新 Monthly Progress Challenge

WaniKani Tips & Tricks
#33

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!

#34

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.

#35

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.

#36

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
#37

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!

#38

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!

#39

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.

#40

#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: )

#41

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.

#42

#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.

#43

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
#44

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:

#45

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.

Keeping an organized schedule
#46

PROGRESS POST #3:

(12/06/17)

I’m a few days late, but here goes.

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 10.

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 12

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
Progress Report #2

THIS MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

  • Continue with Genki 1, try to get 2 chapters this month. Prefferably put much more time into grammar this month.

  • Keep checking my WK leeches, and I have also added “WK quiz” script now so I will use it to test myself on lower level kanji from time to time.

  • Use Hinative, keep posting my own sentences that I try put together after learning new grammar points, and also put a voice recording along side it for feedback on my pronounciation.

  • Continue with my N5 Udemy course. Review a lot more as well, since I feel I have rushed it quite a bit. So I should go back and review the earlier lessons.

  • Keep organizing WK leeches, grammar points, and grammar lessons on my OneNote since it has worked really, really well for early access to work-practices and genki1 workbook.

  • Use Hellotalk everyday, since It’s a new app I have started using and It’s absolutely fantastic. Trying to read as much as I can from there, even though It’s very, very difficult. It’s great to see that I can read a lot of words with the kanji that I know, even though I might not now the word yet. Also speak to Japanese people as good as I can, and send them
    pronounciations of my sentences that I make.

Also planning to talk a lot more, once I get a little bit more advanced in grammar.

RESOURCES

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

FAVE: Wanikani, Genki, Hellotalk
LEAST FAVE:
TRY NEW RESOURCE:
Tried Hellotalk this month, and will probably not try anything else until I feel like I might need it. Having some more in-depth reading resource would be the best for me right now, but I have a hard time finding anything that works well with my low skill.

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. Using Hellotalk/Hinative as much as I can so I will improve my usage of grammar points, and vocabulary and also have a feedback for my pronounciation.

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.

#47

PROGRESS POST #3:
13.7.2018 (a bit late)

:bird: WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 24

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 26

:bird: GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: Progress post 2

1. Reach level 24 :white_check_mark:
2. Genki 2 review chapters at least up to ch. 18. Preferably the whole book! :white_check_mark: Did better than last month, when I only managed to review 1 single chapter during the whole month. This time I managed to reach my minimum goal of reviewing up to lvl 18 - Yay!
3. KaniWani into a daily habit (no review count requirement) : - retry from last month’s goals :no_entry_sign: Still a No. I seem to only turn to KaniWani, when there’s absolutely nothing else to do. Hmmm…
4. Reading practice into a daily or bi-daily habit (something to do when commuting to work) :no_entry_sign: I tend to do reviews on my commutes. And while I thought manga would do for lack of better resources, the vocab from my last few levels + positive comments from Japanese acquaintances saying my Japanese is already 上級 / advanced level AND bf’s comments that I should be reading Yahoo news have all encouraged me to start looking at “real world reading material.” //excited

What happened:**
This past month has been hogged by my favourite “Japanese resource” aka recent bf. This means hours and hours of speaking and listening practice. The amount I’ve spent on WK dropped a lot, and I barely made it to lvl 24. I don’t really mind though. As long as I go 2 levels per month, I’ll be able to reach my current goal of 1000 kanji by the time I go to Japan next fall.

I really did TRY to review Genki - carrying the book around, when I thought I might have the chance to study - but those times usually never came. Ahh… Still… improvement compared to the previous month!

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

  1. Genki 2 review chapters 19-23
    –> If possible, move on to 外大の日本語４ material.
  2. KaniWani into a weekly habit (no review count requirement) - keep track of review days
  3. Reading: NHK news, Yahoo News, articles…
  4. set up Anki droid.
  5. Start using more Japanese media: 価格、英辞郎, before mentioned Yahoo etc. … adding when you get taught about each one.

The main priority is to READ. Second most important goal is to get Genki out of the way as soon as humanely possible, so I can finally move on to more level appropriate material. Anki is important, so I can have some place to store all my “I should memorize this” -words I encounter.

:bird: RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
Kanji/vocab: WaniKani, KaniWani, memrise
Textbook: Genki 2
Speaking/Listening: Weekly language cafe, Japanese bf (regular), friends in Japan (irregular)
Reading: Comico
Dictionaries: Jisho.org, Rikai-sama, アルク（和英）
Writing: Lang-8

New resource of the month: Memrise (vocab)*
Memrise is geared to travelers and people who need practical vocab and phrases ASAP, it seems. Hence everything tends to be in romaji and a lot of the lessons are reeeally basic. However there still are some random words I’ve somehow missed so far, so on my idle moments or before going to bed, I sometimes browse the lessons. THANK GOD I found the “ignore lesson” -option after a few days, tho!!

FAVE: Language cafe, Japanese bf
LEAST FAVE: KaniWani (motivation zero :unamused: )

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Podcasts? Radio?

:bird: JAPANESE ABILITY

上級、上級、上級！！！Aaah, I’m so happy I got told that!
Kanji knowledge still somewhere around N3.

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: limited grammar, limited vocab

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Read article after article to get some passive knowledge on the fancier words and patterns. Grammar will have to wait until I get my textbook reviews out of the way.

:bird: HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
Make mistakes often (and correct them /get them corrected)
頑張って

#48

#PROGRESS POST #: 1

#WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 8 (lvl 9 by the time this gets posted)

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 13 (which means 7d12h per level)

#GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT (I did one on my own but didn’t post it in here):

=> Failed to watch Japanese from Zero Youtube videos every day. My daily video watching was going to be in 3-3-3-3-2 cycles. I didn’t even finish 1 cycle.
=> Failed to do 3-3-3-2-2 video cycles on Japanese Ammo with Misa. Watched about 40 videos. Also, I don’t know why but I lost notes from 15 videos of her from my pc. I’ll have to rewatch those now.
=> Didn’t used Tae Kim’s Grammar Guide as much as I wanted.
=> Reached lvl 9 on WK, like I wanted. One day later, but it’s ok ^^
=> Memrise didn’t go as expected. I feel like it doesn’t really teach you vocab by heart because no matter what you do, you always have the right answer on the screen. Association ≠ reproduction. Going to start using Anki and other tools for vocab instead.
=> Didn’t chat on HelloTalk as much as I wanted to.
=> I lost contact with people that I enjoyed talking to on HelloTalk.
=> Didn’t do any moments on HelloTalk.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

=> I won’t watch Japanese from Zero this month. I’ll focus on completing every video from Japanese Ammo with Misa instead.
=> I intend to reach lvl 13 on WK (419 Kanji + 95% N5 JLPT ✓)
=> Use KW every day, 1 or 2 times per day. No clear objective, just focusing on creating the habit of using it.
=> Complementing my grammar knowledge with what’s left from Tae Kim’s Grammar Guide.
=> Make sure to add interesting vocab to Houhou. I’ll be doing reviews there 1 or 2 times per day at best. Focus on making it a habit.
=> Learn how decks work on Anki a little better. Keep studying the Genki I and Genki II. I’ll try to do 100 reviews per day.
=> Currently having 2 close friendships on HelloTalk. I want to maintain both of them and go back to answer some people that were “left behind”.
=> Post at least 5 moments on HelloTalk in JP/ENG/PT. That makes 1 every 6 days.
=> Don’t do more than what’s written in here for the sake of moving faster. I might burn out if I increase all this learning even more.
=> Start writing Japanese descriptions in my IG posts along with PT/ENG. The Japanese audience craves health advice.
=> Continue learning about Japanese culture: watch videos, read about it, talk about it. Appreciate everything. This is your own special journey. Enjoy it.

#RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:

WaniKani for Kanji
KaniWani to complement with WaniKani.
Houhou for vocab that I find from my language exchange partners.
Anki for Genki I and II.
Japanese Ammo with Misa for grammar.
Tae Kim’s Grammar Guide for grammar.
HelloTalk for exchanging messages with my language partners.
Youtube channels like Abroad in Japan, Asian Boss, Internationally ME, Rachel and Jun, Sharla in Japan, That Japanese Man Yuta and SherryBerry in Ehime for learning about Japan.

  • FAVE: WK (Kanji was a serious problem for a while - WK is fixing me that very easily :slightly_smiling_face:)
  • LEAST FAVE: Anki (why: I don’t know very well how to work with it)

TRY NEW RESOURCE(S):

Since Memrise wasn’t going very well, I’m testing Anki and Houhou this month. On Anki, I’ll be mainly focusing on doing the deck for Genki I and II, putting me in the N4 JLPT level. On Houhou, I’ll be just adding vocab that I find useful for conversations with Japanese natives.

#JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Vocab.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Tools were already mentioned above.
#HELPING OTHERS
Life is 80% action, 20% planning.

PAR RULE: Plan, Act, Review (Repeat);

“The antidote to fear is gratitude.” - Tony Robbins.

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts… Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day–if you live long enough–most people get what they deserve.” - Charlie Munger

Taking a break from leveling!
#49

PROGRESS POST #: 1
WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 11

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 14

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
first post, so n/a

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:
Finish reading Tae Kim’s grammar guide
Finish reading はなひらっ
Finish the first 1k set of the anki 10k core deck

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
WK
Tae Kim
Visual novels
Manga
Houhou
HelloTalk etc

FAVE:
Visual novels

LEAST FAVE:
i guess HouHou. I only use it cause its a lot faster to mine than on anki, but I wish it had a phone app.

TRY NEW RESOURCE:
Probably not.

JAPANESE ABILITY: Poor

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS:
I guess output, but I care about reading far more than speaking.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:
Continue using HelloTalk.

HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
Please, please, PLEASE read native material. Doesn’t matter if its graded readers, nhk easy, manga, etc, just please read. You will have to look a bunch of stuff up, whether it be grammar or vocab, but it will help you the most with learning seeing actual Japanese and its usage. Most importantly while reading though, is pay attention to the language. Be aware of why certain grammar points are being used etc, don’t just look up the word(s) and go “i got it”. Make sure you really do understand the sentence you are reading not just the words in it.

#50

PROGRESS POST 1:

WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 8

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 10

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: n/a

THIS MONTH’S GOAL: finish genki 1 (currently half way with chapter 8)

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Genki 1 + sweet anki deck to go along with it, Wanikani, Jpod 101

FAVE: Wanikani
LEAST FAVE: Jpod 101 (ton of cool content, but really, really, reaeaaallly cringy to listen to, it hurts, I just can’t, only tried beginner series tho)

TRY NEW RESOURCE: HelloTalk or complement Genki with some Tae Kim, one of the two, probably the latter.

JAPANESE ABILITY: somewhere in the early beginner spectrum

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: reading speed/comprehension

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE:
R E A D M O R E
E
A
D
M
O
R
E

HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE :paintbrush:

I work as a house painter. Often, when we are putting on a color that contrasts with the color underneath, we have to put on two coats: one quick rough coat that has to cover everything, even if it’s on thin and stuff is showing through, just keep moving, and then one nice smooth, second coat that covers all of the dark/light spots that are showing through from the first coat. This is much faster than going carefully for one coat, and looks better than an attempt only for speed.

You probably can already connect the dots here, but I find it similar to learning Japanese, or anything really. Lets apply this to genki: if I go through once, super carefully, and make sure I understand every single little footnote perfectly the first time, it’s going to take at least a million years to do that, don’t do that. But at the same time, if I go at mach 10, even going through more than twice, things won’t stick. The ideal approach is to go through at a nice, steady, consistent pace, and just cover everything the first time through, even if it’s shaky, the idea is just to cover it and keep moving. And on the second time through, you got a nice base to work with, just lightly go over everything, but make sure to put a thick glob of that thinking paint on the weak points. And whaam bam, thank ya ma’am, you got a good lookin’ gutter done fairly quickly, now you gotta do the rest of the house…

6 Likes
#51

#PROGRESS POST #: 7

#WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 60; 69 in BeyondWK

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 80; skip N1 Kanji

At least WaniKani method is better than RTK?

#GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
#6 July 2017

  • N4 Grammar :x: (Still listening to Udemy N4)
  • Finish Tae Kim Advanced Topic sentences :x: (Example sentences are harder than I think 笑)
  • Finish Erin’s Challenge Chap 5 (Didn’t do. Udemy is more worthy.)
  • Keep WaniKani parameters
    • Apprentice < 100 (currently 28) :white_check_mark:
    • Guru < 1000 (currently 625) :white_check_mark:
    • Guru < Enlightened :white_check_mark:
    • Zero Lessons :white_check_mark:
    • Reviews < 500 :white_check_mark:

THIS MONTH’S GOAL

  • Finish N4 Grammar
  • Finish Joyo Kanji plus some extras

#RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:

  • FAVE:
  • WaniKani
  • AnkiDroid
    • Core 10k breakdown
    • BeyondWK
    • Practice Handwriting deck
      • Solidify first with Iverson’s method.
  • Japanese Graded Readers
  • MIXED FEELING:
    • Udemy N4
  • LEAST FAVE:

TRY NEW RESOURCE:

  • Udemy N4

#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

#HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:

  • Keep Apprentice Pile low (in WaniKani)
  • Listening and speaking first, before reading. Typing is OK, because you have to somewhat be able to pronounce it.
  • The secret of getting to Level 60 is Immersion, mostly listening and somewhat, reading.
  • Active is better than passive.
  • Learn a language properly. Grammar-wise is the answer. (B2-C1 you are aiming for?)
  • The high school second language learner has much in common with the “good” language learners described by Rubin (1975), i.e. they
    1. are willing guessers
    2. are accurate guessers
    3. have a strong drive to communicate
    4. look for patterns in the language
    5. try to classify language
    6. analyze language
    7. take advantage of all practice opportunities
    8. monitor their own speech
    9. pay attention to meaning

頑張って〜

#52

PROGRESS POST #: 1
WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 11

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 14

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: I have been going daily since I started.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL: To not get discouraged, to spend more time with iknow.jp, and to go back to Japanese for Busy People

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: iknow.jp, Rosetta stone, Japanese for busy people, japanesepod101

FAVE: wanikani / iknow
LEAST FAVE: wanikani (LOL)
TRY NEW RESOURCE: bought some manga

JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Just everything! But I do my wanikani every day.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Some listening comprehension. Trying to find a japanese buddy or tutor. Hard with no one to talk to!

HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Maybe form a restaurant group?