thenihongojourney-blog

[thenihongojourney-blog]

Study Session 1-1

Genki 1 - Chapter 4: 初めてのデート

In this session I covered Chapter 4 from the Genki 1 textbook which aims to teach you what to say when you are:

looking for a place (how to get to...)

meeting up with friends (where you went and what you did)

waiting for someone and how long you waited for.

Stationery

Muji Pens (Black + Red) 0.7/0.38

Stabilo Pastel Highlighter: Purple

Stabilo Pen 68: Black/Purple/Burgundy 

Mildliner: Strawberry Red

Artbox Pencil

Yellow Post-It Notes

Grammar Notes

I use the notebook below for two main reasons:

1. grammar points and examples

2. dialogues

Making a note of all the grammar points you cover along the way can be extremely helpful. I personally like the idea of ending up with a super useful reference book I will be able to use any time I’m not quiet sure if I’m being grammatically correct or for when I’m studying for the JLPT exam (or whatever the reason may be for you.)

What about the dialogues? Well, in the past I used to make a note of every single dialogue I could find in the textbook, very often just for the sake of writing it down regardless of whether I was actually going to benefit from it or just let it sit in my notebook. 

Eventually I realised that those (sometimes cheesy) lines of text can actually be extremely helpful, especially the ones you will find in the Genki series. Of course this won’t always be the case - in some books you will fond the texts rather dry and the language used in them sounding a little old-fashioned. 

HOWEVER, in many instances you will find that the sentences and questions used in those dialogues are perfect for every-day use. In fact, they will often show you how to naturally communicate something you might have to say or respond to in a given situation. For this reason, I spent some time thinking how I could make a use of those dialogues and decided to do the following (see photo 1)

In chapter 4, you will find 3 dialogues - I wrote down all three of them (separating each one with a line) and used a red pen to circle any words, Kanji or grammar I didn’t understand. Then, I used the same pen to write the meanings on the side and making it the only “English” I used in this activity. 

I intentionally left the rest without any translation, as when I come back to review this material I will be able to test my memory be reading these conversations out loud and checking how much I can still remember. The writing in red will help me with the words I didn’t initially understand but if it happens that I know what they mean at the time of the review, I will cross them out or simply highlight them in green.

In regards to the actual grammar points I wrote down in this notebook, I tried to keep everything fairly organised - I used a purple highlighter to make the title of each grammar drill stand out, used yellow post-it notes for additional points I also need to be aware of (mostly additional grammar pointers I found somewhere in the textbook), I wrote down every single example sentence I could find, so I know exactly how each grammar drill can be used in practice.

When it comes to making grammar notes (or any kind of notes in fact), it is very important that you do this based on how your brain likes to visualise things - make sure it works, not that it looks pretty (but if you’re a pro, you might be able to tick both boxes). 

Flashcards (Grammar)

Afterwards, I make a note of each new grammar point on a flashcard. This will be great reference for me when I revise for the JLPT exam or when I need to remind myself of an N5 or N4 grammar point - this will be awesome to refer back to.

I try to minimise the number of words I use to make the explanations as short as possible. These flashcards are only supposed to remind me of the grammar points - not explain what they are (the explanations will be in my grammar notebook!)

Vocabulary book (focus on Kana)

I have two notebooks for vocabulary - one for Kanji and one that focuses on Kana alone (even though I still write the Kanji in brackets)

Why do I have two notebooks for vocabulary? In order to be competent in any language, you want to be able to not only read and write but also speak the language and understand it when listening to it.

The kana notebook I will use to test my knowledge of Japanese words and phrases from each chapter - for this activity I don’t worry about the Kanji - I just test my memory by saying each word out loud hoping to understand the meaning when I hear it.

When I come back to review these words, I simply cover the English translation and reveal each word one by one, as I say the meaning out loud. I try to make a note of all the words I don’t remember as I go along using a separate sheet of paper and upload them onto Memrise where I will review them until I'm happy with the result.

Vocabulary book (focus on Kanji)

This is my second notebook where I write all the Kanji found in each chapter. I start off by writing out all the Kanji included in the dialogues and then the sentence where each Kanji can be found (you will find them circled in red).

You will notice that some Kanji don't have a sentence next to them and that's only because they had already been mentioned in one of the sentences either above or below.

"Additional Kanji" are all the other Kanji listed in the vocabulary section of the textbook. I will also use the empty space below to practice some of the more complicated Kanji like I did at the top of the left page. I find it fascinating how some Kanji are so simple it only takes a few reviews to really master them, whereas there are some that literally take me weeks to learn (and then I still happen to forget them!)

I didn’t get to complete any of the worksheets last night, as this alone took me a while to complete!

Today I will be reviewing this material while completing all workbook activities for this chapter so expect another update very soon!

I hope you enjoyed this - any questions or comments, reach out to me on my Instagram tryingtoostudy.

TEST YOURSELF

For those who are also studying Japanese, please have a go at translating the sentences below into English. You will find the answers in tonight’s post! :) 

テレビがありません。

時間がありますか。

火曜日にテストがあります。

あしたは日本語のクラスがありません。

あそとに留学生がいます。

日本人の友だちがいます。

銀行は図書館のどなりです。

傘はテーブルの下です。

あれは日本の映画じゃなかったです。

私は京都に行きました。

私はきのう日本語を三時間ぐらい勉強しました。