Yep! Again and Good are the āneutralā ease options, thereās some more technical explanations, but the general advice Iāve seen is to pretty much never use either of them for the best long term review experience. I think you can even get an anki plugin that hides the buttons, if you really really really donāt want to be tempted 
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I went and flipped the furigana so I can see it now and I guess Iāll stop punishing myself with vocab. Read about the anki interval modifiers and yea, maybe went a little over my head BUT I just pick the middle 2 buttons and surely everything will be okay? 
Definitely in the I know a lot of cards phase so I was making it harder by brute forcing kanji and I had actually increased the new cards to 50 (but wasnāt doing it every day). Lowered it now to 10 and Iāll just play it by ear I guessā¦
And for ć«ć«ćØć©ć©ć®ć¹ć¤ć¼ćććć, very impressive! the phrase āchildrenās bookā is kind of a misnomer for language learners
Yea, the kidās books aināt kidding around. 
I think it was mostly just all the new food vocab that berated me but it was manageable in intervals. Iām not picking up all the grammar points but seeing them and experiencing them firsthand has gotta do something in the long term. Iām treating reading as passive study because Iām not grinding out the vocab after eachā¦ just kinda hoping to eventually retain it. Iāll never forget ć¾ććć°ć and thatās my evidence 
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I use Again all the time, and the next Good would be 1 day, if thatās what you want.
But it canāt go lower than 1 day, even with custom intervals. The only way is to reset progress.
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Iām in a server that sort of did this, except it was only a page long and they did it in Japanese. I think itās a good idea. I did something similar when I was studying earlier in my journey but I found that writing out the information didnāt help it stick as much as I hoped. I can share pics later if you like?
oh awesome ! and wouldnāt mind an example 
Iāve def gone down a rabbit hole on commonplace books and ordered a new notebook. Iām just still undecided if I want english grammar explanations in it or not. i feel like in the beginning it will definitely be hard to craft that out
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I forgot I moved them out of my work backpack. Theyāre at my apartment now. If I forget after work, please feel free to ping me.
I had Japanese where possible (as in I could understand it) and English if I needed and then example sentences/usages iirc
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oh itās no worries if you canāt !
i was thinking it over and Iām going to do kind of textbook format in where itās English with Japanese and then Iāll include a bunch of example sentences + make my own. because itās also if I move to japan, I have all these physical (and digital) resources (textbooks, supplementary texts, university notes, old tutor notes, etc) that i wonāt be able to bring with me so sifting and consolidating might help. get everything in one place and i can build on it as i go further while also helping to internalize everything a bit more. 
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Itās just that my memory is crap and Iāve had problems concentrating lately. Too many exciting things irl lol. The spot where I keep the books though could probably use a dusting so hopefully Iāll remember to grab pics and dust at the same time.
I highly recommend digitizing your notes if you have the opportunity! One of my big regrets is not getting around to mine because a lot of them wouldāve been great to reference but are currently trapped in storage. Maybe Iāll be able to ask someone to get them out for me in a year or two, but they wouldāve been more helpful years ago.
For me personally, internalizing only really started to happen when I started reading more, but I have heard of people having success with note taking. Best of luck to you!
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thanks so much ! and yea i might pdf the pages as I complete topics and then upload them here but thatās off in the future
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Week 6 - 8/12/23
Wanikani Level: 11
Minna no Nihongo Chapter: 12 ā 14 / 25
ćć¤ć°ćØļ¼ Vol 1: 120 ā 140 / 224
ćć³ćć®ćć¾ć”ćć: 23 ā 25 / 145
I realized that I should be checking off writing for when Iām doing my MnN workbook (and future workbooks) which I havenāt been checking off. I kinda lumped it all together but I guess itās not accurate. There are also days that Iām just reading Sakubi or using my grammar dictionary and it personally felt kinda bad that I was just marking it off as grammar because I wasnāt doing a workbook. Might also add some categories back instead of other since Iām now finally managing that better.
How many textbooks are too many textbooks?
So the reason Iām using MnN is because it had the most Japanese and I already went through Japanese 1 & 2 in university 5-6 years ago so I felt like it was going to be the most useful to cover my grounds again. Letās face it, I still have trouble with particles and jumble them up constantly. Yes, I do want to create a commonplace book that takes the best points of all of these resources after I finish MnN 1. (And looking at my goals, I gave myself a 1-month leeway between MnN 1 and Genki 2) Is there a good way to make the most out of these textbooks that I have. Theyāre mostly N5 material, but it feels like a waste almost to not use them. Hereās the list:
āŖ Minna no Nihongo 1 - textbook, workbook, kanji book
(Got it when I tried a tutor in 2018 after university)
āŖ Genki 1 - workbook
(Got it for $1 at a used book store last month, cāmon I couldnāt not)
āŖ Genki 2 - textbook, workbook
(I think I bought it in 2020 to attempt self-studying)
āŖ Quartet 1 - textbook, workbook
(Bought it last year when I did another self-study attempt)
āŖ Nakama 1 - textbook, workbook
(This is what I used in university)
āŖ Marugoto A1 - textbook, workbook
(What I used in Japan when I studied abroad for a month)
āŖ Elementary Japanese 1 - textbook
(Someone I used to work with gave it to me before I went back for my BA)
āŖ Kanji Look and Learn - textbook
(Same person also gave me this)
āŖ Nihongo Challenge N4-N5 - workbook
(I bought this in Japan in 2018 but messed up because this is only for Kanji and I meant to get the Grammar one)
āŖ Remembering the Kanji 1 - book
(Got this after studying abroad because someone in our group was raving about it)
Iām using MnN 1 now, will use Genki 2, and then move on to Quartet 1ā¦ but what do I do with the rest of it ?! Is there any use for them at all? Do I speedrun through them after I finish MnN and annotate the heck outta them for referencing later?
Is something like the Shin Nihongo 500 Mon JLPT N4-N5 a good investment to buy to test general knowledge even if I donāt plan on taking the N5 or N4?
I have so many questions for myself
Iām still playing slow ball with the textbook although I feel like Iām getting better at dedicating time to it. Got 2 chapters and the midbook test done which is more than what Iāve been doing on average. With anything new that I start to do, thereās a week after the first month that I become so resistant to it all and want to self-sabotage but now that I got over that hurdle Iām gonna go ham. Might power through and do 1 textbook chapter a day or so this week so make up for lost time. Depending on if work gets mad at me or not though
I had started ćć³ćć®ćć¾ć”ćć a while ago and I just picked it back up again. Kinda wanna do 1 manga and 1 novel at the same time. Generally, I like to read a bunch of different books to satisfy my flakiness. I donāt know if it was just the page I left off on, but the grammar points got me a little uncomfortable so might switch it to a different book for now or just power through it slowly?
Been doing 20 new anki cards a day and do WK 1-3 times a day. Level 11 WK got me messed up though. These new kanji readings got my brain in a washing machine for some reason.
Oddly enough, I feel like Iām genuinely having fun learning the language though and Iām not sure if I am seeing progress but I feel like thereās gotta be something happening? Surely? Anyways, I think thatās all for now.
Bye, cya later ! 
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My personal recommendation is to just pick one of the beginner textbooks and work through it to completion, then if you want to test your knowledge, take one of the free practice N5/N4 tests online and see how well you do.
Personally, I found that working through MNN 1 + 2 gave me a very thorough understanding of N5 and N4 material, and I was able to pretty comfortably pass the practice JLPT tests and move on to intermediate study without feeling like I had major blind spots with the beginner material.
Granted, I went through MNN pretty slowly (it took me a little less than two years to get through both books), and I was also doing a lot of immersion all throughout the second book in particular, so my experience might be different, but if I were you, Iād focus on just one book for each level. If you do have weak spots, youāll have opportunities in the future to brush up on those points again, and youāll have a better chance of learning them after youāve had more exposure to Japanese anyway.
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That does seem like the best course of action. If anything, when I finish MnN and Iām doing a quick review session of it as a whole I can pick up a different textbook that I have for reference if thereās a topic Iām noticing my brain doesnāt like as much as the rest.
I know Iāll have weak spots in Japanese and I guess Iām trying to figure out ways to avoid it happening, but it really is inevitable. And youāre right future immersion and everything else will help things click. I guess I just fear that Iāll have too many weak spots and will get put in a weird spot for language school.
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Never posted any stats or anything of the like so imma dump some here.
also the level-ups are kinda funny ngl
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Week 7 - 8/19/23
Wanikani Level: 11
Minna no Nihongo Chapter: 14 ā 16 / 25
ćć¤ć°ćØļ¼ Vol 1: 140 ā 150 / 224
ćć³ćć®ćć¾ć”ćć: 25 ā 25 / 145
ćććć±ć®ććć”ćć: 0 ā 27 / 27
hi. itās me. iām the problem, itās me.
maybe not? idk. i feel like i didnāt do much this week. but i guess i did do stuff? iāll hit level 12 today, was just a few radicals off. got hit with an enlightened wave last night that i didnāt expect. i get so nervous when itā's a bunch of things that i know i know, but i donāt know how or how well i know them, ya know? didnāt have many casualties in that so i guess i made it out fine.
in my listening iām noticing how my brain is assigning kanji that iām picking up to words but itās still generally concepts that i can latch onto. sometimes i can grab the whole sentence, but that depends on context. iām trying to think more in japanese and i think doing practice writing outside of the workbook will help in that. itās also something that my host family back in japan encouraged us to do. basically write about things that i would actually end up telling people so when someone asks about hobbies for instance, iāll know it off the top of my head instead of formulating it off the cuff. good advice, i just havenāt really followed it yet. 
been doing my anki core 2k at 20 new words a day. in the beginning it was at 50 just to get caught up the rudimentary words that i knew from like a decade of bad studying but that only lasted a few days. the 20 new words is good so far, i donāt know how bad itāll scale but so far it takes me about 10-15 minutes to get through my anki reviews.
textbook is still dragging along. really donāt think iāll meet my deadline of finishing MnN by the end of this month, but I donāt think iāll be that far behind. maybe an extra week and hopefully not much more. it feels nice to get as far as Iāve gotten to be honest, even though I wish by now i would have made it a good habit of doing a bit every day, but finishing 1-3 chapters a week is not bad either. i do feel like Iām cramming a bit since Iām usually only doing it on the weekends as opposed to a bit mid week. it is what it is i guess (at least for now).
i finished ćććć±ć®ććć”ćć which is probably the easiest kidās book that i have. i actually have read it before like 5 years ago, but i re-read it again and i feel like i picked up more than last time which is good. in my reading travels, there are definitely going to be books that i read and keep for when i have a better understanding so that i can get more out of the story. i meanā¦ this wasnāt one of them just so happened that i realized i included it on the list and wanted to get it outta the way.
not much āotherā progress this week. definitely hit a wall which my attempts to learn coding, but i donāt want to give up! just need to include it better into everything. i think i should keep some notes as i go through it though. 
might be helpful especially since Iām having such big breaks between the periods that Iām doing it.
pretty decided on taking some time to compile reference grammar notes after i finish my first textbook. think the best way is to cross reference (hopefully made easier with the internet) and compile.
sometimes i write this blog through the week in little blurbs and i didnāt this week and i feel like i had something to say but i canāt remember. u__u;;
anyway, i think my interview with the language school i picked will be scheduled next week. so hereās to hoping i donāt get rejected from japan twice in one year 
have a good week everyone !
edit: I remember ! i was gonna complain about MnN!! i think i said this before but the reason i chose MnN is because 1) I had it already from my being tutored attempt and 2) I already had a foundation in Japanese.
SO i donāt like how MnN explains verb conjugation. the textbook is very condensed which is nice for me at this point in my Japanese studies. for instance chapter 14, it doesnāt explain really anything on conjugation and just says it depends on the ć¾ć form and to do it. itās good for reviewing but i couldnāt imagine learning ć¦ form solely with this book. the ć¦ form also is in chapter 14 and chapter 16. so the division of grammar topics is spread out i think because itās so condensed but overall, covers more of a diverse range of grammar points that i think Nakama generally glazes over. but that also could be because i did Nakama in university and my professor did that on purpose. he preferred Nakama to Genki and Nakama is more useful in an academic setting whereas i think Genki (havenāt used it yet) is good for both academic and self-study.
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I dunno, I see a lot of blue check marks on the (really really cute rainbow) calendar, so Iām impressed 
I also need to get better at practicing output through writing and speaking so I feel you on thatā¦ your host familyās advice sounds solid. Itās something I learned the hard way from living here, but Iāve finally gotten better about preparing sentences and learning new vocabulary for new situations before I arrive at the situation, haha.
Good luck with the language school interview! You can do it!!
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i guess i do be a little hard on myself
preparing for new situations (especially Iām assuming the town hall trips for visa stuff if you live there) seems like a really good idea. do you keep a separate journal for that or is it more of as needed thing?
and thanks! Iām hoping the interview goes well, I mean Iām not starting from zero and I am paying for it so Iām assuming itās more along the lines of a light weeding out and more as a formality
mentally Iām already living in Miyazaki for better or for worse
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I donāt keep good track of what I learn from doing that, to be honest. I definitely should, but I mostly rely on short-term memory. Sometimes Iāll save certain vocab in my Anki deck, but usually I look up specific vocab/phrases beforehand, practice them a bit, go do the thing, and then leave it up to chance whether I internalize any of it or not. I recently had some dry cleaning done, for example, and I researched several new words and verbs ahead of time, but now the only two I remember are ć·ć (stain) and ęćåøå£ (duvet).
On the bright side, I tend to remember the things that were actually relevant and I used the most pretty easily, but it doesnāt help me learn things that may be useful in the future and just happened to not be this time. Thatās why I liked the idea of writing it down and reviewing!
Yes, for sure! They just need to do their due diligence and all that. 
Ohh Miyazaki, exciting! I checked my prefectural bucket list and see that I wrote down Heiwadai Park to see the Haniwa garden. I love those little guys. I donāt know that much else about the prefecture, though. If you donāt mind me asking, is there any particular reason you chose Miyazaki?
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that makes sense. like when i read i just use the Japanese app to look up definitions real quick, throw in a list and never look at it again. i feel like a lot of language learning is more passive than expected at times. you actively learn it but then itās all rng and banking on time and repetition. slowly but surely.
and thereās no real initial reason for Miyazaki if Iām honest but thereās some i picked up on. well first i was applying for eikaiwa jobs in the summer of 2019. i didnāt want to be a teacher in a japan was a big push back i had/have, but there was an actual elementary school in Miyazaki ā i looked it up on gaijinpot, it was in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki lol ā and i then started looking into the area because southern japan is never really prominently taught or even a focus on like youtube letās say. so i just had this innate draw and pull to go to Miyazaki ever since then. i applied to many jobs, ended up landing one but ultimately couldnāt follow through with it. the pain in her eyes in the interview was something i couldnāt get over. ended up kinda working out because i wouldāve started in jan 2020 right before the pandemic and that wouldāve been a fiasco in and of itself.
other than that, i like how there will be less english speakers there as opposed to tokyo and some other areas of japan but i still get the city walkability. weather is nice all year round and not super directly in the typical typhoon pathing i think. seems a little more off the typical foreigner path overall. itās the birthplace of japan which i also think is cool historically and itās one of the happiest places in japan. 
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Yes, exactly this Sometimes I feel bad for not adding things to Anki more diligently, but then sometimes I add too many thingsā¦ and then when they come up in SRS, they never stick, and sometimes I donāt even remember exactly where I got it from!
Oof, yeahā¦ that was probably a good call. No personal experience, but from my understanding eikawa is such a hit or miss gig. Especially if you arenāt interested in teaching in and of itself. I donāt work at an eikawa (thankfullyāthe hours also arenāt for me) but I did do video/phone call interviews with a few before moving here, just to see what it was like. I remember talking to one woman who didnāt say anything bad directly, but she just sounded so exhausted. I couldnāt even see her face but it was the most burnt-out Iād ever heard someone in my life.
I totally get being interested just by the fact that an area is lesser-known for overseas tourism and etc. Thereās that exploratory aspect that is really exciting. Plus, a language-learning bonus! I live in a pretty big (and comparatively diverse) city, but still, pretty much no one outside my job tries to speak English to me in the day-to-day, and itās a really good environment to pick things up through necessary immersion. Best of luck with the language school!
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thatās true I feel like especially when reading itās hard to make the vocab actually stick which in turn makes actively learning it harder. but when I use the app, I make one for each book so itās kinda nice seeing how many times itās popping up in all the books. kinda helps me prioritize its importance. iām just banking on picking it up through osmosis eventuallyā¦ surelyā¦
yes !!! very that. mid-interview she had to get up to receive a package for work at the door and she was saying how she was given a car and had to travel between like 3 different schools. nahhhh. thatās not for me. i wanted to be a teacher in middle school, but thereās definitely a reason iā'm not one.
and thanks for the luck! i actually just scheduled my interview for this coming Friday at night. poked around online and it seems to be a rough placement of where Iād fit so they can fill out slots appropriately. but yes, definitely want to be in a no English zone for sure for all the reasons you said. def feels like a bit of an adventure which iām excited for.
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