I’ve been using WaniKani and Busuu for some time and I’ve recently added Bunpro as another resource to learn Japanese, but I’m wondering if I’m going about using them in a truly productive way where what I go over any given day will really stick. Does anyone have any recommendations for going about learning Japanese, like doing a single lesson multiple times over, or designating a certain amount of time for one specific thing like vocabulary drills?
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I’m not familiar with Busuu, but I think you need 3 things (ideally, really only 2): wanikani, bunpro, and a guided-course textbook. For the textbook, I’d actually recommend irodori until you grow out of it. It’s free, and pretty good. It introduces a balanced combination of vocabulary, grammar points, and kanji so you don’t get super-strong in one thing, but still unable to read because the other ones are limiting you.
The reason I think the textbook is so important is it gives you production exercises. You have to write the sentence, not just passively observe. Genki does this, and so does irodori. The irodori online course (also free, but separate from the main book site) also has level-appropriate videos for listening practice.
I’d even say with irodori, you could go without bunpro, but I like all 3 together. (Bunpro did seem to make more sense to me when I put it in ‘minna no nihongo’ order instead of the standard one, for some reason)
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It somewhat depends on how much time you have to study per day. Either way, I think it is important to have sources for: grammar, vocabulary, output, and input.
For grammar I use the Genki textbook and sometimes stuff I find on the web. I know Bunpro is a popular tool for grammar as well.
For vocabulary I use Anki. Any useful vocab that I find on the web, videos, games, textbooks, Wanikani, etc. They all go into Anki
Output is what I lack in, as there are no native Japanese speakers near me and there is no way I’m paying high prices for iTalki. Either way, I’ll sometimes write about my day. Or always speak out loud when learning Japanese. Or shadow. Or talk about my actions/day out loud.
Input is highly important to me. This gets you used to people speaking in real-life situations. I follow many Japanese Youtubers and listen to their conversations. Music can be good as well. I also try to read Japanese news articles. Also video games/shows/anime in only Japanese.
Usually I spend two hours a day studying which includes:
30 minutes of grammar
30 minutes of vocab/kanji
1 hour of input of various kinds
Passively talk about my day or what I’m doing
Everyone studies differently, and you need to find something that’ll work for you. Try experimenting. Japanese definitely seems like it’ll take a long time to learn, so it is super important to make it enjoyable.
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I think starting out it’s really easy to get gung ho about everything and you can’t get enough but if I am being honest you should just kind go at whatever pace feels natural. You’re new so you’ll be just memorizing words and some basic grammar for a while but I encourage you to try making a few sentences here and there. Physical or digital version of grammar books might also be something I’d encourage you to invest in. As convenient as online resources seem I think physical gives you a greater sense of structure and progression.
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Haven’t seen you around in a while! Have you taken the N1 you were planning already?
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Yeah, I took the N1. I got passing scores on every section but not enough accumulative points to pass. But it was a good challenge. The listening part’s last 2 questions absolutely massacred me. Made me much more confident that I could pass the N2 lol. Right now I am focusing on revisiting old manga and books I’ve read through before. I think I have enough material that I can learn and repeat from I’ll just get there when I get there.
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Do something (doesn’t have to be a lot) in Japanese every day - things like WK need to be done regularly to have any benefit, but if your study consists only of WK-type study, you’re going to get bored and burn out.
I like Satori reader because I get practical reading and listening practice & just listening to one episode a day takes me about 10mins. Depending on your level, listening to podcasts can also be great (again, depending on the podcast, listening can just take 10mins).
Here’s a list of some good Japanese podcasts grouped according to level:
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Even though you didn’t pass great to hear your progressing to that extent.
I’ll be attempting N3 this year, haven’t taken any before and my main practice is anime 
so we’ll see how I go too!
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I think learning any language can feel like trial and error… and everyone is different too!
This is my personal study:
WaniKani - All available lessons and multiple reviews a day
Bunpro - Helps with understanding grammar, but I am more relaxed with this one.
Genki - This has been a lifesaver, the Genki textbook has really solidified a lot of grammar rules for me and generally accelerated my learning.
Anki - Sometimes a website won’t have vocabulary I want to learn, maybe there is something specific I want to know… this is where Anki comes in. I can make my own decks.
Writing practice - Just a normal Genkouyoushi book to practice my writing ability.
For talking practice I talk to my Japanese friends, read manga, watch anime and interact on Japanese Twitter.
Of course this is what works for my learning and everyone will take their own path. Some will find this too little or too much… learning a language should always be tailored to you.
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Satori Reader has been mentioned on this thread beforehand so I won’t completely re-explain what others have already said, But if you’re a fan of SRS then Satori Reader is great since you can add them to your studylist and start an SRS for them.
I think the world is your oyster with study routines so find what works for you, I would just recommend maintaining a good balance between how many SRS systems you use. Sometimes having to manage too many across different platforms can end up doing more harm than good. Often it’s better to throw a different study/learning method such as a textbook in the mix rather than add another spaced repetition system.
And don’t forget to talk to yourself! you may feel a little crazy, but it’s a good way to use vocabulary + grammar you know off the top of your head. Speak Japanese Naturally has some good videos where you can practice shadowing if you like to have a sort of guideline to follow while you practice. がんばれ！
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The N3 isn’t so bad. It’s a lot more “direct” in what it’s communicating in the writing and listening sections. Listening to anime and reading manga + some JLPT focused material study will get you there pretty easily. I did it in about 12 weeks? I haven’t been able to replicate the same success in the N2 or N1. N3 is the last time you can just use “puzzle language solving” (ex. “This word means X, and this means Y, so that means X + Y.”)
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Depending on if Im off or working, I’ll typically spend 1-3 hours studying every day, but Busuu, and now WaniKani, are becoming more and more frustrating and Im wondering if my approach is off. I’ve never really taken studying seriously in any way for something so unknown to me before, so this is all very new to me. I have alot of time at work to listen to stuff, I was thinking podcasts would be great if I could just find some good ones. I’ll have to give that a try
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Don’t burn yourself out! If you feel frustrated, it may be time to take a different approach, ease it back, or take a short break.
As for podcasts, I’ll recommend Nihongo con Teppei which can be found on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (that I know of). Also The Bite size Japanese Podcast on Spotify is good as well, though I find it just slightly more difficult than Nihongo con Teppei.
On YouTube, there is a channel called Comprehensible Japanese that has content for complete beginners, beginners, intermediate, and advanced. I highly recommend you check them out as well.
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If you want to Build a study plan you could always go to other people’s study log and pick what works’ best for you. That’s how, I make my study plan.
“good artists borrow, great artists steal.”- Picasso
Have a nice day or night 
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Does anyone have any particular way that they tackle WaniKani any given day? Im at the point where I have about 200 items to review and 15 lessons every day on top of everything else I’m trying to learn and it’s getting kind of overwhelming.
You’re doing all the things i did last year : Wanikani, bunpro and busuu. My advice would be if you enjoy doing them then carry on doing them because they all have a fixed ending don’t they.
I began to have less interest and faith in bunpro and busuu and have moved on to Wanikani combined with reading children’s novels with the help of jisho.org onlie kanji dictionary and DEEPL language translator
To be honest i have found the same with Wanikani. It feels very time consuming -2-3 hours day. I’m going to go down to just doing 10 lessons day to see if that is more manageable. More and more I am wondering if doing Wanikani is perhaps a 3 or 4 year endeavour rather than 1 or 2 yrs if you want to do other Japanese study as well as having a regular life.
I enjoy Busuu and WaniKani and I don’t at the same time. I feel like Busuu doesn’t do half as good of a job at teaching kanji as WaniKani does, but I’m at the point where WaniKani is throwing kanji at me that have 8 different readings that it only taught me two of and readings that change for seemingly no reason other than a kanji is attached. A part of me thinks that kanji are interesting, but the other part of me is slowly beginning to hate kanji because it seems like an absolutely unnecessary mess of a writing system. I’d enjoy Busuu alot more if it didn’t baby you every step of the way with every possible kind of contextual hint to every question it asks so that I could use my brain and think to come up with solutions. I haven’t been using BunPro for very long, but I don’t have any complaints with it so far.