Hellooo!! Nice to meet you, my nameās Maine. Long story short: I started listening to Japanese music and wanted to know what they were singing. So I looked up the lyrics and fell in love with the written language lol. And thatās how my language journey started.
Itās been a few years since then. I took classes a few years ago, but then quit because of school. Then I took a 3 year hiatusā¦ But at the beginning of this year I decided to take it up again. I donāt really know what Iām doing lol. I just enjoy listening to music and watching youtube videos Just going with the flow I guess.
I hit level 9! I keep expecting to level up a little earlier since I started doing 13 lessons some days instead of 10, but it still took me fourteen and a half days, which is pretty much on track with the speed Iāve been going at, haha! Oh well, if itās working for me so far, I canāt complain!
I see you have gotten some good answers already
It is very good to focus on vocabs first!
But even with scripts you can only do unlocked vocabs, so have to learn the radical and kanji first (you need that knowledge to do the vocabs anyway, as they assume you to know this part already). Once some are learned, doing the vocabs they unlocked before continuing is what is great! And the āanti abuseā of the re-order script (re-order abuse is when they leave the vocabs in lesson, only do the other two and keep leveling with hundreds, even thousands, of vocabs left unlearned)
When I Guru Kanji I always do the vocabs they unlocked before doing new Kanji lessons, so I can continue working on those items before adding new kanji to learn. This affects the levels speed to be slower, since I never push to get many out at once. Which is why we are here
An update on my progress while at it, which also displays it well.
When I leveled up I first did the Vocabs unlocked from Level 7, as you unlock some from the last kanji needed to Guru. After finishing those I did the āopen at level upā vocab from Level 8 (note: Level 1 has none of these, but all others do. They use kanji learned in earlier levels, but not thought till later to not confuse items with each other (transitive vs intransitive verbs))
I had to use the re-order script to get those level 8 vocabs I believe (well, I use it out of habit so canāt be sure if default helps. I think default would giuve me lvl 7 vocab, then radical kanji before lvl 8 vocab)
Once all vocabs was done and ready for next lesson (I did review them to near Guru first) I did the open Kanji. I ended up finishing all before first Gurued. Continued with reviews without lessons as I was a bit busy, so now Gurued those kanji.
Next I will do the opened Vocabulary from those kanji before doing radicals, which unlocks next set of kanji. I will do the radicals when no vocab lessons are in, and reviews zero. Thus get the 0/0 of this level before I unlock second set of kanji.
That of many feeble attempts throughout my teenage years while listening to and singing Japanese songs, watching anime, etc. until last year I decided itās time to āget dangerousā and am plowing (even on Sundays!) since then .
That is correct . By default lessons will come from lower levels first and in the order radicals > kanji > vocab. Things get a little more mixed up if you have kanji and/or radical leeches from lower levels.
EDIT:
Since we talked about textbooks recently, I would suggest being careful with new vocab in Genki (the åčŖ sections), especially if that vocab overlaps with WaniKani. Not all translations are 100% correct and some might be misleading. If I know the kanji or am somewhat familiar with the parts of the vocab item, I double-check with Jisho and for my Anki sets take a translation thatās a general approximation of the meaning or the meaning from Jisho.
For instance:
ćę®é - normal, regular (ticket) and not ālocalā; the train can be local, but itās just a āregularā train
ćē¹ę„ - theoretically means āsuper expressā, but for instance Jisho (and WaniKani) lists this as ālimited-expressā which it more likely is (ē¹ę„åč» - limited-express train)
ććć¶ć - I added āterriblyā to my Anki set for adjectives, but Genki has āveryā as a translation; āveryā is a catch-all word and there is already ćØć¦ć for that
Wow, Iāve not heard about Japanese pro wrestling before but that sounds really interesting! Thanks for the link to the spreadsheet - it looks super useful - and the offer of help with MNN atm Iām just learning the MNN vocab on Memrise, but will let you know if I have any questions when I start properly!
What is your story and Japanese journey?
I first got fascinated with Japanese culture and language (like lots of people I guess!) through Studio Ghibli. I hope to go and live in Japan for a while in the future!
Iām also learning Cantonese if anyone wants to join me in figuring out how Canto & onāyomi fit together, head over here!
Hi @Maine and @AndyMender nice to meet you too! Ah thatās awesome, music is the best. What are your fave Japanese artists? I listen to a bit of JPop, but mostly only from anime would be good to broaden my horizons! Anime recommendations always welcome too - my fave atm is Nagi no Asu Kara
Taking the scenic route here too. I have 34 lessons and 0 reviews and around 50 apprentice items. Recently came back and reset down to level 4. I prioritize vocab in my lessons and do kanji last so Iām on the real slow boat.
Also in a depression slump atm so WK is all Iām doing, my Genki has fallen by the wayside sadly. And Bunpro. And Kitsun. Itās just so hard when you donāt even feel like getting dressed.
Anyway, nice to meet you all and letās Durtle together!
I used to listen to a ton of anime songs when I was younger. Currently, my goto band is Asian Kung Fu Generation, but I really like YOASOBI, Hitomitoi and Ryusenkei. Also, a bunch of older artists like Taeko Oonuki, Tatsuro Yamashita and Junko Ohashi and the song Sukiyaki .
Nagi no Asu Kara looks fun! Right now Iām watching Shikabane Hime which is decent, but has a dumbster fire of a love triangle (god whyā¦) and a plot so slow that it takes 2 (out of 2) seasons to get anywhere (and still doesnāt, from the looks of itā¦). The manga isnāt much better, based on the couple first chapters I read . The other thing Iām watching is His and Her Circumstances. This oneās an absolute blast! Mellow, old-school animation from Gainax (think pre-2000s) with a very good, though slightly psychological and dark plot. Itās definitely not as naive as most romcoms.
Finished lesson 3 in Minna no Nihongo, as well as completing the first review, which covered material from the first three lessons! So far, my understanding of everything is still pretty good, though I make occasional mistakes. I got a little tripped up by the readings for numbers, since Iāve only practiced a few of them on WaniKani. I added some flashcards to my Anki deck for the numbers that rendaku, which will hopefully help me remember them. I was a little surprised honestly by how well I did at figuring out the readings just from the tiny bit of practice Iāve had in WK. My listening comprehension of numbers in general is pretty poor, though I do get a fair amount of practice with them from watching wrestling, though mostly years and dates and match time limits!
I actually have an Anki deck called Amounts where I keep the various item counters with numbers which change pronunciation. That might work for you as well .
Well Iām really on the scenic route for level 7. I had 140 lessons when I signed in today - skipped lessons a couple days because I just didnāt feel like it. Knocked it down to 125. Yikes. But going slowly has worked so much better for my review percentages, and my brain in general that Iām pleased with it. Maybe Iāll try to do a little Genki this afternoon but after 15 lessons I just want to play Animal Crossing.
You know you are Durtling slow when previous level items reaches Enlightened!
I just sent Level 7 Radicals to Enlightened while still being level 8
Will level soon, my last kanji are in Apprentice 4
I enjoyed learning that word because it allowed me to understand no less than two separate puns that I heard in wrestling promos haha! Currently, Iāve gotten more practical application out of having learned éē than I have out of 90% of the more āusefulā vocabulary that WK teaches.
Taichi is the culprit for all three times Iāve seen this word in the wild. I think this is the first time they actually subtitled what he was saying directly, though. Heās making a pun on the tag team Golden Ace, which he likes to refer to as āGolden Ballsā (in English).
Just going with the flow I guess.
atm Iām just learning the MNN vocab 
I hope to go and live in Japan for a while in the future!
nice to meet you too! Ah thatās awesome, music is the best. What are your fave Japanese artists? I listen to a bit of JPop, but mostly only from anime 
would be good to broaden my horizons! Anime recommendations always welcome too - my fave atm is Nagi no Asu Kara 
.
. The other thing Iām watching is His and Her Circumstances. This oneās an absolute blast! Mellow, old-school animation from Gainax (think pre-2000s) with a very good, though slightly psychological and dark plot. Itās definitely not as naive as most romcoms.
