My low key, chill study log

Japanese Language Study Logs (Public)
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Hello there!
I just discovered the Study Log section of the forum, and why not trying for myself…

First of all, I am taking my journey to Japanese slooooowly. I very much associate with the durtles, and even though I’d love to be able to speak with ease, read and watch anime without subtitles… well, I have a busy life full of other things, so I try to take my time and keep the flame burning :fire:

Current Level

Grammar: Genki II, starting chapter 22
Wanikani: lvl17, kanji burned: 427
JLPT: not attempted yet, will start studying for JLPT N4… eventually :no_mouth:

Background:

Short version:

  • 10/2021: started Wanikani
  • 01/2022: started learning grammar

Long version:
I started being interested in Japanese… 20 years ago maybe. I was a teenager obsessed with manga and anime, and I learned hiragana and katakana. But as soon as I tried learning grammar, I noped out of it :sweat_smile:
Fast forward, 2011: I travel to Japan for the first time, and I swear I will learn Japanese before I come back! …fast forward 2019: I really wanted to go back to Japan despite not having learned Japanese, and came back with the same objective: I really have to start learning this time!!
2021: A ex-colleague from work is now living in Japan, and he started learning Japanese during covid :astonished: I ask him where he started and he guides me to Wanikani. “It’s very useful to know kanjis even before you start with grammar, that will help you a lot!”. Convinced by the first levels, I finally find a local school and apply for weekly japanese lessons :tada:

Japanese Language Goal:

I would like to be able to read simple manga, watch simple anime and movies without subtitles, have basic conversations and be able to communicate with people in Japan

Learning Pacing:

I have 2h of class every week, and I am trying to do 5 lessons of WK per day (but I never manage to do 5 every day :smiling_face_with_tear:). Sometimes I read in Japanese or practice my listening. Sometimes I go to events (online or on site) to practice conversation. I would love to do more, but I already struggle to not burn myself with other things in life, I really have to keep a balance.

My goal with this Log:

  • To connect with people, share my story and hope some other slow/busy people can relate, get a study buddy maybe, even?
  • Make myself accountable, keep some record on my journey
  • Motivate myself!

I will try to update as often as once a week!
Feel very welcome to interact here :smile:

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As one of the fellow durtlers you speak of, welcome to the world of study logs :> I find they’re great for tracking your progress and keeping you accountable! Congrats on joining a Japanese class! Is it in person or online?

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Hi! Thanks for the welcoming message :durtle_hello:

My class is from a local community center, but they started offering their classes online during covid, so technically it’s online, but both students and teacher live in the same city… so we occasionally meet :hand_with_index_finger_and_thumb_crossed:

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That’s the ideal! You can have in-person practice sometimes while also having the freedom to do class in your pajamas other times! ^-^

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Since last post:

  • Studied grammar points 1 to 4 of Genki L23: Causative-passive, ～ても, ～ことにする, ～ことにしている
  • Week 22: 15 WK lessons
  • Week 23: 5 WK lessons

The weather was very hot and exhausting this week, and I had plans during the weekend so I felt globally tired and did not spend too too much time with Japanese.

My Wanikani leeches of the moment:

  • 人格: I often think it’s にんかく instead of じんかく… my new mnemonic is “cool jeans, nice personality!” XD
  • 化ける: I know the how to read this one, it’s the meaning I get wrong all the time. I’m always confuse if it’s “to be transformed” or “to enchant” (化かす）T~T I often have trouble with the transitive pairs, I need a new mnemonic for this one.
  • 想定 and 予想: I know how to read those two, but I’m often wrong with the meaning. Why are they both “expectation” ?? It’s one of those vocab that has at least 3 different ways of saying the same thing and I haven’t heard the word enough to grasp the subtlety ; -;
  • 期待する: ANOTHER “expect” word lol. This one I remember for some reason, but I can never recall if it’s きたい or きだい :T
  • 欠ける: Another transitive pair that I know how to read, but keep confusing with 欠かす

About the Grammar:
I struggle to understand when to use the causative form, and the causative-passive is certainly not helping, I keep mixing passive, causative and causative-passive. But at least the other students of my class do too, so it seems average ^^;
Our teacher explained a bit to us, saying how for example “I’ve been stung by a mosquito” and “I’ve been waiting for my train” are different. If I understand properly, the causative-passive is when you have been forced to do something, so you can’t use it with a sentence like “I’ve been stung by a mosquito”.
Hopefully with time and practice, that will become easier!

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Since last post:

  • Finished Genki L23!
  • Started the Absolute Beginner Book Club with this month’s book :fox_face:
  • Week 24: 15 WK lessons
  • Week 25: 20 WK lessons
  • Week 26: 20 WK lessons

I feel like I have more energy to to more WK lessons lately. My Japanese classes are about to finish for the season and the session will start back in September, with a brand new book! Even though I don’t have any vacation from my job, it feels like a summer break ^^ I want to use that good summer time to deeper study the Genki books, and try to remember all the grammar points as much as possible.
I might start looking into JLPT N4 material, to see if that could give me a good structure to study, as well as a tangible intermediary goal… my “final” goal in my japanese learning journey being: to be able to read mangas or watch animes and mostly understand, as well as being able to mostly communicate with people when I travel.

Starting reading a manga with the book club has been really lovely! It’s been a while I wanted to read mangas, I have a few at home too, but having a frame and a community helps a ton. I feel like this boosts my motivation :blush:

My Wanikani leeches of the moment:

  • 勝負: Meaning is ok with this one, but there’s too many kanjis that mean “win”, “lose” or “match” =-=; This is the only vocab word I’ve learn with 負 in it so far, so I forget the onYomi often.
  • 伝: this one, I got wrong so so often… I was confused for a while between 伝 and 転, which one was てん and which one was でん… and I’ve been having trouble with the kunYomi, but I thik it’s getting there now.
  • 予定: For this one I just often write ようてい instead of よてい… I have to figure out a way to remember it’s a short よ
  • 苦: For this one, for the life of me I never know if the meaning is " painful" or " suffering". I’ll try to memorize it this way: Imagine a villain wanting the hero to suffer, with the onomatope behind them saying くくく :rofl:
  • 都合: This guy… I just don’t understand why the kanji 都 is part of this. I also mix the meaning with 勝手 because they’re so close… I’m trying to focus on the 2nd kanji to help…
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