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So, you talk about privacy in this thread. Hmm… hidden identity…
Why so secretive? Let me guess… Secret agent for the CIA? Hmm…or maybe you’re in Witness Protection? Alien from outer space? Smith Comma John?!?! O.O 😮
😛
OK, I won’t make this overly uncomfortable for you. Tell us 5 things about yourself that you haven’t shared before on the forum. I won’t drill you with specific questions; feel free to share anything you want. What are some things that would better get us (me) to know you? 🙂
LOL, Lokie!!! I love talking on this forum, actually; I’m just really paranoid about my privacy! Five things, hmmm? Okay, here we go:
1. I speak Japanese. Even as I type this, I’m taking a break studying Kanji because that area of my Japanese proficiency still needs work. My listening comprehension needs work, too. I love learning, though, so it is fun for me.
2. I love buying video games; playing them are another matter, but I love owning a whole lot of them! This leads to many games I own, but have yet to play. God of War 2 is my most recent example of this habit. I do want to play them, it’s just I don’t make the time.
3. I like collecting books, too. My current goal is to read through many great works of literature. I am almost ready to buy Anna Karenina and War and Peace; I’ve read excerpts from War and Peace and loved it!
4. I don’t watch anime anymore. I used to really love it, but after reading the manga and realizing how much is cut from it in the transition to television I stopped watching it. I get it in its original format: Japanese. For this reason, my Japanese reading ability is excellent.
5. I want to take piano and horseback riding lessons; the former, because I love music and want to learn to read it, the latter, because I love it! I’ve only ridden once, though.Thanks for engaging me, Lokie. Every bit I reveal helps me become more open here! For instance, I no longer hide my status when I’m here. To be honest, I was a little worried that no one would have any questions for me. So much for that fear!
8) When you said you were very private, I kinda backed off questioning you. I didn’t want to
you. lol Have you ever visited Japan and if not, do you plan to? Any interesting travel stories from anywhere? If you don’t travel, supermarket stories will do. 😀 Do you think you will ever try to learn a third, fourth, etc. language? Funny, I was watching some kids play a song on YouTube and started thinking how reading music is really another language, to me at least.
Do you have any “hidden” talents, like singing, dancing, etc.?
How did you start with Japanese? Did you take lessons or use the CDs (like Rosetta Stone)? My husband and I want to start, but Rosetta is soooo expensive. 🙄
Lamorte, thanks for respecting my privacy. Feel free to question ask me anything, all I can do is not answer. I have been to Japan, it was very fun, I wish to go back, but money is a little tight, and since the yen is now worth more than the dollar, it would really be cost-prohibitive for me to go now. It was very fun; I went in the winter and got sick; I don’t think it ever got warmer than 55 degrees during the day, and it dropped to low 30s to early 20s at night. My body was just not ready for that and I got a cold. Fast. The public baths were great, it makes a lot of people uncomfortable because of nudity, but I loved it! I’ve also been to Spain and Morocco; I am still using some of the products I bought there, and I went over ten years ago! I like to hold onto things. Spain was fun, but people were smoking everywhere!! I am spoiled by the non-smoking laws in America! Spain was fun!
Bayou, I actually took a junior college class, bayoudragon, and liked it so much I majored in it! Now I have a B.A. in Japanese, and still wish my proficiency was better. I know someone who is using Rosetta Stone, but it is really expensive and really hard: they don’t provide vocab or anything, so it is very literal immersion. It’s also very hard to install; I’ve heard some horror stories. I prefer to be dropped into the native country when I want to learn a foreign language.
Really? I have Rosetta for a ‘few’ languages and found it really easy to install. I actually just started working again on Japanese (I bought it originally for German, because I really need to work on it and lost a lot from not using it). In supplement to the Rosetta Stone Japanese, what do you recommend using? I’m trying to do the hirigana and katakana before I hit the Rosetta stone (and get my stroke order correct). I’ve heard a lot of JETs use Japanese for Busy People.
I agree on the manga. Even the English translations can stink. I’ve been reading a lot of decent scanlations of things like Bleach and getting the English translations was disappointing, though it is nice to get to read manga that isn’t available here and hasn’t (probably never will) been made into anime. I do enjoy seeing what I can here, but I do like getting stuff from Japan.
Also, would you recommend Morocco for the solo female traveler, or did you go with a group/friends/family? I’ve always wanted to go, but most of my friends either don’t want to travel or don’t really want to travel and do the stuff I’d be interested in (Disney World or the tropics is their sort of travel).
*hehe* I have a bunch of video games that I haven’t played much, if at all too… I’ve seen everyone else play them and vow to play them when I have more time… or at least a finished bedroom and a tv to hook up my game systems to. 😳
purpledragonclaw wrote:I like collecting books, too. My current goal is to read through many great works of literature. I am almost ready to buy Anna Karenina and War and Peace; I’ve read excerpts from War and Peace and loved it!
Collecting books – does that mean you get any sort of edition “just” so you can read it, or do you kind of keep an eye out for beautiful hardcovers, like from the Folio Society? I adore books and it’s interesting to see how different people handle them. My brother buys only fantasy, generally paperback, and handles his books with satin gloves – God forbid they should get a crease in the spine! He tries to get the whole series from the same publisher so they look good on his shelf (which they do).
I do that as well, though I can’t bother much with the shelf appearance because my shelves are so hopelessly overcrowded the books are stacked double and I’ve started lining them up on my floor. My paperbacks come with me to work and on drives and such and get creased and a little mushed. I tend to concentrate on biographies, journals, reports and factual, non-fiction writing. I’m also trying to build up a library of durable high-quality hardcovers, especially from the above mentioned Folio Society, and then there’s the Kor-i-Noor of my collection, a facsimile edition of a prayer book that cost more than my car…
So if you’re not averse, I’d love to hear about your literary habits! 😀Siberakh1: Some people have had a hard time installing Rosetta Stone for some reason; maybe it’s the way their computers are configured. To supplement Rosetta Stone, I’d start with the Genki Series of Japanese books; it has two books, each one with a workbook. They also teach you elementary kanji. I haven’t heard anything about the Japanese for Busy People series, but I do know something about JET. I knew someone who made it into the program while still in school. It’s not hard to get into; they place you where you need to be in Japan, give you about a week to get settled, and then it’s off to work. I’ve never heard of anyone dissatisfied with it, though. If you want to go to Morocco, I recommend going in a group; I went with about fifteen people. Some of the salespeople on the streets can be very aggressive; they will follow you for a couple blocks if you show any interest in their products.
GB: There once was a time when I would eat books, I read them so avidly. I say I “collect” them now because it seems like I’m amassing books without reading them. So I have a bunch of books that I intend to read, but haven’t made the time. I have so many books they’re spilling over into other rooms! My manga is not in my room, there’s no room! I love reading fantasy books: I’ve read all of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series, except Foundation, her new one (waiting for that one in paperback) and The Valdemar Companion. I’m getting into Tad Williams (I’ve read Tailchaser’s Song, and have a whole lot more by him waiting for my time to open up) and Julie E. Czerneda. I’ve never liked Anne McCaffrey or Forgotten Realms, and I’m not into Dragonlance either (although I read the War of the Lance series and thought it was superb!) Right now I’m trying to read more serious fare, like Of Human Bondage, Kim, Sons and Lovers, those kind of stories. I need some more shelves! Sounds like you do, too!
purpledragonclaw wrote:I prefer to be dropped into the native country when I want to learn a foreign language.
I WISH!! I would LOVE to go! 🙂 Disappointing to hear about Rosetta Stone and computer problems… although, as costly as it is, this may be a good thing to deter me from spending the money. I’ll see if there’s something else.
Aw man I would love to learn Japanese! It’s the one language I’m really interested in!
I totally agree the real Japanese versions of anime is so much better than the Enlglish translations. Besides the translations tend to cut out so much, and it really does make the story seem confusing sometimes.purpledragonclaw wrote:I need some more shelves! Sounds like you do, too!
Haha, yeah! Books are like Windstones – sooner or later you run out of space for all of them. 😆
purpledragonclaw wrote:Siberakh1: Some people have had a hard time installing Rosetta Stone for some reason; maybe it’s the way their computers are configured. To supplement Rosetta Stone, I’d start with the Genki Series of Japanese books; it has two books, each one with a workbook. They also teach you elementary kanji. I haven’t heard anything about the Japanese for Busy People series, but I do know something about JET. I knew someone who made it into the program while still in school. It’s not hard to get into; they place you where you need to be in Japan, give you about a week to get settled, and then it’s off to work. I’ve never heard of anyone dissatisfied with it, though. If you want to go to Morocco, I recommend going in a group; I went with about fifteen people. Some of the salespeople on the streets can be very aggressive; they will follow you for a couple blocks if you show any interest in their products.
Yup. I got A-listed for JET (means your accepted, no wait-list) a few years ago, but due to unforseen unemployment right after my interview with no guarantee of an income the months heading up to when I would go, I had to decline. I’m re-applying in a couple more years when I’ve got the majority of my student loans paid off (so, in the next 2-3 years). Things worked out well enough though, because I would have been coming back now if I had gone, right when the economy here has taken a hit. It’s a decent program, but like anything, some people just get in a situation and really don’t care for the job/their living situation/the work environment they end up with and opt to either leave early or just complete one year. Some people have a great situation and stick around for as long as possible. For Rosetta, yeah, it’s probably a configuration issue, or something as simple (and oh so annoying and equally frustrating) as a single .dll file being missing or something. Computers are fun and interesting that way. 😛
I’m sorry you couldn’t take advantage of JET, siberakh, when they offered you a position. I believe there’s still a demand for it. I don’t blame you for wanting to pay off your student loans first; getting rid of your debt before you make a move like this is smart. I also know what you mean about people not caring for the situation they get themselves in; while I was in school someone dropped out of the homestay program. I had never heard of that before! Computers are annoying and draining in configuration ways, but hey, I finally got my mouse tracking in both directions yesterday, so I am a happy camper now!
purpledragonclaw wrote:Thanks for engaging me, Lokie. Every bit I reveal helps me become more open here! For instance, I no longer hide my status when I’m here. To be honest, I was a little worried that no one would have any questions for me. So much for that fear!
We’ve talked video games before but I hadn’t known much else about you so it’s nice to get to know more about the person behind the Red XIII avatar 🙂 First, I had to google Kanji.
Are you currently using your knowledge of Japanese in your place of employment? The only language I know is Pig Latin 😆 , as I never kept up with Spanish and French after high school. Which I kick myself for because speaking a second language is a real asset.
I have tons of books everywhere as well (many unread). Seems like that’s something many of us Windstonians have in common. Loving books and loving Windstones must go hand in hand. Although, to the frowns of an English Major roommate I had, I’m not much of a fan of classic literature.
I agree with lamortefille; reading music is a foreign language in my eyes. What makes you attracted to piano versus other musical instruments?
Also, do you have any pets?
And there’s always time for video games. Just requires some lifestyle adjustments; little sleep, no social life, adult diapers, and canned food. Being able to multitask is a must as well. You can’t succeed unless you can feed the dog *kicking over the dry dog food bag so he has access* while talking on the phone to your mom *using speaker function* while furiously mashing at the controller buttons to chip away at the leaders HP. Ha, you can even check the forum during loading screens! See, very doable. And by how appealing I make it sound, don’t you want to start God of War 2 today? 😆
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