January 29, 2019 -

Today, I left my earphones so I can't listen to PluralSight and finish the course JavaScript Fundamentals just as I planned. So, I changed plans and decided to practice using JavaScript by following the W3Schools tutorials. By the way, I planned out that I'll be making Anki cards about the things that I learned yesterday and I can still do this even without earphones so I also planned that for the day. However, I got distracted and used up two hours on Duolingo and random readings. Also, I went to invest on improving my Anki so I decided to research on this new app called, "Anki" which has the icon of a blue star and it seems better than the ones I was using before. This is where the bulk of my productive time for today was placed on: researching Anki, creating cards, and reviewing them. Let's discuss my time spent on studying JS on W3Schools.

I started from the beginning of the JavaScript tutorials from W3Schools and it didn't help me that much since I've also taken course on JavaScript at a beginner level on PluralSight. My take away for this exercise is that I get to see and understand examples of how JavaScript can really affect how HTML is displayed. This is different from the things I've learned from PluralSight since it's more on the JavaScript itself and its features, and we use the console.log() command mostly instead of altering the HTML. I also took the JavaScript quiz from PluralSight and I got 22/25 correct answers. It's a good score and I think it's because I spent time on PluralSight. The JS tutorials started with the functions declared inside the HTML using the <script> tag. Then, it also showed that you can just reference .js scripts using <script src="fileName"> then now it's almost the same as how it's being done on PluralSight. After getting bored of W3Schools, I proceeded to study Japanese in Duolingo.

I proceeded to check on my Duolingo again because I saw an e-mail about employees passing the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and I wanted to check the Japanese tutorial in Duolingo. Japanese writing system has two types of writing systems: hiragana and katakana which are syllabic, and kanji which is character-based much like the Chinese characters. It is easier studying hiragana since it is syllabic so you have incredibly less characters to memorize. It's easier to read too because you just need to read the syllables and just need to memorize the japanese-english translation. Unlike in Mandarin wherein you have to map the word to a character and map it to the chinese translation.

I learned most syllables already and learned words such as: cat (neko, ねこ), dog (inu, いぬ), numbers, and words pertaining to season. Also they have less intimidating characters and easier to recall since they have less strokes. I think being exposed to the Japanese language before studying it has also helped me in relating words that I already know the Japanese-English translation. I just need to formulate the syllables to know the right answer. I think I should continue learning it since it will really help a lot in my career especially having employees that know Japanese will attract more Japanese clients. After I seemingly waste my time on this, I proceeded to do my Anki cards about the things I learned about the course JavaScript Fundamentals.

While I am trying to create my Anki cards, I decided to look more into the other app that applies Anki and I come across this app called, "Anki" which has a blue star for its icon. I researched about it and it is better than the one I used to have, which is called "AnkiApp" with the yellow arrow icon. I have been frustrated before with AnkiApp since I cannot edit the cards I have created in my deck using the desktop version. Also, the interface is not really that user-friendly and it isn't developed fully since it lacks features such as: applying tags to multiple notes, copying cards to other decks, and nesting decks under other decks. So I started to create my flash cards on this new app and I learned more and more about it.

As for creating cards, it also has the feature called cloze deletion wherein you can type a whole sentence and mark parts of the sentence to be blanked as a form of fill-in-the-blanks. In one sentence, you can mark multiple parts to be left blank and for each part intended to be left blank it will create a card leaving that part blank while the rest are still shown. These cards that were generated from the same sentence are called siblings and there's also an option not to show for the rest of the day the other siblings when one of their own was shown. Another good thing about "Anki" is its algorithm for memory retention looks better. Comparing the two, AnkiApp has a mobile application I can use however Anki is just better overall unfortunately, it's difficult to get a hold of its mobile application. Moving on, I guess this has been mostly a day dedicated to tackle side projects so I need to get back on track for tomorrow.

Oh, another thing before I almost forgot is that I already completed the sworn statement asked by the accounting personnel from me. I had two copies and I had it notarized, I gave one to the accounting staff and my personal copy I kept in my pedestal. I really should go to the BIR and ask what else do I need to file because I swore that I am NOT qualified for subtituted filing. And that I undertake to file my Annual Income Tax Return and pay to the BIR the appropriate amount of tax.

In summary, I wasn't able to finish the course as I intend to do today but fortunately, I am able to create cards for JavaScript Fundamentals and review them. Additionally, I'm using a better Anki application now however it doesn't have a mobile application that I will love since I can use it while commuting. I had a bit of hands-on experience for JavaScript but nothing significant yet like making an application that has a purpose with the help of W3Schools. On another note, I settled the urgent matter of having my sworn statement notarized. So, for tomorrow I plan to get back on track, by allotting an hour or two to finish my Anki cards. Then, I will continue to finish the course JavaScript Fundamentals. Hopefully I can also finish the rest of the beginner level courses since there's an hour and a half left of courses after I finish JavaScript Fundamentals. Then, I plan to move on to studying React or go back to practice querying in EF for the rest of the week. I might choose to study EF since I moved my deadline of React to February 22.