Hello all! This is actually my first post, but I’ve lurked on the forums the entire time I’ve been doing WaniKani.
So, I started studying Japanese on a lark when I had nothing better to do during the COVID lockdown. I had finally sat down to watch all of Neon Genesis Evangelion after a lifetime of being a casual anime fan, and I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I actually knew what they were saying? Learning a language as difficult as Japanese had always seemed like the height of intelligence and accomplishment to me. It also seemed borderline impossible. However, with the amount of free time I suddenly had on my hands, I decided, what the heck, I’ll give it a go.
I started with the “Japanese From Zero” textbook and the Japanese dictionary app on my phone, drilling the textbook vocabulary using the flash card function. I started WaniKani on June 20, 2020, and became a lifetime member during the winter sale that year. If you’re curious, here are my stats. I took my time on most of the levels and took a bunch of breaks.
I went through all 5 books of the Japanese from Zero series, and as a self-studier I really enjoyed them. They have a pretty easy pace and the workbook problems are built into the textbook. The one thing I didn’t like was how it would gradually introduce hiragana and katakana throughout the book and mix them with the romaji for characters you hadn’t learned yet. I found it a little visually jarring and would have preferred just learning the characters all at once at the start of the book, but the whole point is that it’s “from zero” so I imagine this is a selling point to many buyers.
After Japanese from Zero, I worked my way through An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, which I thought was super helpful. I listened to the textbook audio every day when I was driving to work, which helped my listening and solidified the grammar and vocab from the book. As a side effect I now hear 「マックに入ろうか？」echo through my mind every time I see a McDonalds. I also had an italki tutor for a while, which was fun and really helpful for speaking.
I moved to Japan in 2023, then I managed to pass the N3 in December of 2023, and N2 in December of 2024 using the 日本語総まとめ series.
Learning Japanese has really showed me the value of sticking to something even if you’re only making gains little by little. (I’ve always had the bad habit of wanting to quit if I’m not immediately good at something.) Six years ago, I couldn’t even read hiragana, now I’m reading novels. I still have a long way to go before I can call myself fluent, but man, I’m really proud of how far I’ve come.
What would I have done differently?
I definitely would have forced myself to read earlier. It seems SO hard when you first start, but after you fight your way through your first volume of manga, it gets easier. Also, you don’t have to force yourself to read slice of life manga just because that’s what’s easier and contains more useful language. If you can tolerate being super reliant on a dictionary, you can read whatever interests you. I read all of Jujutsu Kaisen when I was about N3 level, and it was NOT easy, but I was invested in the series, so that pushed me to keep reading.
That’s all, folks! I’m going to continue doing WaniKani until I burn everything, but it will be nice to focus more on immersion from here on out. Ideally, I’ll make a habit of opening Honto or Bookwalker on my phone when there are no reviews to be done. I’m also studying hard so I can pass the N1 this winter! Wish me luck!
I’m so grateful to the WaniKani team. WaniKani is just so easy to make into a habit, which is crucial if you really want to learn a language.
I haven’t posted before so I don’t know if I really need to specify this, but of course, any questions are welcome.
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