Well I started using the Kana flashcards I got last Tuesday and while I have had tried to learn Kana in the past I all ways had some trouble with telling some of the more similar apart. But now with the flashcards it only took a week and I have them all down pat. That was with only 15 minutes three times a day so I guess I have better retention than I thought. The cards from White Rabbit Press are well thought out and have easily remembered mnemonics to help you along. They are also very rugged all most like playing cards in construction.

The weird thing is that while if you show me the Kana I can tell you the sound pretty quick, but if you tell me the sound I can’t always wright down the Kana. So now I need to practice going the other way from sound to Kana which will be me writing them over and over.

I have also ordered some books from Jlist. The Genki ~An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese books are an course in Japanese and Jlist carries the complete line including teacher CDs and answer key. I have heard good things about the course and the it was well laid out for self study, in fact on Amazon not one review gave it less then a five star rating. I looked around to see if it was available from Amazon or somewhere else in the states to save myself a little money in shipping but found it is cheaper to order from Japan even with the added shipping cost. I got the first textbook, workbook, and student CDs. Skipped on the teacher CDs as they cost over 200 bucks, I also picked up the answer key which cover both level one and two.

One reviewer on Amazon said that he passed the JPLT level 4 with the first set of book so I am hope that I will be ready for level 3 by next year after completing the second set of books. I will keep you posted.

Other Posts of Interest

• Fansubs on the Mac
• Hello From the Mac
• Clare up for Pre-order.