Post Easter Holiday Reflections

I would have posted this a lot earlier, but I have just moved house. Nonetheless, university does not wait for those sorts of things. My learning challenge has been going strong, but there are some changes I have made in order to more effectively reach my goals.

Firstly, since learning a large amount of kanji at once is quite difficult, I have decided to split my learning up into the ones I have the most difficulty with. In this way I can ensure that I am getting the most out of each and every study session. Next, I have decided to stop using Kanji Flip, since the lack of customisability does not work with my plans. Finally, I am going to try writing each kanji down as I learn it, in order to further solidify my knowledge of it.

In terms of quantitative measurements, I now have a total of 115 kanji that I am able to recognise. Being almost all of the kanji in my list, I find this to be a great step forward. However, the writing is still proving to be a barrier, as I am now still only able to write 68 different kanji.

I plan to get a lot of study done this week, and with any luck these changes will bear significant fruit!

End of Week 1 - Learning Challenge Reflections

First off, I must stress that I have not done the requisite amount of study this week due to time restrictions and assessment. This, already, is a bit of a setback, but I am prepared to use this next week as efficiently as possible to make as much use of the available time in this challenge as possible. Although I am generally not a very motivated person in terms of study, this challenge is important for two separate areas of study and I can certainly put time aside for it.

Now, on to the actual reflections. In terms of the software itself, I find there to be pros and cons with the ones I am using. The ability to customise kanji lists is sadly missing from Kanji Flip, making my learning a little less targeted. However, since many kanji have the same root and look very similar, I believe that this will in the long run help me with recognising kanji as a whole. The websites I am using have a nice range of different activities which I can switch between if I get bored. Finally, iKanji Touch. Though it was a pain to set up my kanji list to begin with, the ability to practice stroke order with this application is unique to all of the technology I am using. I generally find stroke order to be the most important factor in learning to write kanji, which makes this a very good application for me to be using.

So, how have I improved? Due to factors stated above, not that much. I feel that this week, my efforts have mainly been in consolidating that which I already know, and given that I am still very much on target with regards to my plan, I also feel that this is a worthwhile investment. So here, with regards to last week, are my test totals:

From a pool of 124 kanji; the same as last week, I was able to recognise 97 (only marginally better than last week's 93), and write 62 (also a negligible increase). And while to me these totals are embarrassing, I must remind myself that learning is not an instant process, which to me, is the most difficult aspect in learning. In which case, the time that I have already spent working on this challenge represents, for me, a win.

Learning Challenge Day 1 - Ground Work

Welcome, everyone, to my learning challenge blog, since I have failed to welcome you. Today I started on the first stage of my challenge - the preparation. Here is, in order, a list of the things I have done:

• Added my list of kanji to the 'iKanji Touch' app.
• Check my flash cards for missing ones and replaced the ones I lost.
• Tested my recognition and writing of kanji.

While it did take a while, I am now completely prepared. So, what about my recognition? Well, out of a pool of 124 kanji which I tested; I was able to recognise and give meanings for 93 of them, but I was only about to write 59 of them. And while it may seem that I am close to my goal already, the remaining 60 kanji have already proven elusive to me. By rights I should have memorised them already. I will also be increasing my pool of 'to learn' kanji during the course of the project with the kanji we are currently learning in class.

Now, during the week I will sort out which slots I am going to use for kanji practice; and I will update it on here when I have finalised the times which I have available for this.

Laura

My Learning Challenge: Proposal

Title: Computers and kanji study: The modern answer to the flash card.

My challenge: As a speaker of such European languages as French and German, I find it difficult to adjust to the learning environment presented by my Japanese classes. Specifically, I find it a great struggle to learn and retain Japanese kanji and katakana scripts, as these are used less frequently than the hiragana script. In the past I have used flash cards to try and make up for this weakness, but as the number of kanji we learn increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to acquire new ones.

My Learning goal: Through the course of this project, it is my goal to learn at least 20 new kanji each week. I want to be able to learn and retain them; that is to be able to read, write and understand them. By the end of the project, I want to have a solid grounding in all of the basic kanji that we have learned so far in class.

My learning styles and strategies: I am a visual learner, which is not surprising given my introvert tendencies. Where strategies are concerned, I tend to use cognitive and social strategies most dominantly, and affective strategies the least. For my learning challenge, I intend to work on my memory and metacognitive strategies, both of which had middling scores on my SILL. These work best with the type of learning I am aiming for, using visual aids like virtual flash cards to enhance my learning, while also catering to my learning style.

The technologies I am going to test: It is my intention to test several different technologies during the course of this project. Firstly, I intend to use websites specifically aimed at learning the sets of kanji covered in my textbooks. Next, I am going to use an application called ‘Kanji Flip’, which is a flash card app specifically for kanji. I am also going to use an application called ‘iKanji Touch’, a customisable app which teaches stroke order as well. Finally, I am going to run a blog through which I can post Japanese writing and qualitatively assess my use of kanji over the course of the challenge. I believe that since these technologies are uniquely suited to learning kanji, as they are targeted in a way that most other language learning technologies can’t be, and they allow a certain flexibility of learning – I can focus on the kanji that I have the most difficulty with.

My plan: I will designate three hourly slots each week to practice kanji. The first slot each week will be the kanji website, followed by a session using ‘Kanji Flip’. The second slot of the week will be a session using ‘iKanji Touch’. Finally, in the last session of the week, I will write up a passage in Japanese using as many kanji as I can, and use this to document my progress by making a picture and putting it on my blog. This session will also be used to quantitatively test my recognition and writing of kanji.

My evaluation approach: In order to quantitatively measure my knowledge of kanji, I will use the flash cards I already have access to in order to test it. Every week I will sit down with my sister and go through them, measuring how many I can not only recognise, but give the meaning for. Then we will do the opposite, testing how many I can write when given the reading. As far as the blog is concerned, my weekly posts will give me time to reflect on my progress and write up a paragraph on how my learning challenge is, qualitatively, going.