TEMP! \o/
The following is a temporary page for the comm Steph made for us to practice Japanese on. renshuushiyou 8D
Recently graduated? Still in school but feeling like your classes aren't teaching you enough? Just returned from abroad? Living abroad but unmotivated to keep brushing up on your kanji-writing or reading skills?
DON'T FORGET JAPANESE!!! Join the Nihongo wo Wasurenaide Circle, and we can all practice together! Assignments are weekly, highly flexible, and pretty much dependent on what you (as a full-time worker, student, unemployed person, etc.) can manage, since you choose it yourself.
This circle idea was coined by lady_tigerfish, sakuratsukikage and gryfeathr when we all got to lamenting how much our skills have slipped since studying abroad and regular classwork were there to help us out, but anyone who's freaking out about losing language skills, or who just plain wants to practice, can join. All levels are welcome, although if you're nearly fluent, you might be teaching the people going over your homework more than they're teaching you ~_^ Speaking of which, if you're a very good Japanese speaker who just wants to join to help others get the hang of things (very kind of you indeed), you are also welcome!
You can join (or leave) at any time, and you'll never have to worry about it showing up on your transcript ~_^.
How It Works
The standard rotation for the circle's assignments are weekly, first A. reading, then B. listening comprehension, and finally C. writing; we have also considered adding an occasional speaking section, wherein two-person meetings are conducted through Skype and pairs are selected by level and scheduling convenience (this part's still in the works, so just the main three for now!).
In addition, we think a weekly or every-other-weekly kanji drill is in order. Nothing big; just, say, a page out of one of your old workbooks you never got to, or some practice of basic kanji you've forgotten how to write (if you're anything like us, there's a bigger gap between what you can read and what you can write on command than you're entirely comfortable with). If you're hurting for kanji to practice, give us your level, and we'll see if we can scan something from our own workbooks for you to chew on. We feel like kanji practice alone is too little to devote one full week to, and posting assignments might prove difficult without a scanner, which some people don't have, but...it's good to practice, and we'd love to see your submissions if you've got any!
Every Monday, an assignments post is made, telling everyone what the week's focus is (either reading, listening comprehension, or writing) and whether or not a kanji practice is recommended for that week. Gauge your week, and sign up for a homework in the comments, specifying what you're going to read/listen to and how much of it you plan to finish (three paragraphs, six pages, ten minutes, etc). The more concrete your goals, the better!
A submissions post will be made shortly thereafter, and you have until the following Monday to leave a comment with your completed homework. It can be pasted into the comment (just reply to your own comments until the whole thing's posted, if it's long), or be a link to your personal journal--just make sure it's not flocked on us.
A. Reading material can be anything at your level (or above it; it never hurts to aim high!) you want to read: a novel, a short story, a newspaper article, a poem, a manga, that doujin you picked up and never got around to translating. You set the parameters for how much or little you read per week based on what you can manage, and you post your translations (along with any things you got stuck on that the circle might be able to help you figure out, such as what a seemingly-incongruous word means in context) to the community at the end of the week.
B. Listening material can likewise be anything at your level you want to listen to and translate. Our gryfeather is ace at finding interesting Japanese podcasts, and once we get this circle properly set up, we'll get her to post a list of them. Seriously, though, anything that requires you to listen to and understand Japanese without aid is fine: anime or j-dramas (with the subtitles off), news broadcasts, podcasts, songs.
C. Writing practice will be based around a weekly prompt, much like the essays you probably did in class. Who supplies the prompt will rotate each time the writing assignments come up--which means you will have to provide one eventually, but not every time the writing component comes up. You set the length of your essay based on what, given your schedule and pace, you think you can compose in a week.
Recently graduated? Still in school but feeling like your classes aren't teaching you enough? Just returned from abroad? Living abroad but unmotivated to keep brushing up on your kanji-writing or reading skills?
DON'T FORGET JAPANESE!!! Join the Nihongo wo Wasurenaide Circle, and we can all practice together! Assignments are weekly, highly flexible, and pretty much dependent on what you (as a full-time worker, student, unemployed person, etc.) can manage, since you choose it yourself.
This circle idea was coined by lady_tigerfish, sakuratsukikage and gryfeathr when we all got to lamenting how much our skills have slipped since studying abroad and regular classwork were there to help us out, but anyone who's freaking out about losing language skills, or who just plain wants to practice, can join. All levels are welcome, although if you're nearly fluent, you might be teaching the people going over your homework more than they're teaching you ~_^ Speaking of which, if you're a very good Japanese speaker who just wants to join to help others get the hang of things (very kind of you indeed), you are also welcome!
You can join (or leave) at any time, and you'll never have to worry about it showing up on your transcript ~_^.
How It Works
The standard rotation for the circle's assignments are weekly, first A. reading, then B. listening comprehension, and finally C. writing; we have also considered adding an occasional speaking section, wherein two-person meetings are conducted through Skype and pairs are selected by level and scheduling convenience (this part's still in the works, so just the main three for now!).
In addition, we think a weekly or every-other-weekly kanji drill is in order. Nothing big; just, say, a page out of one of your old workbooks you never got to, or some practice of basic kanji you've forgotten how to write (if you're anything like us, there's a bigger gap between what you can read and what you can write on command than you're entirely comfortable with). If you're hurting for kanji to practice, give us your level, and we'll see if we can scan something from our own workbooks for you to chew on. We feel like kanji practice alone is too little to devote one full week to, and posting assignments might prove difficult without a scanner, which some people don't have, but...it's good to practice, and we'd love to see your submissions if you've got any!
Every Monday, an assignments post is made, telling everyone what the week's focus is (either reading, listening comprehension, or writing) and whether or not a kanji practice is recommended for that week. Gauge your week, and sign up for a homework in the comments, specifying what you're going to read/listen to and how much of it you plan to finish (three paragraphs, six pages, ten minutes, etc). The more concrete your goals, the better!
A submissions post will be made shortly thereafter, and you have until the following Monday to leave a comment with your completed homework. It can be pasted into the comment (just reply to your own comments until the whole thing's posted, if it's long), or be a link to your personal journal--just make sure it's not flocked on us.
A. Reading material can be anything at your level (or above it; it never hurts to aim high!) you want to read: a novel, a short story, a newspaper article, a poem, a manga, that doujin you picked up and never got around to translating. You set the parameters for how much or little you read per week based on what you can manage, and you post your translations (along with any things you got stuck on that the circle might be able to help you figure out, such as what a seemingly-incongruous word means in context) to the community at the end of the week.
B. Listening material can likewise be anything at your level you want to listen to and translate. Our gryfeather is ace at finding interesting Japanese podcasts, and once we get this circle properly set up, we'll get her to post a list of them. Seriously, though, anything that requires you to listen to and understand Japanese without aid is fine: anime or j-dramas (with the subtitles off), news broadcasts, podcasts, songs.
C. Writing practice will be based around a weekly prompt, much like the essays you probably did in class. Who supplies the prompt will rotate each time the writing assignments come up--which means you will have to provide one eventually, but not every time the writing component comes up. You set the length of your essay based on what, given your schedule and pace, you think you can compose in a week.