Hello, this is my first post so bear with me I’ve felt stagnant lately so I’m looking for recommendations to refocus.
My ultimate goal is listening and reading comprehension to consume native media; talking and writing are not priorities. In the shorter term, I’d like to take the N4 or N3 in July 2021.
My progress so far:
Basically, I did the ‘ridiculously detailed plan’ backwards starting this June. I did all of Genki I+workbook+vocab 3hrs/day for a few weeks. Added in WaniKani daily. Read through Genki II and took notes but eased off on workbook+vocab because WaniKani was piling up and not sure if I believe in the whole drilling grammar thing (open to be convinced otherwise). Throughout I listened to a Jap/Eng podcast or watched unsubbed anime for exposure. With Genki I + II done-ish, and having less time, I’ve only been doing WaniKani + anime since September. I am now at level 10
To gauge my progress I decided to take a practice N5 without prepping and passed! I’m feeling quite happy about this since its been months since I formally studied any grammar.
Now the question is, what should I add to my routine to keep moving forward? Should I revist Genki II and do it properly? Move on to an intermediate textbook like Tobira? Forget the formal textbook study and start reading books (i.e. immersion learning) and google when I get stuck? Do I really need a seperate vocab SRS on top of WaniKani?
I want to take N4 or N3 in July. I think I could pass N3 with focused study, but the outcome would likely be ‘I memorized how to pass the N3’ instead of ‘I understand Japanese at the N3 level’ if that makes sense? Which level should I aim for and what should I do to get there while also moving towards my greater goal of improving comprhension? Thanks so much for reading!!