alwaystheself.bsky.social
A woman of many powers. Full professor, cultural critic, political analyst and tarot reader. One of my books has a 2 second cameo in an Oscar winning film.日本語を勉強します. I’m my ancestors’ wildest dreams and/or worst nightmare. I have a lot of ancestors.
2,671 posts
11,042 followers
780 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
I tried to tell someone this years ago and I think they thought I’d lost my mind.
comment in response to
post
Columbia canceled my class on Race and Media, but I'm teaching it anyway.
All thanks to people power and community support-- especially from you all on Bluesky!
Happy to announce I'll be teaching Race Media and International Affairs 101 online-- hosted by D.C.'s MLK Jr. Memorial Library!
comment in response to
post
Is this about Patti Lupone?
comment in response to
post
(Yes I live in Western Mass)
comment in response to
post
Opinions may vary but I think the Genki textbook series is perfectly fine and there are a ton of resources to support self-study - Anki cards, Tokini Andy's videos and more. I also really like Japanese Ammo videos on YouTube.. Good luck on your journey!
comment in response to
post
Are you working with any textbooks?
comment in response to
post
Best of luck with your Japanese journey! For apps you might also try one called “Japanese!” in the AppStore that’s helpful for learning hiragana and katakana (you may not need that though!)
comment in response to
post
It will probably take me like 10 more years at least to really start even *begin* to get the hang of this language but it’s nice to not be in a rush and to just take things as they come.
comment in response to
post
I’m lucky in that my partner remembers and speaks enough Japanese (from her childhood in Tokyo) that we’re able to hold simple conversations, enjoy Japanese movies and tv shows together… all of this helps and keeps me motivated despite the difficulty of the language.
comment in response to
post
I think one reason Japanese is so much fun is that it felt utterly impossible. It just didn’t look or sound like anything I could possibly learn. So the feeling of things beginning to make sense has been super exciting and surprising at every step.
comment in response to
post
I can’t begin to put into even English words how much joy I derive from learning Japanese. It’s been nothing like learning French, which I didn’t enjoy at all, to be honest. Studying Japanese, while difficult, is also immensely satisfying in ways I cannot explain..
comment in response to
post
Writing is also easier. I usually only find myself hesitating with katakana, for lack of practice. But that’s improving as well.. again, it’s just been small doses of work over a long period of time, with sudden unexplained acceleration.
comment in response to
post
I basically gave up on memorizing lots of kanji for the time being so that I could simply try to really understand all/most of the grammar points in Genki I and Genki II. But now that I can read hiragana and katakana more fluidly, I can see myself tackling kanji more systematically later this year.
comment in response to
post
My best guess is that it’s taken me three years to learn the equivalent of about 2 years of college-paced study. I feel like, that’s pretty good considering everything that’s been on my plate..
comment in response to
post
I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve been able to learn in small doses taking very slow paced part time Japanese classes once per week for three years. I wish I’d had time to do traditional language learning—two, three or more classes weekly—but that wouldn’t have been feasible or realistic for me..
comment in response to
post
It’s also a *lot* easier to review now that I can actually read. Up until now (three years??!) reading Japanese has felt laborious, like decoding hieroglyphics. I barely had time to study over the last year due to the big move + new job, yet somehow, by osmosis, my learning is finally accelerating..
comment in response to
post
ありがとございます！日本語はペラペラにはなしたいので、れんしゅします。
comment in response to
post
そうですね
comment in response to
post
今日は、パートナとヨーガをしました。あとで、レストランで昼ご飯を食べました。今日の天気はよくなかったです。たくさん雨がふってちょっとさむかったので、うちにかえりました。
comment in response to
post
つばらしい！
comment in response to
post
私の国は元気じゃないですので、とてもしんぱいしています。新聞は読みたくないです。