I'm more than half way through ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞の本 (230/350 pages) and things are getting a lot smoother.  I'm really able to pick up and understand a lot more.  There are the occasional chapters that I get really messed up about, but one

We are just heading out of the cherry blossom season here in Japan.  This is where everyone gets to cure their cabin fever by going out to the park to have a few drinks.  I personally am starting to love the spring weather and the fact that I don't have

I'm starting to make steady progress toward my goal of N1. I'm trying to chew threw as many vocabulary words as I possibly can as I make my way through the sheer volume of vocabulary that you have to know in order to pass. I'm still primarily using Sticky

It is April, and it is time to start thinking about whether you want to take the July JLPT. If the test is being held in your country this July, the applications are probably out and available for you to pick up. I know they have started popping up here i

It's been another fine week studying for the N1 test.  I was still slowly working my way through ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞の本.  So far, it is pretty good.  It is a basically story about how he setup his website and how it became really popular and

So, I have been making slow but steady progress with Mr. Itoi's book. I'm on about page 147 and reading around 3 to 4 pages a day. To tell the truth, I'm getting a bit impatient with it. I prefer stories a lot better. I like to read something that flows.

I have finally given in to doing a little bit of studying for the N1. I've started to try to absorb as much of the vocabulary I can on a daily basis. I know that is going to be the most time consuming part of the whole studying process, so I want to get s

Just a bit of a warning, I went a little over on this podcast. I usually aim for a 10 minute or so podcast, and this one ended up being 30 minutes. Sorry for hogging your earbuds, but it took a while for me to explain everything. This blog post is a short

Still working hard on Mr.Itoi's book. I think some essays are a breeze and others are a complete nightmare of difficult vocabulary and abstract language. Progress overall though has definitely started to speed up. I don't think I'll be finished by the ...

I'm still fighting my way through Mr. Itoi's book. It is packed with a lot of essays, which are sometimes abstract or use similes and metaphors, so excellent reading practice. I just have to struggle to stay focused on it after a long day at work, but I'l