It’s been only 3 months since I started learning Japanese (doing it alone), so lately I’m trying to remember Kanji, Vocab or even Grammar while doing other stuff, like when I’m watching TV or cleaning or whatever.
The problem is that there are times where I simply can’t recall a Kanji at all. Then I’ll go do my reviews and I’m instantly going to be like: “AHA! THAT’S HOW ITS WRITTEN AND THATS HOW ITS CALLED!”
Same thing happens with grammar. I can’t even recall how to change a verb to express “MAY I DO THAT”, but the moment I open Genki and jump to the chapter, I’m going to be: “AHA I KNEW THAT”
So, does this happen to you? And please… TELL ME IT’S GOING TO GET BETTER! Right? Right?
It’s always gonna keep better as long as you keep going Your brain is just processing all this information you’re feeding it. If you keep feeding it the same information, it’ll eventually say “hey, I think I might hold onto this for longer than like, five minutes.” And then you’ll know you’re learning!
Plus, you’re always gonna have brain farts. That’s just human. I forgot the word whisk yesterday in English, despite it being my native language. I sat there for a solid thirty seconds, making a brisk stirring motion at my dog (as if he was gonna tell me the answer) before my brain said ‘lol it’s called a whisk dummy’
I had the exact same sensation when going through Genki 1. Reading each story help me to actually put into use even those scarce bits of knowledge I had then… huge gamechanger in terms of motivation
One of the problems I noticed in WaniKani is that if it asks me for the Meaning… I can think about it and remember it. But no clue about the Reading.
If it asks about the reading, I can think about it and remember it, but no clue about the Meaning…
Sometimes I enter the Reading of a Vocab… and I am: No clue what’s the Meaning, and then it says: Guru!
I had already entered the Meaning like two minutes before during the Review but I don’t remember it…
Sadly, I haven’t found any good bookstore for japanese books in Barcelona …
Though there’s La Biblioteca Japonesa , maybe you can at least ckeck some books there .
I buy mostly through Amazon Japan, they send overseas, shipping has arrived most of the time whitin a week from ordering and the price has been the cheapest compared to whatever I could find nearby.
What you’re describing is recognition versus recall (which includes passive versus active vocabulary). It’s much easier to recognize something than it is to recall it. This is not surprising, nor should it be concerning. As long as you work to improve both, you’ll get better at both (for example, by reading for recognition and writing/creating sentences for recall). Your recognition will in all likelihood always be better than your recall, and that’s okay.
Pretty much what @seanblue said. That’s more than common - it’s the norm. I think disparity tends to grow the more you practice reading (like WaniKani) versus writing/speaking, since you’re practicing one without the other. I started using KameSame.com to help - it’s basically WaniKani but in reverse (and links up to your WK account to only quiz you on stuff you learned). Super helpful.
And yeah, keep just trying to say random things throughout the day. That’s practice too.
…I’ve checked the price in amazon japan… and its a bit less… 34 euros, but then including 5 euros in tax deposit… that I’ve always gotten back after the books have arrived. So it would be 29 euros.
The reality is that Graded Readers (any publisher) are expensive… there’s much more work into them and they aim at a narrower audience as compared to native material.
If you have tried native content (I saw you were participating in a book club) that’s a much cheaper and overall a higher density content exposure compared to Graded Readers…
There’s also the Oxford Brookes publisher (“Let’s Read Japanese” series). That you could get for a lower price in europe (amazon Spain), since it’s printed in England (and doesn’t include audio CD) .
Your brain is just processing all this information you’re feeding it. If you keep feeding it the same information, it’ll eventually say “hey, I think I might hold onto this for longer than like, five minutes.” And then you’ll know you’re learning!
…
.
…I’ve checked the price in amazon japan… and its a bit less… 34 euros, but then including 5 euros in tax deposit… that I’ve always gotten back after the books have arrived. So it would be 29 euros.