A couple of things

[zimena]

✭ First of all, I started "school" on the 1st of September. Well, I'm not officially in school or Uni anymore, of course, but I've decided to try to get into better habits with studying Czech, and starting the "schoolyear" on that day sounds appropriate. Of course I did a little bit of studying even before that, but I guess it's only right to prepare a little bit ahead of time :)

I signed up for Czechclass101, mostly by recommendation from gobtastic, and also partly because I've been using some of their free content already. There are lots and lots of lessons available, including audio files, word lists, flash cards for studying vocabulary, full lesson transcripts, grammar notes.... you name it. I've enjoyed it a lot so far, and studying from there feels a lot more structured than my previous attempts of doing bits of learning from books if I felt like it (= not nearly often enough!), so maybe I'll actually be able to improve this time around?

So far, my general plan is to listen to and/or read the lessons first, identify unfamiliar vocabulary and add it to my flashcard deck, and then write my own notes on the grammar when I'm already familiar with the lesson text. (Other than that, there's also the "trying to add a bit of Czech to things I would do anyway" bit, but that's not actually "studying", that's just fun stuff to do when I feel like it.)

I also found a notebook that I can use for handwriting things I need to solidify in my head - for example grammatical endings and other info that doesn't stick to memory just from seeing it on a screen. Yes, I'm convinced that using your hand to form letters/tables/words/stuff makes it easier to remember, because your mind is focusing on only that at least for the duration of writing it - as opposed to the "this is too much, I can't remember this mess" thought that tends to come up upon looking at pre-made grammar tables.

✭ As for something else, I ordered a Hobonichi Planner for 2022. It's my first Hobo since 2018, so I'm excited about this already. Sometimes when I've had a Hobo in the past, I've been able to write in it consistently for.... if not every day of the year, then at least the majority of days. It's not as colourful as some other planners, but it's fun to use and nice to write in. I also have a beautiful cover for it from before, so I didn't have to order a new one of those. (To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with the cover selection this year - lots of bland colours and boring designs. A couple of nice ones, but nothing really striking or amazing.)

...only, I ended up getting another cover and book set, too. When mom saw the Animal Crossing cover, she said that she also wanted a Hobo for next year, because she liked that one. (She also likes the game, btw, and plays it even more than I do.)

Well, that cover was released on the 2nd of September, at 11am Japan time. I was a bit nervous that it would sell out quickly, as Animal Crossing seems to be such a huge thing in Asia, so I had decided to be up to order it immediately after release. 11am in Japan is 4am my time, and of course that meant that I was awake more or less from 2am, because I didn't want to miss it. Everything seems to have worked out fine, though - I was up to order at release, and I got the order confirmation very soon after. After that, I went back to bed and slept until morning.

When I got up around 7am in the morning, I decided to check whether the cover was still available... but nope, it was already sold out. So, if I had not stayed up during the night, I wouldn't have been able to get it. Maybe being up for half the night for something like this isn't everyone's idea of fun, but for me it feels like I accomplished something nice.

I also got a couple of pencil boards (including an Animal Crossing themed one for mom), and a folder set that fits inside the planner, so there should be a lovely package on its way to me from Japan soon.

I'm looking forward to that already... and it's not 2022 for a few months yet!

Comments

Productivity Porn

[izmeina]

I'm all ears about this Hobonichi planner. Since this Big Mac is in snail mode most days lately so I am still waiting for the page to load, I am curious to know what are the features to die for.
Most planners are expensive anyway so when a brand is famous for being particularly expensive, then that is definitely noteworthy and sufficient to make a serpent curious.

I am still wondering if it is possible for Japanese people to make anything ugly.

A few years ago I got a MiGoals planner at a 30% discount just 2 weeks into the new year. I was so impressed with it that I have been buying them at full price since then (and picking up discounted ones to put in The Scrooge Calendar Stash to be resurrected 5 or 6 years from now)

Leuchturm apparently has a few good planners too. I don't care at all for the overpriced Moleskines with their ridiculous price tags and faint almost illegible dates on the pages.
But when I can pick them up 3 months down the line for between 50 cents and $2 a piece, I am happy to snap them up and add them to the Scrooge Stash. I will be dusting off a few from 2016 next year. January and February are of course a day out due to 2016 being a leap year but the rest of the months are just fine.

I work in the book section of a charity shop so I get lots of opportunities to pick up gorgeous blank note books. More than I could ever use in a lifetime.