about that. 



Some kokugo material I recommend (available at any good bookstore or online*):

*I usually love amazon.co.jp (great prices for English books and good deals on market place stores). To see the books, copy the ISBN number, go for example to http://www.amazon.co.jp and click Search to get the form and then paste in the ISBN number. 


KUMON drills (for each ichinensei, ninensei, sannensei, etc):
"Kanji no kakikata" (for example ISBN 4774305448).
"Kanji" (for example ISBN 4774305197). 
There are also other KUMON drill books (reading comprehension, etc). 

Other publishing companies also have drill booklets. One of them is blue/yellow with fish and dolphins. Each grade has a "before" and "after" level (ISBN for the 2nd grade: 4877223215 and 4877223223. I could not find these at Sanseido, but at my nearby bookstore.) 



Books to read:

One publishing company, Kaiseisha, has books for each grade (ichinensei, ninensei and sannensei): about Aesop, Japanese stories, Foreign stories, Grimm stories, Andersen stories, etc. Here is one example, at Sanseido online bookstore: "isoppu douwa -- ichinensei," (ISBN 4039230108.) The stories are still a little difficult for me ... but it is a nice reading. 

At the kids corner, I also found an interesting collection of Japanese and foreign stories with pictures. It helps me to understand.

Don’t forget to have a look in the children’s corner of your local bookstore. Major publishers for elementary school children’s pocket books (with furigana on kanji) are Aoitori, Pupular, etc.
The collection is "nihon mukashi banashi anime." (ISBN of one of them: 4522182139.) 


And another interesting tool, also available at the bookstore: a book of removable kanji cards (again, for Japanese children), with, among others, most uses of a certain kanji. Very helpful to try to remember them. Of course, I removed the cards and threw away the book cover ... so I can't find the ISBN ... 



And, finally, what would I do without my electronic dictionary? I found a nice one at Bic Camera, for about 10,000 Yen. It's called "Canon Wordtank, IDF-3000." Text (directions, etc) can be displayed in Japanese and English. Dictionaries: Japanese-English, English-Japanese, Japanese-Japanese, kanji search, multi-search. It is meant for school students (ie does not have the expensive kanji dictionary usually found in such electronic tools). The only minus point: I am not an English native and once in a while, I don't understand a certain word in English. This is when I am missing the "English-English dictionary." But otherwise, he is a new great friend! And makes especially the kanji search much easier ... 



UPDATE October 2004


A few months ago, after a break of more than one year, I decided to give Kumon Kokugo another try. I came to realize that other ways of studying the language were not as effective for my writing. In fact, I was writing less and less by hand and forgetting kanji.

I started again from 1st year elementary school (kokugo), going much slower this time (repeating each sheet several times). I also noticed that my reading comprehension needs some more attention and purchased some more workbooks. 

At the same time, I realized that I should also keep up and improve daily Japanese and therefore registered again with the Japanese for Foreigners Program (Nihongo). I had left the program 2 years ago or so. And in the meantime, my Japanese had improved, since I was using it on a daily basis at work. The level that had been very difficult was not as difficult. But as I advance, it is getting more and more difficult. Repeating the same sheets several times helps. 

Keep you posted !


UPDATE May 2008


A couple of years passed since my last update. In the meantime, I left the hotel and am now working part-time in a different field, still customer service related.
I continued for some time with Kumon Kukugo, then later did both Kokugo and Nihongo at the same time (I had a lot of free time). And stopped Kumon Kokugo. Later, I also stopped Kumon Nihongo.

About one year ago, I realized that I was not doing much reading and writing in Japanese and decided to go back to my local Kumon Kokugo. The head teacher was very happy to see me again. She is very friendly and helpful. I graduated Level B (second year elementary school) about one month ago and am now working hard on Level C (third year elementary school). Font is getting smaller, texts longer and stories a little more difficult.

UPDATE July 2008


An intensive Japanese course helped me go over a long plateau and I felt that I wanted to try again Kumon for foreigners. I contacted my former teacher who was happy to welcome me back. The test was pretty good, but the teacher recommended, for revision purpose, to start lower. I started with Level D and finished within about one month. I am now working on Level E. It gets more challenging.

I am still working on the Kokugo Level C.


© ambjp, 2003-2008

Kind of silent for some time

I can't believe that one month already passed since my last postings.

I was at times too busy, too lazzy, too tired to update anything. Including the cats' blog.

During this time, I have been doing some of the following:

1. working
2. studying Japanese intensively: with Kumon (both nihongo and kokugo programs---got back to nihongo in July) and at ACC (finshed the first pre-intermediate level and started the intermediate level
3. sewing summer pants
4. reading French magazines on the Mac
5. listening to podcats in French and German
   
6. reading books in French, English and German
7. spending way too much time online
8. playing with the cats
9. walking to ease legg pain
10. cooking and baking
    
11. etc.

Sewing

Chouchou "helping" me.... (NOT)

My aunt's old sewing machine (mom had it repaired and I brought it back with me from Switzerland in January)

Chouchou helping some more...

Japanese pre-intermediate course --- last lesson's speech

We had to write a speech for our last lesson of Japanese pre-intermediate course. I will be reading it in front of the class on Friday.

One of the texts we read in the beginning was about inventions and patents. At this time, we had to write a text about an invention from our home country. The chocolate lover I am chose to write about the invention of Swiss milk chocolate (simply the best). It was a very interesting research. I used that text as a base and added information, etc. DH helped me with the grammar and style, so that it sounded more or less like I wanted it to sound like (when teachers correct, they don't always guess what you exactly wanted to say).

Here is the text, in Japanese:

スイスのミルクチョコレートの物語
(スピーチ：amb (c))

スイスはヨーロッパの中にあります。

１８世紀の終わりに、チョコレートはイタリアで知られるようになりました。でも、スイスではまだ知られていませんでした。

スイス人のカイエさんはイタリアに行って、チョコレートの勉強をしていました。勉強が終わった後、つまり１９世紀のはじめに、スイスのブベーに帰って、スイスで最初のチョコレート工場を造りました。

何年か後、カイエさんの娘とダニエル・ペーターさんが出会って、結婚しました。１８６７年 に、ペーターさんはカイエさんのチョコレート工場で働き始めました。

ペーターさんには夢がありました：スイスのおいしい牛乳をチョコレートに入れることでした。何年間もがんばりましたけれども、できませんでした。

問題は牛乳でした：牛乳のおもな成分（せいぶん）は水ですので、チョコレートにすぐカビが出ました。

ペーターさんの家のとなりにネスレさんが住んでいました。ネスレさんはミルクパウダーを発明しました。

ミルクパウダーを見て、ペーターさんが新しいアイディアを思いつきました。チョコレートにミルクパウダーを入れたら、おいしいミルクチョコレートができると考えました。その発明は１８７５年のことでした。

最初のミルクチョコレートは『ガラ』という名前でした。

１８７９年、ペーターさんとネスレさんによって『ネスレ』という会社が生まれました。スイスはミルクチョコレートの国になりました。

今までも、カイエのチョコレート工場があります。日本でもカイエのチョコレートが買えます。

ネスレは本当に大きな会社になり、世界中でどこでも食品などを買うことができます。本社はまだスイスのブベーにあります。

２００７年、スイスに住んでいる人は、ひとりで、１年間に、12.3kgチョコレートを食べました。毎月、1kgぐらいです。すごいですね。。。

When life gets in the way...

Things (and life) have been busy lately, between the intensive Japanese course (finishing this week, but I already signed up for the next level, intermediate), my health, work, studies and others.

Hence the silence...

Reading in Japanese

I will admit that I have a really hard time to stick to reading something in Japanese and not just start it (and leave it there to collect dust). In fact, I have a shelf full of material to learn Japanese, including all kinds of readers, children literature (for Japanese native children), etc.

Last week-end, I enjoyed four days off, thanks to a nice Japanese holiday called "Golden Week". I admit that I did not do much, except reading one novel in English in less than a day (chick lit by Nicolas Sparks---and I managed not to cry, yeah), watching foreign dramas on TV, sleeping a lot and enjoying a relaxed atmosphere at home with the husband and cats.

I procrastinated and worked on my homework (for the Japanese intensive course) only on Tuesday evening (for Wednesday morning lesson). I did write a neat text about Swiss milk chocolate (in Japanese, of course) as part of the home work. Will try to post it later, once I get it back, corrected.

Anyway... I started reading the Naganuma Second Revised Japanese Readers, book 1, and ended up reading over 50 pages. Wowow.

There are five readers books with word and kanji books. The books are no longer on sale in bookstores, but one can find them (when lucky) on amazon or other online source of old books. There is no furigana on kanji, but words and kanji and translated in separate books. Difficulty increases slowly, as new kanji and words are being introduced.

A slow pace that makes it easier for me. And more likely to stick to it...

Listening to podcasts

I spend a lot of time commuting to go to work and usually listen to one or more podcasts. These days, mainly in French (either from the Swiss French radio or France culture), Swiss German (from the Swiss German radio) and so-called high German (from Deutsche Welle or Deutsche Radio).

Lingq, a site for language learners has also interesting material to study English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, etc. They have items for true beginners, intermediate (this is what I listen to in German and Japanese) and even some items for advanced.

Japanesepod101 is another site that has A LOT of listening material for people learning Japanese, in several levels.

Here are some links I use (through itunes):

French:
Radio Suisse Romande
Radio France
Lingq (French)

German:
Schweizer Radio DRS
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Radio
Lingq (German)

Japanese:
Japanese Pod 101 (basic package and download to itunes are free)
Lingq (main site, basic package and download to itunes are free)
Lingq (Japanese)

Walking (as in exercising)

A consequence of the PE (pulmonary embolism) I suffered last month, I have to make sure to walk enough. I walk about 1 hour a day on weekdays and DH and I try to walk more on week-ends.

Today, we went to a nearby shrine, about 45 minutes walk from home. Here are some of the pictures we took:

Pain perdu recipe

I have to write down a recipe in Japanese as a home work for my Japanese course.

Let's write it in English and translate...

When I was a child, my mom would make "pain perdu" and I remember not liking it very much. Pain perdu means lost bread or left over. This would usually be two-three days old bread. A way to use it.

I make it with fresh bread, it is nicer :-)

4 eggs
1 dl milk
a little salt
sugar to taste
3-4 slices of 2cm thick bread (with crust)
1 apple
(option: cinnamon)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Mix the eggs with milk, salt and sugar. Cut bread into 2cm squares and put it into the egg mix. Bread must absorb the mix. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

Cut apple in small pieces.

Put the bread egg mix into a baking pan (silicone one will be easier to clean) and add the pieces of apple.

Bake it for 50 minutes.

Enjoy.

PS: I have also used the same recipe replacing apple with canned pear. In this case, I replace sugar with juice from the can (about 1 dl)

Japanese studies update

As I mentioned, I am now studying intensively Japanese three times a week. It is really hard. And my cold this week did not help (my brain does not function properly when I have a cold).

We use one book for the first month (1 chapter studied in about 3 hours, yup). After the first month, we will use s different text book, spending 2 days on each chapter (each lesson is 70 min and we have 2 lessons a day). Here is a sample of the text book we are using now.




At the same time, I am still working on my Kumon worsheets. At a much slower pace, though... Here are some samples of the Level C (3rd year elementary school, Japanese native children).

My favourite chocolate

In fact, the only chocolate I am eating these days...

Milch Extra from Frey, a chocolate maker that is sold exclusively through a major Swiss supermarket chain in Switzerland (they may export as well, but not to Japan...). I got the round ones in January, my mom sent me the egg-shaped for Easter and she also sent the chocolate bar (several of them) through a friend visiting Japan.

Cats

I just realized that I never write about my cats on this blog. They are a very important part of my life, this is why they have their own blog, fed with many many pictures...

Have a look here...

Thoughts...

About one month ago, I was in the hospital, recovering from pulmonary embolism.

Here are some thoughts I wrote to one of the egroups of friends I belong to.


Some of the things I have learned/realized very recently...

1) Really too bad DH kept procrastinating on the supplementary health insurance thing, because from now, my new condition will not be covered... And this hospital stay will be expensive (basic Japanese health insurance
does not cover all costs, one has to pay about 30% of the bill)

2) I am glad to have the level of Japanese I have (kind of intermediate), because without it, the whole day spent at as outer patient looking for what I had and the hospital stay would be really difficult. The doctor does speak
English, but tends to prefer Japanese. Specialized medical vocabulary is of course difficult, because I usually don't use it. Anyway, I will start intensive Japanese lessons from April 7. By then, I hope to be my usual self again.

3) Watch myself a little better: there was no way the breathing problems came from kafunsho (hay fever), as I thought... It is just so difficult to know what doctor to see. And if you visit an hospital as an outer patient, it takes so much time...

4) I am not such an Internet/TV/chocolate addict, since I could get off "cold turkey" :-)

5) I really cannot do the "idle" thing unless I am really exhausted...

6) the cats do like me very much: they behave strangely, wondering where I am and why I do not come back and spend time at home as usual. It seems that Momo is even not eating like usual. We are talking here about the adult male cat who is only rarely behaving like mama's boy. I do miss my cats...

7) knitting requires energy: I tried to do a little yesterday, but became quickly tired.

8) I miss my sofa... And my home.

9) There is no such thing as privacy in a hospital, at least ICU... And no body part the nurses have not seen...

10) If DH ever gets seriously sick, will I be as good as he is for me right now ? He is so patient, comes 3 times a day (while I am at the ICU, 2 times from tomorrow), brings me this and that, wash clothes etc

11) Communication can be a serious problem when your parents (& relatives) and your husband do not speak any common language... Parents and relatives speak French and Swiss German while my DH speaks English and Japanese. Luckily, some friends helped. But still...

12) Do not think that nobody will ever see... your cute pajamas... Because it might be the case someday...

Kumon studies update

Beside doing the Intensive Japanese course, I plan to still study regularly my Kumon sheets.

I graduated from level B (second year elementary school for native Japanese children) and started Level C. First chapter was easy to understand, because I knew the concept and words (it talked about Sazae-san and her family, a popular Japanese comic and anime character).

Second chapter is more difficult.

Interestingly, characters are smaller and texts contain more words, if I compare Level B and Level C.

Gambarimashou.

PS: to view some material, click here...

There is a reason why Intensive Japanese Course is called "Intensive"...

Because it is Intensive...

Level is pre-intermediate. Does not mean easy...

Three times a week, twice 70 minutes a time. And we have to learn the material (chapter) before the class and review after the class. Plus the home work.

We are going through the first textbook in a month, spending about one day (140 minutes) on one chapter. We will then switch to the second textbook, spending two days on each chapter.

Learning the material includes learning about 20-30 new words (vocabulary and kanji). Some I already know, most I don't (especially kanji).

Grammar is also getting more difficult, with long sentences that connect ideas. Instead of the more simple ones we can find in lower level.

Back to normal life

I went back to work last Thursday and was in fact quite busy in Thursday and Friday.

Now it is back to normal life. Almost. I get tired easily.

Items coming up...
1) Japanese intensive course from April 7
2) University of London exams in May

Busy, busy...

Taking a forced break...

Sometimes, things do not happen the way they were planned. And unplanned events do happen.

I was hospitalized for about one week and was discharged this week. I am now resting and recovering for about another week.

I will be on medication for a long while and will need to do some lifestyle changes.

In the hospital, I had DH bring textbooks and others. I read a German book and studied my Kumon sheets. I also did some lighter other studies.

I will do some more studies during the forced rest.

Kumon studies update (end of February)

I have to admit that I did not touch much of my Kumon sheets during my short stay in Switzerland last January, including flight time. The previous year, because DH could not join me, I ended up spending a lot of time by myself. This time, the trip was really short, DH was there and my family eager to spend as much time as possible with us.
After our return to Japan, I was terribly jet-lagged, caught a terrible cold that lasted 2 weeks and was really busy at work. As a consequence, I had a hard time going back to regular study of Kumon sheets.
There were some changes some weeks ago, not really sure why. At my level (BII-50-100---you can see some samples here) now, each chapter is a story. I can get a more or less clear image of all the stories, except one. When things make sense, it is easier to study...
And the fact that serious intensive studies of Japanese will start in about one month is another trigger, I guess.... Talking about that, I have to do some revision of the material used recently by the students, so that I am à jour.

Intensive Japanese course

Looks like I will be signing up for a Japanese language intensive course starting in April. Three mornings a week for 3 months.

I haven't been to such a formal class for years, in fact.

On Saturday, after work, DH and I went to Jimbocho (book town in Tokyo). Sanseido bookstore was carrying pamphlets of courses by the Asahi Culture center in Shinjuku. DH had taken courses there long time ago and we brought back an information leaflet of the school. I did not know that they also offer Japanese lessons for foreigners.

We went yesterday to the center, talked to the lady and I had a test. Intermediate (chu-kyu) is a little too difficult. I will take the pre-intermediate for 3 months. And if I decide to continue, the intermediate.

http://www.asahiculture-japanese.com/

The course is a practical one, for people living in Japan. The school does not sponsor visa, which helps in term of students' groups (a mix, rather then only Chinese students, who have a big advantage in term of kanji).

I have been studying on my own and with Kumon for years. And will continue. But I feel that I reached a wall that needs to be taken care of. I have been to Japan for 10 years now and feel a little guilty that my level is not better.

It will also help me with job prospects, the day I get bored of what I am doing now.

It is a little scary, thinking that I am about to get even busier than now, though...

Too messy...

no comment....

spending too much time on youtube...

It is interesting, what one can find on youtube.com

I am not fond at all of home made videos (of others). Never was, in fact.

But you search, you can find some interesting stuff, such as BBC worldwide movies based on classical British literature, such as Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, etc.

These items are unavailable in Japan for rent. And we only get BBC news here. No BBC movie, drama, etc.

And after watching the movies, I just go back to the books...

All done in the sake of studying, of course. Listening comprehension, reading practice. Ah, ah...

Pics from my trip home in Switzerland