Sounding Like an Intelligent Adult...In Japanese

I'm hoping that it's no secret that I'm in involved in a lifelong love/hate relationship with Japanese. To refresh, I loved Japanese so I studied really hard to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2 in 2010. I took it, but I didn't pass. So for some odd reason, my brain said "give up.....but not too much".

Since then, it's been this mildly frustrating puzzle that I just can't put down but feel great when I finally piece something together. In an attempt to make Japanese an even larger part of my life again, this summer I registered for Japanese classes at the Japan Society. Unfortunately, classes do end the week of August 4th for me and as much as I hate having to go to class, I will miss the structure that it provided me as I got started again.

One of the things that I realized I needed to work on this year is the forming of more complex thoughts and sentences in Japanese in real time. I've always been a strong reader and writer since it gives me more time to sort though my thoughts, however once it comes to having to verbally express myself, I feel as though my sentences get shorter and more general than I intend them to be. I don't have issues understanding Japanese, but I just wish it were easier for me to think quickly in it!

I'm thinking that this year I will try and take the the JLPT N3. I'm slightly bummed that I will be taking a level lower than what I originally took before, however that is my fault for not continuing to study after my first set back.

I'm also going to be working on getting back into translating for fun as a way of helping me get back to where I was.

I'm always open to fun language learning ideas if anyone has them!

Update

Some time at the end of May I decided I wanted to move to Wordpress.org, however, as you can clearly see, that has not happened yet.

It is still on my list of things to do, however I came to the realization that there is no reason why I shouldn't continue to use this space right up until that time instead of hoarding my posts. I can always create ideas later for my new space.

In the meantime, I will be doing scheduled posting, because remembering to post is not my friend. So, do it in advance and just let blogger take care of the rest!

Let's see how this works out.

Signed Up: 1st Spartan Race!

2014 is definitely off to a fast start. I feel like this year is flying by already. Somehow I've managed to turn 25 and have been slowly getting my life back in proper order.

To help push me along, I decided to sign up for a Super Spartan obstacle race. I'm definitely not Spartan tough right now, but I wholeheartedly intend to be by the time race day comes around in September. I've been in the gym since I signed up trying to make every day until then count. I might not be the most fit...but deep down I do have a small competitive streak.

At least it will force me to work towards my overall fitness goal... :)