Ishi's Study Log

WaniKani
1

Hello there!

After one year of being on WK I decided that the time has come: study log it be.

Self-introduction: I’m a 27 y.o. Russian and Japanese will be my 3rd language. I also had an experience of learning French back in school and German when I was in university, but I didn’t continue to practice them because I didn’t feel the need to, so eventually they fell off from my list. I learn Japanese primarily with a goal to move to Japan, but also to use it in my hobby activities, such as reading books and playing video games.

WK history: Now some of you are probably looking at my shiny level 1 being like “1 year on WK…?” I originally started on WaniKani in 2020, July and reached level 22 by 2021, April. My time on the website was mostly productive despite some missed days, with the exception of a very hectic December where I had too much work to dedicate some time to do reviews and April, where I got some financial struggles so I had to stop using WK for a while, because… well, I couldn’t afford even monthly sub at that moment, let alone any other option. As they say: things happen.

Now I’m back and, just as many others before me, decided that I’ll just reset the progress and start from scratch, because in retrospective I feel like I forgot a lot of kanji and words I encountered during those 9 months I was active. Plus I wouldn’t be able to finish the climbing up challenge I participate in on time anyway so… might as well take my time.

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Study materials: Along with WaniKani I’m also attending to online classes (which I started in June) and am currently going through N5 (which, in all honestly, I mainly knew prior the course, but I didn’t feel confident enough to go straight for N4). For reading I’m using Beelinguapp - it’s not perfect, but I still like it. I will likely eventually move to services like GoodReads or something similar.

Challenges:
:books::books: Read every day challenge - Fall/Autumn 2021 :maple_leaf::fallen_leaf: - I have a tendency to procrastinate a bit, so this one is to help me with developing a habit to read every day rather than thinking that I should read without actually reading.

Let’s climb Tokyo Skytree - level 60 in spring 2022 - as I mentioned above, I won’t be able to reach level 60 on time, but I joined the challenge back in August of 2020, I think, and I don’t want to fall out, even if I can’t reach the ultimate goal. I’ll just go as far as I can.

大海原と大海原 ・Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (Absolute Beginners Book Club Starting in September) - after a bit of a thought I decided that beelinguapp isn’t very productive for me (for Japanese, at least). It doesn’t have an option to turn on furigana, doesn’t have good internal vocabulary, doesn’t show readings for words even when you’re opening additional info about them. That said, Beginner Book Club seems like a better option. I will probably still use Beelinguapp, just not for Japanese.

Study Calendar:
2021

Sept
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
01 02 03 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
Oct
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
01 02 03
04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
11 Likes
2

９月９日：

WaniKani:

  • 18 lessons;
  • 80 reviews.

Reading:

  • パーティーで；パートI
  • パーティーで；パートII
  • パーティーで；パートIII

Classes:

  • Finished homework for Unit 9. Topics of the Unit were: 「～から～まで」,「で」,「間」.
1 Like
3

９月10日：

WaniKani:

  • Level 2 unlocked;
  • 42 lessons;
  • 18 reviews.

Reading:

  • 世界の休日；パートIーIII

A series of short texts about Christams customs in different countries. The text itself isn’t overly interesting to read, but what’s worse is that a person who recorded voicelines for Beginner level reads too slow on top of that.

Classes:

  • Started Unit 10. Topics are adjectives and 「どんな」.
4

９月１１日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 166 reviews.

KaniWani:

  • 20 lessons.

Reading:

  • 白雪姫；パートI-III (Beelinguapp).

A really short version of “Snow White”. Short enough to read it in 15 minutes, if not less. Today’s text made me decide that I won’t use Beelinguapp for Japanese from now on, because it has some vital (for me) issues with it.

Classes:

  • I didn’t do homework of Unit 10 for classes today, but instead I did my Python classes, and worked on cycles (specificaly “while”).
5

９月１２日：

WaniKani:

  • 47 lessons;
  • 100 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 1-5

Help . To my own surprise, I was able to get most of the grammar. It’s just the prologue, so nothing really interesting happening yet, but it sets a good ground for future events still. Also much more interesting to read than watered down text in beelinguapp :")

Words I didn’t know: 変わらぬ, 過ぎ去る, 幾度, 照らす, 想い, 揺らぐ, 祈り, 続ける, 今宵, 緊張, 城, 記憶, 取り戻す, 使い魔, お呼び. Basically solid half of the vocabulary for said pages . I knew some of kanji, though, so I was more or less able to guess the meaning in some cases.

Classes:

  • Started to do homework for Unit 10 and learning words for it, too.
6

９月１３日：

WaniKani:

  • 19 lessons;
  • 180 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 6-10

Aaaand here goes the prologue. It was easier to read today than it was yesterday. Which is likely due to the fact that the phrases they used weren’t hard, and also because I knew most words. No complaints on my side for that tho, it makes a fairly pleasant self-esteem boost (which I’m sure will be crushed without mercy a lot of times in next chapters).

Words I didn’t know: 着く, 戻る, 帝国. Also, in a couple of cases, particularly with 護る, I didn’t know the kanji, but I knew the word by itself, and because this manga has full furigana - I was able to understand what the sentence says even without knowing the kanji.

Classes:

  • 50% of the homework is done.
1 Like
7

９月１４日：

WaniKani:

  • Level 3 reached;
  • 22 lessons;
  • 88 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 11-18

Was a little bit harder than yesterday, because I didn’t know some of the grammar, but I still was able to get the grasp of the meaning without help with the exception of two sentences. Also noticed two mistakes in Russian fan translation that I read parallely to check my comprehension. XD

Words I didn’t know: 寝すぎる, 起こす, 優しい, 寝ぼすけ, 伝える, 着替える.

Classes:

  • Homework for Unit 10 is done, going to submit it tomorrow and start Unit 11.
8

９月１５日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 62 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 19-26
    All I can say is that despite not knowing quite a few words, it’s a pleasant feeling to read a text and actually understand what you read. Even if it’s all with furigana which decreases difficulty to easy by default. Story wise, Wadanohara and her familiars returned to their homeland because of some “urgent magical task”, and chapter ends with a witch from withes country sensing they are back home, and saying that that sea is unfamiliar. Actually looking forward to what going to happen next. I didn’t play the game, so I’m out of the context, so I’m interested as to why Wada lost her memories and who’s the mysterious guy she’s trying to remember is.

Words I didn’t know: 急用, 故郷, 舵, 心地, 聴こえる, 風船, 割る, いじめる, いい加減, 着く, 慣れる

Classes:

  • Started Unit 11. Topics of the unit are: 「ある/いる」,「そして」,「が」.
1 Like
9

９月１6日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 128 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 27-33

Wadanohara and her familiars are on the way to their home. Just when they’re about to return, Kuromaki catched up to them and passed to Wada something what’s important to her, but she forget in Witches country because she was too nervous. Wada is disstressted by the fact that she forgot this thing and says sorry to Kuromaki who went out of her way just to deliver this item.

Words I didn’t know: 鮫, 飛ぶ, 追いつく, 困る, 殺風景, 冗談, 大事, 届ける

Classes:

  • Taking day off today. Doing some reading and watching dramas with subs instead.
10

９月１７日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 98 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 34-42

I’m done with chapter 2. Was able to read last pages smoothly with almost no looking up for things! Kuromaki goes to do her own tasks, telling to Wadanohara that she will meet them later. Party successfully reached Sea Country, but is stopped by Sakemichi.

Words I didn’t know: 結局, 詫び, 特別, 立ち去る

P.S. I successfully bought 鹿の王 on Booklive today, and will start reading it tomorrow alongside with Wadanohara (on which I’m planning to slowdown a bit, since I’m going a little bit too much ahead of Book Club schedule).

Classes:

  • Did 2 excercises from homework for Unit 11.
11

９月１8日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 85 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 43-47

While the pages are 43-47, I technically read just 2, other ones were covers for chapter 3. Today’s pages went smooth, understood them without any issues. Chapter starts with Sakemichi repeating once more that Wadanohara, as well as her familiar, have to leave the village, because they have no place here. Wadanohara, in return, asks where Sakemichi was all this time and says that she was worried for him.

  • 鹿の王, 1 page in a landscape mode.

I’m… not sure how to count pages here, because there are no numbers. I read 1 page in a landscape mode. It actually went better than I thought it would, and I’m surprised at the amount of furigana. Apparently, this novel is written mainly for teenagers? ＜光る葉＞の卵 chapter starts with a young guy rushing in a room, telling to his grandfather (or that’s what he calls him, that is) that “Glowing leafs” are seeming to die. They proceed to the room together, where the guy says with trembling lips that he took good care of algae, and changed water by grandather’s instruction. He then proceeds to reassure the guy that algae’s death isn’t his fault and points out that he should look closely at them. Young guy notices that there are eggs on algae.

Classes:

  • Did another 2 excercises from homework for Unit 11.
12

9月19日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 102 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 48-49

The conflict continues, Sakemichi insists that Wadanohara has to leave, while Wadanohara says that she looked for him. Sakemichi says that if she won’t leave by herself - he will force her out.

  • 鹿の王, 光る葉

Finished reading 光る葉 chapter, which seems to be a sort of a prologue. I wonder now if a boy and a grandfather from this chapter will show up in later chapters (I guess they will) and, well, who are they in the first place, and also I wonder if these algae have any meaning to the story by themselved, or if it’s a philosophy behind this chapter is what does matter later. Story:: Grandfather tells that when these “glowing leafs” plant seeds, they shortly die, all at once, without exception. The boy, seemingly sad, asks if it means that they die without raising their children , to which grandfather nods and tells that there are unexpectedly a lot of species like this. The boy then asks how the algae died, because he finds it weird that you would die by laying an egg, and asks if it’s an egg what kills it. Grandfarther says that it’s not the egg, but “the seed of illness”, and that this “seed” exists in every living creature, proceeding that if you can win over it - you’ll live, but if you don’t - you die, and that’s how it is with everything.

Classes:

  • Did 4 excercises from homework for Unit 11. 2 more left.
13

9月20日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 100 reviews.

Reading:

  • 大海原と大海原, Pages 49-50

Sakemichi get his boldness being hit out of him by Wadanohara’s octopus familiar. XD Quite a sudden comedy scene during a pretty serious moment.

  • 鹿の王, 生き残った者

Started reading 生き残った者 chapter. It’s hard. Hard in a way where I need to look up almost every word, and every second grammar, so today’s page took more than 1.5 hour as result. It’s not a bad thing though, since it’s all done for the sake of practice along with reading for the sake of reading. I should say that even tho my level is obviously lower than needed, still can appreciate writer’s style of writing (which is a novelty to my with Japanese). Story: Chapter starts with Van seeing a dream about his homeland. He notes that the river there was beautiful, and the in autum, tree’s leafs were turning red and yellow then to fall into the river and dissapear without a trace. With that, Van says that “Eventually, it’ll happen. No matter who, eventually it’ll happen”. I’m clumpsy at describing it, but honestly this part of the text is a very poetic way to explain death. Along with the prologue it makes me think that apparently the finiteness of life is going to be a central topic of the story?
Then Van thinks to himself that while he sees these dreams about his childhood, he never sees dreams of how they were defeated in battle and enslaved, nor how people dear to him died in from of him, while he vividly remembers it when he’s awoke. .

Classes:

  • Didn’t do homework today. Planning to finish it tomorrow.
14

9月21日：

WaniKani:

  • 20 lessons;
  • 112 reviews.

Reading:

  • Final Fantasy XIV

Well, that’s a twist plot I guess. I didn’t really have a mood for studing today and wanted to play, so since FF14 is provided in four langauges including Japanese - I just used it as a practise material along with having a rest. I’m currently leveling a second character on a server different from my main, so I reread the main story.

Classes:

  • -
15

10月1日：

Mainly just a short update. I didn’t have the chance to write daily reports due to work, and couldn’t read as much either because of this, but in these days I finished reading chapter 3 for 大海原と大海原, and 生き残った者 for 鹿の王. So far I enjoy reading both. It’s hard, but I do feel more and more comfortable with reading by each passing day, which is the most important part for me. :slight_smile:

My lessons and reviews here on WK are also doing fine:

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Hope I can resume doing daily reports as well too. September was hectic.

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