Learning progress

WaniKani
#7

Before doing WK, I made sure my hiragana/katakana was up to par. I started WK in June of 2016 and basically do it every. single. day. Even when I really don’t want too. lol It gets easier the higher level you are, because the closer you get to level 60, the more motivation you get to continue.

Wanikani has been a great source and it’s awesome to go and read things that you never were able to before. My favorite pass time now is reading NHK news.

I do, however, recommend supplement material, such as Genki and the like, because WK is straight up kanji.

I, myself, have been using Genki (off and on), and Japanesepod101 mostly. Along with a “Basic Japanese Grammar” book I picked up in an Asian market.

TLDR; Wanikani is a great starting place and it helps motivate you to learn ALL THE JAPANESE.

頑張って下さい！

#8

Started May 2016. I didn’t turn on vacation mode during my 2 week vacation to Japan, and spent about a month recovering from that, but otherwise I’ve made pretty good progress.

Unfortunately, since I only have a limited time to study, I also gave up other Japanese studies for WK… so while my Kanji skills are pretty awesome, my other skills (grammar, listening, speaking) are pretty lacking. However, since I’ll be running out of lessons in 1-2 weeks, I’ll be able to work on those other areas, and kanji will no longer be the roadblock that it was a year ago :smile:

As for how often… whenever I can! I do reviews and lessons in the morning, do reviews during my lunch break, when I get home from work, and before I go to bed (and more lessons before bed). I often try to do a few reviews here and there on my phone when I get a chance in the evenings too. I find it easier to reviews in bunches of 20-40 rather than trying to tackle 150 reviews once a day.

4 Likes
#9

Thanks for the kind words :blush:

Forgot to answer your other question, but i’ve been using WaniKani every single day since March 10 (2016).

1 Like
#10

Here’s my level-by-level breakdown of time spent. I’ll probably be on level 59 for another 4-5 days before hitting 60.

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2 Likes
#11

I’m rooting 4 u ! <3

#12

these were the fastest 4-5 days ever

3 Likes
#13

Wanikani has basically become my main way of studying Japanese as of right now. I’m too lazy to go beyond intermediate level Japanese, so I’m trying to just improve my ability to read for now. Once I can actually read most things comfortably, then I will be able to go further in my studies.

When I started learning Japanese, I used to try to memorize kanji and I did some textbook work like Genki or or free online stuff like Tae Kim’s guide to Japanese (was really difficult) to learn grammar. That initial startup of learning about the differences between kanji/katakana/hiragana, and the pronunciation and memorizing them was frustrating and took a little while.

When I felt comfortable enough, I started reading manga with furigana like Yotsuba&! It’s a very easy read and has a simple plot so it was good practice for starting to read.

Eventually I got A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar and practiced writing sentences in Japanese. I’m terrible at it. I prefer being able to read and understand spoken Japanese, anyway.

Anyway, I’ve been studying Japanese on and off for almost 5 years now and started using Wanikani 3 and a half years ago. I often leave for half a year and come back to it to do 2000 reviews, but I make progress nonetheless. I’m level 32.

1 Like
#14

I want to keep doing WK every day too :relaxed:
keep me updated how the N2 went for you
oh btw what other study materials do you use for learning Japanese?

1 Like
#15

I agree with you on Tae Kims guide it was pretty confusing to me. Especially because English isn’t my first language and that makes grammar even more confusing.

That’s actually kinda funny I also started reading Yotsuba! I love this manga it’s so funny :stuck_out_tongue:

Keep going! Level 32 isn’t too bad :wink:

#16

was randomly watching VAs live dubbing their respective animes (just like, out of desire for entertainment, not for any sort of studying purpose) and realised I understood individual bits and bobs!!! that made me really happy :slight_smile:

1 Like
#17

Yeah, tits and boobs also make me happy.

oh wait… I misread that…

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#18

hehehe, Freudian nipslip?

o w8, I mistyped that

1 Like
#19

Why am I always out of likes!!!

1 Like
#20

because you’re so full of love <3

1 Like
#21

#22

Yes, but I think it worked out in the end for giving me the gist of Japanese through literal translation.

Yotsuba&! seems to be the first choice for manga reading material for beginners, after all.

Thanks for the support, I’ll keep powering through and I’ll make it eventually. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#23

HelloTalk is a great resource for talking to people! Anime, Japanese games, manga, etc. are really fun ways to practice your Japanese.

Also I like to read horror stories, news articles, and listen to news podcasts.

For grammar, I started off with the Japanese From Zero Series (books 1-4 + 5th online course), and later transitioned into using the Sou Matome and Kanzen Master grammar books.
Hope this helps :slight_smile:

#24

Were books 4 and 5 worth it? (I know 5 is just online.) I really liked the first two books, but found the third to be lacking. This was partly because I already knew a large part of the material and partly because the exercises got repetitive.

#25

I guess it depends from person to person, but I enjoyed going through 4 and 5, and found them to be pretty informative (would recommend waiting on book 5 since the online course 5 felt lacking in comparison to the books). Although, I would recommend reading Kanzen Master N4 grammar after finishing the JFZ series just to solidify any missed grammar points.

#26

That makes sense. I was planning to start with Kanzen Master N4 grammar for exactly the reason you said. I figure it’s better to start a new series by solidifying my knowledge (and filling in some gaps) rather than getting overwhelmed by material above my level.