This is more mature version of the ultra grimy community preview release.

update: Fixed issue with invalid MP3s in Anki import

  S2Shadowing.exe (676.65 kb)

notes:

1. install the app
2.  use anki to export the Iknow/subs2SRS file of your choice to a tab separated text file
3. you should have 2 things: an xxxxxxx.txt file and an xxxxxxxxx.media directory
4. load upS2Shadowing and load in these 2 things
5. click on Load Data
6. right click on the columns to select the type of data
   
7. when that's done click on the Shadowing tab and have a play

New version! 

S2Shadowing.exe (676.65 kb)

I've just seen this from a comment on AJATT.
The guy in question is (I assume) a French bloke that is fluent in French, English and Chinese. In the thread he focuses on how he got to be so good at Chinese.
It's a very good read and the guy (yes, even though he's French) is immensely likeable.

Inside you'll see he:

• used massive amounts of input
• ignored grammar
• used a monolingual dictionary
• utilised shadowing
• basically did the AJATT method!

This is a new and vastly improved version of S2Shadowing.

Get it: S2ShadowingRC1.exe (500.07 kb)

You can export to a spaced shadowing MP3 from any tab separated text file that contains Text and a link to a sound file.

It's still only a preview release though. Only Winamp playlist export is supported at the moment and the MP3 that comes out is kind of funky but works.

This is the ultra grimy community preview release.

1. install the app
2.  use anki to export the Iknow/subs2SRS file of your choice to a tab separated text file
3. you should have 2 things: an xxxxxxx.txt file and an xxxxxxxxx.media directory
4. load upS2Shadowing and load in these 2 things
5. click on Load Data
6. when that's done click on the Shadowing tab and have a play

S2Shadowing.exe (460.71 kb)

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

NB: Once again you'll need the .NET Framework 3.5 installed, the installer will install this automatically if you don't have it.

NB: You might need to download and install the DirectX files from Microsoft here  not any more! fixed

The Kanji Tunes Preview release is available from here

Notes:

1. You need the .NET Framework 3.5 installed. The Kanji Tunes installer should download and install this automagically
2. You need some Text To Speech Voices installed on your system
3. You need to download the LAME.DLL from rarewares(238kB) and place it in the C:\Windows\System32 folder
4. The Kanji text file needs to be tab seperated and in the format [Kanji character | Keyword | Story | Notes (optional) ] - See the example file below
5. You need the Kanji Stroke orders font from 漢字の筆順のフォント※ Kanji stroke order font v2.012

Please note, this is still in development so you use it at your own risk! 

Kanji_Example.txt (990.00 bytes)

KanjiTunes.exe (790.36 kb)

Planned improvements

• Add option to cancel processing!
• Try and find fix so individual kanji pictures show up on my iPod Nano instead of the one iTunes decides is the only one to show
• Add English Keyword to bottom of Kanji Picture
• Center Kanji picture
• Allow user to customise the voice (pitch, speed etc)
• implement auto updater
  

I thought I'd post a screenshot of how I'm going about looking for Jobs in Japan to give some ideas to others in the same situation.

I hate my job.
I absolutely hate it.

Every time I catch myself thinking about how much I hate it, I look to see what I am doing at that moment to better my situation (ie. learning Japanese/looking for another job.) If I'm not doing something towards those goals I ask myself 'WTF am I doing!?' and get back to the business of learning Japanese.

I'm using my hate as fuel for my language learning. If you're in a similar situation try it.

At per my previous `Planning` post, I have been working through Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide. Firstly, although yes it is very good, I don' t see why everyone heaps so much praise on it. For sure, it is a fantastic resource, maybe better than some of the textbooks out there; but it's not going to magically make you understand Japanese grammar. It's defiantly succinct and to the point and the examples are clear, but at the end of the day, it is just another Grammar Book.

So, what am I going to do?
I think I'm gonna finish off Tae Kim's guide. In a rapid fashion. Mostly because I just don't want to leave it unfinished.
I'm not going to break a sweat over trying to memorise anything that doesn't stick first time; just 'git 'er done'style.

Why am I not going to carry on studying grammar?
Firstly: I am never going to remember any of these rules! never.
Secondly: Yes, I used to think that studying grammar was important in order to get a grip on the language in order to progress. Now I find my self more and more agreeing with this and this. I'm not the only one either.

So where am I going to get the grammar from?!
I'm going to absorb it from sentences a la AJATT.
Which leads me on to another realisation I had... When I thought, 'screw this grammar for a laugh, I'm going to grab a dictionary and work through this children's Japanese news story and get me some input' I realised why Khatz says that you need sentences pairs- this is because if you don't know any grammar you cannot reliably translate a sentence by yourself. This is why you need both JP and ENG paired sentences to work from initially. You can't just guess a the meaning, you have to have the answer there, thenyou brain will work out the links and patterns (the grammar).

Now I've finished RTK 1 I am in desperate need of a plan.

He who fails to plan, plans to fail

I need a structured outline with a defined goal and achievable sub-goals along the way.

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now
- Alan Lakein

Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”
- Paul J. Meyer

Before beginning, plan carefully.
- Marcus Tulius Cicero

A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.
- Confucius

But if you build your life on dreams it's prudent to recall; a man with moonlight in his hands has nothing there at all.
-- Don Quixote from Cervantes Saavedra's novel Don Quixote de la Mancha

True life is lived when tiny changes occur.
- Leo Tolstoy

Planning is a process of choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan, then we choose to have others plan for us.
- Richard I. Winwood

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
- Peter F. Drucker

So, with that in mind, my next steps are:

(to run concurrently)

1. Work through all the untested kanji (394) in my Stackz RTK deck by this weekend
2. Read a section of Tae Kim's grammar guide a day (and complete the corresponding exercises) until it's all finished.
3. Finish working through the JLPT 4 Unicom book by the 20th.

That's enough to get started with. After I've accomplished goal 1, I'll add in another goal to replace it - probably kanji related. The same for goal 2 - work through a real Japanese book. and the same for 3, Probably work through the JLPT Level 3 Unicom book and other level 3 books I've got.

This is what I want to avoid:

"Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?" asked Alice.
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get," said the Cat.
"I really don't care where" replied Alice.
"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go," said the Cat.
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

I have created a CHM version of the excellent Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar

You can get it below
Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar.rar (1.98 mb)