At the very least, I am in the routine of doing my reviews twice a day. Not enough to level up as fast as possible, but at least keeps me going at a steady pace. The best method is the one you stick with after all?
For the N3, I took my first practice test and got a 109/180… not great reassurance considering a 95/180 is the passing benchmark, but a pass is a pass? Reading speed is definitely my weakest point, and I did not realize how minimal grammar was on the test until now as well so less worried about that portion. Kanji is a breeze and most of the time I can work out all the wrong words to find the right one, so I think with some concentrated effort into reading and listening I can sneak by with a pass on the real thing when it comes around!
Wrapping up my work here in Japan and am definitely sad to be leaving a Japanese speaking environment, but the memories, experiences, people I met, and conversations I got to have here thanks to studying Japanese remind me just how important it is to enjoy the little things within the big goals.
Wow, it has been a while. Let’s just say… I did not follow exactly what I set out for myself, but the big hit items got achieved! I had an amazing time in Japan, met up with my language partner friends I had met through my studies from Tandem, explored the entirety of the country from Okinawa to Hokkaido, and made memories to last a lifetime. Hanging with my Japanese friends made the studying journey all worth it-- I am really going to miss that. After I got back from Japan I buckled down and focused studying for the N3, which I believe I passed… but I burnt out on Japanese in the process.
Fast forward over a month, I have moved across my country, started my career, and what better time than now to return to the thing that has now been with me the longest other than myself: Wanikani! I began in 2020, but there has always been one dream in mind for me aside from overall Japanese fluency-- to finish this app. Going forward, my Japanese studying can’t be my main priority, so I am going to stick to my original Japanese hobby roots and casually continue Wanikani. There will not be a set timeline, but I will continue making progress no matter how small or slow!
Until next time, with that next level up email to work toward!
Honestly, I have more free time than I thought I would have, so I’ve been able to hit my reviews consistently twice a day. I could do some at lunch at work but that would take away from socializing, so not worth it for me right now. This next level has a ton of words I’m familiar with so excited for it too!
Outside of Wanikani, I have texted my Japanese friends some, as well as watched in Japanese with Japanese subtitles:
One episode of Pokemon Horizons
Look Back
18 x 2 Beyond Youthful Days (switches to Chinese a lot though)
Highly recommend those for easy Japanese with subtitles to follow along, was probably at around >90% understanding at my level and did not feel like it took away at all-- open to recommendations for movies or shows!
I feel that desire to set goals lighting within me… “oh I could level up in XX days…” but I am going to resist the urge. We saw how that went in 2024, and I do not want to burn out again.
Likely one of the final tests I will take representing the cumulative effort of my study time and travels in Japan, as well as overall main goal of 2024! Will it ever have any more meaning than that? Probably not! But to me, I can say I actually did what I set out to do and have a claim to my “Japanese ability.”
Back to your regularly unscheduled level up update posts! (and until N2? in 2026? All I know is not this year!)
One month into my career down, Wanikani going strong, exercise routine reestablished, and life is good relaxing with what I enjoy. Unfortunately my desire to progress has been fighting with my desire to relax, so here we are again a faster than expected level up!
Since last time, I have in Japanese:
Watched a couple more episodes of Pokemon Horizons (JP subtitles) - through 31/45 that is on Netflix currently
Read and finished Yotsuba volume 7! And I heard volume 16 is coming out soon-- so no better time to get caught up!
In not Japanese, I played through Genshin Impact’s story up through the end of Natlan, and started reading Catch-22 with some of my friends.
I actually felt like I knew a lot of the level 35 kanji already… so not expecting this pace on level 36 where at first glance I know maybe one. No matter the pace, onward is where I go!
The last level took 10 days exactly… do not set goals… do not speed up anymore than this… but learning kanji is too much fun!
And as for fun, my other (Japanese) relaxation recap!
Pokemon Horizons (JP subtitles) - through 33/45 that is on Netflix currently
Read five chapters of Yotsuba volume 8, two more to go in this volume!
Watched one episode of Re:Zero season 3 (JP subtitles) - definitely above my level but I’ve read the books so can follow
Had one Preply lesson for conversation maintenance-- might continue once a week or so just because I enjoy speaking too, but coordinating a time with my friends in Japan can be tough
And as for my non-Japanese fun:
Started and beat a game called Last Command-- a neat game with Undertale-like gameplay except your character is like the game Snake! Highly recommend for a shorter, 10ish hour game if you’re looking for a challenge (other than Japanese!)
Continued reading Catch-22, my friend book club aims to hit around 50 pages a week so we are through around 1/4 of the book
Until level 38, as my I hope to survive the winter weather! (seriously, I have not seen the sun in weeks)