Kaeru Ranawa's Blog

Tag: Learning Japanese

  • Studying with Eye Strain: Exploring Dictation

    As mentioned in previous posts, I have been dealing with eye strain problems for the last few months. Having been recently able to study again, I have had to adapt and find study exercises that will allow my eyes to heal. One of these adaptations is increased usage of dictation software. This was initially suggested…

  • Study Update, Week of April 26

    So, because I found a more convenient and quick way to update my blog, I’ve decided to post a little bit more (as long as I have things to say). Writing a post like this is partially a study tool (as it’s a good chance to reflect on what has and hasn’t worked), and partially…

  • Language Self-Assessment with the “Police Station Test”

    The premise is: If you got dropped in the middle of an area that only speaks your target language, could you get yourself to a police station? I call this The Police Station Test and personally consider “passing” it to be a decent measure of highly practical communication ability, as well as a way for…

  • My JLPT N5 Post-Mortem

    My JLPT N5 Post-Mortem

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    There (thankfully) isn’t too much to say about how the JLPT N5 test went for me, so I’ll keep this brief. In summary: I passed with a high percentile but was 5 wrong answers away from failing the listening portion (and therefore the whole test). Why did that happen and what will I be doing…

  • Overall – Kaeru’s Japanese Learning Goals

    Overall – Kaeru’s Japanese Learning Goals

    In my attempts to partially shift this over to being a Japanese learning blog, I realized I should probably give some context to my goals and general self as a language learner. What do I most want to use Japanese for? Weeb thing to say, but I anticipate what I’ll end up using Japanese the…

  • June 2023 – Kaeru’s Japanese Learning Goals

    June 2023 – Kaeru’s Japanese Learning Goals

    This is what I hope will be a monthly series where I outline what I’d like to do for the month and how I’ll do it. For context of how this all fits into my overall goals, you can visit this post! I’ll update this post at the end of the month and post the…

  • Studying for the JLPT N5, Week 1: Rude Awakening

    Studying for the JLPT N5, Week 1: Rude Awakening

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    Last Friday, I voluntarily plopped down $100 and decided to take a standardized test. I’m not doing this for any career requirement, and heck, I already got through college so it’s not like I needed some shiny credentials for an admissions application. I was just carrying through on a promise I made myself. That being,…