I'm supposed to get my Steam Controller today, but FedEx tracking info only says "shipping label has been created" from two days ago. I hope they just forgot to fill out the rest of the info and it's actually being delivered.
What is happening is the phones sensors are kicking in and turning off the screen. The phone has a feature that blanks the screen when you place it against your cheek to prevent you from accidentally cheek pressing stuff on the active screen.
When you tap your finger against the screen the phone also thinks it's your cheek and blanks the screen accordingly.
What language is/was it?Rant: Messed up my oral exam. What a kick to the gut. Spend the whole weekend studying, and my mind just blanks and it comes out a jumbled mess. How am I supposed to practice a foreign language if I have no one to talk to?
What language is/was it?
Japanese. にほんごです。
I feel like I can read and write it ok, since I have time to think, but speaking keeps throwing me for twists. Constantly messing up word order and trying to recall vocab. It's like putting puzzle pieces together and I can't see the final image.
Cable TV, yo. I get three Japanese channels, one news, one sports, one that seems to be mostly soap opera looking stuff. Turn on the news, rant at the screen in Japanese when they say stupid stuff. Turn on Japanese baseball, cheer for the Hiroshima Bombers. Turn on soap operas and practice repeating pick up lines.
Cable TV, yo. I get three Japanese channels, one news, one sports, one that seems to be mostly soap opera looking stuff. Turn on the news, rant at the screen in Japanese when they say stupid stuff. Turn on Japanese baseball, cheer for the Hiroshima Bombers. Turn on soap operas and practice repeating pick up lines.
Yeah. This. If you read, try to take some time to read aloud to yourself. Repeat things you hear on tv. A lot of language formation comes from reflex/impulse. So when you repeat passages you're keying your mind into that phrasing. Things just start to "feel right" rather than having to slow down and think about what you're doing. Not just syntactically. Grammatically and content-wise as well. Helps with conjugation/declension/clitics.
Other than that - penpals/message boards/japanese groups on campus. You mostly just have to focus on getting your reps in. At least 1-2 hours of Japanese practice every day.
REPS REPS REPS
There are so many different ways you can practice.
Yeah with television programming the real secret is to not give in and turn on subtitles. Even if you have no idea what's going on and don't feel like it's helping at all; it may not feel like you're getting anywhere but your brain is actually developing a feel for the natural rhythms of the language and the more REPS you put in you'll find the more little words you can pick out of each sentence. And then one day you'll hear someone complain about how fast Japanese is and you'll feel very confused about why someone would think that.
I do try and read things aloud to myself, and talk to myself, but I tend to stumble when I do so. Also I know what I'm thinking, so there's none of the stumbling that comes from hearing what people are saying/asking, and then thinking of an appropriate response.
Perhaps you can let him know of your intent to ask via email, but say you would like to meet in person to discuss it?Rant2: I won't be able to meet with the second professor until next week, in which I'll ask him in person. This only leaves him with three weeks to write it, which I hope isn't too short! I feel bad, but he can't meet this week and if I can, I'd like to ask him in person and not in email.