Learning new things – SKILLS

No matter how busy you are, you should always take time to learn something new!

Whether it be a new language, cooking, drawing, sports, dancing, or painting. There are so many wonderful hobbies to learn.

Who knows, you may start a new hobby, that may turn into your main passion. That is why it is good to try new things, because you never know where it may lead you.

My current hobbies that I am learning are: Spanish (entry level), Japanese (entry level), and Manga (not new to me, expanding on my own skills). I really love to learn from physical books, than looking at a computer screen. Same goes for writing, I prefer writing with a pen on paper, than typing on a computer. Books just work better for me.

1000 First Words in Spanish (written by Nicola Baxter, translated by Sam Budds, and illustrated by Susie Lacome) – If you are going to learn a new language, you will need to learn the basics. A great way to do this is by learning from children’s books, in the language you are wanting to learn. This book is wonderful as they have pages dedicated to learn the words of house items, animals, colours, and so on. The pictures are colourful, and appealing which really helps with remembering words. There are 96 pages. I am learning two pages per week.

Flash Kids: El alfabeto – Alphabet, and Listo para la escuela – Ready for School – These flash cards help with testing your memory. For example with learning numbers, on one side of the card is two pictures, if you flip the card onto the other side there is the number 2, and the Spanish word for two, being ‘dos’. I find these cards fun, and feel a great sense of achievement when I get the answers right >^.^<

Japanese for Busy People I – This book is very well done. It is separated into 11 units, each unit is about a particular theme, such as unit 2 is about shopping, so you learn words to do with shopping. There are a total of 25 lessons which are spread across the units. It is easy to use on your own as there is an audio included. I really enjoy doing the quizzes to test my knowledge. Once I have finished this book I will purchase the next level book.

I am wanting to learn Japanese for my love of manga, Japanese culture, and as I would like to travel to Japan next year. I would love to visit traditions sites, see cherry blossoms, as well as the arcades, anime stores, and fashion stores.

Draw Manga complete skills (by Sonia Leong) – I love learning new skills from other artist. This book is good as the skills range from beginners to advance artist. Each topic is explained thoroughly in steps. There are six chapters: Chapter 1 is about drawing figures (head, hair, and body), Chapter 2 – creating characters (costume, props, and animals), Chapter 3 – settings (perspective, environments), Chapter 4 – rendering techniques (basic principles, traditional media, and digital media), Chapter 5 – character library (contemporary, historical, fantasy, and science fiction), and lastly Chapter 6 is about making manga (preparation, layout, and publishing). There is also recommended resources, and how-to web links in the book.

I am enjoying learning Japanese, and Spanish. I cannot wait to develop a good speaking level, as I want to do more travelling overseas, and live in other countries. Manga is my biggest passion, as I write stories, and draw manga, so it is important for me to always expand my skills. I highly recommend each of these books.

Thank you so much for reading, and make time to learn something new! Have a lovely day.

Capili Jiron x x