Ways to study Japanese when you have no time.

Hi all,

Since my son has been born I have basically no time to put aside for studying Japanese and everyday I feel the basics slipping away from me.

So my question is, how can I study Japanese when I don't have any time to devote solely to it?

I would love to hear what you or others have done or any other suggestions you might have. One friend said he had hung a poster of kanji in the bathroom and would study one knaji per day when he was in there. Its an interesting idea and something to try but I'm generally not in the bathroom long enough to commit a kanji to memory. But I liked the idea that he came up with for studying while doing something else.

I will also note that listening to CDs or tapes on Japanese don't work very well for me. I really need something on paper or electronic. I have an iPod Touch and have KanaCardFree, Kanji Study, HJ Lite, and Kotoba! (this is based on Jim Breen's JMdict) installed but I rarely have time to even sit down and look at them.

So does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

I've heard of other people doing this but have never done it myself.

Try posting sticky notes everywhere with vocab listed for whatever it is posted on. For example, put a sticky note on a chair and write 椅子（いす） for chair. Don't even bother with the English on the note since it should be obvious what the item is by looking at it. That way when you walk around you see them and force yourself to read/memorize them in Japanese. Obviously the vocab will be limited by what you have in your house, but it's better than nothing.

Thanks for the idea Half-n-Half! It sounds like that would be very useful for everyday things. I just have to keep the labels somewhere my son can't reach them but it should be possible.

Half-n-Half said:

Try posting sticky notes everywhere with vocab listed for whatever it is posted on. For example, put a sticky note on a chair and write 椅子（いす） for chair. Don't even bother with the English on the note since it should be obvious what the item is by looking at it. That way when you walk around you see them and force yourself to read/memorize them in Japanese. Obviously the vocab will be limited by what you have in your house, but it's better than nothing.

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This does work very well. Its how I taught myself Kana. Its also how I've got through 2 years of college and 4 years of university. I obviously do keep formal notes for my Japanese and my degree but I can never connect with the stimulus for long.

Hiragana round my laptop screen, Katakana round my tv screen, read them while the adverts are on or I'm taking a break from work. As Half-Half has said I've got very similar things post-it notes for toilet on the door, one on the chair, desk, book etc. Tried to stick one to my housemates face but she tore it off.

Anyway its best having them on things which you interact with a lot and you put words that fit the context of the environment your in. Repetition is also important and it really doesn't take long even with your baby taking up lots of time you only need 2mins to yourself to practice drawing a few Kanji.

Thanks for the input Coffeesan!

Although it takes some discipline, starting a diary would be an idea as well.

1 you learn new vocab
2 you keep practicing writing kanji
3 you can write about ur kid something u really should do. It would take about 5 minutes of your time

Learn while you sleep with ur iPod and Japanese lessons.

Get a more japanese environment.

Davey said:

Although it takes some discipline, starting a

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To expand on Davey's idea, Lang-8 is a great website. You can write diaries in the language you are learning and native speakers can correct it while you in turn can correct their diaries.

Thanks for the ideas Davey and Half-n-Half!

I am going to try to start labeling things around the house this weekend and I will check out that Lang-8 website as well.

Thanks again for the ideas everyone!