Summer goals?

[tydin]

Summer for me starts on the 14th, I am not sure if your's has already begun. I am really curious to find out what others will be up to. I have a few goals for the summer.

Make it through a JLPT level 3 book
Learn 100 Mandarin characters
Learn French 1 and 2
Learn Spanish 1 and 2
Learn to play my favorite song on the violin
Blog everyday about my goals

If anyone is interested in reading I will post a link.*

What are your summer goals?

[Snowflake]

Tydin said:

...I have a few goals for the summer....

Goodness, Tydin! If that's your "I have a few goals" list, I'd hate to see your "I have a buncha goals" list . Ambitious, you are! Sounds like you're going to be busy, busy, busy!

As for me, I'm a slacker by comparison. I'll be happy to get a good, solid handle on the N5/N4 vocabulary list, to feel cozy with the N5/N4 kanji and to have the kana come to me nearly as naturally (and as lightning-fast) as the English alphabet by the end of summer. If I can look at a page of Japanese print, a website, perhaps, and pick out a good portion of words (and sound them out), I'll consider that a grand success.

[furrykef]

To be honest, I think that's way too many goals, Tyden. Spanish 1 and 2 alone will likely take you all summer (though you can probably get the violin practice in) unless you already speak Italian or Portuguese. I've studied Spanish for years and I'm still not great at it -- I'm pretty good with the written language (reading long texts is tiring, though), but I can't even comprehend the spoken language in most cases. Of course, I'd be much better at it if I weren't also studying Japanese, Latin, and a bit of Italian... not to mention all the other things I do.

So I strongly suggest you prioritize these instead of trying to shoehorn them all into your summer whether they'll fit or not, or else you'll just end up with a lot of partially completed goals instead of a few fully completed goals. To me, the idea of a 'goal' suggests that you should go for full completion, but do whichever you prefer. Just understand that you're extremely unlikely to fulfill all these.

- Kef

[ピーター]

I've also set myself a number of goals for this summer, but they're not nearly as ambitious as yours.

Principally I just want to finish learning the JLPT N4/N5 Kanji (going by the White Rabbit Press series 2 flashcards for what constitutes this), finish off Genki II and then work on increasing my vocabulary. I also want to start reading the first Harry Potter book in Japanese, but I'm aware that'll probably be a little difficult for someone of my level.

Although, what I really do will probably be determined by how my enrollment in formal classes goes. I'm too advanced really for doing a GCSE in Japanese to be worth it, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to convince them I'm ready to take an AS Level class in it, particularly as my speech, pronunciation and vocabulary will probably let me down as a self-taught student. (Not sure what the equivalent to those levels of education are in America or other countries.)

A mid-term goal is the JLPT N4 in December though, so whatever happens I'll be working towards that.

[tydin]

I should have mentioned that I have already taken Spanish 1 and have already learned around 20 Characters. =p I think I may just try to get into my French 1 book, and focus on Japanese as much as I possibly can. You see, I have so much free time over the summer I could go insane and I just need some space filler. I really want to be able to read a manga without needing to translate every other word on the page.
- _ - I wish you all luck!

[Yudan Taiteki]

Pass my candidacy exam so I can become ABD.

[phreadom]

Study for the JLPT N5 so that I might actually pass it this year.

[fielle]

Learn German! Or at least start.

[Kirchwasser]

Possibly go to summer school and take two semesters worth of classes.
Intern at a camp.
Finish all my AP summer homework.
Develop a list of colleges to apply to.
Write a few amazing short stories/poems.
Finish course 1 and course 2 of my Rosetta Stone Japanese online lesson in less than a month.
Get a lot of hours of volunteer work.
Become a better human being.
Register for the ACT and SAT.
Hardmode prep for the SAT Japanese and SAT Math II test.
Become a genius.
Oh, and a millionaire.

[furrykef]

I really want to be able to read a manga without needing to translate every other word on the page.

Sadly, I've been studying Japanese for a couple of years and I still can't do this. (To be fair, I'd probably have much more success if I were focused more on Japanese instead of studying so many other languages and doing so many other things...)

[kurisuto]

Pass my candidacy exam so I can become ABD.

Hey! Welcome back! Quite a long break (well, in internet time at least).

I think you said you were working on a literature PHD; so, why not telling us a little bit more about it? You see, I just don't know what this kind of dissertation can be about (forgive my curiosity and ignorance ).

[leonl]

Summer Goals

1. Review all of first and second year Japanese grammar using Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar.
2.Review last 2 years kanji plus learn 150 or so more using kanji look and learn
3. Study for JLPT N3 using NIHONGO SO-MATOME grammar book
4. Get through Read real japanese

[ss]

Listening practice has always been a top priority.

[spin13]

My summer goals:

*Continue to study Korean
*Travel to South Korea
--Eat dog (boshintang) and living octopus (sannakji) again
--Choose not to eat silkworm pupa (bondaegi) again
--Remind Koreans that the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute is silly, claim island for myself
*Travel to Hokkaido
--Escape Tokyo's heat
--Dance the Squid Dance (Hakodate Minato Matsuri)
--Hop over to and hop in Aomori (Nebuta Matsuri)
--Drink Otaru Beer
--Buy more "KUMA" Puma knock-off T-shirts.
*Finish Dragon Quest 6 and read a book again, start by finishing 白い人・黄色い人
*Find and toss a midget, dwarf, or little person

[chikara]

Summer for me starts on the 14th, I am not sure if your's has already begun. .....
What are your summer goals?

Make it through winter which started on 1 June.