Goal Adjustment
I made a mistake on my goal of kanji to learn before reading 「霧のむこうのふしぎな町」. I need to reach level 17, not 16, by mid-December to recognize 90% of the overall kanji used in the book. So, what does this mean for my pace?
Again!? You see the way Ethel’s shoulders jump? You see how Lucy’s eyes go wide? Yeah, that’s me right now!
Vacation
In order to ensure I hit my goal of reaching level 16 17 by mid-December, here are my plans for this upcoming week:
- Camp out in the middle of nowhere. (3 days)
- Play video games with nephews. (3 days)
This…may be more difficult than I originally anticipated. (Impromptu out-of-town trip to visit family incoming.)
Thankfully I’ll have the Flaming Durtles app for offline reviews while camping.
I’ll probably do the entirely of my ABBC and BBC reading on the 10-hour bus trip back home at the end of the week. And I don’t even have to worry about accidentally reading ahead, because by then we’ll be at the start of the next week’s reading.
WaniKani Schedule
As for my WaniKani goal to be able to recognize 90% of the total kanji in 「霧のむこうのふしぎな町」 before we starting reading it in the BBC, my level schedule is:
| Level | Begin | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Level 13 | 10/02/19 | 10/20/19 |
| Level 14 | 10/21/19 | 11/08/19 |
| Level 15 | 11/09/19 | 11/27/19 |
| Level 16 | 11/28/19 | 12/16/19 |
My required pace of 24 days per level has dropped to 18 days per level! This new schedule extends past the reading start date of December 14th, but by then I should have completed all Level 16 lessons.
I’m prioritizing lessons by radicals and then kanji, but I’m not slacking on vocabulary lessons anymore. I’m aiming to keep my apprentice around 100 (hopefully by completing lessons, and not by failing reviews!) The count of new radical introduced per level has dropped, but the kanji are getting to be complex enough that I’m actually reading and using the mnemonic stories (which I normally don’t do).
We’ll see how it goes. Worst-case scenario, I can’t keep up with this schedule, and I slow down to what works for me. I don’t meet my goal, but that just means I’ll know maybe 86% or 87% of the book’s overall kanji, rather than 90%. That’s not a big deal. What’s important is that I maintain a pace that is conducive to learning the material.
Book-Reading Prep
Looking at the level 13 kanji in 「霧のむこうのふしぎな町」 (19 unique kanji comprising 114 of the book’s total kanji count), I recognize the 11 I’ve encountered lessons for. I look forward to learning vocabulary for these well in advance of reading the book.
Although one should study on a schedule, not on motivation, having a little motivation on top of a set schedule certainly doesn’t hurt any. For extra motivation, I’m looking at the count of unique kanji from the book that I’ll encounter per level, and the total usage of those kanji in the book:
| Level | Individual | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Level 13 | 19 | 114 |
| Level 14 | 12 | 30 |
| Level 15 | 15 | 101 |
| Level 16 | 16 | 92 |
Although only 19 of the 37 kanji in level 13 are used in the book, I know that once I finish the level, I’ll be able to read 114 of the overall kanji in the book. (Unintended side-effect: Level 14 may feel a little demotivating compared to levels 13, 15, and 16.)
Okay, no new reviews for an hour and a half, and I don’t have to head to the bus station for at least 10 more hours. Guess it’s time to start packing for this trip!
