Japanese

Sometimes I start to feel like everyone is bilingual but meeeeeeee and I get out my Japanese books and I do exercises. After 7 years of fitful efforts, I have decided that I will really learn Japanese, for real, or I will stop trying forever. Like this: 

 1. Slowly translating Japanese language brochures and guides from around the US.

  2. Labeling everything in my room (ceiling, ironing board).

 3. Reveling in my little accomplishments.

 4. Reviewing Japanese for Busy People; listening to the associated AJALT tracks before bed.

 5. Planning to translate or read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- still quite a stretch for me. Right now what I'm doing is reading the katakana (in this book, English names and words that are transcribed, rather than translated) to find out what the page is about, then getting excited because the kanji I know=the most frequently used kanji. And then getting discouraged because my list of kanji to look up is so long, even with nciku.

6.  Reading my Let's Learn Japanese illustrated dictionary.

7. Switching most used websites to Japanese.

8. Switch gadgets to Japanese.

9. I got a scribble slate at the dollar store! This way I can practice without a record of how badly I'm doing, unless I took a photo for some reason.