Reading manga. Anime+Jsubs. goal and ways help

My goal is to be able to read manga and understand J-subbed anime slowly.
That’s my main reason for learning japanese, to be able to re-experience my favorite japanese creations off all time. Actually the main reason is to make one ‘selfish’ dream of mine come true in my life, after spending too much of my life appeasing others. A dream that is independent of another’s cooperation.

I’ve a busy life: hardcore Self-improving, work and studying engineering, so from the start i knew i need the most straightforward a method in order to keep up with it for years → method that will push ME rather then waiting for me each day to do all the work (like RTK). That’s when i’ve started wanikani.

Then 2 months ago i’ve started Bunpro for grammar, after i’ve read Tae kim’s one time.
And for making japanese more ‘real’ ‘auto-pushing’ and existential for me I’ve started to do 1 hour italki sessions every three weeks of just conversation 95% japanese however awkward it will get with the long pauses.

To be in-line with my goal and abilities, learning how to write kanji is postponed for the future, and talking is minimized harshly (matt from Mia says it’s good for output to come last btw).

I guess for all the gairaigo and expressions and everything not in WK i’ll then move to simple anki.

extremly secondary goals: Improving my adequacy as a creator (drawing, film) with knowledge in japanese. and maybe management techniques. also for a land to go to in holidays maybe in the far future.

questions:
1.Please give me critiques of my ways if you find any!
2.Normaly, how quickly are J-subs available when a new episode comes up?
3.How damaging is it to not write kanji by hand for the abilty of listening and reading?
4.I’ve guru’s 160 items on bunpro, and only 7 months in wanikani, can u give some extremly rough estimates for reaching the most basic form of my goal?

THANKS!!!

PS. I also watch a lot of youtube videos on the language and culture for mentaly accepting japan, started karate and started eating everything asian.

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You could always get a Ubox and watch Japanese kids shows for some really natural, native-style learning. It has all the live JP channels, including those with documentaries and reality shows where you can get both educational and very natural Japanese exposure. They are on Amazon, but maybe use VPN with it.

As for subs in JP, Netflix puts JP subs on all of its originals. I just watched the new Dave Chappelle special with the JP subs on (the best comedy special this decade). There were a lot of fun slang words I learnt or cemented.

And as for anime, I think Netflix is also the best option. Most modern anime will have the Japanese dub and subs available. Otherwise, you will have to defer to importing JP Blu-rays and DVDs and bypassing region locking (PC soft is available for that).

There’s no wrong way to learn. Just don’t forget to have fun. Play games in Japanese, put your devices in Japanese, and allow your non-studying, R&R time to be part of your learning whilst having fun.

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Sounds good all around. You can definitely do it.

When I was in Engineering school I managed to get could grades, learn basic Japanese, hold a part time job, develop two videogames and make some music albums (while learning how to produce).

My biggest struggle with all that was procrastinating on assignments. My final year of university I forced myself to do all my assignments the day they were assigned rather than waiting until the last day to do them. It makes such a difference. My final year seemed like a joke it was so easy, while other classmates were really struggling and feeling a lot of pressure.

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@bagofdragonite Alllllright then flexgod.

To OP, though your goals are primarily focused on input, conversation practice will greatly improve your reading and listening as well so it’s great that you decided to practice with iTalki. For question 3, even if your goal was complete fluency of Japanese, writing kanji isn’t a necessity. Learning stroke order, however, will make it easier to recognize handwritten Japanese.

Transitioning from Tae Kim to Bunpro should give you a solid basis for basic grammar, and given your WaniKani level you can actually start reading manga already. You’ll still have to look things up but it likely won’t be every other word or grammar point you encounter. If you look through WK community you can find past reading threads that are often labeled “beginner” or “intermediate,” and I believe they all have vocabulary lists compiled by the participants of the thread.

From what I’ve read it doesn’t seem like you’re currently using anything to acquire vocabulary. While the best method is actively noting vocabulary from the material you read or listen to, knowing a few thousand common words can make working through Japanese all that much easier. I recommend the Core 2k/6k decks for Anki or the Torii vocabulary SRS app created by a member of the WK community.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

Lastly, once you start reading manga and watching Japanese subbed anime, that is reaching the most basic form of your goal. You’ve already come really far in your Japanese journey so it’s time to experience the fruits of your labor!

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Sorry I wasn’t trying to flex. I was just trying to illustrate that I had a schedule equally as busy as theirs so I could shed some experience and let them know what kind of issue to watch out for. To be fair what I did in comparison to some of the people I went to University with is pretty measly. Some of those people did all that sort of thing plus did extra evening classes and finished off their Engineering Degree in 3 years instead of the usual 4-5.

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Emay - It’s an extremely nice idea to be able to turn on tv every time i am doing the dishes or something. In my case I think i’ll find a J nature youtube channel and put playlists on the background.
Nice facts on netflix products thanks.
And lastly the last time I’ve played a J only game was resident evil 2 before i’ve started WK and I almost couldn’t play (plus the hardest difficulty cuz how else?) so i guess i outta try again now.

the thing that bothers me is that i’ll need to put all the new words into srs through anki or else 95% of the time it will be muda. and i don’t have the strength to do that untill i’ve finishd WK (and why learn it twice if WK holds it?), im the type that does 1 something hardcore rather then a couple easy… what r your thoughts.

bagofdragonite - I don’t see it as bragging it’s sharing unless you are japanese already. thanks for the encouragement and tip and real kudos to you mate good luck in music! :grinning:

irenebean yeah thanks the stroke order rules is on my near future list. thanks for the encouragement! u seem to have a lot more experience than four levels of WK?

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