Hello again everyone! This is my first post as an official co-writer of the blog! Today I’ll be writing about my Adventure Pack. What in the HFIL could that be? I’ll show you… with photos!!
So basically it’s my manbag, full of Japanese immersion materials. I have actually tried various receptacles of all shapes and sizes and found this one, a 10 inch netbook case, to be ideal at the moment! The purpose of such a collection is that whenever going out of the house, I can grab this with confidence that part of my immersion environment can come with me. The best part is, it’s self-sustained. There is a handy spot to put the charges for all devices, so no matter what I know I always have access.
The power that’s inside
So here’s what’s usually inside:
- Android phone (Anki, some LWT access, converted videos, mix of music and audio rips, access to Japanese sites, twitter, Aedict dictionary)
- Kindle (Japanese materials that have gone through LWT, most blogs about language learning that I read are synced to this via Calibre too. The battery life in insane on this thing, lasting for a few weeks easily.)
- Nintendo DS (Games in Japanese can be hard to find on Android, especially with the production value that you can find on a console. The DS fills in this gap in abundance–one of the greatest platforms to exist!)
- Manga (Typically I take a browsing style approach to reading manga rather than focusing on each and every page/word. An example of extensive vs. intensive reading.)
- Printed materials (LWT printouts can be easier to go through in print because of the size of an 8×11 page, and the colour which would be lacking on the Kindle. Here is an opposite of intensive vs. extensive reading!)
- Chargers and cables (The icing on the cake, this means I will never run out of power for my equipment.)
Media recommendation: あいのり/Ainori (Reality Show)
All aboard the love wagon!
Something else I’d like to start doing is including a media recommendation with each post. It could be a game, drama, anime, website, anything. And of course, an explanation of why it’s especially useful will be included! This week it’s a reality show called あいのり/Ainori. The premise of the show should be familiar to the western audience. They take a group of single men and women, and fly them out to another country (the one I watched was Cambodia). Through an interesting tourist experience, they explore the country together, getting to know one another. If someone gets to really like one of the other members, they can arrange to confess their feelings by offering a pair of tickets back to Japan. The next morning, that person responds by either declining and returning the tickets, or making things official with a kiss.
The funny thing is, I never really watched these shows in English. But the familiar concept makes it easier to get into. This show also has stylized text for EVERY line of dialogue, and then some, making it easier to understand if you have some vocabulary behind you, and/or know some kanji meanings. It’s also very interesting to see another country through the eyes of this group. It was these two factors that really sucked me in to the show, watching anxiously until the last episode.
What about you? How do you keep up your immersion environment on the go? Please leave your comments below! And if you end up watching any episodes of あいのり, please tell me what you thought of it! See you next week!
