So I came across this great talk by lexicographer Erin McKean about how dictionaries suck and watched it. It’s great if you’re even a little bit a word nerd and have about 16 min to watch the vid.

Then I decided to check out the blog it was posted on, Leximo. The very next post was about learning languages and also linked to “lifehacker” Tim Ferris’ blog post on how to learn (but not master) any language in less than an hour.

Now, the post isn’t an exhaustive, step-by-step guide … which it very well should be if he’s saying it’s a “how-to” … it’s basically a how-to guide if you’re a well educated, probably genious level mind, like he is. But it got me even more excited about the Japanese course I’m taking this semester.

One of the other links on the Leximo post was to a really great resource called SoYouWantToLearnALanguage. A place where they compile language learning resources all in one place.

Suffice it to say there are A LOT of resources on Japanese that I hadn’t come across before in my various attempts to “teach myself” Japanese using the internet.

Anyway, I dunno why I’m so excited about learning Japanese, maybe it’s because I like some of the classic anime that comes out of Japan, or maybe it’s my nagging fascination with languages (especially isolated languages like Japanese or Icelandic), I don’t know. But I’m really looking forward to plunging into it this semester.

- sean

Related posts:

1. Nihon-go no burogu #3
2. Time-Lapse Video of a Japanese Spider Crab Molting