That sounds great! I'd love to get there - the idea of replacing most of my English language reading-for-enjoyment with Japanese is so appealing.
But for now I'm still in graded readers mostly. While they are fun, they're maybe not stuff I'd be excited about reading without the language learning aspect.
In Spanish I did go through a short horror story collection for grade school kids. Really hit the sweet spot of interesting, challenging, and intelligible. When that happens it's so satisfying.
I'd agree, they're getting too long. And it's not just TV shows, it seems like big movies and games are also too long too often.
It's like every major work thinks it's the be-all culmination of human creativity. For the people who work on it, it may have that place of importance. But as a viewer, any given work is, by default, just yet another in a huge sea of art that might occupy my time.
But also, I get it. When you find something you really resonate with, that you devour each second of, sometimes it can feel like the longer the better. You almost don't want it to end. And if you pay money for something, and it's surprisingly short, that can feel disappointing.
That makes sense! I am a rule enjoyer, I guess I was responding more to the thread than to you in particular. It is good to be aware of the rules, but I also think they can sometimes hinder natural communication and create confusion.
Impact, impacted, impacts are totally fine for these use cases. As a native English speaker, I'd never heard of these rules against using them that way.
But even if there is a rule, it doesn't matter; if the terms are used this way and fully understood by both the speaker and listeners, then the rule is void.
Kanji first sounds pretty good to me. You didn't feel like it worked well?
I went through Genki I with Kanji mostly sidelined, and I felt like I wished I'd known Kanji better first. Having to look up how to write every character is a drag, and I don't think using kana is a much better alternative.
You say you could read but not understand... I feel like that's a step up from the reverse! (That being, "I'd totally understand thus if I could read it") And I find that learning Kanji now is making it way faster to remember vocab.
I guess the lesson is just that it's all important, skipping or putting off any of it doesn't work so well.
What are a few of the resources you've found most helpful for German? I'd like to dabble in it some day, even though I've currently got my hands full with Japanese.
My answer too. Dark Side is easier to get into, and I preferred it when I first heard both. But going back over the years I think Wish is the better record; I stay wanting to hear it.
Watched the new episodes of Squid Game. It was pretty good. Like season 2, I really enjoyed it the whole time while watching, but then afterward I felt like it was kinda pointless and didn't make sense at times.
LOL, I did take a semester of French in high school.
I guess it makes sense as an overlap - North America and Europe both have primarily English, Spanish, and French speakers in close vicinity. And Japanese cultural exports are just really popular.
I'm learning Japanese. On and off for years, but mainly the last couple. I'm still only at the advanced beginner stage, trying to work on my Kanji, reading, and listening.
Also learning Spanish, but I feel like I'm in a better spot with it. I took classes in school and have a decent foundation, just need way more practice. It's on the backburner since I'd rather build on my Japanese.
For fans of this thread/topic, check out !languagelearning@sopuli.xyz . They have a weekly thread for progress and a few active folks. Lemmy also has more specific language learning communities that could stand to be more active.
Nice! Good luck, and keep us updated on your progress. 😃
My 2 cents on Kanji - which I know you might not need - follow a method. I think Remembering the Kanji is extremely valuable, even if you don't follow its exact order or keywords. Kanji Kohii is a companion app that's extremely helpful. The basic method is assign each Kanji a unique keyword, then use flashcards to write them from memory. Building up each one from meaningful parts.
For readings, I'd recommend skipping memorizing them. What you really want are words. JPDB and WaniKani do pretty good about surfacing this, and are viable RTK alternatives or companions.
Kodansha Kanji Learner course is also out there, along with a senhence-reader set of books. I don't like this option as much, but it's there. Having common Kanji at the beginning at least makes sense.
Right? I just saw this thread and was curious to see what might come up.
I heard about that one on her podcast. Listening to more episodes or just reading the show notes would probably be a good way to find books. I know I heard them mention a book about conlangs in an early episode. And just recently she interviewed another guy with a book similar to Because Internet, called Algospeak.
There's a Very Short Introductions: Linguistics book. The VSIs are usually a good start, and typically have a 'further reading' section to get more book ideas.
Nothing wrong with posting here (looks like a solid answer already given!), but this thread seems like a good time to plug some relevant communities that exist and would probably be helpful for this kind of thing:
If you skipped the Switch 1, I think it's worth going for. It's overpriced for the moment - there are only a handful of Switch 2 exclusive games worth playing this year. Even the flagship Mario Kart game is a little weird with how it does some of its modes. But the Switch 1 has an extensive library with plenty of great multiplayer options. If you're ready for a purchase, might as well go ahead and get the 2 so y'all can play the new Nintendo games when you want.
I agree that Nintendo the company is really slimy though, and it does feel a little gross to support them sometimes.
I've subscribed to a few, though I often find myself getting lazy about listening to them. So take my suggestions with a grain of salt.
Some I used to listen to, some I've wanted to listen to, some of these coworkers recommended in recent weeks that I have little to no idea about. Hopefully this helps you find something you like!
Just gonna go ahead and post this template here for myself to reference later: https://canvas.fediverse.events/#tu=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Flogopedia%2Fimages%2Fa%2Fa8%2FNintendo_GameCube_logo.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20160614112552&tw=192&tx=288&ty=142&ts=ONE_TO_ONE&x=384&y=238&zoom=1
Fun fact: the Gamecube is cool. :)