Introduction
Why AJWIC?
I was listening to a discussion between George Trombley (Japanese from Zero) and a vlogger known as MattVsJapan (a proponent of the AJATT (All Japanese All The Time) approach to learning Japanese created by Katsumoto.
While both George and Matt take very different approaches to learning Japanese, they agreed on a lot of matters regarding an input based approach - namely that if you want to reach a native level of fluency in a language like Japanese, maximizing your exposure to authentic material lies at the heart of the matter.
However, the AJATT approach requires a schedule that simply isn't possible to most people - myself included, since I teach English for a living and thus spend five days a week speaking English. AJATT requires one, as the acronym screams out, to spend all your time consuming Japanese materials. The results are rather impressive; listening to a few people who have gone all out with the AJATT approach, these people have a level of Japanese which is way beyond most foreigners I've met on my language learning journey.
So ruling out the AJATT approach for myself, but wishing to achieve a similar level, I wondered what I could do to close the gap. I mean, I'm not expecting to reach the same level within the same time-span, but I believe it may be possible for me to reach a similar level within a realistic time-frame. I have a head-start on the three people I've observed using AJATT; in that I'm starting my adapted version of AJATT having already gained low intermediate level of Japanese already.
What is AJWIC?
In a nutshell, it's maximizing the amount of exposure to the Japanese language that I can realistically gain whilst teaching English as a second language.
Phase #1: Close the gap in my listening comprehension of authentic materials.
How: I will be starting with materials that are just a fraction beyond my current level of comprehension. This is known as "i+1" in Krashen's comprehensible input hypothesis. I will be using Olly Richards' "Conversations" series to bridge the gap, since I am able to listen to these conversations understanding around 80 to 90% of the content.
I will not be focusing on speaking Japanese for the next three to four months. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be speaking any Japanese. I will speak Japanese whenever the opportunity arises and I will continue to work on my kanji writing too, but my primary focus will be on input - listening and reading.
Currently, when I listen to authentic Japanese content, my level of comprehension isn't high enough to enjoy listening ... I will understand a few words here and there, but not enough to follow the discourse in most contexts. Hence, goal number one is closing this gap.
I've noticed how my passive knowledge of the Japanese language far exceeds my active usage of the language. When I'm talking, I get frustrated by the fact that I know that I know a word ... but I simply cannot recall the word, or articulate my outputting, packaging the language fast enough for my satisfaction. That's not to say I'm useless - I occasionally have moments of immense pride where I've been able to communicate my thoughts pretty well in Japanese ... and yet, just as often, I have moments where my inability to communicate have reached a level of frustration where it seems more damaging than productive. Sometimes I totally suck at speaking Japanese ... sometimes I don't totally suck ... but I still suck more than I wish I did. That said, I'm sick and tired of sucking ... I want to be able to speak this language eloquently like a well educated native ... I want to write beautifully ... I want to be the first British person to pass the Kanji Kentei Level 1 ... and I want to be able to read about the history of this country without having to use a dictionary so often that I don't curl up in a ball crying in despair!
On the plus side ... I know it's an inevitable outcome if I simply keep going, simply keep enjoying and avoid putting myself in a place of harm. When I moved to Japan, three and a half years ago, I could speak quite fluently on a variety of basic topics ... where I'm from, what things I like, don't like, what I'm planning to do, what I've done in the past etc etc. I did a few Add1Challenges and through that, learned how to maintain a consistent language learning habit. Recently, some of my co-workers commented that they see me as a "Language Learning Olympian" ... a label that I felt a certain amount of pride in ... but I shouldn't rest on my laurels ... there's still a long journey ahead.
Timescale: Three to Four months. By the end of August, I estimate my listening comprehension will be transitioning to authentic materials - Japanese radio and podcast shows.
Phase #2: Consuming authentic material.
How: Listening to Japanese radio will be my primary source of input - talk radio, photography and art discussions, technology debates etc. Reading - I will re-read the Star Wars novelizations in Japanese a second time - these books have furigana, so I'll be speed reading them ... i.e. not needing to read the furigana most of the time, but having it there to save me the painful slowness of looking up kanji that I'm not familiar with in a dictionary. I also have some Star Wars manga books that don't have any furigana, so that's an i+1 for my reading comprehension.
Timescale: 2 Year. September 2018 to the Tokyo Olympics. I want to be able to read the newspapers, watch Anime and read historical guides to the places I visit around the summer of 2020.
Phase #3: Speaking eloquently as a well educated native.
How: Listening to specialist materials on photography, language learning and history. Practicing shodou so that when I eventually reach the higher levels of the Kanji Kentei, I will not only be able to read and write the characters, I will be able to write more beautifully than most natives. I'd like to go on Japanese gameshows and compete in kanji writing contests ... and win!
When I retire from teaching (not for another 14 years or more) ... I plan to spend at least two years going hardcore on consuming authentic Japanese media. I dream of traveling around Japan, researching the history of William Adams (Anjin-san) and Lafcadious Hearn (a famed relation of a friend of mine in the UK).
So that's the introduction. I don't know how often I will update this blog, but the plan is to document the techniques in more detail as I continue this quest. It's a secret blog, so if you're reading this, you are either here randomly, or someone I wish to share the journey with. I won't be linking my posts to social media - not yet anyway ... I like the idea of reaching my goals and then sharing a link to those who ask me how I accomplished such a high standard in the future.
With that said, I had better get on with it ....
I was listening to a discussion between George Trombley (Japanese from Zero) and a vlogger known as MattVsJapan (a proponent of the AJATT (All Japanese All The Time) approach to learning Japanese created by Katsumoto.
While both George and Matt take very different approaches to learning Japanese, they agreed on a lot of matters regarding an input based approach - namely that if you want to reach a native level of fluency in a language like Japanese, maximizing your exposure to authentic material lies at the heart of the matter.
However, the AJATT approach requires a schedule that simply isn't possible to most people - myself included, since I teach English for a living and thus spend five days a week speaking English. AJATT requires one, as the acronym screams out, to spend all your time consuming Japanese materials. The results are rather impressive; listening to a few people who have gone all out with the AJATT approach, these people have a level of Japanese which is way beyond most foreigners I've met on my language learning journey.
So ruling out the AJATT approach for myself, but wishing to achieve a similar level, I wondered what I could do to close the gap. I mean, I'm not expecting to reach the same level within the same time-span, but I believe it may be possible for me to reach a similar level within a realistic time-frame. I have a head-start on the three people I've observed using AJATT; in that I'm starting my adapted version of AJATT having already gained low intermediate level of Japanese already.
What is AJWIC?
In a nutshell, it's maximizing the amount of exposure to the Japanese language that I can realistically gain whilst teaching English as a second language.
Phase #1: Close the gap in my listening comprehension of authentic materials.
How: I will be starting with materials that are just a fraction beyond my current level of comprehension. This is known as "i+1" in Krashen's comprehensible input hypothesis. I will be using Olly Richards' "Conversations" series to bridge the gap, since I am able to listen to these conversations understanding around 80 to 90% of the content.
I will not be focusing on speaking Japanese for the next three to four months. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be speaking any Japanese. I will speak Japanese whenever the opportunity arises and I will continue to work on my kanji writing too, but my primary focus will be on input - listening and reading.
Currently, when I listen to authentic Japanese content, my level of comprehension isn't high enough to enjoy listening ... I will understand a few words here and there, but not enough to follow the discourse in most contexts. Hence, goal number one is closing this gap.
I've noticed how my passive knowledge of the Japanese language far exceeds my active usage of the language. When I'm talking, I get frustrated by the fact that I know that I know a word ... but I simply cannot recall the word, or articulate my outputting, packaging the language fast enough for my satisfaction. That's not to say I'm useless - I occasionally have moments of immense pride where I've been able to communicate my thoughts pretty well in Japanese ... and yet, just as often, I have moments where my inability to communicate have reached a level of frustration where it seems more damaging than productive. Sometimes I totally suck at speaking Japanese ... sometimes I don't totally suck ... but I still suck more than I wish I did. That said, I'm sick and tired of sucking ... I want to be able to speak this language eloquently like a well educated native ... I want to write beautifully ... I want to be the first British person to pass the Kanji Kentei Level 1 ... and I want to be able to read about the history of this country without having to use a dictionary so often that I don't curl up in a ball crying in despair!
On the plus side ... I know it's an inevitable outcome if I simply keep going, simply keep enjoying and avoid putting myself in a place of harm. When I moved to Japan, three and a half years ago, I could speak quite fluently on a variety of basic topics ... where I'm from, what things I like, don't like, what I'm planning to do, what I've done in the past etc etc. I did a few Add1Challenges and through that, learned how to maintain a consistent language learning habit. Recently, some of my co-workers commented that they see me as a "Language Learning Olympian" ... a label that I felt a certain amount of pride in ... but I shouldn't rest on my laurels ... there's still a long journey ahead.
Timescale: Three to Four months. By the end of August, I estimate my listening comprehension will be transitioning to authentic materials - Japanese radio and podcast shows.
Phase #2: Consuming authentic material.
How: Listening to Japanese radio will be my primary source of input - talk radio, photography and art discussions, technology debates etc. Reading - I will re-read the Star Wars novelizations in Japanese a second time - these books have furigana, so I'll be speed reading them ... i.e. not needing to read the furigana most of the time, but having it there to save me the painful slowness of looking up kanji that I'm not familiar with in a dictionary. I also have some Star Wars manga books that don't have any furigana, so that's an i+1 for my reading comprehension.
Timescale: 2 Year. September 2018 to the Tokyo Olympics. I want to be able to read the newspapers, watch Anime and read historical guides to the places I visit around the summer of 2020.
Phase #3: Speaking eloquently as a well educated native.
How: Listening to specialist materials on photography, language learning and history. Practicing shodou so that when I eventually reach the higher levels of the Kanji Kentei, I will not only be able to read and write the characters, I will be able to write more beautifully than most natives. I'd like to go on Japanese gameshows and compete in kanji writing contests ... and win!
When I retire from teaching (not for another 14 years or more) ... I plan to spend at least two years going hardcore on consuming authentic Japanese media. I dream of traveling around Japan, researching the history of William Adams (Anjin-san) and Lafcadious Hearn (a famed relation of a friend of mine in the UK).
So that's the introduction. I don't know how often I will update this blog, but the plan is to document the techniques in more detail as I continue this quest. It's a secret blog, so if you're reading this, you are either here randomly, or someone I wish to share the journey with. I won't be linking my posts to social media - not yet anyway ... I like the idea of reaching my goals and then sharing a link to those who ask me how I accomplished such a high standard in the future.
With that said, I had better get on with it ....
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