Summary
Over a span of six months, I dedicated my time to immersing myself by reading Japanese visual novels, meticulously tracking various metrics related to my reading experience, including time spent reading and my reading speed. These findings have been comprehensively organized within a Google spreadsheet for easy reference.
The primary objective behind this endeavor is to provide individuals with a tangible insight into the realm of achievable progress in reading speed when undertaking a Japanese language learning approach focused on reading. It’s also worth noting that I started reading visual novels early around Wanikani level 4, with subsequent levels achieved within an average span of 7 to 8 days.
*For those curious about the strategy I employed, I provide a more elaborate exposition below. Additionally, I delve into my perspective regarding the role of Wanikani on the outcomes yielded by this experiment.
Method
I started reading Visual Novels (VNs) as a learning medium when I was level 4 on Wanikani. VNs possess a distinct advantage due to their popularity in Japan and frequent incorporation of voiceovers. The combination of text and audio that they offer proves invaluable. Line delivery assists in understanding the meaning of a sentence, and also assists in associating words with their pronunciation. I mostly read VNs that mirror contemporary Japanese daily life, ensuring I learn common vocabulary faster.
Prior to embarking on my VN journey, I started by quickly reading Tae Kim’s guide and learning a few hundred common words in Anki. My approach to learning with VNs is described as follows: whenever I encounter an unfamiliar word in a sentence, I looked it up. For more intricate word patterns, I turned to my search engine to determine if they were grammar constructs. If so, I read several example sentences with their translation to comprehend the grammar rule’s impact on meaning. This method facilitated learning common vocabulary and grammar organically, resembling a spaced repetition system sans external tools—especially since it takes quite a few tries for things to stick. A Texthooker tool expedited this process, enabling instant word lookup within the VN. I did not spend time extensively analyzing sentences; the optimal learning zone lies where the material slightly challenges comprehension. I allotted 1 to 2 seconds per sentence for comprehension if I did not understand them after reading them once.
This regimen persisted for half a year, which I documented within a Google spreadsheet tracking my reading time and characters read each day.
In tandem with reading, I did my Wanikani lessons and reviews each day. Additionally, I did 3 Bunpro lessons and 5 new Anki cards daily while also finishing their respective reviews every day. I used Anki with the 6k core deck and sometimes added words which were not sticking while reading.
Throughout this process, I employed a unique strategy with Wanikani. For efficiency, especially in higher levels, I cheated Wanikani’s internal SRS system. I’d close the app upon answering incorrectly and repeat this process until I answered correctly. This accelerated my Wanikani progress allowing me to get new lessons every three to four days. However, I did not cheat on enlightened-stage items to keep my burned-stage items pure. Despite my divergence from Wanikani’s norm, I think this approach complements daily reading practice. My main goal is to become familiar with new vocabulary and kanji, rather than learn them in Wanikani.
True vocabulary absorption stems from reading. A rough grasp through Wanikani enhances vocabulary understanding from encounters in context. Thus, I think a steady influx of 30 new kanji weekly proves more advantageous than perfect recall in Wanikani. Wanikani enhances the pace at which I learn new vocabulary as I encounter them, but genuine vocabulary mastery culminates from dedicated reading and finding the kanji and vocabulary in context.
Results
The culmination of my six-month endeavor was marked by significant enhancements in my reading speed. It’s important to note that the reading speed data exhibits strong variations, attributed in part to things my texthooker captured which did constitute actual significant text. Some VNs incorporate stylistic kana strings, contributing to fluctuations in reading speed counts. Examples are a person screaming “あああああああああ” and the likes. Also, Internal code being dumped between scene changes and character names being counted with each sentence also contribute to some counts being inflated. For instance, “Little Busters Ecstasy!” has a consistent reading speed above 20,000 character per hour, while “Air” has a speed dip to 14,000. Still, a consistent upward trend within each individual VN is evident.
Furthermore, the difficulty of vocabulary of certain VNs also plays a role. VNs like “Planetarian,” rich in sci-fi elements, and “House of Morgana,” which is rich in medieval elements, introduced large amounts of unfamiliar vocabulary. This also caused reading speed differences between VNs.
“Kanon” and “Air” are captured in a “pure” way by my texthooker, meaning the characters measured are characters representing actual meaningful text. By this measure, a conservative estimate of my reading speed increase is ~5,000 to ~15,000 characters per hour, achieved through an average of 2-hour sessions per day over six months. The time spent to complete different VNs also showcases a strong increase in reading speed. I spend 140 hours on “Clannad” (1.3 million characters) while my completion time of “Little Busters Ecstasy!” (1.6 million characters) is 95 hours.
While these findings offer a quantitative lens, my subjective sense of growth is equally large. I think I can now navigate most VNs centered around everyday Japanese life without a texthooker, comprehending plots and enjoying the experience with ease. It is uncommon for sentences to demand more than 1 to 2 word look-ups at this point. In contrast, when I started even menu navigation was a hurdle. Revisiting VNs like “Kanon” and “Air” is an entirely new experience, as nuanced content and sentences are far clearer now. My present level of comprehension stands as a significant departure from my initial starting point. I now find myself able to fluidly read slice-of-life Japanese cartoon subtitles, understanding them with ease sometimes. I am confident that if presented with an N3 test, I would likely pass at this time. Furthermore, I am optimistic about achieving N2 proficiency by the end of the year.
Discussion
Expanding upon the synergy of my reading journey with Wanikani, I’d like to state that while Wanikani is a good tool, it thrives in tandem with reading. The vocabulary that Wanikani covers, although often important, doesn’t encompass all common vocabulary. Also, Wanikani barely offers hiragana words by design, which constitute a significant portion of everyday language.
Frequent encounters with common kanji words while reading naturally helps in internalizing them, rendering later levels in Wanikani more manageable. This dynamic also extends itself to reading, where familiarity with Wanikani-learned kanji facilitates comprehension and faster learning of vocabulary encountered through reading. Among all the tools I employed, except those designed to facilitate VN reading like the texthooker, Wanikani has helped the most.
The commitment of 1 to 2 hours daily to reading is crucial for substantial improvement in my opinion. During my own journey, days with reduced reading time yielded noticeable decreases in progress. Language acquisition is a time-intensive endeavor, necessitating thousands of hours for proficient Japanese skills.
For those inspired to integrate VN reading into their learning regime, it’s imperative to acknowledge that there are big initial hurdles. The first visual novel I read “Kanon” is known to be easy, but it can still introduce complex literary sentences such as “もう忘れていたとばかり思っていた、子供の頃に 見た雪の景色を重ね合わせながら…”. Almost all vocabulary will be new, and knowing which hiragana sequence is a word or grammatical inflection will be entirely unclear. The early stages demand the celebration of small victories: grasping single sentences, comprehending new vocabulary, and understanding major plot elements. Every triumph accumulates, contributing to a smoother learning curve over time, and increasingly larger achievements. It is important to recognize that this journey requires thousands of hours.
I can definitely recommend resources like TheMoeWay or Animecards for those wanting to start on this journey, as they provide invaluable starting points. Although I lack formal training in linguistics or pedagogy, a cursory review of related literature highlights I did showed a certain alignment with the methodology employed for language acquisition shown in these resources—particularly when incorporating Visual Novels (VNs). I omitted a brief literature review comparing their approach to both implicit and explicit learning, along with some relevant papers on the subject, for the sake of brevity. However, if there is interest, I’m more than willing to share these papers while they remain accessible to me. Lastly, I am still a beginner, but I think the data I gathered could be interesting for fellow beginners, and I think that most of the things I mentioned align with the views of more experienced learners.
I believe many beginners tend to overlook the power of reading, yet it holds significant potential for both enjoyment and learning, even right from the start, particularly when a substantial amount of time is dedicated to it.
EDIT: removed a learning resources which contained links to pirated content.
EDIT #2: Added the name of the learning resource but I did not link to it since it is has a good starting guide.
. It also seems like a serious improvement, congrats! I never considered a spreadsheet tbh but I like how everything displays and is recorded over time for reference.
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