How soon did you get into grammar on the side of your kanji study?

So I’m currently using bunpo to learn my grammar since it’s pretty good at summarizing and explaining the grammar from Basic all the way to N1. But it is a hassle juggling between Grammar and Kanji. How soon did y’all get into grammar? If so how tricky was it for you and what were your methods? Also I’m down for advice for the experienced folks. Thanks :slight_smile:

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Bunpro? I would suggest not using more than one SRS system at once, unless you have a lot of time of your hands !

I also wouldn’t suggest using Bunpro as a primary source for learning grammar - I personally prefer it as a reference. There are links on there to outside sources - like Japanese ammo, Tae Kim ect. Learn from as many sources as possible to cement the grammar points.

Read whatever you can at the level you are at, and look up the grammar points you come across ‘in the wild’, as you come across them.

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I started learning grammar first. Used Genki books. Think I had been learning Japanese for about 8 months before I started using WK to learn kanji. Depends perhaps on why you want to learn Japanese. I was preparing for a holiday in Japan and wanted to be able to have simple conversations.

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Oh no! Bunpo, yeah I heard there’s confusion on it. It’s an iOS app. I tend to take notes instead of using its srs!

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A know the goal of being fluent is a bit much, but has been like 4 months so I can say I’m still on top of that goal lmao

Ah ha ! sorry - I thought you meant Bunpro . I have never used Bunpo, so I retract my previous comment, and apologise for assuming you made a spelling mistake :rofl:

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I agree with what Ddjross said, pull from as many sources as you can! Personally I think the youtube channel cure dolly explains grammar clearer than anywhere else, so give that a look. But remember, immersion is where you’ll learn most of the grammar that isn’t basic. You can be taught grammar, but you can’t truly master it and fluently understand it unless you expose yourself to it everyday out in the wild.

Also to answer the title of this post, I got into it around the same level as you, which I think is the perfect time !

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I started right away, and now do Bunpro alongside Wanikani, however it is not my main source of learning grammar. I go through the Genki books for explanations and use Bunpro as a tool for reviewing what I should know. I do find it a great way to keep writing out grammar points, and to get corrected with whatever mistakes you make.

And like most people have said already, reading is king. Every time I stumble on a grammar point I don’t know I look it up on Bunpro, read about it from whatever link or page number shows up, then add it to my que.

The genki workbooks are really good as well, I’m currently going through Genki 2

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I’m already doing grammar studies but at a slower pace compared to my Kanji studies. I’m working through Genki I (just started Chapter 5). I first learn the vocabulary for the upcoming chapter, then I go through the grammar points one by one while cross referencing the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. When I finished that and feel familiar with the poitns I revise the chapter with ToKini Andy’s Genki Playlist, do the exercises via Seth Clydesdale’s Genki Study Resrouces (I do check the textbook and workbook first though because it has more listening exercises) and then put the points I studied into BunPro. I work on the BunPro reviews daily but I definitely don’t work on Genki itself every day.

So far this pace has been working out for me, I haven’t had much work thanks to the lockdown in my country and used the time to study multiple hours every day. I sadly will have to slow down from next week onwards when I’m back on my fulltime job but I plan to do WaniKani and BunPro daily and continue with Genki on my off days.

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I started grammar in Japanese class about a month before starting WK.

My time recording system tells me I started grammar properly in the same week as WaniKani (mid Jan 2021). Likely got motivated by the new kanji and wanted to put it into practice :slight_smile: .

I started with Tae Kim’s guide and have been using it ever since. The only thing that caused me some pain so far was 何か, 誰か and the likes, since I got too comfortable with か as a question particle. Also, certain adjective conjugation forms like 暖かかった, since my echoic memory gets the better of me sometimes :confused: .

I don’t have any special tricks, but if I feel I’m weaker in some area, like adjective conjugation, I simply conjugate all of the adjectives from my word list on paper, reading each conjugation pattern aloud to memorize the sounds. Same before with verbs.

I’m kind of the opposite, to be honest.

I’m a bit of a linguistics nerd, so I ended up reading about and studying grammar first. I’ve retained pretty much the first 9 chapters of Genki and have noticed my reading and vocabulary are seriously lacking.

Of all the tools that I’ve had that explain grammar, though, I’d say Cure Dolly and the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar series have been the most helpful as I parse content for vocab.

Biggest 2 Tips: (1) Find a balance, and (2) go your own speed!

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Worst Japanese learner here! I’ve been studying forever lol. Unless you’re unemployed / a student, my advice is…stick to one thing through to the end! If you have tons of time, then sure go for it. Mind you, I’ve only learned this now! I’ve jumped around everything…while it’s not been a waste (it’s all Japanese), I am very fragmented still. After a year off of WK, my main focus is now WK 100% and IF I have time, I do a bit of iKnow sentences (which is very stiff sounding Japanese) as i consider it good reading practice. I listen a lot as well. Everyone is different, everyone has different time commitments but I’m finding WK very fun with iKnow as I can now read stuff a bit better. WK can do your head in after awhile but it does work. Bottom line…do what works for you! Anyway, that’s my 20p’s worth!

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I learned grammar for about a year and a half before I started seriously learning kanji, and I still struggle with it. I learned it through school, so my methods were quizlet, writing a lot practice sentences, and trying to use grammar as much as possible. There’s so many grammar rules that it’s easy to forget them. I recently bought A Dictionary Of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui and it’s really helpful for searching up new grammar that I come across or forget.

I’ve started learning grammar before WK, because my plan was to study N5 contents first and right after I would start learning kanji. Well, I don’t have a method, I just try to keep consistency in studies, every day I review words and kanji on WK,KW and sometimes on KameSame.

I picked up Genki somewhere around level 10 I think, and I did it pretty diligently (exercises and all) up to chapter 4 or so, where I petered out and still haven’t got back into it sadly. Otherwise I’ve dabbled in Tae Kim and imabi while procrastinating at work, but it was starting Bunpro a month ago where my grammar knowledge finally started rapidly increasing, and I now feel like I can make some sense of a reasonable number of sentences.

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I started studying grammer at the same time as starting Wanikani and I’m grateful that I did because it makes it much easier to read, which probably goes without saying.

I have noticed that there are definite times when I have less to do in Wanikani. These are usually a couple days after I start a level and sometime right before the end when I am waiting to guru. I study grammer during these times.

Otherwise I try to read SOMETHING in Japanese everyday. This is useful for reinforcing grammer and Kanji even though it makes my brain hurt.

I spent years reading imabi articles and practicing conjugations before I ever touched kanji.

I think I went into grammar as soon as I learned how to read hiragana and katakana (which took me like a week or so). For Kanji, I tried the RTK method first but didn’t work out for me as it’s too dry and doesn’t teach any readings. Then, I tried out WK’s free levels and here I am. So I guess I started WK two or three weeks after starting grammar.

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For me, definitely grammar at the same time. My favorite so far is 80/20 Japanese and BunpRo, but there are a ton of other resources to use for this, both free and paid.

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