Long time no see!

[toni]

Hey everyone!

I don't know if anyone remembers me (probably not ) but I used to post here a looooooong time ago. Or well, I made a few posts, but still. I'm thinking of becoming a regular again.

Anywho, my short bio: I'm now 17 (I was 16 when I registered here), I come from Finland and I started learning Japanese last July or August, don't remember. I'm working my way through high school, so my time for Japanese isn't exactly abundant. Originally I decided to start learning Japanese "full-time" next summer but then I found out I don't have so much schoolwork now in spring so I thought why not start now! I went to look for a textbook and, surprise surprise, I decided to buy Japanese for Busy People mainly because

a) it was one of the two Japanese courses I found at our local bookstore
b) it was the only course with more books than one
c) I could've ordered Genki from an online store but it was so f***ing expensive!

...and currently I'm at chapter nine and so far so good! Except that I've noticed I'm starting to forget the things I've learned from previous chapters which has, unfortunately, taken away some of my motivation. But I'm gonna keep fighting, I'm sure that if I'm diligent enough my Japanese skills will be as good as my English skills are now!

Well, that's all I've got to say for now, peace everyone!

~Toni

[Takeo Saeki]

I'm sure I haven't met you before, since I just joined this January, but welcome back and good luck!

P.S. I like that sig lol.

[Christian_]

I think I rember you posting, you joined a little after me I think. Its always nice to have people come back to the fourm. Not too much has changed but the fourm is still the best out there. see you around.

[Sachi]

Welcome! I know what you mean about forgetting the info. That’s one fault with self-studying; no tests or quizzes to make sure you understand or remember the info.

Anyways, good luck with your studies!

[Takeo Saeki]

That's why I always review what i've already learned as much as possible.

[toni]

Thanks everyone! Nice to meet you all. And sorry for the long delay in replying, but I'm not gonna post so often here anyway...

[hyperconjugated]

KARJALA TAKAISIN!!!

[toni]

LOL

[Seijiro Hiko]

Welcome back toni.

私もは庶ｵ歳です！:p (I am seventeen too! - please correct me if this is wrong) except I joined about a year earlier.

I also suffer from JML (Japanese memmory loss) and I think that Sachi brought up a good point. - The fact that since most of us don't exactly have Japanese classes that issue tests and quizzes, (is that spelled right "quizzes" ... any way) we aren't exactly obligated or pressured to remember what we learned...so.....I propose that someone (I don't have the time or resources) should come up with some basic tests to put on the internet where we could test ourselves on what we know like kanji, sentence translation or construction, etc...(or we could beg clay and company to add something like that to the site)

Ooh! and If you pass you can get promoted to a certain level that recognizes you for your level of japanese mastery on the sight that could be viewed on your screen name or something! That way there's an incentive or reward for learning Japanese other than just your personal willpower which can be lacking at times.

Is this a good idea or not?

[toni]

Nice to meet you Seijiro! So you're 17 too? Cool! This place is so full of young people.

About your testing idea, it's very good and i agree that there's no incentive. We self studiers don't have any exams so things can get really sloppy. Motivation is also the thing we have keep up. Without it...we're pretty much screwed! It'd be cool to make quizzes and basic tests...if anyone wants to do them, I'll volunteer to help! Although my Japanese isn't so good yet...but I don't lack げんき! :p

[Satoyaki]

[toni]

Hey Satoyaki...