I’ve been on vacation from WK for three years (yikes!) and have recently gotten back on the horse! Also, my husband recently started learning Japanese aswell, so learning has become even more fun now that we can learn together! I’m helping him go through Genki 1 while currently repeating Genki 2 grammar with a friend (study group) while also working through the TRY! N4 (since I’ve decided to take the JLPT N4 this summer). I’ve been studying quite a lot of N3 grammar aswell and spent 3 months in Japan last year, living with a host family and taking some Japanese classes. It was an amazing adventure and I decided to get by speaking only Japanese (which was a success, even though my level is still mid at best)! But I’ve also noticed how quickly my Japanese skills started to deteriorate as soon as I came back home since I don’t use the language on a regular basis anymore. That needs to change, so buckle up, here we goooo!
Progress tracking (5 May - 11 May):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanji | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Japanese immersion | |||||||
| Study grammar & vocab | |||||||
| Practice shadowing |
Reading goals for this month:
Yotsubato vol 4
Ojisama to neko vol 1
Ojisama to neko vol 2
Ojisama to neko vol 3
Grammar study goals for this month:
GENKI 2:
chap 19
chap 20
chap 21
TRY! N4
chap 2
chap 3
chap 4
chap 5
What a cool backstory! Welcome to the study log crew 
It sounds like you have some great support there with the study groups and your husband learning. I hope you have a lot of fun, looking forward to your updates 
Thank you so much! I’m very happy to be back at it!
Welcome back! 
It’s ok to take breaks from studying, but it’s very impurrtant to return back, which is what you did! May this time be the time you reach level 60 successfully! 
It’s very good that your husband is studying Japanese too – I wish you both best of luck with your studies! 
確かに！頑張る！
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Maybe lvl 60 will be within reach one day, as long as I keep my eyes on the prize and keep going, one day at a time! 諦めない！So impressed at your lvl 60 by the way, when did you reach that milestone?
Less than a year ago and more than 8 years since I’ve joined – this is a great example of what a clumsy cat I am! 
However, the impurrtant part is that I did it – and so can you!
Just go at your own pace – and you will get there. We are all rooting for you!
小さなアップデート
So far I’ve finished reading Ojisama to neko vol 1 (which I’ve been planning on reading for years, but just never got around to finishing it, I mean I even started a Ojisama to neko book club here on WK 笑) and Yotsubato vol 4. I’m reading with Tadoku-style in mind, so I try to understand the gist of the story without stopping to translate everything that I don’t fully understand (as long as I can follow along with the story). A new vocab that I picked up from today’s reading was: 失恋（しつれん）and Yotsubas shenanigans put a smile on my face!
For the grammar I’m currently studying passive form (in TRY! N4), so I’ll try to construct a few sentences here for practice:
- 泥棒（どろぼう）に自転車を盗（ぬす）まれました。
- 同僚（どうりょう）に褒められすぎました。
- 親友に結婚式に招待（しょうたい）されました。
I’ve been focusing mostly on input (through immersion) and grammar, vocab and kanji studies so I’ll try to get in more output (like writing sentences and practicing shadowing) to the study routine. 頑張る！
Welcome back to your studies! 
自転車をぬすまれました ? 
I’m not sure this sentence would be passive, I think passive tends to carry regret/irritation? So maybe 友達が結婚式に招待してくれました。
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
Yes, of course it should be をぬすまれました、sloppy mistake! 
One of the example sentences in the textbook (with passive form grammar explanation and examples) is actually:
私はスミスさんにパーティーにしょうたいされました。
So it seems to work?
Ok you got me curious and I actually found an earlier WK thread on this topic:
I still think that if I was trying to be super clear, I’d probably use てくれる to indicate that I feel positively about it 
but I suppose either way can work.
Hmm, interesting that the textbook chose this as an example, since it should be an event that has a positive emotion connected to it (hopefully, haha) or at least neutral. I didn’t know about the negative (regret/irritation) nuance, will have to look into it more! Thanks again, it’s very helpful to get feedback and to learn about different nuances! 
小さなアップデート
Just finished Ojisama to neko vol 2 and almost started crying a couple of times over the bond shared by ふくまる (the cat) and おじさま and how they’re helping one another overcome past trauma 
I seems like I might finish my reading goal for this month earlier than planned. I haven’t decided yet if I should just continue with other manga I’m planning to read (but was saving for next month) or if I should focus that time on more grammar studies and output. Then again, immersion is the most fun way to study and all time spent with the language is a win!
Progress tracking (12 May - 18 May):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanji | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Japanese immersion | |||||||
| Study grammar & vocab | |||||||
| Practice shadowing |
新しい文法の練習
Some grammar practice from chap. 3 of TRY! N4
~のに
- 何年間日本語を勉強しているのに、まだペラペラ話せません。
- 彼女は猫のアレルギーがあるのに、猫が４匹飼っています。
~ことにする
- 日本語を上達させるために、毎日勉強することにしました。
- 体に悪いので、エナジードリンクを飲まないことにしました。
Study goals for 2025
- Finish all N3 kanjis in the Kanji! app (so far I’ve finished all N5 and N4 kanjis and 86 N3 kanjis) and keep up with daily reviews
- Level up to lvl 15 of WaniKani
- Finish the final chapters of Genki 2 with study group (three more chapters to go after the current chapter, but also the reading section and more vocab review)
- Finish TRY! N4 and do the practice JLPT test at the end
- Study for and pass the JLPT N4 this July
- Get started with Quartet 1, continue working with the Natural and Fluent 1 textbook (from Coto Language Academy) and possibly get started with Tobira to reach a solid intermediate level
- Get started with TRY! N3 and start studying for JLPT N3 next year (it’s only possible to take the JLPT exam once a year here in Sweden)
- Read 4 manga a month
- Watch more anime/J-dramas/Japanese Youtube videos without subtitles
- Take Japanese tutoring lessons regularly (to get more speaking practice)
- Speak Japanese in language exchange group on Discord regularly
A short break
I’ve had to slow down with the Japanese studies both yesterday and today since I had to focus on a programming assignment (I study full-stack web development at Uni) with deadline today. It was a fun and time consuming data analysis assignment, but unfortunately that meant that I had to put Japanese a bit on hold. It also means that WK reviews have started to pile up, but they’re still manageable enough to get back on track! Today I also started watching a Japanese reality show (Offline love) with Japanese subtitles to get some (not too energy consuming 笑）immersion in. Also, my husband has gotten really interested in learning more about 茶道 and told me about a bicycle route he’d like us to take for our next, future trip to Japan. I’m so happy that we’re sharing this language journey again!
(Sneak peek of the data analysis assignment I’ve been working on)
Breaks are important for progress after all, so don’t forget to take breaks from time to time!
That’s cool! I know the company I worked for ended up paying a company big money to host something similar (though the data was quite a bit more complex). I ended up spending several months on a project to replicate the functionality inside Power BI so we could not renew the contract, and in the end it worked well enough that the other company lowered what they charged us to less than what it would cost to run in Power BI. 
But if you’re doing this in uni, you’re well on your way!
Oh nice and thank you!
新しい文法の練習
~ところです
- 出かけるところです。
- 映画を見ているところです。
- 帰国したところだから、疲れています。
~ところです made me think about the differences in nuance compared to ~間に and ~時
If I’ve understood it correctly (please correct me if I’m wrong) then ところです has the nuance of explaining something just about to happen or something that just happened, if using the present tense short form or past tense short form before ところです, but has the nuance of being in the middle of doing something when using the ている-form. So, what would then be the nuance difference between ているところです and ている間に ? ている間に is usually followed by some action or event B, right? For example, 朝ごはんを食べている間に、警察（けいさつ）から電話がかかってきました, whereas 朝ごはんを食べているところです simply explains that the action of eating breakfast was underway? And 時に explains something from a specific time period, like 子供の時によくテニスをしました。