SS #6: The Katakana Rush

I am now at the verge of rushing my Katakana assignments. Sighs. Maybe I didn't find it interesting enough to do it or I'm just busy at work. Anyhoo, I'll just finish 'em all till Lesson 6. Sighs sighs sighs.

SS #5: Achievement Unlocked! The Dictionary Is Here!

I have my own Japanese dictionary! Yatta yatta!

I was able to get one in National Bookstore SM Masinag, the nearest mall in our house and the last mall I will go to since it's not so mainstream. I phoned different bookstores earlier today along with those near my office but only SM Masinag has the dictionary. I asked them to reserve it for me and they agreed. It was looking old maybe because it was not the first choice of the customers in the mall. 

Regardless, I bought it because it's a diamond for me! Ha-ha! Now I'm really really happy!

SS #4: A Dictionary Alternative

We already had our second meeting yet I wasn't able to bring my own dictionary. Errrmm, yeah, I have one but it's an electronic dictionary. Dofitas-sensei recommended Oxford Japanese Mini Dictionary since it has some useful daily terms and basic phrases to help in learning. I'm still on the run looking for that one! I went to three bookstores in SM Megamall to no avail. Where can I find that?

For now, I use imiwa?, a Japanese e-dictionary available in iOS. It is a good app which provides not only the definition of words but also gives it's correct pronunciation. I used this in our recent class and indeed a dictionary is really handy when you start learning the language!

SS #3: Achievement Unlocked! Hiragana Mastery!

I am very proud of myself! I memorized the whole Hiragana chart in one day! I'm so happy! I am now pretty confident for our exam this Saturday. I am currently looking for some practice items in the net for reading and writing in Hiragana to test myself. すごいすごう！！

How do I practice?

1. Go line by line. You don't need to know them all at once. You have to go slowly but surely.

2. Let's say you decided to go with A-line. Write each character in that line 10-20 times while saying the syllable out loud. Example, for the character A you write A while saying "A". Repeat for all the other characters in the line.

3. Once you're confident with your familiarity on that line, write all the characters in the line at least ten times. If you made it through without pausing more than 3 seconds then you're good to move to the next line. Repeat this step for every line.

4. If you are already familiar with at least two lines, you can now move to the mastery step. The mastery step is where you write the characters starting from the first character you ever written to the most recent character you wrote. Example, you are already familiar with the A-line and the K-line. Write those two lines starting from A to Ko. Do this everytime you learn a new line.

That's how I study! I know it's kind of hard since it's my and your first time in studying Hiragana. But I assure you, just keep going and don't give up! It's alright to make mistakes, it helps us think and learn more. By following those tips, you'll be surprised as I am that you completed the chart already!

Quick tip! You can also visit the sites I mentioned in my first side story to enhance your writing skills. がんばります！

SS #2: Achievement Unlocked! Two Down for Hiragana

Before programming at work today, I managed to memorize the S-Line in Hiragana! *evil laugh* Hopefully I can do so with the remaining two lines within the week!

SS #1: Learning through the Internet

I managed to memorize the Hiragana characters for a, i, u, e, o and ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. I used the website written in our practice sheets, Japanese-Lesson.com, to review myself. I am happy to have a 100% score in all drills. Woooohh!

For those who want to learn Japanese on their own, Google is your bestfriend! Here are some links which you can use in learning and helped me too:

1. Japanese-Lesson.com - it contains drills, charts and practice items for the Japanese writing system. It also gives you some basic Japanese phrases and vocabulary that you can use to survive in Japan! LOL.

2. Deviant Art - If you are into mastering Hiragana first, you can check out the series of Hiragana Writing Tutorial by emm2341 in Deviant Art. I used this before when I am at work so it's pretty handy and it contains examples of words per line so you can practice!

Plus, never give up and you'll learn it in no time! がんばります！