I try to study with as little translating as possible and the same thing is happening to me, i.e. I’m thinking in Japanese when reading or constructing a sentence that is in my comfort zone. I’m pretty sure this would happen no matter how you study Japanese, the question is more about how fast/easily the transition happens, which is pretty hard to quantify.
Maybe I should give those a look, I never watched any of his videos because everyone kept complaining Is he the refold guy? That’s some pretty idealistic stuff in there
The very next morning I’m googling the difference between 入場 ⟷ 入所 and 場所 ⟷ 所 . I really wish WaniKani had a bit more detailed explanations or “careful these are similar but not the same” warnings.
Wanikani: This means “place,” oh yea, this also means “place.” Yep that means “action.” This one means “action” too. Wait, why is the kanji for grass in this word for “action?” Also, Let me introduce you to “向く” and his friends at the same time…
It doesn’t bother me as much. Sure when doing reviews some words might get confused with each other. Or, are completely weirdly translated, i.e. I have no idea what both 向 = “yonder”, or 一体 = “the heck” mean in Japanese unless I encounter them in different contexts a couple times to start understanding more nuanced meanings without resorting to their English translations. I understand exactly what they mean in English but if I heard yonder once in my 30 years of being fluent in English and living in the U.S., that’s one too many times;) They are such rare-in-use words in English that I have to wonder why and how Japanese use them so often that I’m learning them in lvl6 of WK. For now, I just learn them but I pretty much ignore them.
For me personally, Wanikani is just like dipping your toes in a big pond. I prefer to keep it simple rather than to see elaborate definitions and explanations. Just give me a couple of the most common ones. That’s what Jisho.org is for, or rikaikun, or whatever dictionary you prefer.
I like Wanikani mostly for learning the first 500-700 Kanji characters and gradually I will switch to reading and mining my own examples, via reading and listening, from sources that interest me.
@quimda If it’s alright with you, can I add this thread to my featured topic on my profile? I don’t know if that’s cool or not since I didn’t create it. Let me know!
The alternate meanings are usually not the same, so i try to pay attention to that. I found that it helps me to consolidate alternate meanings. But when i do get wrong, i try not to see the answer, and just mark as “typo”, so the next time it asks me for that word, i type the other spelling that i know.
Wow, i really doubt that, and i doubt there is any scientific study showing that. Our brain is way too smart for something like that to happen. It just doesnt make sense that more exposure/alternate methods of study would somehow ruin the learning process.
English is not my native tongue, so in KW I find myself remembering the vocab by their kanjis composition, meaning (english/portuguese), and not only the english translation. And even if i remember just the english meaning, the site reveals the kanjis when i get it right, and i make sure to always check it. I feel that when i dont use KW, the vocab does not stuck that well. My ACC rate goes around 100% in WK when i start to get the words right in KW (which usually takes like 1-2 errors).
Anyway, that is a lot of methods, and i think that we need to find what works for each of us. The only way to learn that is to try different methods and see what works for you. Maybe one method is better than other, but you find it so boring/hard that it does not work for you.
PS: if your time is limited, imo i think that WK + grammar is better than WK + KS or KW or other SRS methods.
I keep forgetting that there are many people using WaniKani who’s L1 is not English. I can never tell though because everyone is so fluent haha. It’s incredibly motivating. You’re using a learning tool developed for English speakers to learn Japanese! So awesome haha!
I think I end up having preconceived notions due to the monolingual monolith that is the United States lol.
I am curious, were you not finding enough solid material and learning tools in Portuguese or did you choose to learn through English as like a language ladder?
Can’t speak for Portuguese, but oh boy do German ⟷ Japanese learning materials suck ! :'D
I feel like at this point everyone just assumes you know English before you start learning a third language
I never really though about how lucky I am to have English as a first language. It has proliferated so much in the world that it, in most cases, has the best and most diverse set of materials for learning other languages in the world.
I also feel like the best and most polished resources for learning Japanese are all in English. It kind of makes sense as it has such a big audience, in relation to something like my small ass country that doesn’t even have half the population of Tokyo Just wouldn’t be worth investing so much time into perfecting a language study book for such a small audience.
My family moved to the States when I was 2 and we moved back to Denmark when I was 17. Grew up speaking both languages but I remember when I first started making friends here I was flabbergasted. A lot of them played the same games growing up that I did except they didn’t understand a word of it!! My whole life I took it for granted that everything I consumed was in a language I was fluent in. But I think the reason most Danes are near fluent in English and 2 languages is the standard for most of Europe, is because the sheer amount of exposure they get to English that we don’t really have in the same way in the States. In the States it’s really uncommon to encounter anything that isn’t in English, and I remember growing up most of my friends even watched live action movies dubbed.
I know for most of my friends here, their go to for searching for information online is in English as well, even though it’s their second language.
@MinTako Agreed. I have read a bit about how foreign language (i.e. not English) resources for Japanese are janky, which was confirmed today by you, @GrumpyPanda, and @Edzin lol. I think Spanish may be starting to compete for some space here in the US, which I welcome honestly. The more language and culture you’re exposed to, the less of a crappy person you’ll most likely be.
@Giannisan I agree, and I am also really lucky. It was not too difficult to find everything I felt I needed to get started, and the second language of almost every Japanese language teacher on italki is English, so English speakers get their pick there too.
Personally I don’t mind speaking english with an italki teacher, but finding language exchange partners can be a bit of a bother. There aren’t as many Japanese people wanting to study german and because there’s plenty of native english speakers around they’d rather go with those
That’s a shame! I mean, from the way you write, you have obviously achieved a native like fluency in English, a language partner could definitely learn something from your abilities!
Is he the refold guy? That’s some pretty idealistic stuff in there 
Just wouldn’t be worth investing so much time into perfecting a language study book for such a small audience.
