🪴 Ivy's Big Adventure (Study Log) 🇲🇩 ♋

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

Hi everyone! I started writing this post more than a month ago, and the issue is… I want it to be so perfect, that I never actually get to post it. It seems that I should just accept that perfection doesn’t exist and JUST DO IT! So here we go.

Introduction (I wanted to call it brief, but it's not)

I’m Ivy, I just turned 24 and I’m from the little country Moldova (sorry for my English, I’m trying my best). I decided to make my own log for several reasons:

• I need some interaction with other Japanese learners, because it always seems to go better when you feel connected.
• I struggle with game addiction, which sometimes makes me stop learning alltogether.
• Opposed to the previous one, sometimes I can shift towards studying too much Japanese. I tend to get very involved with whatever I do and this tendency leads to burning out too fast. I want to be more mindful of this.
• I like numbers, stats, charts and everything that helps with tracking progress.

My experience before WaniKani:
Studying languages has always been part of me, something I always did for my own enjoyment. I began my journey with Japanese when I was around 16 years old, but back then my approach used to be so bad. After years of trial and error with many other languages I think I learnt what works for me. I did not have money to pay for WaniKani or any other resources and I didn’t even know they existed. Luckily, now I can afford it and it’s a joyful experience for me.

Why Japanese?:
I studied multiple languages, but this is the one that I keep turning back to. Everything about this language is attractive to me, especially the way it sounds and the writing system. It generally sounds like a very appealing language for creative writing, which is something I’m looking forward to. One more reason is watching anime without subtitles. Anime has always been a source of inspiration for me, not only in terms of emotions or ideas, but also aesthetically. Those vibrant colors seem to always bring me back to life whenever I’m feeling down. And there’s also a secret goal for which I need a pretty stable N3 level.

My first reset (and hopefully the last one xD):
I was very consistent and leveling up at max speed until level 24. But then, I fell in love and I dropped most of my activities. It ended up being a very toxic relationship, which I recently got out of.

The resources I'm currently using and some rules to follow

Resources:
WaniKani (obviously)
KaniWani+GoogleKeyboard: I use this one specifically for learning how to properly write Kanji. Instead of typing the answers, I draw them. It helps a lot with writing, distinguishing similar Kanji and reinforcing everything I learn on WaniKani. I used to just type in the answers, but thanks to my friend (you’ll find out more about her later on), I discovered that these can be actually painted. So I reset WK to level 1, and began the journey of improving my writing. Absolutely loving it! I don’t know whether most people already use it this way, but if you don’t - just try it out. Even for those who are not interested in learning how to write, it reinforces your kanji recognition a lot more.
Kitsun: I prefer it over Anki. Can’t explain the reasons, it just feels better. I’m not using the standard decks because I generally dislike learning random words (WK is an exception, since it’s specifically aimed for Kanji recognition). I create a new deck for each piece of writing I use for intensive reading. Here are my current decks:

Japanese Stories for Language Learners (book): Here’s a review on it on Tofugu. Review: Japanese Stories for Language Learners — Bilingual Stories in English and Japanese
I got this one from the friend I mentioned before. It’s absolutely amazing. The vocab and grammar are a lot higher than my current Japanese level, but I still love it. Deck 3 and 4 on Kitsun are based on this book, and I’m planning to make a deck for each story in this book.
BunPro: Started recently (04.10.2022). Slowly introducing grammar to my daily practice. Actually I found out about this one long ago, when it used to be free. But because of my tendency to rush things, I ended up overwhelmed and dropped it alltogether. I just reset it and paid for the subscription, so it’s a new beginning.
Resources I don’t use anymore, but they helped me on the way:

1. LingoDeer: Not as effective as WK+BunPro, but it definitely helped me to set a solid background.
2. Japanese Conjugation City: Loving this one. It’s so good for drilling verb and adjective conjugations.
3. Takoboto: Amazing dictionary. Not using it right now, because the book mentioned before has all the translations and explanations I currently need. I used to pair it with WK lessons to write down more appealing (don’t judge me, creators of WK xD) example sentences for the words I was learning.

The rules I’m trying to stick to:

• Not doing any new lessons before I finish my reviews.
• Limit my time to max 1h per app (WK, KW, Kitsun).
• Check my answers before submitting. (Accuracy>Speed)

I came up with these to stop myself from rushing. Maybe I should also introduce some rules for my gaming time, but that’s a whole different story…

And to add some color to the first post in this thread, here’s my WK wallpaper from 05.10.2022. One day it’ll all be completed. xD

I use my custom colors from Flaming Durtles.

Waiting for my first Burned Kanji to come in about a month, to have some red on this wallpaper.

I’m not sure yet how exactly I’m going to structure this log, but I’m happy to finally be posting it. Yaaaaaaay!

Timeline

15 Jan 2023	LVL UP	WaniKani 21
4 Jan 2023	LVL UP	WaniKani 20
26 Dec 2022	DROP	Unsubscribed from Kitsun
26 Dec 2022	DROP	Unsubscribed from BunPro
14 Dec 2022	LVL UP	WaniKani 19
8 Dec 2022	WIN	Finished BunPro N5 grammar
14 Nov 2022	LVL UP	WaniKani 18
9 Nov 2022	NEW	Added physical activity to the overall routine
7 Nov 2022	WIN	Finished reading my first ever long story
6 Nov 2022	WIN	First Burned kanji
4 Nov 2022	LVL UP	WaniKani 17
14 Oct 2022	NEW	Subscribed to Satori Reader
4 Oct 2022	NEW	Subscribed to BunPro

Templates

In case any of them suit you, feel free to use them. <3

Reading

Name
Parts	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	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60

SRS

Month			Rev					Less
	WK	KW	Kitsun	BunPro		WK	KW	Kitsun	BunPro
Date
Date

Additional activities

Month	月	火	水	木	金	土	日
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

- Activity 1; - Activity 2

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

A post with the total items count on each app for random dates. Not sure what’s the purpose of it, but I just like watching the numbers grow. xD
I think I’m going to update it twice a month, cause doing it too often might turn this post into a long sausage after a few months.
24.10.2022
Just realized that I can hide the content to prevent it from becoming too long.

WaniKani

	Lvl	Apprentice	Guru	Master	Enlightened	Burned
01.09.2022	14	78	607	534	890	0
25.09.2022	14	15	245	555	1293	1
04.10.2022	14	65	232	531	1380	1
21.10.2022	15	61	350	293	1689	20
04.11.2022	16	66	349	315	1828	20
01.12.2022	18	79	396	356	1604	381
15.12.2022	19	84	340	361	1457	649
01.01.2023	19	107	361	361	1391	841
18.01.2023	21	141	442	381	1246	1113

KaniWani

	Lvl	Apprentice	Guru	Master	Enlightened	Burned
07.09.2022	9	43	266	305	78	-
25.09.2022	2	48	RESET	RESET	1	-
04.10.2022	4	100	103	-	1	-
21.10.2022	5	48	290	40	1	-
04.11.2022	6	91	243	214	1	-
01.12.2022	6	33	208	309	3	-
15.12.2022	6	8	111	198	236	-
01.01.2023	7	74	23	229	301	-
18.01.2023	8	80	164	106	428	1

Kitsun

	Lvl	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Expert	Master
07.09.2022	5	65	193	-	-	-
25.09.2022	6	34	86	138	-	-
04.10.2022	6	43	89	166	-	-
21.10.2022	8	85	161	215	-	-
04.11.2022	9	92	269	126	159	-
01.12.2022	10	54	296	220	191	-
15.12.2022	11	67	236	151	307	-
01.01.2023	11	67	231	151	312	-

Temporarily or permanently dropped.

BunPro

BunPro	Lvl	Beginner	Adept	Seasoned	Expert	Master	Ghosts
04.10.2022	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
21.10.2022	13	8	44	-	-	-	2
04.11.2022	21	3	46	42	-	-	2
01.12.2022	29	7	19	96	-	-	7
15.12.2022	30	21	11	104	-	-	4
01.01.2023	31	17	11	108	-	-	14

Temporarily or permanently dropped.

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

September 2022: The month before this log. Getting to 0 reviews

01.09.2022
There’s been one more week of completely ignoring Japanese because of games, which is why I got some reviews piled up. Not too much, but it’s still something I try to avoid. These “breaks” always lead to a significant drop in my accuracy, speed and ability to focus. I also do reviews and lessons with music, so I get distracted to sing or dance. But honestly right now I don’t feel ready to give up on music, so leaving it as it is for now. (Ironically been writing this while reviewing the vocab “focus”.)

07.09.2022
I’m trying to play less and come back to Japanese. Slow but I’m getting there. Done some reviews and subscribed to Kitsun, since my 2 week free trial ended.

Here’s a table I’m only going to use until I get to 0 Reviews on each app, since it doesn’t reflect the actual number of reviews I do per day. Initially I had Lessons count in here as well. It came out to be useless, since I don’t wanna let myself do Lessons before I finish Reviews, so the numbers just stayed the same.

September 2022	WK Reviews	KW Reviews	Kitsun Reviews
01.09 12:00	334	397	250
02.09 10:00	417(+83)	-	-
04.09 19:00	528(+111)	-	-
05.09 01:00	351(-177)	-	-
07.09 10:00	485(+134)	435(+38)	258(+8)
07.09 23:00	315(-170)	462(+27)	112(-146)
15.09 18:00	108(-207)	538(+76)	81(-31)
15.09 22:00	71(-37)	RESET	51(-30)
16.09 13:00	142(+71)	38(+38)	63(+12)
17.09 15:00	102(-40)	-	46(-17)
19.09 15:00	175(+73)	48(+10)	70(+24)
21.09 15:00	176(+1)	-	78(+8)
22.09 10:00	94(-82)	-	152(+74)
23.09 14:00	115(+21)	-	107(-45)
25.09 13:00	68(-47)	32(+32)	106(-1)
25.09 13:00	0(-68)	0(-32)	0(-106)

Yay, I did it! Now I can switch to a different type of table, which will reflect the number of reviews I do each day. And since I zeroed them all out, I can do some new lessons. Happy! :3

September 2022	WK Reviews	KW Reviews	Kitsun Reviews	WK Lessons	KW Lessons	Kitsun Lessons
25.09	16	6	13	10	40	-
26.09	29	45	58	12	-	-
27.09	78	78	18	19	20	5
28.09	79	94	22	9	10	10
29.09	-	-	-	-	-	-
30.09	95	35	74	20	30	5

October 2022
A sketchy plan for this month, including a table with my daily number of reviews and lessons:

Goals:
Lvl 15 on WK
Lvl 16 on WK
Add all the new words to my 4th Kitsun deck, based on 雪女 (link to the book in the Intensive reading section below)

24.10.2022
Finish studying the words from 雪女 (Yuki Onna)

Honestly I have so much trouble forcing myself not to jump into reading new stories and making more decks. My mind is always craving something new, and all of it seems so much more interesting than whatever I’m currently doing, even though I was totally obsessed with the previous story just a few days ago or even yesterday. I’ve already studied 100 words from a new deck, but I’m trying to unlearn this bad habit of leaving tasks unfinished. Tracking everything surely brings more awareness.
Another one is having an internal conflict when it comes to extensive reading. I have hard times just reading without making decks with new vocab, because it feels like I’m going to lose that useful experience. Not sure how to solve this one yet. I guess I will just set a clear distinction between intensive and extensive reading and bear through the pain of not making new decks before I finish studying the previous ones. I literally feel how much objection I’m getting from my mind which loves switching from one thing to another.

28.10.2022
Read the first 20 chapters Satori Reader | Kona's Big Adventure

Intensive reading

Review: Japanese Stories for Language Learners — Bilingual Stories in English and Japanese (book):

Pages
浦島太郎 (1st story)	11	13	15
雪女 (2nd story)	23	25	27
蜘蛛の糸 (3rd story)	37	39	41	43	45
溺れかけた兄妹 (4th story)	61	63	65	67	69	71
	73	75	77	79	81
セロ弾きのゴーシュ (5th story)	111	113	115	117	119	121
	123	125	127	129	131	133
	135	137	139	141	143	145
	147	149	151

14.10.2022
Adding some more reading material. The goal is similar to the previous one; read the whole story and add all the unknown words to a new Kitsun deck.
Link to the story: Satori Reader | Kona's Big Adventure

コナの大冒険
Chapters	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	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
	41	42	43	44	45

Extensive reading

22.10.2022
Link to the story: Satori Reader | The Jam Maker

ジャム屋さん
Chapters	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Reviews and Lessons count

October 2022	WK Reviews	KW Reviews	Kitsun Reviews	BunPro Reviews	WK Lessons	KW Lessons	Kitsun Lessons	BunPro Lessons
01.10	127	86	-		-	-	-
02.10	-	-	39		-	-	-
03.10	144	75	29	NEW	20	25	10	NEW
04.10	169	143	63	16	16	30	20	8
05.10	120	66	55	43	26	10	20	5
06.10	78	62	49	24	5	20	13	-
07.10	193	63	66	36	10	15	-	7
08.10	28	105	-	-	-	-	-	-
09.10	164	45	78	34	17	-	-	-
10.10	53	42	-	10	-	20	-	-
11.10	154	99	78	21	30	20	10	4
12.10	124	44	12	15	20	20	-	4
13.10	111	77	62	57	20	20	10	4
14.10	61	103	30	21	10	10	20	4
15.10	128	34	43	28	-	-	-	8
16.10	97	77	53	26	-	-	-	-
17.10	96	31	42	40	15	20	10	-
18.10	95	107	71	32	25	20	20	4
19.10	49	43	62	26	-	-	20	2
20.10	97	79	46	32	20	-	20	2
21.10	133	39	72	38	20	10	10	6
22.10	100	23	150	41	10	10	20	-
23.10	80	80	100	50	-	10	-	4
24.10	100	80	100	50	25	10	20	4
25.10	100	80	100	50	5	10	-	2
26.10	100	80	80	50	5	10	20	8
27.10	100	30	110	50	10	20	65	-
28.10	100	80	110	50	20	-	-	5
29.10	140	80	110	50	20	40	-	-
30.10	100	80	110	50	-	-	-	-
31.10	84	60	60	50	20	10	-	6

[HeyDuda32]

I must say I admire the dedication to detail and tracking…but my one worry for you is that this level of tracking may lead to burnout? I would take the overall “theme” of what you are attempting to accomplish and try to simplify it a bit into your overall lifestyle. The idea of not doing new lessons until all reviews is gone is great, but do you need to track it? I know personally that this would add that much extra gravity to my overall studies, and for me personally, would either unessesarilly slow me down, or would discourage me if I fell behind.

Either way, great job so far! I’m working through my (please don’t tell anyone this) my 3RD WK RESET!! Though, our study plans are almost identical. I’m using Kitsun, and as well I’m using KaniWani. Though instead of Google Keyboard, I’m using an Apple Pencil on my iPad to practice writing the Kanji - form of answers on KaniWani. Doing Bunpro as well. Going very slowly and taking great notes as I go, but only have about 20 lessons left until all of N5 is complete…then on to N4!

My past two resets, I had made it to levels 14/15…so about where you are. What book are you reading that you’re basing your Kitsun deck on? I just ordered and received a bunch of Tadoku Graded Readers to start reading away with. The level 0 was way too easy. I had to look up maybe 2-3 words per story, and knew all grammar points. The Level 1 books were the same, maybe looked up 5-10 words per story, again knew all grammar points. I just received the Level 2 book set yesterday, but have yet to crack it open. I’m sure I’ll have quite a few items to add to Kitsun after starting the level 2 series.

Cheers, and good luck with your studies Ivy

Edit: Nevermind…just saw your link to the book you’re reading. What are your thoughts so far? What is the difficulty like? My main goal for Japanese study is to efficiently read/consume Japanese…so I’m looking for a nice gradual way to start becoming comfortable with reading material. The Tadoku Graded readers have been great…but your book definitely has my interest. Curious your thoughts. Thanks!

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

@HeyDuda32

I must say I admire the dedication to detail and tracking…but my one worry for you is that this level of tracking may lead to burnout? I would take the overall “theme” of what you are attempting to accomplish and try to simplify it a bit into your overall lifestyle. The idea of not doing new lessons until all reviews is gone is great, but do you need to track it? I know personally that this would add that much extra gravity to my overall studies, and for me personally, would either unessesarilly slow me down, or would discourage me if I fell behind.

For me personally it doesn’t feel like a burden at all. I’m kind of aware about how much I can handle, so I slow it down whenever I feel like it’s too much. On my first WK attempt I was going full speed, 1 week per level, which is something I don’t do anymore. So I’m good so far, thank you :3

@HeyDuda32

What are your thoughts so far? What is the difficulty like?

I’m not sure how to assess the difficulty, since it’s basically translated word by word. But without the translation it would be a lot higher than my level, since I barely know any vocab or grammar points from the book. I do like it a lot though, most of the vocab is something I’m interested in. I’m going very slow with it, only a few sentences or a paragraph a day.

@HeyDuda32

My main goal for Japanese study is to efficiently read/consume Japanese…

Yeah, I’d say that’s my main goal as well. Really looking forward to being able to read some fantasy books and play games in Japanese.

@HeyDuda32

I just received the Level 2 book set yesterday, but have yet to crack it open.

Let me know how it goes. I never tried that series. I’m very picky when it comes to reading and consuming in general, so I tend to ignore regular textbooks.

@HeyDuda32

Cheers, and good luck with your studies Ivy

Thaaaank you!

[HeyDuda32]

@Ivy_K_Elliot

Let me know how it goes. I never tried that series. I’m very picky when it comes to reading and consuming in general, so I tend to ignore regular textbooks.

Will do. I actually just discovered this is covered in a dedicated reading thread! Link here: Graded Readers and Parallel Texts "Book Club"

It’s not really a textbook, so much as just a graded reader. So far there’s been a few interesting stories. Maybe you’ve heard of Hachiko the dog (the stupidly depressing story of the dog that waits daily at the station for his deceased owner)? There’s a few fables and short stories kind of like that. But your book definitely has my interest due to having translations provided. I already ordered it! Might reach out to you after I’ve given it a shot.

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

@HeyDuda32

Link here:

Thank you, will check it.

@HeyDuda32

Maybe you’ve heard of Hachiko the dog (the stupidly depressing story of the dog that waits daily at the station for his deceased owner)?

Your description got me laughing xD Yeah, I heard of it, but never watched the movie.

@HeyDuda32

I already ordered it! Might reach out to you after I’ve given it a shot.

Please do!

[HeyDuda32]

@Ivy_K_Elliot

I’m not sure how to assess the difficulty, since it’s basically translated word by word. But without the translation it would be a lot higher than my level, since I barely know any vocab or grammar points from the book. I do like it a lot though, most of the vocab is something I’m interested in. I’m going very slow with it, only a few sentences or a paragraph a day.

Yup…got the book last Friday. I do like that there are 1:1 translations…but I’m in the same boat–If I didn’t have those translations it would definitely be above my level. Great book to have, and I’m sure I will dig into it at some point…but I think I will put it back on my shelf until I’m ready. Thinking I should complete all of the Tadoku Graded Readers at a minimum, before I pick this back up again. I could parse bits and pieces out of the Taro Urushima story…but not enough to comfortably enjoy reading it. The translations are invaluable to decipher the nuance of certain things, in that prior to having 1:1 translations, I only made educated guesses at…so definitely good to have!

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

November 2022:
New month - new goals

01.11.2022
WaniKani Lvl 17 (almost there)
WaniKani Lvl 18
WaniKani Lvl 19
Finish N5 Grammar on BunPro
Current progress:

Finish reading Part 1 Satori Reader | Kona's Big Adventure

1. Add all new words to Kitsun
   
2. Study them!

Burn my first kanji and words
Not really a goal cause it’s going to inevitably happen. It will add a new color to my kanji wallpaper! Yay! Is it weird to be excited so much about it? I’m literally counting the days as if it were a special event. xD

07.11.2022

Finally some burned kanji!

The deck ended up having 797 words. So I’m happily starting a new one, while I keep learning the vocab from Kona and grammar on BunPro.

11.11.2022

I feel that I’m missing a lot on kanji knowledge. I can read plenty of words just because of visual memory, but not knowing the kanji holds me back from learning them properly. So I see two options:

1. Speed up WaniKani and spend less time on other resources;
2. Go for kanji decks on Kitsun instead of vocab decks.

I was going to choose the first one, but since I’m feeling more resistance towards the second one, something tells me that it’s the right one. I can see where the resistance comes from. Making kanji decks is more tedious than words. But if I speed up WaniKani, it will also result in more vocab and higher risks of getting overwhelmed. Also some of the kanji that I often see are from levels 40-60 on WK, which means I’ll still have to wait for possibly more than a year to get there, and it makes me unhappy. xD So I’m going for the second option.
Combined with the change I mentioned above, I want to reduce or give up completely on intensive reading for a while. New words seem to stick a lot better after I encounter them a few times in different stories, instead of forcing them into my head right away as I am doing now. As such, I will let myself read more and get the context at least a few times before I proceed to grinding them.
As a source I’m still going to stick with Satori Reader since I paid for the subscription and there’s plenty of stories I enjoy, despite other people calling them boring. As long as there are animals involved, I’m in. xD After I’m done with the ones I like, I might as well end my subscription. We’ll see.

18.11.2022

There are some things that I genuinely dislike doing. So here a list of things I keep procrastinating on.
Reread and study the grammar points:
浦島太郎
雪女
コナの大冒険 (Part 1)
Other:
Add all the kanji I’ve been collecting for the past week to Kitsun
Make a table with onomatopoeia I struggle with
Edit: 🪴 Ivy's Big Adventure (Study Log) 🇲🇩 ♋ - #10 by Ivy_K_Elliot
Share some experiences from the past week

29.11.2022

Here we go again. Whenever I get back into games everything falls apart. Not as bad as it used to be, but still a very weak point of mine. Now I have to get rid of my review piles. Also feeling sick, so I’m going to take it slow.
This is what happens to my reviews when I play too much…

Some other weak points to work on

(Not going for all of them this month, but I’ll just keep them here as a reference for what I have to do next)
Katakana
Never really bothered with learning it properly, and I don’t regret it. But I think the time has come to grind the kana I’m weak at for a while.
Passive form of verbs
What is Shimau after the verbs and why is it everywhere
Conditional form
Nakerebaikenai as a double negative
Onomatopoeia
WHY THERE ARE SO MANY AND SO SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER!
Adverbs
Same issue here. Plenty of them are so similar, that I have trouble differentiating.
Verb pairs
Linking words
Kosoado

Reviews and Lessons count

Nov 2022			Rev					Less
	WK	KW	Kitsun	BunPro		WK	KW	Kitsun	BunPro
01.11	120	80	120	50		-	10	20	4
02.11	120	80	90	50		-	-	10	-
03.11	40	40	70	50		30	30	30	-
04.11	120	80	120	50		40	-	10	2
05.11	120	20	80	50		-	-	-	4
06.11	120	60	90	50		20	4	20	4
07.11	120	10	120	50		15	-	20	6
08.11	120	50	120	50		10	-	20	-
09.11	120	20	120	50		15	-	-	2
10.11	120	-	120	50		5	-	20	4
11.11	130	-	30	30		30	-	-	-
12.11	130	-	90	30		-	-	-	-
13.11	130	-	30	30		-	-	-	-
14.11	130	-	90	30		30	-	10	4
15.11	150	30	90	30		20	-	10	2
16.11	150	-	10	30		-	-	-	-
17.11	120	-	40	30		-	-	5	-
18.11	120	20	60	50		10	-	-	1
19.11	100	20	-	30		10	-	-	-
20.11	40	-	-	-		20	-	-	-
21.11	70	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
22.11	20	-	-	30		-	-	-	-
23.11	10	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
24.11	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
25.11	-	6	-	-		-	-	-	-
26.11	50	10	30	50		-	-	-	-
27.11	60	-	-	30		-	-	-	2
28.11	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
29.11	60	20	-	30		-	-	-	-
30.11	60	20	-	30		-	-	-	-

Intensive reading

コナの大冒険
Chapters	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
	41	42	43	44	45

ジャム屋さん
Chapters	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20

Extensive reading

Satori Reader | Hole in the Wall

壁の穴
Episodes	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	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58

Physical activity

Nov 2022	月	火	水	木	金	土	日
Week 1		NEW	09	10	11	12	13
Week 2	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Week 3	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Week 4	28	29	30

- Going for a walk; - Learning choreography

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

Inspiration hunting!

I have the tendency to be absorbed a little too much by whatever I’m learning and completely disconnect from people and reality in general. Not that bad for short periods of time, but pretty damaging in the long run. I seem forget that one of my motivations to learn the language is to eventually be able to share knowledge with other learners and help them on their way.
Thus I decided to embark on a little trip through other people’s study logs in search for new study resources, routines, ideas and friends. :3

I hope this will also help with my fear of sharing personal thoughts and experience. I know it’s all in my head. I’m thinking too much about whether I’m sharing too much or too little, how do other people perceive everything I post and so on and so forth. I end up overthinking and editing my thoughts to the point that they get stiff and lifeless. So I’m looking forward to adding a pinch of genuine emotions to all of it. <3

I’m going to update this post with some notes on whatever catches my attention throughout this journey.

12.11.2022

Should have updated it a lot earlier, but for some reason I keep avoiding it. I guess I still feel uncomfortable with sharing.

The first thing I absolutely had to add to my routine is physical activity. I saw Twelve doing that and I loved it. Amazing study log with plenty of insights! The amount of effort is obvious and it makes me want to do better as well. Enjoyed reading it and will definitely keep following what comes next. We’re also similar in some aspects like being affected by seasonal depression and quickly sliding into an obsessive mindset if not being careful, which makes it even more relatable for me.

Now on the physical activity. Even though I’ve only been doing it for 3 days, the positive experience I’m getting from it is obvious. I never thought about linking it to my Japanese studies. I’ve heard before that there’s the concept of stacking positive habits together, but I couldn’t figure out how exactly it can be applied.
The first thing I added is going for a walk. Because of the severe social anxiety issues I had between the ages of 9 and 22, I still tend to perceive the outside world as a dangerous place. My anxiety is mostly gone, but memories still linger somewhere in the air, that’s why I kept avoiding going outside. But as soon as I started, so much positive change emerged from it. In the very first day I noticed that I’m feeling better both physically and mentally. Fresh air and sun exposure instantly improved my well-being. Might not be that big of a change for most people, but for me, besides being naturally sensitive to physical environment, I also deprived myself from it for more than half of my life. Of course I would go outside for groceries or some other reasons, but it was always in a rush and with the desire to come back home as soon as possible. However going for a walk for the sole purpose of enjoying it surely hit me different. I think it’s the first time I did in … I don’t even know how many years. Just allowing myself to enjoy the smells, colors, sounds with no rush or expectation involved. It makes me feel a lot better for the rest of the day.

Since there was still some moderate levels of anxiety involved, I allowed myself to do some lessons while being outside. So I basically took something familiar and brought into an unfamiliar environment, to ease the avoidance of going there. And it worked!
The second activity I added is learning choreography. Always wanted to try it out. Can’t say much about it yet, since it’s something that will show its effect after a longer time. But even from the first few days I can see some improvement to my posture, or at least my awareness about it. I’m also feeling more connected to my body, which is something I usually disregard because I put more value on activities that involve thinking. There’s a chance that it’s not something natural to me and I just grew up with this mindset because it was valued in my family, and most physical and creative activities were not taken seriously. But I can’t be certain on this one yet, cause I have to do it for a longer time.
Loving them both so far!

I’ve also read a few more logs and looking at people’s efforts despite real life struggles and other distracting factors is so inspiring. I’m so grateful for being able to read through them. Thank you all for sharing the experience and helping me gain more courage because of that.

[Makushi_Rutsu]

You seem to be very invested right now, keep it going ! I’m impressed by the number of SRS involved in your routine. How do you feel so far, are you satisfied with the balance you created between your Japanese studies and the other aspect of your life ?
I’m glad to see other fellow learners at more or less the same point in Wanikani, making their way up ! It pumps me up

@Ivy_K_Elliot

Even for those who are not interested in learning how to write, it reinforces your kanji recognition a lot more.

Ah calligraphy is such a beautiful art, unfortunately I suck at everything involving a pen. My drawing skills stopped improving at first grade level
I can see the benefit for memorizing but I think I would be too frustrated by my own incompetence in drawing beautiful Kanji haha

@Ivy_K_Elliot

I have hard times just reading without making decks with new vocab, because it feels like I’m going to lose that useful experience.

Reading is never a loss of experience, if you feel like you add too much vocab, maybe try to select the words you think will be the most useful in the future, or limit the amount of new vocabulary/chapter. I think that’s how I will approach making flashcard when I introduce back Anki. But probably easier said than done since it seems that not making decks gives you anxiety

@Ivy_K_Elliot

Physical activity

You started a Work-Out Log as well I see

PS: I’m thrilled for the reveal of your secret goal once you Reach N3 !

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

@Makushi_Rutsu

How do you feel so far, are you satisfied with the balance you created between your Japanese studies and the other aspect of your life ?

Hard to give an answer, cause I can’t really balance something that doesn’t exist. xD
I think learning Japanese is the most organized aspect of my life atm. I was not allowed to do the things I loved as a child, like learning foreign languages, dancing or drawing. Not that I was completely banned from it, but the amount of judgement I got from my family pushed me to give up. Now that I “escaped” and can choose for myself, I’m in the process of reevaluating my priorities and shifting my life to a direction that would fit me more.

@Makushi_Rutsu

I’m glad to see other fellow learners at more or less the same point in Wanikani, making their way up ! It pumps me up

Same for me.

@Makushi_Rutsu

Ah calligraphy is such a beautiful art, unfortunately I suck at everything involving a pen. My drawing skills stopped improving at first grade level
I can see the benefit for memorizing but I think I would be too frustrated by my own incompetence in drawing beautiful Kanji haha

I want to get back to painting when I reach a level that satisfies me in my Japanese studies.
Well… I don’t think that the kanji I draw in KaniWani are beautiful xD I just do the bare minimum for the app to recognize them. They definitely come up ugly, but I don’t care cause beautiful writing is not my current goal.

@Makushi_Rutsu

But probably easier said than done since it seems that not making decks gives you anxiety

Yup, it does. Initially I wanted to get rid of this habit, but now I found some benefits to it. It prevents me from consuming too much content and getting overwhelmed, kind of the same thing that WaniKani does by limiting your amount of lessons. My struggles mostly come from doing too much, even to the point that it messes up with my physical health.

@Makushi_Rutsu

You started a Work-Out Log as well I see

Yes! I actually saw it in someone else’s log, and thought to myself that it’s a wonderful idea. But I want to write a longer post related to this topic, so won’t give much details now.

@Makushi_Rutsu

PS: I’m thrilled for the reveal of your secret goal once you Reach N3 !

You won’t have to wait. I wanted to apply for a job at Tofugu, it seemed to really fit my interests and skills, but it’s not available anymore.

[Makushi_Rutsu]

I’m sorry to hear that and I’m glad you got somewhat out of it, life is complicated enough as it is without having close one dragging you down
You still have plenty of time to figure out and try what really matters to you. And if Japanese helps you bringing back order into chaos that’s great.

Interesting, people usually talk about planning for people that struggle with getting things done but in your case it’s more about putting some regulation so that you don’t burn out.

Oh ok, maybe another opportunity will raise in the future and you will still need N3 ( or above) so it’s still worth as a goal !

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

@Makushi_Rutsu

so it’s still worth as a goal

Sure it is!
Thank you for the kind words. :3

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

December 2022

By the end of the year:
WaniKani lvl 19
WaniKani lvl 20
Finish N5 Grammar on BunPro

03.12.2022

Starting this month with a lot of uncertainty. Got plenty of reviews piled up. Not setting any new goals, since I’ve barely finished half of the tasks from last month. I’m very confused about what I should be doing, because I’ve not studied for a few weeks, and it’ll take some time to get back on track. As a starting point I will just try to get back to 0 reviews on all of the apps I’m using. No idea how long it might take me. My daily routine turned into a mess and I haven’t seen the sun for weeks, which makes me feel so much worse. That’s the main reason for why I stopped going out for a walk. I can’t stand this weather, so I will not try to force myself to go out until it gets better. But since I still want to have at least 2 different physical activities, I’m going to replace the walks with stretching.

06.12.2022

While I’m taking my time to get rid of the review piles and not doing any new lessons, I started consuming more content in Japanese. And I’m impressed by the amount of words from WaniKani I came upon. Some of them seemed so weird when I was studying them, however seeing them in games or anime made it so much easier to grasp the actual meaning. Feels like a breath of fresh air.
We also got our first snow this year, and it feels a little better than just bare trees, even though the sun still keeps hiding. Slowly getting more excited about the upcoming holidays and things seem to get better.

08.12.2022

One small step away from a new victory. :3
Not sure how relatable it is for other people, but for some reason N5 grammar seemed to be more challenging, while N4 goes a little bit smoother. I might be biased, since I only went through a few N4 grammar points. But the source of this feeling might be that while learning N5 grammar, we’re still building the foundation and getting used to the word order. Excited to see how long it will take me to go through N4, but I’m leaving it for next year.

26.12.2022

I do still have time to get to lvl 20 by the end of the year, but I’m not sure whether I want to rush it just for the sake of checking the box. I’m also reconsidering the amount of SRS apps I’m using and some other shifts to my study routine.

• BunPro is nice as a means of structuring grammar knowledge, but it mostly feels like drilling specific sentences, instead of the grammar points themselves.
• Even though I enjoy the way Kitsun looks and the easiness to create new cards, I really want to learn Migaku, which is better paired with Anki. So I see no point in having 2 flashcard apps. Why Migaku? It seems to be a good tool to combine the different aspects of learning Japanese, without increasing the amount of apps I use. Sometimes having too many of them might be overwhelming, especially when life gets in the way. I’m so glad that I found out that Migaku exists, before committing to Kitsun and BunPro lifetime purchases.
• I want to write more by hand. Even if I can’t express my own thoughts yet, I still enjoy writing and it’s something I value a lot, even if it’s just copying some random text or grammar sentences. Thinking of it now, I got the most improvement in my English when I had to write plenty of essays.
• Speaking has never been a priority for me, but I love singing and Japanese songs are such an invaluable source of inspiration and happiness. I also really enjoy voice acting, trying to mimic different characters, their voices and speech patterns, so I guess should not ignore this aspect as well.

I generally want to start focusing more on my actual preferences this year, instead of just learning for the sake of it. I don’t have that much time left until I get to the stage of life where I’ll have a lot more responsibilities and a lot less free time, so I better spend it wiser.

27.12.2022

@Ivy_K_Elliot

Tried to adapt it to myself.

• My schedule is often chaotic, so I set intervals for lessons and reviews, instead of specific hours.
• Decided not to go for 3 options. In the afternoon I’m mostly sluggish and studying is a bad idea. As for the evening, I don’t want to mess with the SRS time, having 8-10 hours for Apprentice 2 (even if technically I’m just sleeping xD). And this will also result in reaching Apprentice 3 at the time of the day when I’m the busiest. So only morning lessons for me!
• The above is only for radicals/kanji lessons, while vocab is something I’ll let myself be free with. Learning vocab is usually the easiest part for me.
• All of this also means that even though I’ll be leveling up in the evenings, I’m still going to leave new radicals for next morning.

Thanks to @Midnightblue I did it before the year ended, so now I’m ready for next year in terms of WaniKani schedule! Happy!
With this speed, I should reach level 35 by mid-July, which is the time I’ll get my Master’s Degree and move to a different country. So excited! :3

Getting back to 0 reviews

December 2022	WK Reviews	KW Reviews	Kitsun Reviews	BunPro Reviews
03.12 15:00	533	417	426	83
04.12 01:00	466	340	429	86
05.12 16:00	290	350	325	107
06.12 16:00	257	349	334	74
08.12 12:00	175	287	314	74
08.12 16:00	153	150	302	78
12.12 12:00	224	93	347	125
13.12 09:00	94	77	260	89
18.12 23:00	492	35	357	132
20.12 13:00	439	49	367	143
25.12 14:00	48	36	343	132
26.12 15:00	97	41	*	113
26.12 19:00	0	29	*	57
27.12 19:00	0	34	*	97
28.12 21:00	0	0	*	57
29.12 10:00	0	0	*	35

* Replaced with Anki.

Physical activity

Dec 2022	月	火	水	木	金	土	日
Week 1				01	02	03	04
Week 2	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Week 3	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Week 4	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Week 5	26	27	28	29	30	31

- Stretching; - Dancing

Templates for next year

The amount of lessons/reviews doesn’t always reflect the effort and time spent, since the difficulty of the items might vary. As such, I’ll try recording the amount of time I dedicate to each activity. I want to add grammar as well, but I can’t seem to find a resource that would fit me.

Month	Recognition	Writing	Reading	Immersion
App	WaniKani	KaniWani	Satori Reader	Game Gengo
Day

[Makushi_Rutsu]

Don’t be too hard on yourself, things happen and it’s hard to deal with everything. Take your time and concentrate on what keeps you motivated. I’m glad you’re here trying to get back on track. Don’t ever prevent yourself from coming back at something you like because “it’s been too long” or “it’s too late”. There’s a lot of testimonies in this community of people who had ups and down on their road and in the end manage to pull through

I know winter sucks for a lot of people, short days and bad weather are a though combination. Hope you find some things to cheer you up during this period.
Maybe you should move to a sunnier country one day !

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

Thank you!

@Makushi_Rutsu

Maybe you should move to a sunnier country one day !

Yup, that’s what I’m aiming for. :3

[enag2000]

To echo what Makushi said, I am also glad that you have returned. I know that this time of the year can be difficult for a lot of people.

If you celebrate the holidays, is there a movie you look forward to watching? Home Alone is my all time favorite!

[Ivy_K_Elliot]

Thank you!

@enag2000

If you celebrate the holidays, is there a movie you look forward to watching? Home Alone is my all time favorite!

Not sure about movies, but there are some cartoons that I absolutely love to watch over and over again. My favorite is 101 Dalmatians, never getting tired of it. Also Ice Age, Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound and so many more.
Thank you for reminding me that I should watch them again. :3

[alygator]

@Ivy_K_Elliot

Finish N5 Grammar on BunPro

I recently stumbled upon your log a few days back! Just wanted to say hello and congratulations on finishing all N5 grammar on Bunpro. I actually got motivated by your post because I’ve mostly just been doing reviews and only doing 3 lessons once or twice a week on Bunpro. I should really get a move on to complete all N5 and N4 grammar since I’ve just committed to taking JLPT N4 in July.

@Ivy_K_Elliot

My favorite is 101 Dalmatians, never getting tired of it. Also Ice Age, Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound and so many more.

Also love your choice of movies! I was just at a Disney pop up shop the other day and they were playing Disney soundtracks sang in Japanese. Honestly, it wasn’t a nice experience for me and made me cringe, but I wonder if may be you would be open to the idea of watching them dubbed in Japanese? I probably couldn’t do it myself