I have achieved vocabulary success! This might work for you, too.

Speeeeeeeed Reader!

I was always jealous of speed readers who could get through at least a book a day. “Man,” I thought, “why I am so slow?” But then one day I realized something – I had a much higher rate of retention of content.

Speed readers save time, but the trade-off is on how much information they come out with. So if that’s the case for getting through books, I thought it might be the case for vocabulary in a foreign language as well.

Slow down!

This is a technique I’ve been experimenting with lately (with Korean), and the results are fantastic. I’m getting an extremely high rate of retention from having only seen words one time. Here’s my approach:

• Focus on a target term for 10 to 20 seconds. Focus only on that term, and try to “feel” the meaning of the term.
• In the back of your mind, tell yourself, “I’m going to remember this term.” (Don’t let that distract you from focusing on the target term, though!)
• Associate the term with some imagery, and then imagine that you’re hearing it used in a conversation.
• Finally, imagine yourself using the term in a conversation.

This whole process could take anywhere from 20 to 40 seconds, perhaps more if it’s not immediately sticking. It may seem like a slow pace, but you’ll actually find you save time as you won’t need to review.

For example, I went through this process a couple of nights ago while studying Korean. I studied a set of words by focusing on them individually. Half an hour later, I tested them out on my wife to see if they were still in my memory, and what do you know – Still there. But that’s not enough of a confirmation. So two days later, I tested them out again, and I hadn’t forgotten a thing.

When you “power through” a huge list of terms (even within full sentences, as I recommend), just like speed reading, the information is fleeting. Some of the terms might stick, but you’ll generally need to review the terms again, and again, and again, until they’re finally in there.

The approach I outlined above might not work for everyone. Actually, I don’t think it would have worked for me even two years ago. But it’s working now. So give it a try and see if you get something out of it as well.

Drunk on a train in Japan (image from spaciousplanet.com)

One thing that always struck me as “different” in Japan is the sheer amount of contradiction in everyday life. I like to describe it as “harmonious discord”. I find that this harmonious discord permeates through life, but it’s typically overlooked or taken for granted.

Starting with two very well known Japanese proverbs, on the one hand you have 出る釘は打たれる (”The nail that sticks out is hammered down”), and on the other you have 十人十色 (”Ten people, ten colors,” or, “Different strokes for different folks”). In business, on the one hand you have お客さんは神様(”The customer is god”), and on the other you have to pay “gift money” to landlords as a sort of way to bribe yourself into an apartment.

Culturally, the Japanese have a strong sense of tradition, but at the same time they fear the outdated, whether it’s fashion, music, or housing. And in society you see a reluctance to speak out, yet when the beer flows you see a drunken outpouring of emotion.

Perhaps that very aspect of harmonious discord is what makes Japan such an attractive place for so many people.

[Note] This is a submission for this month’s Japan Blog Matsuri. This month’s topic sparked my interest so I decided to nostalgically submit an article.

Some of you out there are looking for a good way to study Korean.
(And by “good way” I mean “free way”)

You might have tried Smart.fm only to find out that, unlike what’s offered for Japanese, their Korean offerings are barren and lifeless. But despair not my eager friend – I have come with the horn of plenty, overflowing with Korean! Or, at least a cup of offerings.

Lessons

Seoul National University’s Korean Language Education Center – I only recently discovered this, but if I were to start studying Korean all over again, I’d definitely give it a shot.

Sogang Korean Program – This is a little old, but it’s still useful. The navigation is awkward, though.

Let’s Learn Korean – This is a task-based approach. While it doesn’t have the sort of depth of content I’d prefer, it’s OK as a light introduction to the language.

Dictionaries

Naver.com Dictionary – Obviously made for Koreans, but it works the other way, too.

Yahoo.co.kr Dictionary – Another one.

Parallel Bilingual Text

JoongAng Daily Bilingual Columns – Provides news stories in Korean with English translations running alongside. (This was also aimed at Koreans learning English, but, again – It works both ways!)

More?

I’m sure there are many more sites out there, but I haven’t found them yet! If you know any more, please leave a comment and I’ll update this accordingly.

It was love at first sight.

And then bitter despair as that perfect method that you swore your life to betrays your expectations. It’s boring. It’s repetitive. Worst of all, it’s not helping you progress.

But why? It was supposed to be the perfect method. It was supposed to be The Way.

Surprise! There isn’t a perfect method.

Every single language learning method ever invented has been heavily criticized. Of course, they’re also praised. You’ll soon learn that these methods are all just theories. But these aren’t universally verifiable theories like in those easy disciplines like quantum physics. Language theories are highly susceptible to the great disparities between learner types. What may work for one person might not work for you.

The real deal

So what’s better than reading about the latest and greatest language learning method? Reading about real experience from people who have walked the path before you. Think of the goal like it’s the summit of a mountain. There are many paths you can take to get to the top, and some of those paths might be more enjoyable for you than others.

What you should be doing is tailoring your own language learning approach, which is a combination of various methods that you find give you the results you’re looking for. Whatever gets those words pounded into your active language skills, continue with it. Switch up the way you study every once in a while to keep things fresh. Try something new. Experiment with a method you didn’t have any faith in to begin with. If it doesn’t work, skip it.

Don’t just talk about it, do it

Be wary of the language teachers who have never learned a foreign language themselves. They may know the theory, and they may even have good ideas. But they don’t have the actual experience that we’re looking for. They can talk the talk, but they’ve never attempted to even try to walk.

I don’t mean to say that mono-lingual teachers are terrible, but they’ve got a slight disadvantage. Of course they might be really sympathetic people and able to understand student needs without having walked in their shoes.

Your safest bet, though, is to listen to what successful language learners are talking about.

I took a logical leap yesterday and found out that the English term “rickshaw” is from the Japanese term 人力車 [jinrikisha]. I love coming across these sorts of terms because, as a native English speaker, I never considered the etymology of terms that I’m accustomed to.

I’ve been paying less attention to victorymanual than I’d like to, but for several good reasons.

First, I’ve been trying to get reacquainted with my Korean studies on society, culture, and international relations over at Diffism.com. I’m hoping to keep a steady flow of commentary on several issues regarding Korea as I consider which direction I want to go with a future masters degree.

I also recently received some wonderful news that I’m not quite ready to share here yet. I was invested in this on several levels for the past few weeks, which diverted most of my free time away from this site and other recreational sites regarding Japan and Japanese that I frequent.

In the next few days I hope to write a little bit more about the above mentioned news, as well as an article or two on language study that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while now.

I hope everyone is keeping up on their language studies, and making steady progress.

I received an amusingly tactless comment today from someone obviously cooler than me who felt the need to criticize what I do here, which is share my experience to help other learners find their foothold.

Apparently he read through my site and expected to find some magic beans that would help him sprout super Japanese skills. Well, if that’s why you’re here also, I have bad news for you – There’s no secret to learning language.

I never meant to promise you anything, so I’m sorry if you were under that impression. It’s just I know a lot of new language learners out there are lost, just like I was as a beginner.

The truth is, learning a language is as simple as devoting yourself to the task. If you read what I’ve written (over there –>) about getting the right exposure, keeping on top of your review sessions, and adopting the right mindset towards the target language, you’re already well on your way. If you’re comfortable with the concepts I discuss, you’ll be able to figure things out on your own.

Regarding methods – I only present to you what worked for me (and I haven’t even presented my whole experience yet, as I’ve got a lot of other things to do, like learn another language). This isn’t an exhaustive list. If something I wrote about here isn’t working for you, or if you find it’s not very exciting, try something else. Do whatever works for you.

You can spend hours upon hours scouring the web with search strings like, “How to study vocabulary”, “How to study grammar”, “Best way to study a language”, or “Magic juice that will allow me to speak a foreign language in 6 hours”, but I’m sure you’ll come across content that is pretty much the same caliber as what I present here, which is anecdotal. And, to be honest – That’s the best kind of content there is. You should be listening to the people who have gone through it before. If it sounds repetetive; if you’ve heard it all before, then that’s a sign. That’s what works.