More notes on Japanese before I collect them to a page.

I spent today's lesson doing intensive reading - meaning reading and translating instead of just reading for fun. It really helps, but it's also quite hard to do, so lessons might be the perfect environment for this type of learning.

I want to discuss a point about intensive and extensive learning and the balance between them. And a point about conversations.

When you're talking to someone, it's polite to be neutral by default. If it's a tech conversation, you don't start dissing operating systems you don't like and promoting the only true choice (the one you're using). If it's tastes in media, you don't start with hot takes. And if it's about learning a language, you don't start advocating your true method right off the bat.

((I wonder if there's a way to make a nonlinear entry. I guess programs that let you edit graphs like mind maps would count.))

(The neutrality can be an issue when a non-neutral person mistakes it for agreement. I've heard people talk about it, and it happened to me - when my strategy to smile and wave slightly backfired and I was roped into one of the sides of the debate. Luckily, the debate is usually just one guy speaking against imaginary conversation partners, so it doesn't matter much.)

So, when I usually discuss language learning I try to stay respectful. Oh, maybe duolingo does help. Yeah, some people like flashcards and SRS, some don't. To each their own. There's a thin line here between truth and neutrality and I try to say within that line. If I'm too neutral and ambivalent, I might support (by not opposing them enough) ideas which I believe are very bad and unproductive. If I'm too opinionated, it might come of as too pushy and rude. So I gently mention my preference and opinion, while trying to be open to the possibility that everything is actually completely different.

As a person usually trying to err on the side of politeness I'm here to argue why I should be more pushy.

Basially, if you're looking for truth, there must be a place to strong opinions. There's even the saying - strong opinions held loosely - emphasizing this point. If you want to find what is the best (or even best for you specifically) way to learn Japanese, it should not be a weak/mild opinion like "well, there should be a balance of everything". The opinion, publicly proclaimed, should correspond to your confidence. I'm quite confident that SRS is absolutely essential, so I should focus on it more. I think reading is very importand and listening isn't that important. I think extensive (passive) listening is almost nothing, passive reading is meh, and active ones are pretty hard and pretty similar to each other. I think writing does almost nothing to help read kanji, and speaking does almost nothing for listening ability. I should express this to other people instead of going "well, who knows what works and what doesn't?" I know!

Of course, the level of arguing depends on the context, and sometimes the appropriate level is almost zero. Still, for me personally it's easy to become so agreeable that it starts feel slightly like lying, which I should not do.