Week One: Intuition

I learned a few things for helping with learning Japanese today: 

Switch the language settings on your phone and apps to Japanese. Download language learning apps like Anki and Duolingo that use the Spaced Repetition System (SRS). Listen to Japanese podcasts. Try something called the "Mimic Method" (developed by Idahosa Ness, mentioned with other polyglots here), which basically focuses on listening comprehension and speaking like a native. It’s about learning to mimic what you hear and focusing on the sounds so you can speak like a native. I wrote a long article about the importance of imitation, so this resonates with me for that reason. 

In a recent podcast, Barbara Oakley recommended "retrieval practice coupled with spaced repetition and interleaving" (interleaving: switching between ideas while you study). Although interleaving and spacing are different interventions, the two are linked because interleaving inherently introduces spacing. Benny Lewis notes that an important "language hack" for himself is to practice listening comprehension.

A few suggested "chunks" to practice from online resources:
Japanese Question Words
25 Essential Japanese Phrases for Travellers and Tourists
101 Core Japanese Words
150+ Japanese Words and Phrases

In that list of "34 of the Most Inspiring and Famous Polyglots in the World" a few stand out for their preferred study methods. Judith Meyer learns a language by "finding an area of interest in the language (TV series, music, or book) and concentrates on being able to understand that." Emanuele Marini also "picks up books he finds interesting in the language he wants to learn. Then, using a dictionary deciphers their meaning." Emily Liedel's goal was to "learn all of the UN official languages and become fluent in them, thereby communicating with close to 35 percent of the world’s population". And Luca Lampariello "mastered the art of the accent". I've mentioned how important accent is before, and learning languages for greater exposure to cultures and ideas is a noble idea. But I particularly like the idea of concentrating on an area of interest in the language. For many Japanese learners this has been anime. However this is not my area of interest. I do have a recent interest in brain lateralization, Gaia Theory, and a relational account of the world (see Iain McGilchrist or Carlo Rovelli). Very little in Japan exists on the topic of Gaia, but there is animism. And no easily accessible body of work on brain lateralization, but there is Eastern philosophy. Again, not an easy topic to read! What part of Japanese culture is accessible and interesting? The right hemisphere's view of the world has a greater appreciation for context. So I could attend to the social world of Japan, perhaps how the humanities in Japan contextualize everything. How the culture shapes the aesthetic senses. Not just what is beautiful, but how this in turn informs social values, norms, and customs. The process of fragmentation and continuity in the context of the language and culture of Japan. McGilchrist wrote that, compared with Western culture, the Japanese culture tends to reject reason in favor of intuition. This may be the single most significant cultural difference, and my biggest obstacle in relating to people who grew up in a Japanese culture. So I could let intuitive expressiveness be my guide while studying Japanese, effortlessly imitating the natural way in which the higher aesthetic values (cf. Max Scheler's pyramid of values) are expressed through cultural norms and patterns of speech. ...And then, if that all works, it could open the door to W. Ford Doolittle's intuitive understanding of Gaia Theory.