Well, if I continue at my current pace (~7d 10hr per level) I should hit level 60 by 2019. Even if I continued at pre-burnout pace of ~9.5d per level, I should be in the 50s by then.
However, given my history of multiple-year burnout due to failing interests… I’m going to hope for level 40. That would be nice, a good round number.
So:
Level 40
Some real progress made on grammar, say to an N4 level
Legitimate vocabulary practice outside of WK – all most common words known
Writing semi-regularly on Lang-8 or a similar site
Ability to understand any written Japanese beyond the simplest sentence, regardless of technical knowledge around grammar and vocab.
Oh, good lord, my goals are hella stretch for my Japanese, especially since I am so uncertain of what this next year will bring. I’ve been putzing around the language without really making any progress for so long. This will be the year that I really, truly make a back-breaking push to become comfortable communicating in the language. I won’t be fluent by the end of the year, and I will still be disheartened at how much I still have to learn, but I am hoping to at least be functional. Or at the very least marginally more confident with the language than I am now (which shouldn’t be hard to accomplish).
SO, here’s my battle plan for doing it:
Finish all of WaniKani. I won’t be able to burn everything, but I’ll have everything Guru’d through level 60 at least.
Keep up with my WK progress with KaniWani.
I have a helluva stack of textbooks. I’m gonna go through them all.
Follow up my studies with Bunpro. Might not reach all of the N2 grammar points, but I will aim to finish all of the N3 at least.
Make steady, substantial progress in the Anki 10K deck, which I have only recently started.
Make my own Anki deck to drill through words that are unfamiliar to me or I am just really bad at remembering. Update and add to frequently.
Around June (mid-point of the year), I will tone down the grammar studies and really make a push to improve my speaking ability. I don’t need to be 100% grammatical or fluent, I just need confidence and basic coherence.
As an additional motivator, another goal of mine is to save up enough money to go to Japan in the winter of 2018. I’d like to go to Tokyo and Hokkaido. If possible, it would be great if I could find employment there at that time as well.
I’ve basically just absorbed the language for a while and never actually learned the parts that require memorization, so this past year has been a bit of a grind and so will the next one. I’m a little (read: a lot) ambitious but here goes:
Get to level 60
Maintain a 7 day per level pace
Finish 夜明けの街で and another 2 native-level books
Get my writing/speaking level to around the same as my reading/listening
Take N2 in December, then N1 6 months after that if I pass (if I fail, retake N2)
Pass N1 before 2020
Make an Anki deck with words I see in the wild that I know the kanji for
If I don’t do any of these please don’t kill me 2019 self :,)
edit: 2020
Just had a squizz at an exerpt from one of her Ted talks - I so see myself in what she said.
Thanks for sharing. Here’s to both of us getting better at pulling our fingers out!
At 1wk per level, I would be almost lvl 60 by then. but in all honesty, I’ll be like… 40? My goals are:
Lvl 40+
Reading books with chapters or manga I enjoy
Increased listening comprehension (frm basically 0), but that’s more a lack of vocabulary than anything??
I joined this site in Nov, and I’m already impressing myself, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be excited in 1 year.
I’m usually not much for laying out specific goals, because I’m, um…commitment-averse? I h a t e saying that I’ll do something without being absolutely sure that I actually can and will do it. But maybe if I put them here, I’ll feel pressured enough to actually make some progress that matters this year. I feel like I wasted a lot of time in 2017, and I definitely didn’t get to where I could have gotten to in terms of my Japanese ability. In any case, here are my goals for 2018:
Japanese
Get to Level 60 on WK
Develop some kind of consistent study schedule/plan for everything that isn’t WK
Finish a damn Genki book (preferably both of them, but I’d settle for one)
Do Bunpro up through N3
Start iKnow for vocab
Find the courage to speak and/or write to an actual person (let’s be real, I’ll probably fail this one, but I’m putting it on here anyway)
Other Life Things
Move into a bigger apartment and generally upgrade the stuff that needs upgrading (computer, phone, at-home working space)
Take and pass my BCPS exam
Adopt a cat
Find some kind of class or activity to do outside of work that involves other people, so that I don’t become a hermit and forget how to make contact with other humans
There are some other life things that should probably be on here, but I’m 99% sure that I won’t make any progress with those, so…they’re not gonna be on here.
Take and hopefully succeed in taking the N5 in July. Maybe aim for the N4 in December, depending on which city I’m in at that time
When I go to Japan in March I want to be able to be a bit less clueless in basic conversations than I was this November. Them: “レジ袋は必要ですか？” me: “uhmmm…”. I want to be able to at least handle the very basic konbini/喫茶店 stuff. I will probably still suck and then postpone that goal until November.
One non Japanese goal: do some exercise every day, preferably outside. I’m hoping that I will manage to get sick less frequently if I do that for at least 2 years. I always get sick while traveling and since I travel a lot for work or fun it can be a bit annoying. My husband exercises every day and doesn’t get sick ever and it would be nice to not always be the one to get sick and take away from our travel time. We’ll see how that one goes. I’m more optimistic about my language goals
So I’m hoping those goals are not too big and I can actually achieve them. I’m very happy where I am at right now professionally but my job needs a lot of my time and energy and I try to keep everything else as simple as possible.
Good luck with the tomatoes, @Reemomo I had a bad tomato year this year (I blame it on the weather), I’m considering not growing any next year. But I’m almost certain I’ll change my mind as soon as spring arrives. Tomatoes are love, tomatoes are life.
Hmm, level 60 seems like a stretch, no matter what the statistics thing says. I’ll be happy with level 35 but aiming for 48. Oh, and I’d like to finish Genki 1 and all the Bunpro N3 lessons. Too ambitious?
Add to that, I’m aiming to get my kids up to level 35 too but I’ll be happy if they reach level 20. Living in Japan should help. At some point they’ll overtake me.
Finish Level 60 and burn everything before my subscription expires (January 8, 2019). Stats say I should have everything burned by September/October, so that leaves some room for mistakes.
Finish all available Bunpro material, or all material through N2, whichever is less
Read the two books that my girlfriend gave me on Kansai-ben and listen to the recordings she made
Get through at least 5 levels of the Anki 10K deck by WK level, with recordings by said girlfriend for more Kansai-ben practice
Non-Japanese Goals:
Show list to girlfriend, receive brownie points
Pass TOCFL Level 3 by May (required for my Chinese Program)
Play the entire Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Bach Chaconne, and Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Thanks. I have spent many years setting goals and sometimes achieving them. I feel that I am too new to Japanese to set a realistic learning goal. So, I set practice goals instead. ( In essence, I do not have complete control over what level I reach this year, but I do have control over whether I study each day, and over how smartly I use my study time. )
Also, my real goal is to be able to communicate in rudimentary Japanese. To understand most of what a person is saying to me, and to be able to express what I need to, and also to have a survival level ability of reading signs and such. A numerical Wanikani level is related to that goal, but only partly.
but in all honesty, I’ll be like… 40? My goals are:
Maybe to hit level 30 by the end of the year?
( In essence, I do not have complete control over what level I reach this year, but I do have control over whether I study each day, and over how smartly I use my study time. )