Well, here we are, with only 6 days to go until I leave for Japan! Things have been relatively quiet, with the exception of me fighting my way though customer service hell to get my laptop fixed before my trip. I probably should start packing, too...
In anticipation of my trip, I've been spending a lot of time reviewing Japanese, and I've come across an interesting method I thought I'd share here. Most of you have probably heard of Skyrim. Perhaps some of you own it. For those of you who own it on Steam, you may know that, by changing the language settings on Steam, you can play some games in other languages. Skyrim is one of the few games that has a full Japanese translation - menus, dialogue, even the little books in-game that provide lore on the world - everything has been translated. All things considered, playing Skyrim is to me the equivalent of a pre-immersion orientation: the whole world is in Japanese, and I have to get used to picking up on things on the go.
Now, a word of warning: this will not help you if you don't know any Japanese. Skyrim uses some pretty crazy language, and the characters speak relatively quickly. But for those of us with a good base in Japanese grammar, this game provides a fantastic opportunity to study the language while enjoying the most recent Elder Scrolls game. I've taken to writing down new words/kanji as I go and looking them up, essentially adding a massive number of words to my vocabulary.
If you've got the game, the time, and the interest, I'd highly recommend giving Skyrim a shot in Japanese.
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