(Japanese speakers, please don’t tear me apart for that title, I know it’s pidgin)
Pancake day then, Shrove Tuesday. I never really think to make them at any other time of the year unless it’s for a particular recipe, but I do enjoy a pancake. I like the usual culprits like lemon juice and sugar, but you can’t beat a good savoury one. Tonight I’m going to make a few stuffed with chilli, wrapped up and baked in the oven for a short while to firm them up. It’s really nothing more than an enchilada or similar, but it’s good and tasty all the same, and followed with some more hot pancakes with some berries and a little ice cream – mmmmmmm.
In the absence of Korean lessons being available anywhere near me, and the only Mandarin classes being on nights I train, I’m getting more and more keen to try to go a bit further with Japanese. I absolutely loved learning the language before, it’s so interesting and so alien compared to everything else I’ve done, but my problem comes with finding more advanced classes now. My teacher back then was really good, a lovely older Japanese lady who was very patient and very good at getting some of the more difficult grammar concepts across, but she only ever taught to a recognised level of Intermediate and not to Advanced. I can understand why, there can’t be much demand in Cornwall for Advanced level Japanese, but it’s disappointing all the same. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for me to do the intermediate again in all honesty, I’ve found that lately my Kana is rubbish. I used to be able to recognise and read all Hiragana and Katakana at a glance, and up to around fifty or so Kanji which I was really pleased with, but now I’m nowhere near that level. I don’t mind doing the intermediate level again, I’m just not overly keen on paying £100+ again for the same course.
My only other option is home learning with some kind of distance learning/online course, but from experience I know there’s absolutely no comparison between learning for yourself and being taught in person, especially when that person is a native speaker of the language you’re trying to learn. Once I’m back up to speed with the level I was at before, the next big challenge is getting going with Kanji and increasing my vocabulary. I’m not sure you’d even call it a vocabulary, I have no idea what it would be called, but I want to increase it whatever it is.
Learning’s fun kids, stay in school! 😉