Mina-san, kon’nichi wa!

Can you make a request using -te kurenai now? Give it a try in the comments!

みなさん、鼻水をこっちへ飛ばさないでくれない？

Mr. Boogersさん
おもしろいサンプルセンテンス！！

Albertoさん
Eve’s contest is difficult for me too! がんばってください！

Woww :]

Lower intermediate S4 feels so natural to me. Just the right difficulty for my skills! Also, I love the Japanese explanations & the great acting. I’m so excited to keep up with this series.

こんなレッスンもっと作ってくれない？便利で勉強にいいから!　

ありがとう！

子供の頃毎週の日曜日に母にケーキを焼いてくれないかって聞きました。今でも聞くけど、母は君が大人になって自分で焼いてよって答えます。

あたしも機内食が好きで～す！　

最近、レッスンノットを読みながら聞いてない。free content membershipしかないから。
現在、アルバイトだけがあるので、お金が少ない。誰かbasic membershipを買ってくれない？ 　 　

What study method is better? Reading along while listening? It’s an interesting question, but we have to put it in perspective. Look at the bigger picture of learning a language. Actually, I would also ask weather one should read at all…

Learning does not mean finding listening easy (at least not only), as it would be the case if one reads along, but something along the line of being able to use what learned, in different contexts, not just after ten seconds or minutes, but the next day, month, and so on.

So the question would be, who will learn more in the long run, somebody relaxed and reading along , or somebody working hard with dictionaries and, say, other computer tools, do discover the meaning of what spoken on their own, maybe after hours or days of painful work?

I am hinting at the distinction between deep and surface approaches to learning.
Deep:
a) Intention to understand material for oneself
b) Interacting vigorously and critically on content
c) Relating ideas to previous knowledge
d) Using organizing principles to integrate ideas

Surface:
a) Intention simply to reproduce parts of the content
b) Accepting ideas and information passively
c) Not reflecting on purpose or strategies in learning
d) Memorizing facts and procedures routinely
e) Failing to recognize guiding principles or patterns

(Entwistle & P., 1983)

I believe its a matter of engaging the brain, if reading along its an excuse not to make any effort, then it will slow down things, if its part of an organized effort than it should have a positive impact.

In this optic a great responsibility goes to the “teacher.” The way things are taught could encourage the wrong approach to learning. Let me give you an example. If jpod presents the Japanese Grammar as a list of disconnected bits
forgetting that the term grammar “refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words,” then blind memorization will be the elicited response from learners. I would like to ask other listeners, weather anybody thinks that “-te kurenai” should be considered a grammar point. If presented separately, it’s easy to miss the guiding principles or patterns as one “can`t see the forest for the trees.”

giovanni-san,
Thank you for your feedback!
The distinction between deep and surface approaches to learning is a useful reference!

jack-san,
When you go to our forum, you’ll be able to hear more stories about how other listeners are studying Japanese.