Hi all!
Going on holiday and I was wondering what tis you have for studying on the go?
I’ve got a playlist of study audio and some flashcards and I’ll still do WaniKani at least once a day (hopefully twice), but what other tips/suggestions/ideas do you have for studying while on holiday?
Thank you!
I mean if you’re on holiday then just relax and watch some anime. You’ll still learn without learning.
I agree, taking some time off once in a while might actually beneficial. In my experience, coming back to Wanikani after a holiday makes you feel a bit refreshed and more motivated to continue.
I already live in Japan and will be travelling in Japan so anime won’t help much more 
Motivation isn’t an issue and I honestly find it harder to come back after a break. However, those are good tips for people with different motivation and so on.
I have some long train rides (2+ hours) and will be travelling by night bus (its all well and good to say sleep on the bus but the last driver didn’t turn off the lights until 1am…) so I’d like things to do in those periods. Flash cards get kinda boring after a while…
I think the trick here is to study when you want to, and not feel bound that you have to go through your reviews at a certain time during the day. Don’t stick to a rigid schedule, but only study if the opportunity arises and you have nothing better to do.
Buy some manga and translate it? It’ll take you a while and also help you to learn. I got one that’s waiting to be translated when I get more time, to help me learn grammar and more vocab. I just write on it directly with a pencil.
Also, sleep masks and earplugs are your friend when travelling… so you’re not at the mercy of lights and other people around you.
I was looking more for tips other than WaniKani. Having hours sitting on a train would be a waste of time, and I don’t really want to get into a mindset of only study when I want to because one off day turns into ages with me haha I don’t do reviews religiously anyway - once in the morning, once at night, more if I feel like it.
I do some translations but I hate writing in the books themselves (I know its dumb lol) Though I suppose taking a volume and a small note pad is doable enough. I hadn’t thought of taking them with me, so thanks for that!
Yeah, I’ve never needed them on the bus before. Usually the lights are out relatively early, but these ones stayed on for ages and then there were still lower level lights on. Shame theres no magic tool for rude passengers lol
Grab a little book from a shop in the train station. With little else to do you’ll be forced to try and read it. And most Japanese books are tiny enough to fit in your back pocket.
Also, instead of just word flashcards, try getting a set like the japanesetest4you set for Anki. It’s full sentences so it doesn’t feel like doing flashcards and is available in all levels from N5 - N1.
Or, try some podcasts. I use hiikibiiki and soundfm. Hiikibiiki is a couple of people talking about things they like (really, it’s that simple) and sound library is a series of basically self-contained fifteen minute tales about a travel agent who lives in Tokyo.
Where you off to, by the way?
Might be able to get a book on the way back to Tokyo, not sure how early the shops open in the station. I’m always up for buying more books!
I’ve got anki but won’t have much data for my phone (does anki need data to run on phone?) and my android is messing up right now. It’s an option I’m looking into, but just not this trip (I use the desktop version frequently). Haven’t downloaded the jtest4u yet so I’ll check them out, thanks! And I’ll make a note of those podcasts too they sound interesting!
Heading off to Tochigi (Nikko), Tokyo (all over lol) and Kanagawa (mostly Yokohama area). Trying to hit up as many prefectures as possible before I leave Japan, got 25% done so far! Though I think Tochigi and Kanagawa will need another trip due to how much stuff they have ;;
I don’t think this is a good mindset.
When you have something schedule or at least a point where you start and a amount of time to stop, you can avoid procrastination, do much more, finish early, and even avoid getting tired.
With some time management techniques like pomodoro, for example. You do a work section of 20 minutes, then 5 minutes of rest. After 4 work sections, you rest 15~30 minutes.
Just like the SRS, the pause is important. Resting is the time your body uses to make adaptation for the effort you just did while cleaning the excess of tension. This process of small but consistent work and rest sections is super effective to learn fast, to a better job, develop your body, get a skill, and do more with less time.
I use it a lot for freelance work, personal projects, and study. I don’t have a rigid schedule, though. It’s just that when I start the timer, I know that I need to start too and I know when I will stop. This makes a huge different in how you use that time.
I had 2000+ reviews stacked up before using this time management technique. Days comes and go and I never felt like doing even 10 per week (although I have an urge to able to read fluently). Now, it’s just a matter of staring the timer and 2 sections to have 200 reviews completed per day (btw, the other 2 sections are for English speaking practice).
Grab a newspaper and a highlighter and start looking for kanji you recognize (highlight them), try to “get the gist” of some of the sentences, and maybe try to read some of the kanji? Just some thoughts.
I don’t have any data and still use anki. Guess it downloads sets straight to your phone.[quote=“MidoriHime, post:8, topic:17374”]
Heading off to Tochigi (Nikko), Tokyo (all over lol) and Kanagawa (mostly Yokohama area). Trying to hit up as many prefectures as possible before I leave Japan, got 25% done so far! Though I think Tochigi and Kanagawa will need another trip due to how much stuff they have ;;
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Sounds great! If you’re spending time near Yokohama, there’s a cool place I recently discovered in Kawasaki: Kawasaki Warehouse.
I’m heading away from there and going north to Nagano and Gunma. No new prefectures for me, unfortunately (never counted before, but I guess I’ve been to about half now). First time I’ve travelled in Japan over Golden Week. Bit scared. Anyway, have a good time!
Nope! Just sync everything you want to (don’t even have to sync all the decks) before you go (off your WiFi at home or at a Starbucks or something), and then you can do a bunch offline! Just sync it again when you get back home/somewhere with free WiFi before you go back to your computer. 
I use Anki pretty much only on my phone, aside from loading decks on the computer.
It’s how I study at work without a signal (my break area is in the basement).
Holiday studying… What’ll they come up with next? Hunger strike 食べ放題?
And nose plugs, the first and last time I travelled by night bus I wish I had those
Not everyone’s into BDSM.
I learned rapidly that scented face masks were a necessary item while travelling
Whoops, seems like we come from different parts of the world then! (For the way of saying it, not the BDSM ;))
While being structured is good for day to day tasks, when on vacation/holiday it is perfectly fine to not schedule time that must be spent on hobbies. Holidays aren’t about constrained schedules, they’re about escaping from them as much as possible.
“Holidays aren’t about constrained schedules, they’re about escaping from them as much as possible”
I think this is open to interpretation. I feel the same way as you, but my wife is completely the opposite. She feels like she’s wasted her vacation if she isn’t running around seeing everything (usually on a schedule).
I think I expressed myself poorly, what I meant is not that it’s bad to have a schedule while on vacation, I do too, so I can see everything but… rather that someone doesn’t need to feel any obligation to do hobbies on a set schedule. As much as doing WK reviews is important, the vacation itself is more important, and that’s why I think someone shouldn’t feel bad about not doing reviews on time, or even every day, if they don’t feel like it/have other things to do. I’m advocating the “no guilt while on vacation” mindset.