日本ラブ:日本語

Earlier in January, I decided to pick up Japanese again. This is actually my 4th attempt. Haha. I have been trying to learn the language properly since forever. But laziness and procrastination proved to be very massive stumbling blocks. BUT BUT now that I'm an adult with supposedly better discipline and have no exams to be used as excuses, I'm hoping that I'll finally learn the language. *fingers crossed*

To keep myself going, I am creating this new little corner on my blog - Nihon Love「日本ラブ」. This is where I'm going to ramble endlessly about all things Japanese as I learn more about the language and culture. And I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do penning these entries down. ^^

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I am currently studying at Ikoma Language School. Come July, I'll be taking my JLPT N5... Which is actually quite 'worrying' because I'm so useless with the vocabulary. Everything sounds so similar and I swear it's more difficult than Mandarin. Haha. Anyway, before Ikoma, I tried 2 other schools and I thought I write a little about my experience with all 3 here. I hope it helps you if you're looking for a school to enroll in!

• Bunka Language School
  This is the first Japanese school I attended. They have their own unique way of teaching the language; they use the 'New System Japanese', which is based on the progression of the learner's level of interest. So basically when you first start and are all excited about the language, you are taught the Hiragana and Katakana, and the 6 main conjugation of verbs. I think this works if you are very disciplined, but I wasn't then. Haha. Anyway, the school's located at Delfi Orchard which was really far for me then, so I gave up pretty quickly. Heh. Oh yeah! One thing that's really cool is that the school holds cultural events every now and then, such as mochi making and calligraphy. (:

• Cambridge Language School
  Hmmm... I'm not quite sure if this school is still around. Anyway, I signed up for it because it was really close to home then. I think the school focused more on conversation and the pace was a whole lot slower than Bunka's. A tad too slow actually, especially since I already knew the basics. I stopped when my course ended (I think I skipped the last lesson. Heh.).

• Ikoma Language School
  Ikoma's pace is in-between the 2 aforementioned schools' and is the most comfortable to me. The school uses the Minna no Nihongo 「みんなの日本語」books. There are 5 different levels, and each comes with 2 terms. You learn Hiragana in Basic 1, Term 1 and then, Katakana in Basic 1, Term 2. The conjugation of verbs is slowly introduced throughout the levels. I joined the school 2 years ago and had the most adorable and knowledgeable teacher, Yamauchi 先生! But then, school got in the way and I stopped last March, after completing Basic 1. This year, I took the placement test and resume my studies under the very sweet Kenjo 先生. And I'll be completing Basic 2, Term 2 soon! ^^