I’ve purchased a lot of books about the Japanese language, and I own a handful of CD-ROMs and language CDs/tapes, but I don’t seem to have the motivation to use them. Part of the reason is that it’s hard to motivate yourself to do anything on your own, but another part is simply that I don’t have anyone to practice with or to correct me.
So, I’m trying to figure out if there are Japanese classes anywhere near here. At all. So far, all I’ve come up with is the following:
First, some high schools in the area have Japanese courses (Augusta Christian, Davidson Fine Arts High School, and Glenn Hills High School). Even if I did somehow manage to get permission to attend those classes, I would feel like a moron in a high school setting.
Second, the University System of Georgia has online interactive Japanese lessons. This might help me…if I were going to a university.
Third, there’s Irasshai from Georgia Public Broadcasting, which is very expensive, but might be my best bet.
Unfortunately, none of these go past a “Japanese II” level (with the possible exception of the high school courses…no idea what their curriculum is). I technically had Japanese I and II in college. I took four semesters, after all. So these courses would be more of a refresher for me–although, to be completely honest, I didn’t actually learn a lot of what I was taught.
I guess my main concern is finding a way to learn that will reinforce my existing knowledge and my new knowledge, and force me to apply that knowledge. What I’d really like to do is go to some sort of immersion retreat, get completely inundated in the language for awhile, and then come back to Augusta to a group or class or something that would help me maintain what I’d learned, as well as teach me more. I feel like being immersed in language training would really help jumpstart my learning. I’m very out of practice.
There was an immersion program I was looking into that took place in New York City, but I can’t seem to find the bookmark. Oh well.
There’s also a Meetup.com group for Japanese Language in Augusta, but it seems to be really inactive. It doesn’t even have an Organizer :/
So I’m not really sure what I want to do. I do know that the best motivational tool I have ever used is DietPower, and that’s because the program asks me to log my weight and everything I eat every day. If I could find some software that would demand updates on my study of Japanese, and offer resources and suggestions, that might really help :> Bleh, it seems really lame that I don’t think I can accomplish things without a guide/personal trainer/outside motivator…