March progress report + NHK World impressions

hey,

I've not been posting lately because I've been extremely busy and because my study pace is slow, especially with Kanjis. I feel like I've yet to dip my toes in cold water with Kanji...

The main reason for my slow progress is that I'm still in "revision mode". I'm still revising Volume I. Currently, I am studying once a week. I am of the mind that once I finish the revision, I will double the study sessions and study time to become two study sessions per week each 2-3 hours long.

And the reason I'm still in Volume I is that I discovered some very useful non-chapters called "Choubun" （長文）. These are basically very long reading comprehension passages. When I first came across them, I felt a great improvement in my reading and comprehension skills. They are like a mini-marathon of reading. I remember when I took the Level 2 mock-exam, how I was butchered by the long passages in the latter pages. The Choubun non-chapters will definitely help here.

There is a total of 4 Choubun sections, without which, I would have finished revising Volume I by now.

Once I finish revision, I will kick into higher gear and start studying Kanji more often. Volume II looks scary, what with 5 pages of grammar patterns per chapter!! D:

But I'm all for it. I think. I hope.

Anyway, I've been watching NHK world some and here are my impressions in list-form:
+ve:
+ huge variety of cultural programs covering all aspects of Japan. There is something for everyone including manga/anime/game fans, industrial/technology freaks and Japanese food lovers.
+ some programs are completely in Japanese without translation and some are in English with captions (not dubbing) when someone speaks in Japanese. So you can really train your listening at times and just lay back and learn stuff at others.
+ very good program quality. Example: Digi Suta (short for Digital Stadium) which hosts original artists and art video clips.
+ nice little program for learning Japanese. Novice level but teaches some stuff you might not have learned in class or from the textbook.

-ve:
- Cookie-cutter News program every darn 30 minutes and in English. Believe me, the things you care about are barely covered, and the things you don't care about such as bare-naked ojisans in hot-baths get a lot of airtime in the news. But this is understandable given that NHK is state-owned TV.
- some scenes in some programs are inappropriate, atleast by my sensibilities for what can be put in the living room.
- some programs esp. those about technology/manga/anime/games are all about hyperbole. At times, I felt that the program hosts will breakdown or wet themselves with fake enthusiasm.

If you can stand the cookie-cutter news every 30 minutes, then you will love NHK world. It is so full of information about Japan's rich culture/nature/etc. In a few weeks, I learned about a third type of potatoes I never knew about (Nagaimo) and about how different factors affect Momiji color changes such as sunlight, humidity, temperature, etc). Besides, how can I complain when I see interviews with top game designers like Yuji Naka?