There’s a big gulf where basic exercises seem too simple, and real, spoken language seems unbearably fast and difficult.
Good luck! I’m confident that it will improve over time if we keep engaging with the target language every day. But I don’t expect any results to be quick.
Retronauts and Hardcore History.
Retronauts gives perspectives on old games. They try to be informative, but sometimes it’s more casual too. It’s good, nostalgic stuff. And it’s a small thing, but the way they intersperse samples of game soundtracks really sets the mood well.
As for Hardcore History, Carlin is just such a good host. Sounds so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about whatever the topic. It’s history, in particular military history, though so it obviously gets pretty dark and depressing sometimes.
Little bit of a slower week for me. Had some family stuff to focus on, and now some work stuff. So I haven’t picked up as many new things, but I’m glad that I’ve been keeping up with reviews even when busy. If I let them just pile up several days, it can get to be a bit much.
I’m also in process of switching (my primary study resource) from one Kanji book to a different one. I think it will be to my benefit, but it is a little bit of a speedbump getting into a new flow.
Not a lawyer, not even close, but I’d be a little weary of using the exact same list.
A list of things with no creativity involved won’t fall under copyright, but the argument would be that they exercised creativity in curating a list of those specific figures. They could probably argue it and succeed. But since they’re pulling from the public domain, I doubt they’d go after anyone on it.
Would definitely be a problem if someone bases new things on designs from that game. Derivative work from public domain work still gets copyrighted, right?
Very cool, thanks for sharing! I’d have never discovered it on my own since it’s not on F-Droid. Shame the license isn’t fully open source, but not the biggest deal.
I was currently using like 3 different apps to do what this lets me do, so that’s handy. The tutorial already makes it seem a little confusing with all the double tap, long press, triple tap stuff. But I’m sure the different actions become natural with some use.
General interest
Game history
Talking about current video games
Cool, what dictionay are you using?
I’d forgotten about Kanji Dojo since I’ve been doing other things. Seems like a high quality app.
I was thinking the other day how it reminds me of the same feeling I had playing some games as a kid.
There was that timeframe where I could read (in English), but it was very much conscious effort - so I’d be lazy and ignore text when possible, and there’d be lots I had no hope of deciphering.
It leads to this sense of mystery and wonder, where you have no idea what’s going on but you appreciate when you do find a clue in the words. Bit by bit you start to understand.
Daily and 3 hours? Wow, that is intensive! Is it just a couple weeks long?
Glad you’re having fun though.
I like the Very Short Introduction series - they’re short non-fiction books aimed more-or-less at educated adults who aren’t so familiar with a topic. And I found their Philosphy book to be worth a read.
It spends some time introducing some common philosophical questions before covering a few classic texts.
In the past couple weeks, I’ve switched Slay the Spire to my target language. Now even my most compulsively procrastinating time gives a little practice.
It’s not the greatest for intensive study (no audio, after all), but it’s a great way to ease in.
And besides that specific instance, I’m getting more confident overall. To the point where I feel like I won’t be totally missing out on games if I try to play them in Japanese.
Couldn’t have a much better excuse than that. Go easy on yourself, you’re right to focus your energy on giving him a strong start!
Although while you’re taking care of him, you do have a captive audience for a bit of speaking practice, lol. I’m sure he won’t mind if you make mistakes.
Not good at all, but I’m just happy to be there.
Thanks all for the answers! I knew I didn’t do everything, I’ll make note of this one for future playthroughs. Wonderful game, I do feel like I’ll be coming back sometime.
Question - the scene in the thumbnail, of everyone hanging out around a fire - does (or where does) that show up in the game?
I played through recently and don’t remember coming across it. Not sure if I forgot or missed something obvious.
“What the size of your book collection says about you” - I feel like there’s gotta be a bell curve here, with “you don’t read enough” on both sides.
I’ve got a bunch of books, but it’s faster and easier to buy them than read them.
I’ve started and stopped a handful of times over the years. One thing that surprised me was how much easier it was to learn something the 2nd(+) time around.
It’s apparently an actual thing: https://www.psychology-lexicon.com/cms/glossary/52-glossary-s/16841-savings.html
Makes me feel better about learning stuff that I’m not able to reinforce yet.
Right, it very much depends on what you put into it. I took some lessons last year (something else, not in language, but nonetheless), and found that I didn’t get much out of the actual sessions - but studied and practiced way harder throughout the week to prepare for the session. It was really beneficial. I wasn’t being taught too too much, but adds so much motivation to improve self learning.
I was just playing Chants of Sennaar (a game about deciphering made-up language) and wondering why the same type of game isn’t out there for real languages.
And of course the obvious answer is that it is, I just don’t know. Wagotabi looks neat. I’m still dipping my toes in with playing other games with language set to Japanese, but W seems like it might be a fun bridge.