Just finished reviewing a bunch of stuff on WK and Anki, and wanted a quick break to refresh myself before jumping back into studying. So, I’ve been wanting to do a post here looking ahead a little, and there’s no time like the present. As for my current progress, I should be levelling on WK again tomorrow. I’m starting level 8 I guess, though the difference in the level you are “on” and your forum level messes with me. I guess you aren’t officially a level (on the forums) until you have actually finished that level, so to speak. With any luck I’m starting on Genki 2 lesson 18 later, which is approximately the halfway point. I’ll admit to moving through Genki a bit quickly, but subjectively the vast majority of it is sticking well when I see it in reading, and these points are going to come up constantly so I don’t think I need to get them perfect right now. I mean, I make sure I understand what their meaning is to the best of my ability, but there are details about how exactly to form an expression I might need a refresher on or whatever, and that’s totally ok. I also finished all of the level 2 Tadoku graded readers! My abilities are progressing quickly enough that the new Tadoku levels tend to feel easier than the previous rather than harder, haha.
I’ve always generally thought the theories about language “acquisition” vs learning made sense, and it’s been my goal to transition to learning through interacting with “real Japanese” when possible. With any luck, that’s going to be the end of Genki 2. I have more things that I want to consume than I could ever get to, so no worries on finding materials. And if I’m learning the language, I’m not picky. For example, Terrace House isn’t the sort of show I’d probably watch in English, but I gave it a quick look after seeing it so frequently recommended, and I’ll probably try it later. Right now it’s very hard to understand, but I figure that’s natural. Luckily, trying to understand the language in itself remains fun and interesting for me, so I’m not hard to please.
With that in mind, I’m thinking about trying Satori Reader when Genki 2 ends. There is a bit of an itch in my mind to get to the most “real” Japanese where it’s not learning content at all, but it’s still a step up from textbooks, and crucially I think it’ll help ease the transition. There’s a whole lot to figure out in going from a nicely laid out book with lessons that build on each other into suddenly totally self-directed learning. I think I’ll be ready to make it work, but along the way I have to figure out how I want to structure my sentence mining cards (and actually learn to make them myself). I have to keep working on looking things up myself, getting a better handle for how confident I can be that I’m truly understanding what I’m reading, working out a new schedule for basically all immersion learning, etc. It’s a lot, so having a small safety net in Satori Reader as early training wheels appeals to me.
That said, it’s not like I’m ever going to stop at just doing one thing, so I think I’ll take some more fun materials to read somewhat more casually alongside my main studying tool, at the start. There are always the book clubs, youtube videos I want to watch, etc etc etc.
Which also brings me to some packages I wanted to share! So, a little while back I discovered Box of Manga and I have to admit that, frivolous as they can be, surprise boxes are kind of fun. Furthermore, I like that someone who certainly knows more than me about the difficulty of a text picks manga to send (there are IIRC 3 tiers of Japanese ability you can select). Knowing that shipping takes a long time, I signed up a little while ago, and just wanted to share what I got.
Right now I’m focusing more on other things, but especially after the textbooks are done, I’ll certainly be back to talk about how reading this stuff goes!
So maybe giving those videos a watch might help straighten out some things you’re having issues with.
says “come back at level 47” on.
