Wrapping up the 2010 Lenten Challenge

Technically, we are at the end of Lent. It's been my custom to continue on through at least Easter as it's reckoned by the Catholic Church, usually to Easter as it's reckoned by Orthodox Church (they coincide this year); and this year I've decided to carry on at least until the end of Passover, which is April 5th.

I put my focus on the Wu style taijiquan square form, and I'm not at all displeased how it's come along. A milestone is not only putting an end to going through it too quickly, I'm not forcing myself to be too slow either. I am simply not in a hurry and am instead focused on doing the form correctly.

I'll soon be turning my attention back to the round form which I've neglected since about October. By the end of the year I should have a good foundation for both forms.

I've started working with Rosetta Stone for Japanese, to give my Japanese language study a jump start. I like it a lot. I think it would provide a good base on which to build conversational skiils and beyond, if you are willing to look beyond what the course itself offers.

The course can only offer a small variety of common sentence patterns, situations, and vocabulary. If you were teleported to the middle of Japan though, Rosetta Stone would provide you with enough for you to find your way back home.

You hear native speakers a lot, and you speak back to the software to test your pronunciation. There are tools that should out a waveform of the native speaker in compariosn to yours, so you can get visual as well as aural feedback immediately.