Into the ‘painful’ levels while living in Japan~

[firmamentFray]

Hey everyone, this is my second topic ever on wk forums—hoping that I can contribute to the coolness here.

I started WK after doing language school in Tokyo two summers ago. Im level 11 now and felt like I have found my groove with the app thus far.

There was a point where i stopped doing a default number of lessons and started picking them on my own. This all depended on how I was feeling that day. If you’re curious, you have to set that number to 0 and use the advanced lesson picker.

This was crucial for me maintaining balance, at the time, between online language school, bunpro, wk, and prepping to move to Japan. I stuck with it since. It just feels right with the way I work.

I started messing around with review order–went from level order back to interweave–and extra study. I found that I like doing recent lessons from time to time. I also started writing my own mnemonics in the reading/meaning notes and reading the example sentences for vocab.

My mnemonic for 南国 (なんごく)

After relocating to Japan to work as an ALT, I contemplated dropping wk to learn kanji overall faster. But the knowledge i accrued from wk (I was level 5 when I got here!) was proving useful in my day to day life.

Im hoping to get to at least level 20 this year. It shouldn’t be an issue but I may cut back on time on wk to devote it to online language school again and jlpt prep. Work can be a lot too, where I’m with a lot of youth and my whole day is mostly in Japanese.

Hoping to post some things from my environment and update this thread weekly too!

Some of my replies in this thread:

• My experience at a Tokyo language school
• What being an ALT is like

[servette]

If you don’t mind writing about it, it would be interesting hearing about your experiences at the language school.

[firmamentFray]

For sure, thanks for asking.

I went to a language school in Shinjuku, Tokyo for a little under 3 months. We covered almost all of N5. Can’t lie though, I paid a pretty penny for it. My invoice for tuition was 211,700 円 and after wiring the money I paid 1,451.21 USD plus fees. This did not include boarding, food, etc. which should be another 2,000 in USD if you want to be comfortable in a city like Tokyo. Things come up. You want to participate in outings with friends. You’ll want to buy things to take home.

It is definitely an experience I cherish and don’t regret though. I caught the ‘bug’ for being in Japan after my first two trips ever to Japan in 2023, I had to find out if I could personally be ok living there. Side note, had an interest in Japanese culture since childhood and even wanted to major in Japanese during university but that didn’t work out–Japan related endeavors worked out better at this point in my life though.

Language school is definitely the way to go to learn Japanese at a fast paced in a structured environment. I self studied after returning to the US fall 2024 and missed the accountability of having to answer to a teacher, working alongside classmates (trying to one up them in a friendly kind of way) and having things graded.

However, I got the sense that language schools are geared towards prepping you for the JLPT unless otherwise mentioned. This makes sense imo as their sponsoring a lot of visas for their students and it probably looks better from a bureaucratic point of view.

After coming back from Japan, I was exposed to other ways Japanese folks say things during my self studying. Also, there’s a good amount of writing during language school that I stopped once I came back home.

Another the thing to consider is your interactions with classmates. I had really special memories and friendships with my classmates but have also seen they’re not so friendly sides. This was between other classmates and sometimes staff too.

I was older than a lot of them so I didn’t judge them too much. We paid a lot to be out here and a lot of us were meeting people from other countries for the first time. Back in the US, my friendships are diverse but during language school I definitely felt I was US centric and uninformed about elsewhere.

I know it’s a lengthy post, I hope you find some useful bits in here! I’ll say there are cheaper alternatives too. You can look in other cities but they probably won’t be that much cheaper. You can definitely do language school online or classes in your home country for cheaper. You could also book a decently length-ed trip to Japan and do your best immersing yourself firsthand.

[servette]

I too am an older learner compared with what seems to be the predominant age range that I’ve seen in my research - and might find it a bit awkward to be treated like a younger student would be.

Lately I’ve been watching a number of videos that address limitations and/or problems with many of those schools.

I don’t need to pass any particular level of the JLPT, although in my self-study I find that N3 materials offer a convenient yardstick for guiding my work. Also, I understand the underlying reality that tends to force many of the schools to strongly link their course offerings toward passing the various test levels.

In fact, I’d probably be more interested in finding courses that are geared more towards conversation, and less toward passing written tests.

I’ve also contemplated using language school as a ‘proxy’ for simply living in Japan beyond the bounds of a tourist visa.

But as I’m currently working full-time, it may not be possible anytime soon for me to realize that goal.

[firmamentFray]

@servette

mplated using language school as a ‘proxy’ for simply living in Japan beyond the bounds of a t

I still think having the goal will help shift things in that direction though. I left my last job with language school as my exit strategy. Maybe you’ve got things good–work setup I mean–and are able to do a leave of absence with work?

I’m in my mid thirties and did meet several folks who seemed my age or older. Being that my class was for N5 though a lot of my classmates were in their twenties. I think that would be mitigated for in higher level classes. Less folks doing it for a study abroad kind of experience and more for bigger stakes. Rooting for you

[firmamentFray]

Getting closer to the halfway point of the intro grammar exercises (edit: skills development part 1), before the comprehensive stuff, of the shinkanzen master n4 grammar vocab book.

Saw this at the grocery store. We know the kanji for sure! Def had to look up the reading

More of my mnemonics:

歩道

必勝

[sg31]

I’m working through Level 15 now and also living in Japan. I also attend a Japanese language school twice a week in Ikebukuro. But I know I still have a long way to go to my goal, which is N3 for now.

It would be nice to regularly chat with someone in Japanese, per my teacher’s advice.

頑張りましょうね！

[firmamentFray]

Let’s go!! I think N3 is a good place to be proficiency wise living out here. It’s kind of arbitrary saying where you’re at Japanese-level wise with JLPT levels, but I can understand 40%-60% of what’s going on at work being at N4 level.

配る

最近、配るの言葉をワニカニで習いました。今日、「給食を配る人」と聞いてわかりました！

さいきん、くばるのことばをワニカニでならいました。きょう、「きゅうしょくをくばるひと」ときいてわかりました！

What I hope I wrote:

Recently, I learned to the word for to distribute through Wanikani. Today, I heard “people that are [giving out] school lunch” and understood it!

[sg31]

40%~60% is great!
I don’t think I’m at that level yet. いいな。。。

[firmamentFray]

it’s totally ok! Keep it going. I think it’s dope you’re at lvl 15 and are in language school, I totally didn’t prioritize kanji when I was at the tokyo language school.

It’ll come with time. I’m talking about just being able to communicate with the language. Studying it can make it seem like math but it’s a form of communication. I hear so many variations and ‘rules’ being broken. I’m sure it’s the same for English learners

[firmamentFray]

Made it to level 12 よっしゃー！！

I am near page 60 of shin kanzen master N4. This is a little over half way of the grammar introduction stuff.

I’m on the last story from NPO Japanese Graded Readers Level 2 volume 1.

Native content… for fifth graders in elementary school? We can understand this!

[firmamentFray]

I’ve got a lot of vocab to catch up on from level 11 that I want to finish before working on the next level’s radicals, kanji, and vocab. I’ve switched my item order to apprentice first and am using the wrap up feature to make sure my progress counts during my short burst review sessions.

Honestly, being out here, I personally feel like slow and steady definitely wins the race. You can speed run to a higher JLPT level but when it comes it, and native speakers say something let’s say N5 level but in a different way than you learned, you might be like wtf. I’m cool with building a solid foundation before moving forward

Another mnemonic of mine. Sometimes I gotta do this to remember it xD

足し算

edit: another one. I do have a friend named Kyle!

開始

[firmamentFray]

For my past few levels on wk I got away with focusing on kanji and radicals. I would do the vocab on the side and catch up with those by the next level butttt

Hitting level 12 I had more than 150 vocab from level 11 I didn’t finish. I’m down to 75~ now, big thanks to Tsurukame on iOS.

Here is some kanji I’ve seen out in the wild here:

At level 12, most of this blue sign on the left is understandable. I’ve seen 込み in N4 vocab and the third kanji after 土 日, in the orange part of that sign, on other schedules for holidays (祝日).

Not sure what 雨穴「最新作」meant when I saw it but I know these char for sure.

Just looked it up lol xDD

[downtimes]

@firmamentFray

雨穴

For others who might not know (うけつ):
Author (変な series、e.g. 変な家) and strange YouTuber guy. One of my Japanese friends is totally obsessed with him.

[firmamentFray]

It’s late here so I don’t want to watch any of his vids before going to bed. Plan on checking tomorrow

[Tan-Tan-Tanuki]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

@firmamentFray

After relocating to Japan to work as an ALT,

If you don’t mind, I would also like to hear about your experience working as ALT in Japan.

From what I’ve heard, this might be one of the most popular opportunities for native English speakers to work in Japan. Have you though, ever encountered non-native speakers teaching as well?

[firmamentFray]

I`ll get back to this! Incoming lengthy reply that I want to revise and clean up.

I wanna say first that 雨穴(うけつ) is very interesting.

I’ve chopped down my unlocked level 11 vocab from 75 to 62.

I’m further into the first story of NPO Tadoku Japanese Graded Readers Level 2 volume 2.

I’m on p.64 of the N4 Shinkanzen Master grammar book. I love how straight forward it is. However, I’ll be looking into たら、なら、ば、and と a little bit more on bunpro。

[firmamentFray]

Being an ALT can be a solid way of getting to Japan but there are so many factors that can really impact your experience. I’m thinking of: the program that hires you to become an ALT, your placement in Japan, your school(s) and how you fare as a teacher.

I’ll talk about these things, how my experience has been and ‘non-native’ speakers that I work with!

In terms of programs, I’m talking about JET, Interac, NOVA, etc. Generally speaking JET program is the preferred route. They cover airfare, pay higher wages and provide overall better support (from what I read online compared to the others).

I’m biased for sure because I’m with the JET program. I’ve had support for getting my life started here, translation during medical visits and outside of class training. My rent is subsidized so I get a decent amount of my paycheck after deductions.

I do have a friend though, who was just fine on Interac and now lives in Tokyo.

Second is where you end getting placed in Japan. I think all routes to becoming an ALT don’t give much control over your placement. I really wanted to be in or near Tokyo but got placed in the countryside. It’s still a decently sized city and I actually prefer it now over Tokyo.

Third thing that can affect your experience is the school you get placed at. I love the kids that I work with at my school–but sometimes it’s rough having a full schedule and dealing with their behavior. Other ALT’s I have met have similar, slightly better or REALLY good schools compared to mine.

Last is whether or not you can hang with teaching in a foreign country, Japan specifically. It’s fun in the beginning because there’s so much newness, everyone treats you like a celebrity and it feels like being in an anime.

Soon after though, reality sets in. Japanese work culture can be difficult to understand for foreigners. Communicating with Japanese teachers can leave you like, “huh?”. Teaching English in a way that’ll actually benefit the students in the long run is a whole other thing in itself.

Then there’s the fact that you’re a foreigner in this culture.

I’ve hinted at some of the challenges I’ve encountered but I’ve had some of the most fulfilling and happiest moments on this program. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve had my own space. Despite some of the bumps, I love being in Japan and immersed in the culture. I don’t regret this decision at all and have hopes to be here long term.

As for ‘non-native’ English speakers, there’s a good amount! The ones I work with are from Jamaica and the Philippines (edit: both actually list English as one of or their only official language. To me, this means they could be native speakers. I’ve always though ‘native speakers’ was reserved from folks originating from Western countries. Apologies). I’d say they actually teach (their countries are more competitive for JET program) and know English grammar better than us ‘native’ speakers. For instance, I’ll know what sounds right in America but knowing what a grammar structure is called and why things are said a certain way will take me a second.

Hope this covers things!

[Malinkal]

@Tan-Tan-Tanuki

From what I’ve heard, this might be one of the most popular opportunities for native English speakers to work in Japan. Have you though, ever encountered non-native speakers teaching as well?

The visa requirements for the typical visa for ALT work usually require that teachers spent most of their education being taught in English (not taking English lessons, but learning other subjects in English), I think it’s 12 years. So essentially every teacher comes from countries where English is the official language of instruction in schools. I’ve met 1 or 2 teachers who didn’t meet these requirements but it makes it a lot harder visa-wise from what I’ve seen

[DaraM18]

I did an internet check and saw: the Philippines often places 2nd in Asia (after Singapore) for English proficiency. I heard that a lot of Japanese go to the Philippines to study English (it seems there are specialised ESL schools in Cebu, Baguio, and Boracay; a colleague told me he went to study in Cebu). The weak Yen makes flights and schools in the West very expensive for young Japanese students.

Filipino English teachers might be becoming more common in Japan based on that (just my assumption).