Hi. I’m an older learner (started learning Japanese in my 30s, in my 40s now). I am very touch and go with it. Got pretty far in WaniKani maybe 5 years ago or so but ended up getting overwhelmed. Decided to start from scratch, so I’m currently on level 3.
I’m learning Japanese to exercise my brain, and because I am intrigued by the history, aesthetics, culture, and values of the country. My dad went to HS in Japan during post-McCarthy Occupation in the late 1950s, so there had various pieces of Japanese art and ephemera in my suburban 1980s home growing up. Maybe not particularly unique, but it definitely planted seeds of curiosity.
I’m also an ardent poker player, so am hoping to eventually play to JOPT. Huge admirer of Okamoto Shiina and what she has been able to accomplish in the WSOP ladies events.
In addition to studying WK, I also watch Japanese news (never been much into anime, but I still love Ghibli), have a whole raft of textbooks and learning materials, use Hobonichi journals and occaisonally practice the daily translation etc.
Hoping to post here a little more to stay accountable to myself - we’ll see! As of today I’m on level 3 of WK. It’s going quickly which is nice. The updates to the site are great, BTW - congrats to the tofugu team.
I figured it was time for an update, it’s been about a week. I’m back to the lower levels of the Crabigator temple, and it’s been great here in the mines. Everything is extremely solid in my memory, which is a confidence boost. I’m trying to be more disciplined about paying attention to the subtleties in kanji meanings that I may have glossed over the first time and reviewing sentences more thoroughly.
I’m moving at a good pace with practially no effort (not a surprise after so many years studying), but I’m curious to see when I hit the point where recall starts to slip. When that happens, I plan to shift gears and slow down instead of forcing myself to meet any arbitrary time goal.
In parallel, I’m preparing for the group read of Kiki’s Delivery Service by working through a JPDB flashcard deck for the book. Another side goal is to translate some interviews with Okamoto Shiina, who just made history at the World Series of Poker. If I could do 1 translation of her interviews a week that would be great, but who knows if my schedule will allow it.
