NerdQueen's Study Log 🌻

Japanese Language Study Logs (Public)
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みなさん、こんにちは！NerdQueenのstudy logへようこそ！:sunflower:

Hi everyone, welcome to NerdQueen’s study log!

Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit aimless in my studies. My inputs/outputs feel so random, without focus or consideration of progress. I wanted to create a study log to help give focus to my studies and actually reflect more on what I am doing to continue improving Japanese. So…let’s get into it! :sparkles:

About Me :pencil2:

  • I’m Katie, and I am 31 years old currently living on the East Coast. I live with my partner and our very plump 10 year old queen of a cat. I love to knit, draw, read, and write.

My Japanese Journey – So Far :cherry_blossom:

  • After watching Sailor Moon on TV as a kid (Toonami anyone?) I became obsessed with Japanese media. As a teenager I was really into Gothic Lolita fashion and began casually studying Japanese. And by casually I mean just imagine spelling out my name in the worst pink gel pen katakana you’ve ever seen.
  • About seven years ago, I went to Japan for the first time. After that trip, I got serious about studying the language and have been studying almost every single day since then!
  • On paper, I’d put my ability around an N3 level (I know everyone says that…). My speaking and listening skills are weak, however, and I am hoping to improve those!

Long-Term Goals :art:

  • Someday, I would like to be able to read my favorite Japanese novel, “Breasts and Eggs” by Mieko Kawakami, in Japanese.
  • It would be cool to pass JLPT N1, too T_T

Short-Term Goals :books:

  • Get over my fear of speaking in HelloTalk/Discord chatrooms.
  • Finish WaniKani within the next year or so
  • Re-read Tae Kim

Current Tools :toolbox:

  • WaniKani (kanji/vocab)
  • KameSame (kanji/vocab)
  • Renshuu (grammar)
  • HelloTalk (writing/listening/speaking)
  • Various books/magazines/websites (reading/listening)

Current Routine :fairy:

  • WaniKani lessons & reviews (daily)
  • KameSame lessons & reviews (weekly)
  • HelloTalk voice room listening/speaking (daily)
  • Random articles/websites/book reading (daily)

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by! I look forward to keeping this space updated with my studies! :blush::sunflower:

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Welcome to the study log crew.

What did you like about this novel? My family’s history made me squeamish about approaching this one.

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Hello there :slightly_smiling_face: (just so you know I think you’ve made a little typing mistake in your post, ようそう instead of ようこそ)

That’s something I totally relate with

For the articles and websites, there is an incredible extension on Chrome that can really help you to read more easily : rikaikun.

I hope that keeping up this thread will motivate you in your learning journey :rocket:

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Thank you!! Happy to be here.

I thought the novel was a really refreshing and insightful look into class and gender dynamics in contemporary Japan. Before reading it, I had only been exposed to Japanese authors like Haruki Murakami and Kenzaburo Oe, so to read a story from an explicitly feminist viewpoint was exciting for me! And subsequently opened the door for me to learn about other now-favorites like Banana Yoshimoto and Sayaka Murata. I guess a lot of my passion for the book is about the experience I had during/after reading it and less about the content itself :sweat_smile: Either way, I’ve always thought I’d love to experience the book again in its native language :blush:

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Dagnabbit, I did! Haha, off to a strong start over here. My excuse is that I am on a work computer and was copy and pasting my text from a random Japanese keyboard website :rofl: #lameexcuse

Glad to know it’s not just me! People really come into these chatrooms with such confidence and I am just like…how do you muster the courage to say anything?! I really want to improve my speaking and I know there’s no other way about it, so I am really trying to focus on this.

Thank you so much for the encouragement!

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Of… Madagascar?

Ah, America. Still the only country in the world to just assume the rest of the world knows you’re in America. Though unfortunately it works, because you’re the only country to do it.

Nice. Where’d you go?

When you get around to it, you can follow along with the book club threads. They’ve finished reading it, sure, but the questions and answers that people wrote are still there, and the threads are still there for posting your own questions.

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Status Update: December 6, 2024

Yesterday, I did ~250 WaniKani reviews. I started a new level shortly before leaving for a 2.5 week trip in mid-November and put WK on vacation mode. Since I got back, I haven’t been able to work through all of my reviews in a single day, usually leaving 100/350 at EOD – which means that it’s back up to 3-400 by the end of the next day. On top of that, I’m struggling to master the kanji this level. As you get into the higher levels, there are many more kanji that look similar (e.g. 授 and 緩 and 援) and many transitive/intransitive verb vocab words, which can sometimes all feel like a big mush in my brain.

Outside of WK, I spent some time listening to different HelloTalk voice rooms and even participated for a bit in the evening (a glass of wine helped me overcome my usual shyness…). It was really rewarding!

Today, I have 300 WK reviews staring me in the face that I plan to start on after I write this update. Then, I’ll do 30 minutes on HelloTalk.

I also plan on beginning a re-read of Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar. I have read it once, but I realized a big issue with my current plateau is that I have tried to jam a lot of info into my brain but have not taken the time to go back and review that information. KemushiChan on YouTube made a video earlier this year about Japanese study habits, and she said one thing that made a lightbulb go off in my brain: re-read the notebooks you spend so much time artfully creating! For me, a love of stickers and washi tape and gel pens, nothing could resonate more. I create so many study materials for myself, only to never revisit them!

But I digress – given that grammar is a weak spot for me, I aim to re-read Tae Kim a few more times. I will aim for pages 1-41 today (which seems like a lot, but there’s a lot of intro and basics on the writing systems that I am already comfortable with – only 29-41 is actual grammar).

頑張ります!

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Hello hello it’s a chilly and gloomy day, but I’m sitting under a heated blanket, I just binged 4 episodes of Love is a Poison while finishing knitting a scarf, and now I’m ready to talk about Japanese!

The last few days I’ve been continuing with my usual routine (daily WK lessons/reviews; Renshuu grammar review) and starting Tae Kim a-new. I’m 50 pages in so everything is still review at this point, but I’m trying to use the opportunity to make my foundation even stronger.

I also wanted to reflect on a few grammar/vocab points that I can’t stop messing up!! Consider the below my current WALL OF SHAME. I keep missing these on WK/Renshuu quizzes and need to reflect more and drill these points so I finally get them.

Grammar Points

Vocab/Expressions

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Status Update: December 22, 2024

Gooood morning! What? How has it already been 12 days since my last update? The holiday season is in full swing and the end of the year is rapidly approaching, so life has been busy busy busy.

I’ve continued to do my WK reviews every day, though I’m only doing my lessons every other day or so to try and keep the place a bit slower. Renshuu grammar + vocab near-daily. I’ve hardly done any speaking practice, and the listening I did this week wasn’t very focused, either.

I am also really torn on whether to get the WK lifetime subscription during the sale?! I am more than halfway through…Actually, the pace of completing 1 level/month at $9.00/month would be $200 for the remaining 22 levels. Since I am going to spend the money anyway, maybe I get the lifetime sub and then I’ll still have access to WK (though I’m not sure what my longer term game plan is for kanji review? Maybe I’d just move over to KameSame…)

Anyway, that’s enough internal monologue for one day!

As for this week’s leeches, I bring you…

THE PAIN OF 傷

損なう - To harm

働きすぎてあんたが健康を損なうんじゃないかって、心配してるのよ。
I’m worried that you may ruin your health by working too hard.

傷つく - To get hurt

おばちゃんって呼ばれる年齢かなあ。傷つくなあ。
Aren’t I too young to be called a middle-aged woman? I’m hurt.

傷む - To be damaged; to spoil/go bad

このアボカド、昨日買ったところなのにもう傷んでるよ。
I bought this avocado yesterday and it’s already gone bad.

傷つける - To hurt someone; to scratch/damage

私たちも知らないうちに人を傷つけているかもしれません。
We may also be hurting people without knowing it.

傷める - To damage something

強い日差しに当たってはだを傷めてしまった。
The strong sunshine damaged my skin.

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