Corey's Study Log

[corza334]

I thought I’d start a study log. Mostly, so I have something to look back on and see my progress.

Month 1
So this is the first month of studying complete! I tried to learn Japanese around 10 years ago and put in a terrible effort for around a year. This month I feel like I have far surpassed where I was after that year - shows how much effort can affect things!

I am doing the Anki Kaishi 1.5k deck at 10 new words per day. (Just cut it back from 20). WaniKani, Bunpro, Cure Dolly, Mining and Input Only Immersion.

Bunpro so far has been an incredible boon when mixed with Cure Dolly. It’s by far the hardest SRS I do, and the one I am most terrified of every morning. But currently, it feels amazing to complete it and unlock more grammar. Each grammar point I learn feels like a leap in my Japanese knowledge.

The immersion has also been massive. It is something I didn’t do at all when first attempting to learn Japanese. I am currently part of the excellent Absolute Beginner Reading club here on WaniKani, and making sure I don’t fall behind on that.

I am also working through the Romance Killer anime with Language Reactor. I watched the first episode without stopping too much, but I am now (extremely) slowly working my way through the same episode again trying to understand as much as I can.

Currently feeling very pumped and excited to keep going.

Stats

Anki

(Ignore the reviews early on, they weren’t Japanese study)

Kaishi Deck

Mining Deck

TheMoeWay Immersion

BunPro

WaniKani

Comprehension Level

I enjoy reading about peoples comprehension levels during their journey, so it would be cool do be able to go back and see the progress here.

Reading
Currently reading 玉藻の恋. Every page is incredibly difficult. Using the vocab excel sheet, Tomitan and ChatGPT to explain grammar usage. There are sentences that I am beginning to understand (kind of) at around page 50. But there is no nuance at all. I am able to follow the story roughly with very heavy dictionary usage.

Listening
Nihongo con Teppai is still very hard to understand. I am able to sometimes get the general gist of an episode. (Particularly, ep 3 of Kanji). I hear words here and there that I know. Notably, extremely common grammar structures, such as ません, are starting to have an ‘innate vibe’ about them. I understand immediately that he was saying something wasn’t something.

General Feelings
It’s hard, but I feel so good being able to understand even a word here and there. I make sure to purposefully relish in those moments as I feel that goes a long way to my general motivation. Pat yourself on the back when you do something good!

Extra Info

I’ve been thinking about the way in which I learn a lot lately. Learning to program to a professional level was very difficult, and I constantly observe and tell learners that you just have to do it. You have to get in there and start trying to make something, and let go of beginner material. Immersion feels the equivalent of “Just doing it” in terms of language learning. It is hard, so hard, but I feel the improvement, when supplemented with SRS for vocab and grammar, is exponentially larger than just doing SRS by itself and waiting to immerse. This might just be how I learn, I have no idea, but don’t forget this Corey!

[talkingalone]

Hey there! As I see you are a beginner, I really recommend you try the Michel Thomas Japanese Courses. You will learn the basics of grammar pretty quickly. If you add Wanikani to that and start learning some vocab, you’ll be able to make relatively complex sentences soon.

[corza334]

Heya, thanks for the suggestion. I actually used Michel Thomas a long time ago when I was learning German. Great course. I’ll try and stick to what I have going at the moment though, just for the sake of not changing learning methods. (Which I have a horrible tendency to do lol)

[talkingalone]

Fellow german learner here. I really think that the MT course will speed up your learning at the beginning, more than bunpro or any other similar learning sites. As you know, it’s all about repetition through speaking, so everything gets burned into your brain. But I also understand you not wanting to switch methods constantly!

[Shannon-8]

@corza334

I’ve been thinking about the way in which I learn a lot lately. Learning to program to a professional level was very difficult, and I constantly observe and tell learners that you just have to do it. You have to get in there and start trying to make something, and let go of beginner material. Immersion feels the equivalent of “Just doing it” in terms of language learning. It is hard, so hard, but I feel the improvement, when supplemented with SRS for vocab and grammar, is exponentially larger than just doing SRS by itself and waiting to immerse. This might just be how I learn, I have no idea, but don’t forget this Corey!

OMG truer words never spoken! It makes sense, too, since “programming” is “a language”. But the analogies to learning a musical instrument or doing martial arts actually have more applicability that I would have thought! I usually don’t speak out loud when I study… but “produce” silently in my mind. My vocal apparatus tells me that there is a difference!

I mostly did visual input with audio snippets the first 3 years, and learned a lot. But listening in context was weak, and most immersion that I tried was not in the N+1 optimal absorption “sweet spot”.

I kept building my foundation of vocabulary, and two years ago, really started purposefully going through textbooks with others and doing the production exercises.

It’s still difficult listening to any native material that I want…

And somehow during this time, my friend in Japan (teaching kids and interactive with teachers and townspeople every day) got very day-to-day conversational, but can’t read well at all. We are Cure Dolly’s two “pincers” (top-down and bottom-up Japanese learning)… This year, we are focusing on catching up to each other. I think we’ll both pass N3 this year and maybe N2 next year. Test results are just data points, but at least it’s a metric.

はじめまして
Coreyさん
Good luck with your studies!
日本語の勉強頑張ってください

I second TalkingAlone’s recommendation of Michel Thomas. I recently tried Michel Thomas just last month, and concluded that is very much like Pimsleur in that it’s comprehension and building-focused… I really, really like it for Bottom-Up study. It’s stays in that Language acquisition N+1 sweet spot which I found so elusive… But… That type of thing can help consolidate your learning at any time… So it’s fine whenever you are ready to pick it up, after you finish what you’re working on.

Corza/Coreyさん, as a late-starting learner myself, who sees a lot of people start studying Japanese and then pause for a while, I’m also curious to see your notes about what is still in your brain from your 10-years-ago-studies!

Also good for me was doing the Irodori online book series with a native Japanese teacher (a fluke that I fell into from Hello Talk for free)…

I’m curious to see what materials The Moe Way has now (I haven’t looked in several years)… When it was just starting, it wasn’t even as useful as Language Reactor… But it had a LOT of potential

[corza334]

@Shannon-8

OMG truer words never spoken! It makes sense, too, since “programming” is “a language”. But the analogies to learning a musical instrument or doing martial arts actually have more applicability that I would have thought! I usually don’t speak out loud when I study… but “produce” silently in my mind. My vocal apparatus tells me that there is a difference!

It is funny how so many learning endeavours seem to end up being fundamentally the same. I guess it’s one advantage to trying to learn a variety of things, you really begin to understand what works for you!

@Shannon-8

And somehow during this time, my friend in Japan (teaching kids and interactive with teachers and townspeople every day) got very day-to-day conversational, but can’t read well at all. We are Cure Dolly’s two “pincers” (top-down and bottom-up Japanese learning)… This year, we are focusing on catching up to each other. I think we’ll both pass N3 this year and maybe N2 next year. Test results are just data points, but at least it’s a metric.

I can’t wait to get to N2! I have decided to take the N5 test in December, I enjoy having something to work towards.

@Shannon-8

日本語の勉強頑張ってください

Thank you! You too! ありがとう！

@Shannon-8

Corza/Coreyさん, as a late-starting learner myself, who sees a lot of people start studying Japanese and then pause for a while, I’m also curious to see your notes about what is still in your brain from your 10-years-ago-studies!

Very few random words, but luckily all the kana have stuck with me. That was obviously a huge boon starting off again! Extremely simple grammar structures (です、でした) and a terrible understanding of は、が、に and を.

@Shannon-8

Also good for me was doing the Irodori online book series with a native Japanese teacher (a fluke that I fell into from Hello Talk for free)…

Thanks, I’ll this to materials (with Michel) to look at.

[Totoro_Sama]

Have you tried the free Tadoku Books?
They are graded readers that start from very basic (Level 0). All the stories are short and very interesting.

Free books

[corza334]

Month 2

I changed my study method during the month. I now focus only on Kaishi, briefly went to 20 words per day before dropping back to 5. I no longer use WaniKani (Sorry!) And have instead replaced that with Migaku Kanji GOD plugin for anki. This searches my Kaishi + Mining deck, and teaches me the Radicals + Kanji that I have added to those decks. This has proved exceptionally useful.

I finished N5 for Bunpro, and decided to drop that too. Instead I am just immersing as much as possible. I read ahead in the Absolute Beginners club and finished 玉藻の恋. I have now started reading a slightly easier one, スーと鯛ちゃん. I am just over halfway through that.

I have installed AsbPlayer now, and rather than go through Romantic Killer, I’ve switched to Sora no Method. I don’t really do any “extensive” immersion, but rather “intensive” immersion. Trying to understand every sentence.

I’m still thinking of signing up for the N5 JLPT in December. Just because I think it’s a neat milestone, but I don’t intend on practising specifically for the N5 in particular in any way.

Stats

Stats

Kaishi Deck

Collection

ToggleTrack (Started using on the 8th)

TheMoeWay (No longer track here)

Comprehension

Reading
Hard to say. I recognise more words (obviously), but still have a long way to go. My kana reading speed has improved dramatically, but it is still hard to understand basic sentences.

Listening
I’ve done less listening than I’d like. It’s hard, that’s for sure. I think Nihongo con Teppai is a little more easy to understand, but I still miss huge chunks of information. Often, an entire episode is just an obscure mess with a couple known words.

General Feelings
I still feel good - and I’m enjoying the journey! I didn’t expect to be much further, and I don’t think I am. But looking back at the stats and seeing ~680 words in Kaishi instead of 150 - it feels good. I am so excited to start mining words. But I am putting it off until I get through Kaishi, because I come across so many words already that are inside Kaishi.

[corza334]

Yeah! I have read a ton of these. Nearly finished all the level 0 ones

[corza334]

Month 3

Still just chugging along with Kaishi primarily! Also doing Bunpro again, as I noticed a marked decline in my reading comprehension after dropping it. I haven’t had as much time to do immersion this month as a lot has been going on. But, I am still happy with what I’ve accomplished.

Stats

Anki

Collection

Kaishi

Bunpro

No Toggle Track this month unfortunately! I need to start doing that again. Mostly immerse with either video games, or comprehensive japanese youtube channel - though immersion time has been low!