I’ve only really posted here when I first start wanikani in 2015, and then slowly ambled my way to the end (I guru’d my last lvl60 kanji today!). Probably a lot of people have very detailed and informative posts with advice so I’ll share a bit of my story.
For everyone who works a lot and/or runs your own business, lives with your partners, has a community you’re lovingly wrapped up in. . .Go ahead and take it slow. I remember reading at the beginning how you can finish WK in 2 years and honestly that seems impossible for my life xD 6 years worked fine and honestly it gave me a consistent mental practice that helped me gain so much focus that has been a struggle for my ADHD brain. Thank you so much to Tofugu and Koichi - the sometimes emperor, sometimes villain, sometimes random grandpa of the mnemonics.
From here on out I’m going to continue exploring my newly blossoming love for BL and GL manga (the Kase-san series is awesome) and some of the ones my friend got me (Golden Kamuy). If y’all have any recommendations for reading I’m also curious about light novels as I haven’t really read one before. Especially the voiced visual novels, I’m curious about those.
Reality is definitely an accurate name for the final 10 levels. At this point I think I’ve just grasped how much I still don’t know, but am able to make sense of a lot. Which is grounding.
I’d love to hear from other high level peeps about your own journey further into the “advanced forest” and what you’ve enjoyed most. Hopefully I’ll get to be in Japan soon and read aggressively in public
Congrats on making it through! I’m hoping I can make it in 2 years only because that’s how long I have left of my degree and I have nothing else to do other than study, but realistically it will probably take a lot longer than that.
I’m just here to say that I 100% recommend GK, having started the anime on a whim and wholeheartedly surprising myself with how much I loved it. I’ll admit that I’m really bad and reading it from a scanlation site, but only because it comes with really detailed translation and cultural/historical notes that explain the Ainu culture and historical details that westerners might not be aware of. Though, from what I can tell, I think a lot of the Ainu words are written in katakana, so I don’t think it expects native speakers to have much preexisting knowledge either. I also watched the anime in dub, but the sub is supposed to be even better (naturally).
I’m lucky enough to be doing a couple of modules of Asian history and one specifically on the Japanese Empire, so here’s hoping some of it will crop up somewhere!
Depends on the genre, I think? What are your favorites? I could recommend some, but those would usually be romcoms . Of GL I only know 田所さん, which is nice and fluffy. The chapters are fairly short, though.
Golden Kamuy I used to follow for a while and I did really appreciate it for how unique it is - both story-wise and art-wise. Unfortunately, need to spend my half-leisure time on listening comprehension so I’m watching anime mostly now.
Or perhaps you would be interested in regular books as well?
Outstanding job on getting to level 60 and Guruing those last items!!!
That time in school programs is so great because of the devoted time to study. Enjoy it! And wherever you find yourself afterward, I’m sure you can find a way to work WK/Japanese into your life.
That does sound cool that it teaches more about Ainu culture, maybe it’s also on Bookwalker
Thank you for your congratulations Good luck with your studies!
That’s funny my friend and I were just talking about how we love crying during romcoms and family makeups in movies/TV. Definitely share whatever you genuinely enjoy. I am open to most things, maybe aside from gore (funny but I am reading Golden Kamuy). Slice of life is one of my favorite genres too. If there was something that handled european pagan magic type stuff I would be interested. Sort of life Magus Bride. Regular books too, anything that fits the range of just after N2 preparing for N1…though idk if that really maps onto books easily Oh! And Saiki K is probably one of the funniest anime ever to me, so manga like that high gag comedy stuff
Thank you so much for your congratulations it feels good to have made it this far on what has been a regular part of my life for so long now.
Congrats on making it all the way to the end! That’s a lot of dedication to stick with WaniKani for 6 years!
In the dense 日本語の森, the things I enjoy the most are anime, manga and novels. There isn’t a genre I like in particular, but if I had to choose it would be romance. I don’t have any recommendations for reading, but I am reading Tonikaku Kawaii now.
And once I get deep enough in the forest, here’s hoping I’ll be able to create a one-shot manga on my own someday.
Thank you for sharing your story! I started not so long ago to study seriously and Wanikani is the only method that has allowed me to advance so far.
When I was in Japan some years ago with my husband he was able to read all the signs around like it was nothing, and I had to ask him “where is this place? where are you taking me to?” and he would point to printed signs in the metro stations or the menu in the restaurants and say “ah, it’s written there” for my frustration.
I also want to be able to read light novels and other regular novels in their original language, like “美しさと哀しみと” by Kawabata. Seriously, going into bookstores in japan and not being able to buy and read a single book was the saddest thing I remember from my trip.
Now that is a thorough list. Thanks dude! Now that I finished WK, I think a lot of my “studying” is just to read more and listen to more things with Japanese subtitles. It seems like Tonikaku Kawaii is pretty popular. I’ll check out these titles and pick some stuff to read. Thanks again!
That experience is so relatable. Every time my girlfriend cooks for large groups of people to great success I’m like, “shit I need to follow more recipes and pick up my skills.” That’s awesome that WK works well for you. Likewise I think the focus on radicals and story telling is a great approach. Make sure you write a post too once you can read that Kawabata story ^___^
Don’t forget to get yourself some celebratory cake!
. Of GL I only know 田所さん, which is nice and fluffy. The chapters are fairly short, though.
