新 Monthly Progress Challenge

WaniKani Tips & Tricks
#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?

#53

PROGRESS POST 7:

—Final Post—

Japanese Study Time: About seven months

WANIKANI
-CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 30

GOALS
-LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

Reach level 30 [X]
Daily goals [X]
Reading [X] Did a lot of reading.

-Overall: It looks like I’ll just be doing reading, SRS, and occasional grammar study for the foreseeable future. It’s all pretty much enjoyable routine. There isn’t really a reason to keep up with this thread at this point.

RESOURCES
Current Japanese Resources: Visual novels, Japanese video games, Rikaisama + ITHVNR setup (https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/wiki/vnhooking), WK, KW, Anki, Jisho, misc Japanese media

Noteworthy Past Resources: Tae Kim (a little when I was just starting), Textfugu (before Genki, up to ~section 5), Monthly Progress threads, Genki I, Genki II, JP class thread/discord, Dictionary of JP grammar, Genki Sprint Thread (https://community.wanikani.com/t/Genki-sprint-Whos-with-me/12434), bugster10’s level 60 thread (https://community.wanikani.com/t/After-almost-4-years-of-WaniKani-everyday-I-hit-level-60-and-impressions/16149),

JAPANESE ABILITY
-Reading: Reads slowly. Comprehension generally isn’t a problem.
-Grammar: ~N3 level
-Kanji: Knows around 1000-1100
-Vocab: Knows around 4500-5000
-Listening: Can’t understand much
-Writing (typing): Makes mistakes all the time. Slow and unnatural.
-Speaking: Very bad

#54

PROGRESS POST #4

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 15 [+]

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 19

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:
Finished Genki 1, even though I’m starting to burn out slowly. I need to make it not a passion but a habit. It’s hard, sometimes I have a headache or something else, but I need a schedule of some sort, or I’ll stop doing this. Keep going, set goals, smaller ones and everything will be okay again. [±]

THIS MONTH GOAL:
Do vocab lessons, don’t be in a rush, don’t overwhelm yourself, go slower.

RESOURCES
Genki 2, WK aand that’s it. Ah, I started (finally) to use Anki and I love it. I use it for custom decks, containing words from Genki, Ace Attorney and other games.

JAPANESE ABILITY
CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Everything?.. The more I know, the more I understand that I know nothing.
HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Keep going. Eventually I’ll know exactly what I need to improve, but now there’s no need for the rush.

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
Oh please, don’t overwhelm yourselves. Keep the pace steady and don’t study until you’re dying from that. You may hate after a while.

1 Like
#55

Progress Post #1

WANIKANI

Current Level: 9

In One Month I Hope to be Level: 12

GOALS

Last month’s goal report: n/a

This month’s goal: Write 6 pages in 日記

RESOURCES

  • Genki 1
  • WaniKani
  • Tae Kim’s Reference Grammar
  • Anki Decks
  • Looking to try Japanese Graded Readers maybe? Others seem to have had luck with them.

JAPANESE ABILITY
Current Japanese Weakness: Everything… but writing slightly less. I have a lot to work on.
How I will Improve: Keep working at it. I’ve been too busy to talk to anyone as of late so my writing is the only thing getting any practice. Find a good practice partner to work on conversation.

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
Don’t try to learn too much in one day. You won’t remember it tomorrow.

#56

PROGRESS POST #5: August 2017

:crabigator: WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 32

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 34

:crabigator: GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT:

○ Level: Check
○ Anki vocab: I learned as much as I had planned.
○ New listening resource: I found something, but I’m not very happy with it.
× Reading: I forgot that a lot
○ Finish handwriting deck: Check
× Speaking: definitely too inconsistent
× Grammar: Did nothing last month, but I’m excited to continue.

THIS MONTH’S GOAL(s):

  • 20 new vocabulary cards a day (that’s 4 words, I’m using the 10k deck that’s here in the forum somewhere)
  • Read an article of NHK easy every weekday
  • Finish Genki I and buy Genki II
  • Talk to a native speaker at least 3 times a week
  • Write in my Japanese diary every day (If there is something to write about)

:crabigator: RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Anki ;Genki; NHK Easy; Tandem partners; WaniKani

  • FAVE: Anki
  • LEAST FAVE: Genki

TRY NEW RESOURCE: Need something better for listening

:crabigator: JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Mostly listening and speaking

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Improve my vocabulary and practice a lot

: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.

#57

PROGRESS POST #6: September 2017

:crabigator: WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 34

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 35

:crabigator: GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: For detailed descriptions see previous post.

○ Level: Check
○ Vocabulary: Yes
○ Reading: I think so
○ Grammar: Indeed
○ Speaking: Sounds about right
× Writing: Not good

THIS MONTH’S GOAL(s):

This month I’m starting to prioritise my learning. The priorities for the next 2 months will be Speaking, Vocabulary and Grammar.

Prioritised goals:

  • Talk to native speakers in real time, for example on skype. I don’t know how much time I will have, so for now I’ll say three times a week.
  • Raise my daily vocabulary learning from 20 new cards to 30 new cards (=6 words)
  • Finish chapter 19 of GenkiⅡ. (Thats a little over half way)

Non-prioritised goals:

  • continue to practice handwriting every day
  • Practice reading or listening when I have nothing to do

:crabigator: RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES: Anki ;Genki; Netflix shows; NHK Easy; Tandem partners; WaniKani

  • FAVE: Anki
  • LEAST FAVE: Genki

TRY NEW RESOURCE: No need

:crabigator: JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Mostly listening and speaking

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: Improve my vocabulary and practice a lot

: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.

#58

Progress Post #2

WANIKANI

Current Level: 11

In One Month I Hope to be Level: 13

GOALS

Last month’s goal report: 1 level shy of my WK goal. I didn’t anticipate how much my holiday would slow me down! I also only wrote 2/6 pages in my Japanese journal. I’ll have to work harder this month, but I’m back at school now.

This month’s goal: Catch up on 日記 pages (4)

RESOURCES

  • Genki 1
  • WaniKani
  • Anki
  • Movies on online streaming service (hulu, netflix, kanopy)

JAPANESE ABILITY
Current Japanese Weakness: Everything (still). My kanij recognition is lower than I’d like, especially for kanji in atypical/handwriting fonts. Also speaking in particular.
How I will improve: I added the Jitai (?) code to my browser, which will mix up the fonts on my reviews. I’m also doing more handwriting practice. As for speaking, now that I’m back in class, I have more people to speak to (including my friends from Japanese class). Right now, I’m more focused on sentence formation than pitch/accent, so I’m not particular about whether my conversation partners are native speakers.

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
You’re asking me?

#59

Oops, a little bit late

PROGRESS POST #5

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 19 [+]

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL… 22

GOALS

LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: Well, I did go slower and I’m more than enjoying wanikani again. I didn’t remember that I set that as a goal, but it turns out I did what I intended:D [+]

THIS MONTH GOAL: Do lessons as you go, maybe continue Genki 2 finally, but now I’m kind of relaxing than learning. I need my strength back

RESOURCES
Wk mostly, I gave up Anki because I had too many resources. I write 1st and 2nd grade kanji in one japanese game on android, but I don’t remember the name of it. I ‘need’ to do grammar but not now

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE:
This is an experience for your whole life, so don’t rush. Like me. Please:D

1 Like
#60

PROGRESS POST: #1 (Sept 6 2017)

WANIKANI

CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 5 (unlocked but not started - 134 lessons pending - mostly level 4 vocab)

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IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL 6 (and working on leveling up the level 6 kanji)

GOALS

THIS MONTH’S GOAL:

work through all the level 4 vocab,
complete all of level 5,
complete level 6 radicals

RESOURCES

CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES:
watching Your Name again and again without subtitles,
watching Parasyte with japanese subtitles on animelon
Tae Kim’s [free] guide to learning japanese grammar guide (I’m using the iOS app)

FAVE: Leeches screensaver (I wrote it :stuck_out_tongue: )
LEAST FAVE: –

TRY NEW RESOURCE: –

JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: written

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: making time in my day

HELPING OTHERS

TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: … there’s no easy path ??

#61

:crabigator: PROGRESS POST #1

WANIKANI
CURRENT WANIKANI LEVEL: 8

IN ONE MONTH I HOPE TO BE LEVEL: 13

GOALS
LAST MONTH’S GOAL REPORT: N/A

THIS MONTH’S GOAL(S):

  • work through the latter half of Genki I
  • start journaling in Japanese
  • actually use Satori Reader

RESOURCES
CURRENT JAPANESE RESOURCES (other than WaniKani):

  • Satori Reader
  • imported games (mainly otoge, but I have a couple of others fully in Japanese as well)
  • Genki I
  • Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication

FAVE: Wanikani, if that counts (if not, probably games, lol)
LEAST FAVE: Genki I
TRY NEW RESOURCE: I have some volumes of older manga (Inuyasha, Fushigi Yuugi, etc) from a secondhand store that I’d like to try reading through. Also, if I can overcome my anxiety about it, HelloTalk.

JAPANESE ABILITY

CURRENT JAPANESE WEAKNESS: Producing “original” Japanese speech and text. My comprehension is good; production…not so much.

HOW I WILL IMPROVE ABOVE: By actually working on my weaknesses. For now, that’ll be through journaling, but like I said above, hopefully I can get up the gumption to try HelloTalk as well.

HELPING OTHERS
TIP/ADVICE FOR LEARNING JAPANESE: Keep at it, and don’t only focus on improving things you already comprehend without trouble. Try to pinpoint your weaknesses and spend more time on those.