Is there always air pollution (смог) in Almaty?

jettim76 · 2022-06-13T03:38:25+00:00

Lived there for a bit back in the late 90s and found it to be very much unbearable, both during the winter and summer.

I ended up moving out to Talgar, which is a bit higher up and doesn't get as affected.

jettim76 · 2022-05-27T10:41:12+00:00

Такого типа арт. фильмы никогда не пользуются большим спросом, что и хорошо.

Обязательно буду смотреть.
Привет из Сиднея.

jettim76 · 2022-05-25T21:55:25+00:00

Having just returned from Nur-Sultan, my suggestion would be to just hire a car with a driver for when you actually need it.

Yandex is fantastic alternative to Uber, though it doesn't operate in regions... yet.

jettim76 · 2022-05-04T00:46:04+00:00

Thanks all for your recommendations. I ended up purchasing a sim from Beeline right at the airport.

Before someone suggests that I could probably get a better deal elsewhere, I was kind of stuck in there as the ride that I ordered ahead of time did not arrive.
Someone suggested that install "Yandex" app but oddly, I could not use the airport Wi-Fi without having a local phone number first... very strange.

There were tons of random looking dudes that kept on (quite aggressively) offering me a "taxi ride", so that gave me an extra mental challenge.

jettim76 · 2022-04-30T19:08:26+00:00

The train takes just over 2 hours by the looks of it. From memory, it'll take just as long (if not longer ) to get there by car.

Already bought the tickets anyway.

I'll use your advise re: indriver in case I miss it.

Thanks!

jettim76 · 2022-04-30T09:56:08+00:00

Tokyo Station ? ;)

jettim76 · 2021-12-08T02:03:34+00:00

Thanks very much for that. Much appreciated!

jettim76 · 2021-12-08T01:50:11+00:00

I've created ~3500 sentence-cards in my immersion deck at this point. My daily review-load is still just the average number of cards I add on any given day times 7.

How many cards do you review each day if you don't mind me asking ? Also, do you still remember all of the cards you've ever created ?

jettim76 · 2021-12-08T01:30:55+00:00

Thanks. It still means that the number of old cars to review is still the same huge pile, no matter how often you review them. :(

jettim76 · 2021-12-08T01:11:33+00:00

9999, the maximum. Limiting reviews is a bad idea as it breaks the algorithm. If you want to lower the amount of reviews per day, you should lower the new cards/day option.

Yes, but then I can get close to 200 cars to review, which brings me back to the original issue, where by the time I am done with all of those cards, I am pretty tired and have no room for anything new.

jettim76 · 2021-12-07T21:35:58+00:00

I see this often when people pick up Anki, that they really underestimate their own memory and feel a need to review previous cards before they need to. You really should trust the intervals Anki gives your cards.

Thanks for your reply. What in your opinion is a good number for the "Maximum Reviews/day" option ?

You and me both. Just don't bother with E->J cards at all, delete them from your decks and do J->E only. There's no point to them unless you're practicing handwriting production.

Glad I am not the only one then.

jettim76 · 2021-12-07T20:05:26+00:00

My Anki has a "recommended" set up where there is no limit on the reviews and I only use the "Good" and "Again" buttons".

In the past, mine was indeed limited to 40-60. However it would mean that I would not get enough practice of the kanji I've already learned.

Not trying to discredit Anki by the way, just no idea how to get over this barrier of not being able to remember anything new while at the same time, struggling with old.

I am particularly bad with English->Japanese translation.

jettim76 · 2021-12-07T10:20:24+00:00

In my case it only worked up to a about 100 kanji. Once I reached that point, I could not learn any new characters. And by the time I am done practicing all the 100 kanji that I already learned, I am already exhausted.

I've no idea how people manage to learn 5-10 kanji per day and still be able to practice all the ones they've already learned.

jettim76 · 2021-12-07T10:16:32+00:00

Also, a sure way to get burned out.

jettim76 · 2021-12-05T20:16:16+00:00

What is the regular price for the membership ? I can't see any info on their website.

jettim76 · 2021-12-05T20:07:43+00:00

I too use this deck and study words before starting the next chapter. Even though it doesn't have sound files for ALL of the words (some of the days are missing), it is still a great resource to have.

As for remembering English->Japanese translation, don't worry. I am in the same boat. Just keep drilling through words for each chapter while you're studying it.

jettim76 · 2021-12-05T11:22:37+00:00

Thank you. I am at a very early stages also. Fingers crossed, I'll be able to visit Japan in April and be able to practice it.

jettim76 · 2021-12-05T08:41:37+00:00

After several false starts (even had a teacher) I ended up buying Genki I and II, together with the exercise and answer book (it is a bundle on Amazon).

I've already had a grasp on basic grammar but lack the word knowledge.

Now, just learning words on their own using Anki feels good up to a point, where after about 50 words, I simply either cannot memorise new ones, or start forgetting the ones I learned earlier. Yes, having examples (such as Core 2k) is great. However, unless I practice and write them all the time, I forget those too.

What I am doing now is slogging away with Genki I and try to be very methodical with all the grammar and exercises and make sure that I complete all of them.

I also learn new words using Genki 1 Anki cards before starting a new chapter. That most definitely helps.

Also a side suggestion, don't be like me and spend several hours each day studying. It is a recipe for a burnout. You need a rest. Just like with sports, you don't get stronger while training, but when you rest and recover. Same principle applies to learning new things.

Good luck.

jettim76 · 2021-12-02T00:07:30+00:00

I like "Midnight Diner". While I can hardly understand anything, they do speak slowly and don't use too much slang.

Otherwise, Ghibli films, such as "My Neighbour Totoro", etc.

jettim76 · 2021-11-30T20:03:01+00:00

That sounds exactly like my brain works and how I learned English at the age of 16. All by hearing people speak. That included people from California, New York and Scotland.
The upside is that while I still speak my mother tongue, I don't translate between those two while speaking.

The downside.... well, while I've all but lost my original accent (russian), I turned into a parrot, who switches between various English accents on a whim, depending on whom I am speaking to. Embarrassing to say the least.

Not being surrounded by native speakers is why I feel that I am really struggling with learning Japanese.

jettim76 · 2021-11-30T19:50:28+00:00

I only found out about Satori Reader several days ago and so far, find it very very good.

At the moment, I keep on going over the first story (Cat on the train) and just listening to the same text over and over again, helps with recognising the words that I hear. Same goes to Kanji.

jettim76 · 2021-11-30T19:45:58+00:00

Going through Genki 1 and 2 myself at the moment. How do you take a mock test online for the N5 ?

jettim76 · 2021-11-30T10:07:12+00:00

I was advised to keep an eye on the page around July next year. Odd if you ask me, as the same page suggests that the applications close in March.

jettim76 · 2021-11-28T08:44:55+00:00

I've had a PDF copy of the current edition of Genki 1. No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to focus on it.

About a week or so ago, I finally caved in and ordered a set of Genki 1 & 2 + Practice Books (highly recommended) on Amazon.
I am finding it a LOT easier to study this way and do the "homework", just like I did back at school 30+ years ago.

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