« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

April 28, 2006

This Weekend: Kanji Armageddon

I've reached 625 kanji in Heisig vol. 1, and haven't reviewed most of them in at least a month. This weekend: full review. It's going to be interesting to see how many I can remember without trouble. Last summer I reached 650 before crashing and burning, and I want to be prepared before pushing through the rest of the book (I WILL finish it this year).

Permalink | Posted by Joe at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2006

Must-read interview for Heisig fans

If you're a true believer in the Heisig method of learning kanji (hey, even if you're not), don't miss the interview with James Heisig over at kanjiclinic.com. Heisig talks about the origin of the method, and it's a lot more interesting than his book describes.

Hmmm. I wonder how many non-Japanese learn 2000 kanji by rote memorization--and how long it takes them.

Permalink | Posted by Joe at 02:37 PM | Comments (2)

April 06, 2006

Hey, "Pimsleur Download Japanese"

and you, "Download Pimsleur Mandarin", here's an idea for you: why don't you buy them yourself, or get your local library to buy them? Pimsleur doesn't have money to produce its courses if you steal them.

Sheesh.

Permalink | Posted by Joe at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2006

Barry Farber Interview

Almost a year ago a guy named Keith Law did a short but interesting interview with Barry Farber, author of How to Learn Any Language. If you have any interest in learning languages, track down the book ($7 on the sale rack at Barnes & Noble): it's both informational AND inspirational: unless you already know everything (I know a few people like that), you'll pick up at least a few new language learning tips and the motivation to use them.

Permalink | Posted by Joe at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)