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November 08, 2005
日本語のべんきょうの...um, status
Well, the last few weeks have been an uproar with the job cut and the job search and school still going, so I haven't done a lot with my study plan lately. However, it's been better than I've expected.
Audio: I've reviewed a few Pimsleur lessons (51-56) while walking the mutt, along with listening through a few episodes of "Basic Japanese for You".
Speaking: I've spoken with fumahiro several times in preparation for the big presentation in class last week. A surprising amount of Japanese is becoming second nature now, and it's becoming surprisingly easy to compose things in real time. Listening is becoming easier, probably due to watching all those episodes of Trick.
Kanji: Finished reviewing the first 200 in Heisig. Out of those 200, I narrowed it down to about 10 which are more difficult to remember and have been drilling those. Now on to the next hundred.
Grammar and vocabulary: I've pretty well mastered the first 2 chapters of Japanese for Everyone: memorized all the vocabulary and learned the grammar well enough to be able to explain it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: that book really crams in the content.
Video: nothing. I just don't have time to sit at the computer and watch the videos.
Hanging out: I've been spending too much study time lately checking out Japanese! Japanese!. It's a nice site with some great writers.
There's no telling how the job situation is going to work out, so it's hard to predict or plan the next month of study. However, I intend to review another 200 kanji and do at least another 2 chapters of Japanese for Everyone, along with more Pimsleur review.
Permalink | Posted by Joe at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Job hunting.
Well, I officially delivered my first resume yesterday afternoon. Actually, I guess I emailed a few last week. Job hunting certainly is different in these days of dice.com and computerjobs.com. There appear to be a few good matches in western and/or central Michigan, but I'm going to start sending applications out of state almost immediately. The likelihood of being able to stay in western Michigan appears pretty low right now.
Update: as I was throwing all my stuff together to leave for database class this evening, the phone rang. It was the headhunter in New York to whom I sent my resume on Friday for a C/Unix/SQL job in Lansing. The hiring manager got my resume and wants to meet me for an interview on Friday. Who knows? Maybe I won't be out of work for too long.
Permalink | Posted by Joe at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)