I made a Notion template for Japanese learning (and it's cute!)

It looks amazing! I love how you linked your Wanikani study log thread in place of the journal (and I think for me it was seeing others’ study logs on here that inspired me to even put the journal on the template in the first place), also your kana chart enlightened me to the existence of “wi” and “we” kana… I’m sure they must be archaic in usage but their shape is very interesting lol

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Ahaha yeah, they’re fun ones! :sweat_smile:

The reason why I replaced your kana chart was because I wanted to have one with the stroke order for everything, because when I was just getting started, I had to constantly reference a stroke order chart to write in Japanese. Yomichan helps with kanji, but I needed to find a separate resource for the kana. I can write just about all of them from memory now (except for ゑ and ゐ haha), but if I ever fall out of practice with writing, I figured it’d be handy to have a quick reference again.

And yeah, including the journal on your template was a nice touch! I’ve never been able to successfully keep up a journal like that on any other platform besides this forum (maybe I need the public accountability?), but having a study log has been essential for me. I filled out the Notion template basically by going back through my study log and compiling all of the various resources that I’ve discovered over the past couple years and linked in my log. It’s nice to have all of them in one place now!

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This is still me sometimes (mostly with katakana) so that’s a really smart idea, I might switch out my kana chart to have the stroke order too

Haha probably! I’m sure it must be more motivating to keep a journal when you know others are going to read it too.

Yayy! It sounds like you’re really getting Notion to work symbiotically with your study log so I’m really glad that Notion is working for you & I was able to help inspire you in this way :smile: :heart_hands:

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This is so so cute!! can’t wait to start using it :blush:

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Thank you SO much for this!! I LOVE IT. I have (very unashamedly) duplicated the entire sticky notes page. The reading/listening recommendations, the resource list, and even some other links I found on your version are Gold. I will use them mercilessly, thanks again :person_kneeling:

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Glad I could help! I have, uh, spent a fair amount of time on this forum over the past couple years, haha, so I’ve picked up a lot of different resources during that time. Literally everything in my Notion (except for I guess some of the links in my translation resources section that aren’t relevant to anyone else unless you are also translating Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, haha) has been linked or mentioned at some point in my study log, but there are hundreds of long posts in there now, so there are a lot of buried gems.

As far as the reading/listening recommendations go, I truly can take no credit, because everything on that list was recommended to me at some point by someone else, and most of the descriptions are either quoted directly from folks on twitter or on this forum, or are paraphrased from descriptions my friends gave on Discord, haha. The list is utterly tailored to my own interests (so, heavily LGBTQ with a bit of pro wrestling sprinkled in there :sweat_smile:), but I’m glad that it has a lot of stuff that also seems interesting to you!

I’ll probably take stuff off of the recommendations list as I gradually get around to watching/reading them and no longer need to reference someone else’s description to remember why they might be worth checking out, but in the meantime, it’s great to have a list like this where I can have everything that I want to read/watch/listen to/whatever in one place regardless of medium. The links will still be preserved in my study log, though, haha.

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Yess, I’ve been lurking in your study logs, as well as a few other study logs (in a very respectful way lol). Mainly because I’m trying to understand how people plan out their study schedule and what sort of resources they use. I think I’ve reached a stage where I’m just about to get through the absolute beginner level, but I can barely comprehend anything past it. I can recognize kanji/vocab/grammar/nuance in general, but my understanding is vague. If I try to look at this in a positive way, I guess that means I’m progressing (?).

The thing is, I keep finding a lot of good resources but I don’t want to drown in them. So I’m trying to filter out what doesn’t work for me or what’s not necessary atm. It’s hard, though. I’m hyperfixating on learning Japanese so much that I end up trying out every other learning app/website hsjhsjs.

That’s such a huge effort though! I’ve only recently made it a practice to save good resources I come across, so finding something like this was a true win for me, hahaha.

I have been desperately searching for Japanese books and media that explore queer themes. Other than reading BLs and GLs (and watching a few japanese gay dramas & anime), I have never come across (or haven’t taken the time out to find) LGBTQ+ content in the original language. So, this is a real blessing for me, and I’m not even being dramatic, haha. :sob:

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Haha, I’ve been there! :sweat_smile:

If you’ve made it far enough that you’re about to get through the absolute beginner level, though, that’s awesome progress! I think something that has helped me a lot is I guess letting my study process be inefficient/a work in progress. I think that’s where having an actual study log/journal of some sort comes in handy, because Notion presents a much more polished exterior that sort of obscures all of the trial and error and messiness that it took to get there.

Though I guess even there, maybe I’m an odd case who more or less picked my main path and stuck with it (with WaniKani and Minna no Nihongo in particular), because I knew it was a path that would work, even if it wasn’t the most efficient one out there. But I’m someone who really needs routine, haha, so once I get one established, I really don’t like to let go of it. And when I commit to things like personal deadlines, I will stick to them no matter what.

So for me at least, the secret was just finding 1) a path that worked 2) that I could motivate myself to do every day. Then it just became more about getting my necessary work in every day, then spending the rest of the time enjoying the journey with whatever media is accessible to me at the moment, and playing around with other study tools and just learning about whatever extra stuff interests me at the time.

I’m of the opinion that specific tools don’t matter all that much as long as you can stick to one long enough to get the full benefit out of it, so it’s really just finding a tool that works for you and then forming a routine around it.

I wish I had more to offer! Most of my “Japanese media that explores queer themes” just happens to be pro wrestling, ahaha :sweat_smile:.

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This is pretty smart. I’ve always wanted my logs to be as Perfect as possible but it’s working against me lol (guess who ends up spending most of the time in organizing and creating templates -_-)

Considering the fact that I swear by routine as well, I’m going to give your method a try. I really want to focus more on learning rather than any other secondary stuff. Thank you so much for sharing! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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すごい!ありがとうございます。I just duplicated it and love it already.

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