Ok, that does sound like a lot, and that would make me hesitate too.
As @Edzin said, Japanese Ammo with Misa seems like a good resource. I’ve only seen one or two videos, but I think her explanations are engaging and easy to understand. There are many other teaching accounts on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms too, so keep looking around. I’m sure you’ll find more helpful resources. Japanese from Zero has a YouTube channel that might interest you as well, though I’ve never tried it. Don’t forget JLPT test prep sites, which are rarely detailed, but are good for a quick, simple explanation with examples. (They’re probably a bit like BunPro, actually.)
Also a great starting point. Book 1 is pretty easy to undestand and the videos help a lot, i did it together with misa videos…But i kinda feel that i would have been fine even w/o the book. (Only with the videos)
I figured its best to learn Kanji after learning Hiragana and Katakana. I read that its best to learn Kanji sooner than later in order to have a better time with vocab and grammar in the future. I’m aiming for fluency in speaking and reading.
I can’t remember where I read this but when also looking for encouragement regarding the daunting task of learning Japanese, they said the literacy rate in Japan is 99% and though native speakers obviously had the advantage of growing up learning Japanese, their brain is no different than yours or mine; It’s all the same hardware! So take comfort in that!
Also if you’re looking for other study resources, hop on over here to this thread: The Ultimate Additional Japanese Resources List! I use the Kanji Study app (for Android) to help reinforce what I learn on Wani Kani and Kanji Koohi and the Kodansha Learners Course if the mnemonics just don’t click for me.
Last but not least, pace yourself/do what works for you! Life is a marathon, not a rat race. I only learn 5 kanji every OTHER day and I find that locks things in. I can do 10-25 vocab every day depending on what I know already. When I tried going faster, I was forgetting too much. So see what pace works best for you, breathe, and know that anything worthwhile will be difficult. But you can do it!
I’ll point out that Bunpro’s primary draw is linking to online free sources (like those you mentioned) while providing a grammar order. The SRS is just gravy that you can pay for if you wish to.
In that case maybe have a look into irodori textbooks. They are pretty new resources and the tofugu team reviewed the A2 books as part of their New Japanese Learning Resources series.
As others already pointed out bunpro is nice supplementary tool. When you want to look deeper into a certain grammar point bunpro can point you to different resources that cover the grammar point. Bunpro itself will not teach you the grammar point. The paid part of bunpro lets you use their SRS system and additional example sentences.
Nice. Feel free to keep us posted about your progress
If you want maybe look / ask for study buddies here in the forums. As far as I understood this is the first time you’re learning a foreign language. Therefore it might be helpful to not do everything by yourself. Others can support you or give tips on “how to learn”.
If you want, maybe have a look into kanshudos beginner lessons track. They are designed for self studying. But doing it together with a study buddy will probably be very beneficial, I think.
Are you able to order from Amazon Japan where you are? I did that in the UK and even with shipping it was still cheaper, and I screwed up and had to pay shipping twice and it was still cheaper than buying them here. Also arrived within the week - in fact the whole reason I paid shipping twice was that I forgot one of the volumes and by the time I realised about 10 minutes later the original order was already being processed so I couldn’t cancel (never an issue I usually have in the UK xD).
Yaaaaaaay!!!
Whenever someone starts Japanese I get really happy. It reminds me of how excited I was to begin.
2 peices of advice have stuck with throughout
“It doesnt matter what order you learn stuff in because you’ll have to learn it all eventually. If you learn hard grammar today and a simple sentence tomorrow it is still Japanese.”
Ooooh shoot my mind went blank for a second and can’t remember the other one but I’ll come back when I remember it. It is good I promise. Why did I forget it in 2 seconds?
I’m feeling overwhelmed too, but since the beginning I knew it would be challenging. I’m at level 08, and things are going a little harder than the previous levels, many verbs with the same kanji, but different meanings. I’m struggling to remember what each one means.
In my case, I’m must put more and more effort into learning kanji and vocabulary with WK because English is not my first language. The amount of words, radicals and kanjis that appear in the forecast every day is scaring, which makes me think about slowing down my pace on WK and start focusing on other parts, like listening and grammar.
I dislike BunPro quite a bit, and think it’s an attempt to - quite frankly - rip off WaniKani while also misapplying SRS to grammar, something that fundamentally isn’t amenable to SRS. I tried it out, and even briefly had a paid subscription, but I got very little out of it. For grammar you need a textbook and/or a teacher. If you can’t afford Genki, use free online resources. There are many, and they are listed in detail in the various threads about learner resources elsewhere on the forum. The quality varies, but many of them are good.
English is my third language too, but I’m quite used to thinking in English since I speak english more than I speak my first and second languages now.
You could try creating your own mnemonics / meanings in whichever language you feel comfortable. Obviously this is not something I’ve tried but just a thought that it might help you.
Yep, I’ve started using some of the free resources now. Still in the process of finding the one that works the best for me.
Like you said, I wasn’t going to invest in BunPro right away - I’m a bit low on finances at the moment , and it was never my first option to begin with.
I do plan on trying BunPro free for a while and arrive at a conclusion if it suits my style or not.
Check out CureDolly’s full youtube course. yes she is a virtual anime android girl, but her japanese structure course is just crazy good and it will help you insanely well!
, and it was never my first option to begin with.