Classes and my best friend the Internet

I'm really enjoying my Japanese class. At first, I felt a bit overwhelmed because the pace is fast and some of the other students have quite a larger vocabulary and are better able to express themselves. But now that I've gotten used to it, I really enjoy going to class. We have four different teachers which really helps to keep things from getting boring. I haven't fallen asleep which is a miracle. Last semester, I dozed off at least once every class. This time, my class is either so interesting or so packed with material that I can't afford dozing off, even for a few minutes. The other students all have great personalities so it's fun to exchange our ideas and opinions during discussions. I come back from school feeling uplifted. I had forgotten how stimulating it is to learn something new, even if it's just a new grammar rule. It just opens so many opportunities because with that grammar for example, I can say so much more. Soon I won't be able to stop talking : P

Now, sometimes in class, the explanations given by the teachers are not clear enough for me or not sufficient. So since I've been here, I've been searching the Internet for resources to help me. And I've fallen in love with the Internet. There are so many great resources on the Internet, it's incredible! I've found several great English-Japanese dictionaries. I've found many websites explaining grammar points, including example sentences and conjugation forms. I've also found a cool website that allows you to research kanji by drawing them in a little box on the website (using the computer mouse). That's really great when I don't know how to read the kanji. Because I've got the image of the kanji, I can draw it, and as I draw it, the website will narrow down the possible kanjis for me to choose from.

Now yesterday, I discovered two other great resources:

- Vocab Bubble: a program I installed which appears as a little icon along with the other icons at the bottom right of my screen. Every minute or so, a text bubble will pop out with a new vocabulary word, along with its definition in English and what function it serves in a sentence (ex. adjective, noun, verb, etc.) Great to review vocabulary without having to concentrate very hard. The word that just popped up now is : いただきます: Itadakimasu, which is an expression of gratitude said before meals.

- Flashcardmachine.com: a website that allows you to create your own flashcards. Recently, there have been tons of new vocabulary in class and it really hinders my learning if I don't know what they mean. I can't even  begin to understand the grammar that's being explained because I can't even make sense of the sentence. So I thought, what better way to remember the vocabulary than using good old flashcards. Writing them would be tedious... so I googled "create your own flashcards" and came up with this website. I can input the kanji characters on one side of the flashcard and then the definition on the other. Then I can have fun testing myself over and over. You can also choose to study flashcards from their database that have been submitted by users. This can be useful for anybody wanting to memorize data (like naming all the presidents of the United States! Good luck! ; )