_Rinse’s Study Log

_Rinse · February 25, 2021, 1:02pm

Upon reaching level 6, I’ve finally decided to start a study log!! (I’ve been wanting to start one, but I put it off until now.) I’m a huge lurker so I’m not too good with making stuff here so please bear with me… This will be a daily study log, I will probably post at the end of the day. I hope to use this log as motivation to keep learning, and maybe to get to know everyone better!

My Background

Hello, my name is Sae Rin (but you can just call me Rinse). I am a Korean-Egyptian person who is fluent in Korean, but not Egyptian. I have a big love for art, animation, writing, linguistics, and math! I really just like creating things in general, and I’m currently writing a book.

How Did I Get Here?

I don’t really have a background in Japanese, other than some anime/manga/games. The reason why I decided to learn Japanese is actually kind of stupid, but it is what it is. It was just a process of me thinking:

“I should learn another language.”

“Japanese seems similar to Korean. Seems like a waste not to learn it.”

“Guess I’m learning Japanese then.”

Due to this very simple thought process in around May of 2020, I got myself to learn hiragana and katakana from Tofugu, from which I was introduced to WaniKani. I tried it out, and it worked really well for me, so I got up to level 3 and then decided to try alternatives like Anki or Kanji Garden. None of those worked (for me, we all learn differently), and starting the new year, I finally sealed the deal with the crabigator…

Goals
➟ Reach level 25 on WaniKani, spending around 8-10 days on each level.
➟ Learn some more grammar. (Alas, being Korean is not a proper excuse to not learn grammar!!)
➟ Start to have more conversation in Japanese.
➟ Actually start to read something.
➟ Learn proper intonation and how to sound natural.
➟ Learn more non-Kanji vocab and words not on WaniKani.

_Rinse · January 27, 2021, 9:10am

January 26 2021

Level: 6

I told myself that I should do my vocabulary lessons before the level up, but here we are…

And my leveling thus far!

I hope to finish all of those lessons by the end of today!

Lessons + Reviews:

I’ll do the rest of the lessons tommorow…

Level Progress:

cringe · January 27, 2021, 4:07pm

If you do under 8 a level you’re gonna burn out big time. Likely around level 15.

The more kanji you learn the more you’ll start confusing them with other kanji, and also the less progress you’ll feel like you’re making since they’re going to be less and less common.

I mean, you can speedrun if you want but it’s not a great idea TBH.

_Rinse · January 27, 2021, 5:47pm

Right, thanks for the insight! If I feel that I’m burning out I will slow down before it actually happens.

_Rinse · January 28, 2021, 10:29am

January 27 2021

Level: 6

It is 2 am as I am writing this, which technically means it’s the next day… we can just pretend it’s not, right?

Lessons + Reviews:

As you can see, I really just slacked off today… However, I did finish my 100+ reviews, but mostly because I was not looking forward to waking up to 200+ reviews…

Level Progress:

Politeod · January 28, 2021, 10:39am

The biggest problem is that if you go too fast at the start you’ll not only increase your workload in the short term, but also in the long term. Even after slowing down the items from the earlier levels you did fast will still continue popping up in reviews, which may lead to a flood of reviews.

That begin said if you have enough motivation and free time speedrunning can work, I’ve been doing it for quite a while and I’m fine. Just be wary of the consequences.