新 Monthly Progress Challenge

I saw that the N5 and other courses was on sale for 10 euro/dollars a piece for new sign-ups. Do you find the course to be useful, and did you also get it for a reduced prize? Actually thinking about getting the N5 course myself.

Progress Post #2
I’m a week late, but…

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 30

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 33

##GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: Surpassed goal level by 2+. Could no longer access HJ 2 due to computer breaking. Have started back up on Memrise, though! Obtained Shin Kanzen Master Grammar N4.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL: Start Kanzen Master Grammar N4? Heavily work on Memrise courses. Start reading manga again?

##RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: WaniKani, Lang-8, HiNative, Memrise, Graded Readers, various Android apps (mostly just started)

FAVE: WaniKani
LEAST FAVE: Lang-8 because of the amount of work that needs to go into it and the time sink and motivation/energy requirement

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Shin Kanzen Master N4 Grammar, maybe a new app?

##JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Still grammar

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Shin Kanzen Master, Memrise, practicing writing on Japanese-only (here) and Lang-8 and HiNative, various apps.

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Yeah I also bought it when it was on sale for a tenner! Like I said it’s been much better than I expected, I guess I wasn’t expecting much but it’s been well done in my opinion.

These things always depend on the individual preferences of the learner but I like the fact that each of the 15 lessons begins with a ‘skit’ (which I usually fail to understand as they speak at what seems like normal pace) - they then discuss the vocab, the grammar, and helpfully also popular Japanese expressions like ‘oh really’ and ‘that’s great!’ that the last resource I used didn’t go into.
They replay the skit at the end of the lesson and it’s very encouraging to see how much more you understand by then.

The main reason I bought this course was to improve my listening ability and I’m pretty sure that has massively improved now - because everything the teacher says is in Japanese (with English subtitles!) :slight_smile:

2 Likes

(I’m one day too early but I’ll be very busy tomorrow so here we go)

#PROGRESS POST #3: June 2017

#:crabigator: WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 30

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 31 (need to focus on other things more)

#:crabigator: GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

○ Level: Made it to 30 no problem
○ Speaking: I was able to find a native Japanese speaker who helped me gain a lot of confidence in speaking.
○ Grammar book: I bought GenkiⅠ and completed the first few chapters. I like it.
× N5 Vocab on DelvinLanguage: I don’t like this website. I ended up skipping a lot of words to finally be done with it. Not a success.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL(s):

  • Somehow learn a bunch of vocabulary. I will probably be using Anki and/or Memrise. I will see how much I can learn within one month and then set the next month’s goals accordingly.
  • Practice listening every day using ■■■■■■ and maybe other resources.
  • Practice reading every day using NHK Easy (with Furigana disabled) or more challenging resources
  • Progress at least one chapter of Genki per week.

#:crabigator: RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Anki; ■■■■■■; Memrise; NHK Easy; WaniKani

  • FAVE: ■■■■■■, but probably least useful
  • LEAST FAVE: 無

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Honestly haven’t touched Memrise in a while, but it probably doesn’t count as a “new resource”

#:crabigator: JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Vocabulary

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: I need to try different Anki decks and Memrise courses to see what helps me, then see if I’m making progress by listening and reading.
#:crabigator: HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Speaking is the most important aspect of fluency (at least for most learners). Practice speaking as early and as much as possible. Don’t be me.

1 Like

PROGRESS POST #2:

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 22

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… N/A - I’m focusing on clearing my vocab backlog this month, so if I do level up, okay, if I don’t, fine.

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

  1. Reach 500 J-E sentences on JalupNEXT - Done
  2. Finish 80-20 Japanese read through & start in depth chapter review (chapters 1&2 minimum) - Done
  3. Read chapters 2 and 3 of 僕らの食卓. - Failed. I think I’m going to look for something with furigana to try and read first. I can draw the kanji into Midori but between all the unknown kanji and my limited grammar this was a bit too much for me right now frustration wise.
  4. Start putting together passive listening playlist.- Done. Lots of podcasts on my phone and JapanTV.
  5. 15 lessons on Japanesepod101 - Failed. Forgot this was even on my list, honestly.
  6. Watch 10-15 episodes of anime or drama with Japanese or no subtitles - Eh. I didn’t stick to a single show but I’ve been watching quite a bit of JapanTV so I won’t call this a full failure. Japanese dubs of NCIS were fun.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

  1. Stay on pace with JalupNEXT to finish beginner by the end of July. Currently that means at least nine new cards per day, aiming for 10. Should reach 800 cards by the end of June at 10 per day.
  2. Continue 80-20 Japanese read through, taking notes and consulting other sources. Chapter 3 at least.
  3. Read at least 3 Satori Reader articles per week, 1 per day would be best. Look for some easier manga to read.
  4. Immersion, at least 2 hours per day of passive listening. Also try for 1 hour of active listening.
  5. Post to HelloTalk at least 2 times per week.
  6. Vocab. Stick with the new Memrise course. Aim for completing at least half of the course by the end of the month.

RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: JalupNEXT, WaniKani, 80-20 Japanese, Japanesepod101, ebookJapan, Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, Animelon, Drama CDs, Youtube, Crunchyroll, Netflix, Memrise, Anime DVDs, Manga, Podcasts

FAVE: JalupNEXT, WaniKani
LEAST FAVE: Eh. I toss most things I don’t like pretty quickly. Youtube maybe, as I don’t have a lot of Japanese channels that I use there.

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Using HelloTalk regularly will be new. I dabbled a little last month then was without my phone for a bit while changing carriers so I need to get back to it now.

JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Grammar

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Keep up with JalupNEXT and reviewing 80-20 Japanese. Read more. Post to HelloTalk so I can get corrections.

HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Don’t feel like you have to stick with something that you hate just because it’s a highly recommended resource. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t force your way through it just because other people sing its praises. There are tons of resources out there so don’t hesitate to try something different. Everyone learns differently and there’s nothing wrong with having fun while you learn.

#PROGRESS POST #: 5

#WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 53

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 57

#GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
#4 May 2017

  • Comprehend N4 grammar and also N4 sentences from Jtest4you; by focusing on breaking down complex grammatical structures and separating noun clauses. [Stopped for now]:no_entry_sign:
  • 新完全マスターN4・文法 : Now [Failed? Returning to Genki 2]:x:
  • Jtest4you N4 example sentences on Anki : by 16 May :no_entry_sign:
  • Finishing 8020 Japanese Audiobook [Not so bad, but I don’t have time to listen] :no_entry_sign:
  • Finish creating INFINITY and BEYOND, NAMES section (人名用漢字) – This is my legacy, although I might not finish using it. :white_check_mark: [Tried using it also, but I stopped using it at Level 63 – too much to remember in 3.5 days’ level…]:sweat_smile:

THIS MONTH’S GOAL

  • N4 Grammar, maybe via Genki 2, then back to 新完全マスターN4 … then Tobira, then step up all the way to N3-N2, or perhaps N1
  • Keep WaniKani parameters
  • Apprentice < 250
  • Lessons < 100
  • Reviews < 500
  • Always try to finish respective Anki level before leveling up in WaniKani

#RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:

  • FAVE:
  • WaniKani
  • AnkiDroid
    • Core 10k breakdown
    • Selected vocab from KaniWani (not all)
    • Almost all vocab are looked up in Goo
  • Japanese Graded Readers
  • 新完全マスター文法N4
  • MIXED FEELING:
  • 新完全マスター文法N4
  • LEAST FAVE:

TRY NEW RESOURCE:

  • Genki 2. I might skip Genki 1.
  • I might consider みんなの日本語 again.

#JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS:

  • Everything, though, reading is probably the strongest area
  • Focusing on reading and listening AKA passive skills

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:

  • Grammar exams, JLPT levels-wise
  • Japanese Graded Reader Lv 2-3
  • Appropriately and adequately use a dictionary

#HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:

  • Keep Apprentice Pile low (in WaniKani)
  • Even for Grammar, go slow and steady. I would always go against going too slow, where you might eventually stop. For WaniKani, I actually like fast and steady…
  • Don’t burn out, though.

//See you next month!// (You’d better remember! :angryviet: )

PROGRESS POST #:3
WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL:9

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL 11
GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

Failed to be at level 8 but went over to lvl 9 and didn’t read enough grammar.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL: Read more Tae Kim. Overall just try to waste less time and be more effective.

RESOURCES

**CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:**Wanikani, kaniwani, memrise, youtube, Tae Kim, Anki and https://japaneseclass.jp/lessons.

FAVE: Wanikani/Anki

TRY NEW RESOURCE:
Maybe some book from library

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: All around.

**HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:**Read Tae Kim
HELPING OTHERS: How about No ( Unless i actually have the skills to help of course)

PROGRESS POST #: 1

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 3
IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL 5? (Still trying to figure out the pacing here)

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: N/A (I’m new)
THIS MONTH’S GOAL: I’m using Japanese from Zero as a review tool since I haven’t done basic grammar in a while. My goal is to finish Japanese from Zero completely.

RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Japanese From Zero, Tobira, Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, Kodansha’s Kanji Learning Course, Remembering the Kanji, Basic Grammar Dictionary, Nelson’s Kanji Dictionary, Pocket Progressive Dictionary, a bunch of the Japanese Page’s readers, Breaking Into Japanese Literature, Read Real Japanese Stories, WaniKani, Shadowing Books 1 and 2.

FAVE: WaniKani actually.
LEAST FAVE: Umm, the dictionaries. Using them is a pain. I usually use jisho.org instead.
TRY NEW RESOURCE:I just bought the Shadowing books and want to use them.

JAPANESE ABILITY: Intermediate
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Kanji, my accent

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: I need to shadow more and talk more generally. I’m a bit of a passive learner.

HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Take it slow and be realistic and honest with your time commitment and learning style. Also, newer learners shouldn’t be discouraged by how overwhelming it seems at first. It will eventually start to click!

PROGRESS POST 5:

Japanese Study Time: About five months

WANIKANI
-CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 22
-IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 26

GOALS
-LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: 新 Monthly Progress Challenge

  • Reach level 22 [X]
  • Daily Goals [~] Didn’t do the daily reading.
  • Textbook [] Kept putting this off and never got around to it.
  • Reading [] Didn’t do much reading. Was tired of the things I was reading so I decided to start something new.
  • Vocab [X]

-Overall: I’m going to focus on kanji this month instead of just vocab. Probably about time I started doing grammar again too.

-THIS MONTH’S GOALS:

Daily

  • Wanikani, Kaniwani, and Anki reviews
  • Reading (with or without Rikaisama)
  • Keep adding cards to Anki

Monthly

  • Textbook
  • Review Genki II
  • Go over Tobira grammar points.
  • Kanji
  • Learn at least 240 kanji this month.
  • Vocab
  • Learn at least 1000 words this month.
  • Reading
  • Should probably be able to get most of the way through current visual novel.
  • Listening
  • Put some time into it.

RESOURCES
Current Japanese Resources: Genki II, Tobira, visual novels, Japanese video games, Rikaisama, WK, KW, Anki, Jisho, misc Japanese media

JAPANESE ABILITY
-Reading: Reads slowly. Comprehension is questionable.
-Grammar: N4 level
-Kanji: Knows around 750-850
-Vocab: Knows around 3000-3500
-Listening: Can’t understand much
-Writing (typing): Can write very basic sentences. Makes mistakes all the time. Slow and unnatural.
-Speaking: Very bad

See you next month.

PROGRESS POST 1:

Japanese Study Time: Since January 4

WANIKANI
-CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 22
-IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 25

THIS MONTH’S GOAL

Reach level 25 []
Finish Genki II []
Read the first 2 volumes of Yotsubato []
Read at least 10 chapters of japanese the manga way []

RESOURCES
Current Japanese Resources: Genki II, A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, Memrise, Japanese the Manga Way

JAPANESE ABILITY
-Reading: Close to N4
-Grammar: Close to N4
-Kanji: 700
-Vocab: 2000
-Listening: N5
-Writing (typing): None
-Speaking: None

See you next month.

PROGRESS POST #2

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 7 [+]

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 10

GOALS

LAST MONTH GOAL REPORT:
Finish HJ [+], currently at the middle of 5th Genki lesson (it’s hard for some reason), Dogen [+], Exams![+] /Proud of myself/

THIS MONTH GOAL:
Do more Genki levels, I need that grammar in my life. But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that considering exams.

RESOURCES, JAPANESE ABILITY
All the same

HELPING OTHERS

Motivation will go away even if you love doing something, and there will be times when you’ll be stuck or feel like you’re not going anywhere. And in that time you need to remember the reason why you’re doing it, why you’re here and why it was so important for you to start doing it, Revaluate your goals if you need to and continue. If someone is able to do something than you can too.

2 Likes

PROGRESS POST #: 1
WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 6

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL…10

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: N/A

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:
Study with Genki more. I need to be far more diligent with Memrise as well. And of course, keep up with the reviews on WaniKani

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
Youtube, Genki, WaniKani, Memrise, Video Games, Music, Duolingo
FAVE: WaniKani
LEAST FAVE: Duolingo
TRY NEW RESOURCE:

JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Oh, everything really.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Persistence

HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Study as much as you can, just don’t forget to take care of yourself. Don’t give up!

PROGRESS POST #2:
7.6.2018

:bird: WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 22

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 24

:bird: GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: Progress post 1

1. Reach level 22 :white_check_mark:
2. Genki 2 review chapters 13 trough 18 :no_entry_sign: : I realized just maybe a week ago, that I actually need to start investing time on this instead of pushing it to the “tomorrow, which never comes”. Hence I only managed to review chapter 13… -___-
3. KaniWani into a daily habit (no review count requirement) :no_entry_sign:
4. Find a resource for reading materials :left_right_arrow: - well, I kind of found materials. Meaning that I decided manga is just fine to use for reading practice and I wouldn’t have to look beyond Comico… which I already have on my phone. Now it’s just a matter of starting reading more.

Overall I majorly lack consistency in my studies. WK is the only one I try to do regularly, as the “penalty” for failing to do reviews comes back pretty quickly in the form of hundreds of piled up reviews. …

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

  1. Genki 2 review chapters at least up to ch. 18. Preferably the whole book!
  2. KaniWani into a daily habit (no review count requirement) - retry from last month’s goals
  3. Reading practice into a daily or bi-daily habit (something to do when commuting to work)
  4. Add a vocab resource!

The main priority is to slow down on WK, and focus more on other materials. Hence the easy level goal.

:bird: RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
Kanji/vocab: WaniKani, KaniWani,
Textbook: Genki 2
Speaking/Listening: Weekly language cafe, Japanese bf (regular), friends in Japan (irregular)
Reading: Comico

FAVE: Language cafe, Japanese bf
LEAST FAVE: KaniWani (just because I’ve been so lazy with it.)

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Memrise

:bird: JAPANESE ABILITY

Good listening and speaking. Reading anything else than manga is horribly slow as haven’t practiced it almost at all.
In total, hovering somewhere around N3.

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Grammar, limited vocab

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Avoid getting stuck wish only WK --> shift priorities.
Add a new resource for vocab - perhaps Memrise or at the very least, review Genki 2 vocab and beyond.

:bird: HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
Speak, speak, speak!

PROGRESS POST #2:

(08/06/17)

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 9 (Which was the goal for my previous month).

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 12

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
Progress Report #1

THIS MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

  • Continue with Genki 1, try to get 2 chapters this month.

  • Focus more on my WK leeches so I can remember them a lot better, and not put as much time on WK in the way that it stops me from going into more grammar, and reviewing my items on memrise.

  • Use Hinative more (Even though I have used it a lot during this month, to practice my own pronounciation and grammar and have people commenting on it).

  • Continue with my N5 Udemy course.

  • Start with listening comprehension again (Preferably Jpod101).

RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
Wanikani
KaniWani
Memrise
Anki
Genki I
Japanese from Zero on YT.
Udemy N5 course

FAVE: Wanikani
LEAST FAVE: Genki I (Not because I don’t like the book, but because I’m slacking on grammar)
TRY NEW RESOURCE:
Think I’m ok with new resources for this month, until I progress with the once I’m currently using. Might change though.

JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS:

Grammar. I think my hearing comprehension, pronounciation and vocab is getting better and better, but that’s about it.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:
Sticking to Genki, and Japanese from Zero and actually write down sentences using the grammar I know until I feel It’s getting better, and better. Also keep pushing forward even though there are some things I might not understand fully. But definetely use the things I have learned in practice, instead of just knowing the grammar and particles, without actually using it in speech or writing.

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:

Since I’m very new myself, I don’t have much to input here. But I would say try to keep it consistent, and try to focus on everything in a good manner (something I need to get better at myself, so I should follow my own advice). Also, make sure to learn kana the first thing you do, and avoid ROMAJI at all costs. You don’t need to learn something that you already know. If you get stuck and frustrated, take a break from studying and get back to it when you are more energized, or your mood and motivation will begin to drop. Looking at something fresh again, can help you overcome when you feel burned out. More thant that I wish I knew more about learning myself, sadly.

#PROGRESS POST #: 6

#WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 59

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 60 (Not reset yet); Level 65 in BeyondWK

#GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
#5 June 2017

  • N4 Grammar, maybe via Genki 2, then back to 新完全マスターN4 … then Tobira, then step up all the way to N3-N2, or perhaps N1 :sweat_smile: I did Tae Kim Advanced Topics instead.
  • Keep WaniKani parameters
  • Apprentice < 250 :white_check_mark:
  • Lessons < 100 :sweat_smile: Sometimes
  • Reviews < 500 :x: Still within 500-100
  • Always try to finish respective Anki level before leveling up in WaniKani :white_check_mark: あたりまえなこと!

THIS MONTH’S GOAL

  • N4 Grammar via 新完全マスターN4. I’ll figure out a way to drill it in Anki… and improve test score.
  • Finish Tae Kim Advanced Topic sentences, mainly via listening
  • Finish Erin’s Challenge Chapter 5, maybe roughly 1 chapter per week.
  • Stay Level 60, resist the urge to reset
  • Keep WaniKani parameters
  • Apprentice < 100 (might not really be zero, due to leeches)
  • Guru < 1000
  • Guru < Enlightened
  • Zero Lessons
  • Reviews < 500

#RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:

  • FAVE:
  • WaniKani
  • AnkiDroid
    • Core 10k breakdown
    • Selected vocab from KaniWani
    • Almost all vocab are looked up in Goo
  • Japanese Graded Readers
  • 新完全マスター文法N4
  • MIXED FEELING:
  • 新完全マスター文法N4
  • LEAST FAVE:

TRY NEW RESOURCE:

  • Drill 新完全マスター文法N4 sentences in Anki
  • Generate Audio sentences with AwesomeTTS
  • Dogen course in Phonetics
  • Erin’s Challenge
  • Weblio J-J dictionary

#JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS:

  • Everything, though, reading is probably the strongest area
  • Focusing on reading and listening AKA passive skills

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:

  • Grammar exams, JLPT levels-wise
  • Finish Tae Kim properly
  • Improve my ears
  • Appropriately and adequately use a dictionary
  • Learn and use pitch accent

#HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:

  • Keep Apprentice Pile low (in WaniKani)
  • Improve grammar!
  • Listen a lot. Pronounce properly!
  • Try chatting in Japanese. It isn’t so hard (nor it is too easy).

//See you next month!// (You’d better remember! :angryviet: )

PROGRESS POST 6:

Japanese Study Time: About six months

WANIKANI
-CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 26
-IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 30

GOALS
-LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: 新 Monthly Progress Challenge

Reach level 26 [X]
Daily Goals [~] Didn’t do the daily reading.
Textbook [X]
Reading [X] Didn’t do original goal, but overall did more reading than expected.
Vocab [X]
Kanji [] A decent number of the kanji from WK were ones I had already been exposed to. In the end, even with some outside studying, I probably only learned about 120 new kanji.
Listening [X]

-Overall: Reading is going well, so mostly just going to read this month.

-THIS MONTH’S GOALS:

Daily

  • Wanikani, Kaniwani, and Anki reviews
  • Reading (with or without Rikaisama)
  • Keep adding cards to Anki

Monthly

  • Read

RESOURCES
Current Japanese Resources: Tobira, visual novels, Japanese video games, Rikaisama, WK, KW, Anki, Jisho, misc Japanese media
New Resource: Should probably be using a JP > JP dictionary too.

JAPANESE ABILITY
-Reading: Reads slowly. Comprehension is questionable.
-Grammar: ~N3 level
-Kanji: Knows around 900-950
-Vocab: Knows around 4000-4500
-Listening: Can’t understand much
-Writing (typing): Can write very basic sentences. Makes mistakes all the time. Slow and unnatural.
-Speaking: Very bad

See you next month.

#PROGRESS POST #4: July 2017

#:crabigator: WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 31

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 32 (need to focus on other things more)

#:crabigator: GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

○ Level: Check
○ Vocabulary: I’m using a big Anki deck, works like a charm
○ Listening every day: I made it and I enjoyed it. ■■■■■■ was a blast. I think I made good progress.
× Reading every day: Didn’t do it as much as I should have.
○ Genki Grammar: Did that

THIS MONTH’S GOAL(s):

  • Keep learning new vocabulary with the Anki deck I’m using. 10 new cards a day and possibly more on weekends
  • Find new listening resource.
  • Practice reading every day (Except weekends) using NHK Easy (with Furigana disabled) or more challenging resources.
  • Finish my Anki Handwriting deck
  • Talk to my Japanese language exchange partner at least once a week
  • Don’t completely forget about grammar

#:crabigator: RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Anki; ■■■■■■;Genki; NHK Easy; WaniKani

  • FAVE: Anki
  • LEAST FAVE

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Need something for listening

#:crabigator: JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: All around

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Start with vocabulary
#:crabigator: HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Speaking is the most important aspect of fluency (at least for most learners). Practice speaking as early and as much as possible. Don’t be me.

PROGRESS POST #3

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 11 [+1~!] Welcome to the painful!

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 15

GOALS

LAST MONTH GOAL REPORT:
Do more Genki levels [+++] and all A’s in exams, now I have time to do everything I want
Plus I checked textbooks that I bought years ago and I happily understand that I can sell them /they’re terribly written though…/

THIS MONTH GOAL:
Do Genki as I did, I’m pretty happy with my pace right now.
Occasionally read Tae Kim and Human Japanese Intermediate and textbook in my native language, which is bad but has okayish texts in japanese nevertheless. That makes me feel poweful.
Work, work, work! I can’t wait to play Ni no Kuni.

RESOURCES, JAPANESE ABILITY
All the same (I need to work on kaniwani and I don’t want to…)

Good luck everyone!

1 Like

PROGRESS POST #5 (05/07/17):

I’ve been basically AWOL from here since mid May, focusing on other Japanese resources after obsessively being on WK several times a day for the first 8 months! Just took the JLPT N5 on Sunday so getting my life back :slight_smile:

LAST MONTH’S GOAL: 20
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 19
IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 20 - I’ve got a few hundred reviews to catch up on first

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: (Finish the lvl 1 Graded Readers and the N5 Udemy course). Well… I’ve nearly finished reading - would like to start level 2 soon! And I completed the Udemy course in full as well.
THIS MONTH’S GOAL: GET BACK INTO WK!!! And just keep other things ticking along.

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: In a post-JLPT lull this week, working out what my next short-term goal is.
FAVE: Obviously anime is the most fun ‘study’ resource! But the Udemy course I just finished was really good actually, I was sceptical but my listening ability came on in leaps and bounds compared with just book learning, which I was doing previously. Getting a load of grammar and vocab in there was a nice bonus.
TRY NEW RESOURCE: Does WK count as new if I just havent done it in a couple months??

JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: My listening has definitely improved this month, so maybe the new weakness is speaking - my accent isn’t really atrocious (that I’m aware of) but I don’t have a lot of confidence generating sentences on the fly.
HOW I WILL IMPROVE THE ABOVE: Might try the Shadowing resource I have sitting around unused at home :smiley:

HELPING OTHERS
TIPS/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a few days/weeks/months :blush:

PROGRESS POST #3

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 22

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 24

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

Last month’s goals (below) were basically a wash. June was a very hectic and in some ways very awful month so staying barely afloat on Japanese studies is an acceptable outcome to the month for me honestly.

  1. Stay on pace with JalupNEXT to finish beginner by the end of July. Currently that means at least nine new cards per day, aiming for 10. Should reach 800 cards by the end of June at 10 per day.
  2. Continue 80-20 Japanese read through, taking notes and consulting other sources. Chapter 3 at least.
  3. Read at least 3 Satori Reader articles per week, 1 per day would be best. Look for some easier manga to read.
  4. Immersion, at least 2 hours per day of passive listening. Also try for 1 hour of active listening.
  5. Post to HelloTalk at least 2 times per week.
  6. Vocab. Stick with the new Memrise course. Aim for completing at least half of the course by the end of the month.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

Find my new normal. I’m on vacation the first week of July, but then I start a new position at work with new hours (which will change again after training) and go back to driving 2 hours a day. Though hopefully the commute will get better when I manage to buy a house, which is something I’m also working on in July. So for the first week of the month I just want to catch up on my various SRS systems (WK, iKnow, and JalupNEXT) and then start adding new lessons at whatever pace works out with my changed circumstances as I adjust.

Reading and listening are going to be my main focus for the month. I have JapanTV so I can use that on my PC and my phone, so once I’m through the majority of training I’ll be able to listen to that while I work, and I have podcasts and lessons from JapanesePod101 I can listen to on my commute.

For reading, I’m for at a couple of simple manga that have furigana to reduce my frustration with drawing unknown kanji into my phone dictionary and I’m going to keep up with Satori Reader. I also need to get over the desire to understand every bit of a manga and learn that right now, skimming parts that I don’t 100% understand is okay right now.

RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: JalupNEXT, WaniKani, 80-20 Japanese, Japanesepod101, ebookJapan, Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, Animelon, Drama CDs, Youtube, Crunchyroll, Netflix, Memrise, Anime DVDs, Manga, Podcasts

FAVE: JalupNEXT, WaniKani
LEAST FAVE: Eh. I toss most things I don’t like pretty quickly. Youtube maybe, as I don’t have a lot of Japanese channels that I use there.

TRY NEW RESOURCE: I might try and work in the Udemy courses this month, but I’m not sure.

JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Grammar

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Keep up with JalupNEXT and reviewing 80-20 Japanese. Read more.

HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Don’t feel like you have to stick with something that you hate just because it’s a highly recommended resource. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t force your way through it just because other people sing its praises. There are tons of resources out there so don’t hesitate to try something different. Everyone learns differently and there’s nothing wrong with having fun while you learn.