Congrats on leveling up! I just caught up on your log which is really inspiring
Ooh, I’m curious about this book, what do you think of it?
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Thank you so much!!!
And thank you hahaI realized that writing a log will be more of a study reward for me if I can make it pretty 
I just took a look at your study log bc I am curious and I like the way you’ve laid out your goals! I like having this set list of objectives each day because when I’m done I get to relax 
. It’s really inspiring to see your ‘how far I made it in one year’. let’s KEEP FIGHTING!
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thank you!! this is the fastest pace I’ve had in years, I gotta keep it up >:0
Disclaimer, my reading speed is painfully slow, I’m only 13 pages in–so here is but a 13 page review–
I’m quite enjoying it! It was recommended to me by two Japanese friends who read it in junior high, and they both gave glowing reviews. It seems to be written with that age in mind, which is actually the perfect level for me, as the language is not too complex but the concepts and storytelling have been resonant enough to feel engaged. After I take the N3, I want to dedicate more time in 2025 to consuming native media. I will definitely be continuing through 西の魔女が死んだ, it feels like a great first book for me.
4 Likes
I read it early on in my Japanese reading journey and really enjoyed it! To repaste my Natively review:
This was a poignant and well-written book. It packed a punch for something so short. I understood the Japanese well for the most part, but the I found the two or three more philosophical conversations in it a bit difficult. I definitely recommend the book though! It’s good for N3-N2 learners.
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Thanks so much for the comments on the book both of you! It’s firmly on my list of early novels then I’m currently reading books for 3rd/4th Graders and just about to move up a couple grades
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yes thank you for the review! I’m encouraged to keep going (:
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8月31日2024年・後13週間
先週の実績
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | |||||
| AK | |||||
| WK | |||||
| 他 |
来週の目標
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | R | 5 | 6 | R | 7 |
| AK | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| WK | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 他 | 10 | V |
Happy to say I was back on track this week. My daily study goals are juuust starting to become habit at this point, so the initiation energy is getting easier. If I’m being honest, this is the first time I’ve had a regular routine in a little over a year, and while my brain still craves variety, regularity seems to render decision-making a bit easier.
I’m rapidly nearing the end of my Kanzen grammar book! Maybe I’ll write a little review here when I’m done, but as with the Kanzen N4 series, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m both apprehensive and looking forward to starting the Reading and Vocab books. (1) Because they are new and I want the excitement of something NEW. (2) Because they are different so it is a little scary to adjust. (3) Because I broke the books up as minutely as possible in my study schedule, but I’m still not sure how if it’s a manageable pace. At the very least, hopefully my reading speed will improve as I go through these, and it will become as swift as the grammar.
I’d really like to buy some floor cushions and tatami for my apartment. They’re so comfortable and would be v nostalgic to study upon. Hence the pretty photo I chose for this post. (It will b a while of saving up for now).
13 weeks until the JLPT (I think aha)! Onward!!! 
(side note–have u used Matcha before? It was recently introduced to me, very やさしい日本語, when I get through my N3 plan and move into immersion-heavy studies, I might try to incorporate it).
8 Likes
9月7日2024年・後12週間
先週の実績
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | |||||
| AK | |||||
| WK | |||||
| 他 |
来週の目標
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | 8 | R | 9 | 10 | R | 試験 |
| AK | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| WK | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | |
| 他 | 10 | V |
Hellooo writing to you from my bed, from which I just lethargically completed 100 or so reviews. I am a bit sick. And by that I mean I am suffering with seasonal allergies and battling an oncoming migraine ):. I am sad that this is what my day off has come to, but there’s not much I can do.
THE GOOD NEWS. I have a review coming up in 6 hours which will take me to LEVEL 22! At which point I will update this post with level stats and celebrations. In the meantime, let’s review the past week.
I woke up deep in the forest with no wifi on Monday, nevertheless, I completed my Kanzen grammar section. Unfortunately, the distractions of beautiful sunlight filtering through trees, cool late-summer breeze, and campfire meant I did pretty poorly on my review for that day. Nevertheless, I kept to my plan for the day, except adding new Anki vocab, which was going to be difficult without a desk.
As you may notice, I did not add new anki terms at all this week (though I did complete my reviews every day. I think in the future I will plan for this pattern: a week where I add 20 new cards a day, a week where I add no new cards but keep up with reviews. Unfortunately this means slower progress with my deck, but I think focusing on 50 new terms every two weeks will keep them in my head better than 50 new terms every one week.
Wednesday was very busy. I hosted an art night and started knitting a sweater, so I didn’t get through my Kanzen that day. Luckily, I caught up on Thursday. I think my reading speed is increasing?? This last section of the N3 grammar book involves longer passages, and I’m flying through them faster than I did a couple weeks ago. That’s very exciting!!!
Also exciting is that after this week, I will have completed the entire Kanzen N3 grammar book! I have the final few sections, and on Saturday (or Sunday, undecided) I will be taking the first of 2 mock exams at the end of the book. After that, I jump into the unknown juggling the Vocab and Reading books, all the way up until the big test December 1st.
My curriculum has me doing vocab on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and reading on Tuesday, Thursday. I’m scared for the vocab because memorization is not my strength and there are a lot of new words in each of those sections. My plan is to add those new words to my Anki as I go. I’m scared for the reading because in order to get through the whole book before the JLPT, I had to schedule it into kinda big chunks. Here’s hoping my reading pace continues to pick up, and I can get through the sections without too much time and pain.
I’m also excited to start something new :3.
All right… back in 6 hours for my level-up!!!
I’m back hehehe LEVEL 22 BBY
And in only 12 days! This is because I couldn’t follow this new Wanikani mixed-lesson algorithm from my phone in the woods, so I did the final several all at once, earlier than I would have gotten them otherwise. I am not mad about the consequences, so who knows, maybe I’ll try it again this round if my brain is feeling spongy enough. But I don’t want to overdo things.
It feels so encouraging to level up! You can see that it has been YEARS since I’ve kept such a pace. Here’s to keeping it going!
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Way to keep going! You’re on a roll again. I hope you feel better soon 
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thank u! feeling a bit better already 
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GASP! 
i’m here i’m here i’m alive i’m out
9月16日2024年・後11週間
先週の実績
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | ||||||
| AK | ||||||
| WK | ||||||
| 他 |
来週の目標
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | 1 | R | 2 | R | 3 | 試験２？ |
| AK | x | x | x | x | x | |
| WK | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | |
| 他 | 10 | V |
Ahaaa this was a messy week but as you can see I am caught up now.
busybusybusy. this week i was swamped at work during what is usually already a busy time, so I was exhausted and had very little energy for my studies. On top of this, I stayed up until 12am on Tuesday watching a show with my friends. Which would have been fine if I didn’t need to be up for work at 4:30. Lack of sleep really complicated my study brain as well. Aha. But onward. Here’s the points of this post:
- Grammar book OVER. I finished Kanzen Master N3 Grammar (one grammar mock test to go)!!! I’m acc so proud of myself for sticking to it and getting through the whole book. Horray!
- Grammar test bad ):. I took the first grammar mock exam in the book on Sunday. Anddd I did quite poorly. 50% ;-;. I could read and follow the meaning of pretty much everything, but when it came to choosing specific grammatical forms, I had a lot of trouble. This may or may not have been compounded my having a difficult, busy week. Today I took all the questions I get wrong and threw them in my anki (though not into my reviews yet). I’m going to slowly go through them and figure out what went wrong. Sigh. Depending on how I feel I may move my second grammar mock exam until after I’ve gotten a bit through the reading book.
- Vocabulary book START. I did the first section of Kanzen Master N3 Vocabulary today! The blue is very refreshing. I also got most of the practice questions right, as remembering meaning is perhaps a bit easier for me than the fluid applications of grammar. Idk. It does seem to take a bit more time than one grammar section for me, so I’m bracing myself for a larger time commitment these next 11 weeks.
- Anki adaptations. I’ve turned my daily new cards to 0 for now, as I will be adding vocab from Kanzen to my review queue three times a week.
Finally, if perchance someone stumbles upon this post, I’m going to include some of my GRAMMAR QUESTIONS below in the name of solidarity and grammarly discussion. Here’s some of the questions I struggled with on this mock test:
①
後輩「これ、何ですか。」
先輩「京都の写真だよ。」
後輩「あ、京都へ【行かれた】んですか。桜が綺麗だったでしょう。」
Why is this not 参られた？Or 伺われた？
②
私がこの町のことをよく知っているのは、【前に住んでいたらなんです】。
Why is this not 住んでいたんです？Or 済んでいました？What is going on with the なんです？
③
私はそのとちで昔から作られてきたものを食べるのが一番体にあっていて健康的だと考えています。そういう意味で、米は日本人にとって最も健康的な食品【なのではないでしょうか】。
Why is this not なのではないでしょう or だと言えるのでしょうか？
④
もちろん色々な種類の食事ができることはとても楽しいことですが、私は米の良さがもっと【見直された良いのに】と思います。
Why is the のに at the end? What is it doing there?
–
If any kind soul has an explanation for any of these, I would be so grateful. Otherwise I shall continue to research these as I go ~
ps. according to WK stats today is my 2000th day since starting Wanikani back in college, 2019
3 Likes
For the first grammar question, both 参る and 伺う are 謙譲語 (i.e., keigo used by oneself, in a lower position, only to speak about one’s own actions). 行かれた is in the passive form, which can be used like 尊敬語 to show respect for the person of higher standing and to talk about that person’s actions. You could also use いらっしゃった here, since it’s the unique verb form for to go (行く) in 尊敬語.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
3 Likes
ohhhh my goodness thank you! I get it! I was thinking those two were used for others–def need to brush up on keigo.
It also totally slipped my mind that the passive form could be used like 尊敬語! Thank you, very effective explanation.
3 Likes
I’m not really good at grammar so I don’t know about the first part, but this なんです feels explanatory to me - eg, ‘i lived there in the past so I know this town well’. たら in this case is probably used instead of a flat ‘ったん’ to connect the living there in the past to the explanatory tone at the end.
Again it’s kind of explanatory - in this case it’s something like explaining something in particular about the rice [because it improves health? or they reexamined it? or it would be good to reexamine its benefits? ]
3 Likes
These are tough grammar questions! I get the text but to distinguish the finer points of why x and not y is tough.
A lot of times のに means “even though” which doesn’t fit here which is I guess why you’re asking? One suggestion would be what Satori calls the のに of lament. It’s like saying (complaining a bit) why not x? Where it is xのに. So here it is saying, it’s great to eat a variety of foods, but still (! Complaint) the goodness of rice (although plain) could be appreciated more! I’ve been quite loose with my translation…
2 Likes
Thank you!! This helps a lot. I definitely need to read more to pick up on these patterns, I’ve seen のに act as a (conjunction?) but not really at the end of sentences. Thank you for your help ;-;
Yes Kanzen really forces me to think about minute differences, it’s so hard ;-;. When I’m reading I usually follow along with the meaning, but having to choose from multiple similar-ish answers is tough for me!
Woahhh ok I’ve not heard of this before. Thank you I’m gonna read about it!!
9月21日2024年・後10週間
先週の実績
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | |||||
| AK | |||||
| WK | |||||
| 他 |
来週の目標
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | 4 | R | 5 | R | 1-5 |
| AK | R | R | R | R | R |
| WK | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 他 | 10 | V |
Babes I have such mad allergies ;-;. What Is This i can’t handle it.
IN OTHER NEWS I am again due to level up quite soon! This weekend I believe. At which point I shall update this log.
IN OTHER OTHER NEWS I started the Kanzen N3 vocabulary and reading books. And honestly? I am performing MUCH BETTER than I was in the grammar book. Why, I wonder?
Honestly, grammar might be one of the most difficult hurdles, so I’m glad I started with it. Vocabulary is not so bad actually, because I just have to study what the words mean, then when it comes to the questions I just have to know the word to find the right answer. I’m getting most questions right, and adding new words to my Anki deck as I go.
And re: reading, understanding the meaning of the text has not been as much of an issue for me (as knowing the particular correct grammatical application). So when answering questions about the meaning of a text, I am also doing pretty well. I’m hoping that all this reading will reinforce much of the grammar I studied and am struggling with. My biggest challenge so far has been with inferring context and determining the actor passive/causative passive sentences. Def need to review those.
Honestly the biggest challenge so far is the increased time commitment. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday I have to study a fair amount of new words + answer around 40 questions, far more than my daily grammar quota. On Tuesday, Thursday I go through 6-8 pages of reading, including 20-40 questions. Again, these questions have been going smoothly, it just takes more time 
.
Anyway, I’m so excited to level up again and relieved to be doing kind of well with vocabulary and reading. Onward we go! I need to get out of this cafe bc my allergies are becoming embarrassing
ps: Thank you guys for helping me with the grammar, your explanations were super helpful. I’m going to postpone my second grammar practice exam so I can review my 敬語 and some of these concepts + do a little reading practice. It’s nice to feel the study community <3 (:
7 Likes
9月29日2024年・後9週間
先週の実績
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | |||||
| AK | |||||
| WK | |||||
| 他 |
来週の目標
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | 6 | R | 7 | R | 8 |
| AK | R | R | R | R | R |
| WK | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 他 | 10 | V |
Keeping it brief, I am tired.
Last week I leveled up! Level 23 baybeee hehehe.
Missed a day of WK for the first time, but hopefully I’ve managed the pace by doing 6 kanji lessons today.
Reading and vocab is going ok! Lots more content, but (as opposed to grammar) I’m doing way better with vocab and reading comprehension questions. even tho my study sched is for weekdays only, I still have to do my anki and WK reviews each day of the weekend, otherwise I am absolutely destroyed by them on Mondays.
I had a great time calling one of my old friends in Japan this weekend. She recommended some content which I’m exited to take a look into.
TV
- The Boyfriend
- Love Transit
Youtube (we like makeup and fashion 
)
- HIRO BEAUTY CHANNEL
- 水越みさと
- あさぎーにょ (such a favorite of mine)
- there’s one more but forgot it for now aaaa
anyway okok time to relax in the last few hours of my weekend b4 picking it up and starting AFRESH IN A NEW WEEK
also i’m so excited for october but not exited to pay october rent
7 Likes
Here for the teeniest mid-week check in ^-^
I got my 2025 planner this week (from Hidari, a Japansese company that makes things for left-handed people) and it is YELLOW and very cute. I didn’t use my planner for most of 2024, until I started my studying in earnest. It has since come very much in handy for visualizing my study plans + maintaining a feeling of progress.
I’ve been leveling up once every 2 weeks on WK. So I went through my planners and added a little note to indicate which levels I should be reaching in the future. At this pace, I will reach level 60 in February, 2026 ahaaaaa. If only I had maintained consistency from the beginning!!! But life happens, u live and u learn, there have been many ups and downs and winding roads in the years since I began.
what can u do. Any faster, and I think I might be overwhelmed. Learning 2000 kanji takes a while! Tho I don’t want to succumb to massive breaks in leveling like I did from levels 9-18. Here’s to another 1.5 years climbing the kanji tree. 
Tucking in
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