Aw, thank you!! 
Sure, I’ll join in once I continue reading the Yotsuba&-series. I definitively want to continue it, loved the first volume! 
Omg you’re playing Ghost of Tsushima?! Is it…playable?
I want to play that so much but somewhere along the line I got it in my head that it is waaayyyyy too difficult for me… (are you a hardcore gamer?)
It’s playable for sure! You can play it in the easy mode, if you want to play it mostly for the story. I’m definitively not a hardcore gamer, so I’m sure you can play it and enjoy it too! It’s an absolutely stunning game! 
Awesome!!! Thank you! Ohboyohboyohboy
Summary of last week
Last week was a busy week, so I didn’t have the time to join my language exchange conversation club (for speaking practice) or to do many of the other tasks in my study regime. I prioritized doing my daily WK lessons & reviews, my Nativshark lessons & reviews and daily listening to Nihongo con Teppei podcast for lots of Japanese language input. I did have time for some other activities some of the days, but these three tasks were my main tasks during last week. I go by the motto better to do a little every day, than to do a lot each time but not very often. I think that slow and steady wins the race (sooner or later, haha).
Looking forward to this new week and today is also the first day of reading Ojisama to neko in my very own book club. Yay!
Progress tracking (24 aug-30 aug):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Read manga (Ojisama to neko vol. 1, Karigurashi no Arrietty vol. 1 & 2, Death Note vol. 1) | |||||||
| Italki lesson | |||||||
| GENKI II (ch. 14) | |||||||
| Watch anime/TV-show | |||||||
| Practice shadowing (Miku sensei) | |||||||
| Watch grammar lesson in Japanese | |||||||
| Play Ghost of Tsushima | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese podcast | |||||||
| HelloTalk moment diary entry (voice recording/text) | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese music | |||||||
| Vocab SRS (Anki/Memrise) | |||||||
| Bunpro lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Nativshark lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Watch Youtube videos in Japanese w/o subtitles |
Yesterday I finished Karigurashi no Arrietty, the Ghibli Film Comic, vol. 1. I actually read through the entire manga in just one sitting. Granted, there are many pages with only pictures and the text really isn’t that advanced, but I remember the first time I tried to read it, not too many months ago, thinking it was still a bit too difficult. At that time I even watched the entire Ghibli movie, using the Language Learning with Netflix plug-in, to get acquainted with the story and hopefully make it easier to read the manga. I noticed that it did help quite a lot, having watched the movie and already knowing the story, but was still happily surprised that my comprehension has improved!
Milestone achieved!
Today I started and finished reading Karigurashi no Arrietty vol. 2, which also means that I’ve achieved one of my goals for 2020, to read 5 manga in Japanese, yay!!
I also started reading Death Note vol. 1. A manga that I thought would be waaaay over my current level, but I was very, very surprised to find out that I actually understood quite a lot (probably a lot thanks to having watched the entire anime and knowing the story) in the first chapter. But, my strategy isn’t to understand every single new word of grammar that I encounter. Rather to get the gist of the story and to get a good overall comprehension of what’s going on. I believe that this really helps to increase my reading speed and to keep my motivation going strong (I’ve already noticed clear results, after every new manga that I’ve finished so far) and that it will also help me learn new words and concepts along the way. Making my brain “think” more and more in Japanese, instead of always having to translate everything into my native languages (Swedish and English). I want to wire my brain into thinking in Japanese, not about Japanese in my native languages.
Don’t you agree that I had a fantastic view today, while reading Karigurashi no Arrietty?
写真で私の馬がいます。ルークちゃんとコーヒちゃんです。かわいいですよね。
Progress tracking (31 aug-6 september):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Read manga (Ojisama to neko vol. 1, Death Note vol. 1) | |||||||
| Italki lesson | |||||||
| GENKI II (ch. 14) | |||||||
| Watch anime/TV-show | |||||||
| Practice shadowing (Miku sensei) | |||||||
| Watch grammar lesson in Japanese | |||||||
| Play Ghost of Tsushima | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese podcast | |||||||
| HelloTalk moment diary entry (voice recording/text) | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese music | |||||||
| Vocab SRS (Anki/Memrise) | |||||||
| Bunpro lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Nativshark lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Watch Youtube videos in Japanese w/o subtitles |
Summary of last week
I feel like I did get some studying in last week (with my main focus being language input type immersion: listening and reading). I did have another very busy week, especially busy weekend, since I spent the entire weekend with a couple of friends. I could keep up with the daily NativShark lessons and reviews but, for the first time ever, skipped a day of WK. I caught up and finished my review pile and put a few lessons in the day after and am back on track again. I also had one conversation over HelloTalk with a native Japanese speaker, so I did get some speaking practice in despite not being able to join my conversation club. This coming weekend I’ll be busy again, but I hope to be able to start joining the conversation club again the weekend after that! I really miss actually speaking Japanese, which is my main reason for learning the language in the first place. But I must say that I’ve really started to enjoy reading Japanese aswell, since I started WK.
Just burned my first two items on WK. BURN BABY BURN!!
Yesterday I leveled up to level 9 on WK, woop woop!
I didn’t rush last level at all, I took my sweet time working through it and will probably do the same for this level. I’ve been busy, as usual, lately and will continue to be for the next few weeks so I’ve noticed that my retention accuracy has gone down (since I often do my reviews when I’m tired after a day of work and then working my horses and doing some other farm chores after work). Also, I will have to work with some wedding photo editing over the coming days so that I can deliver them to the customer. Lots of work, in other words, haha! This weekend I’ll also be away. So, I’m really lowering my expectations regarding my Japanese studies at the moment. Focusing on daily WK reviews, working through the grammar lessons on NativShark, listening to at least a couple episodes of the Nihongo con Teppei podcast daily and also keeping up with some reading (focusing on おじさまと猫 for my book club). I think it’s important to slow down the pace, when needed, to avoid burnout. As long as I keep swimming, which means that there will be progress still, I’m satisfied!
Summary of last week
Last week was another very busy week and I actually even lost my study streak (ouch!) on NativShark because I didn’t have time to do my reviews yesterday. Also, the review pile on WK built up to nearly 300 reviews (I’ve managed to do 100 of the reviews now and will do the other 200 later during the day, but I don’t mind doing many reviews at once on WK). I did get some studying in during the week, despite being so busy, so I’m proud over myself for that (and also for not pushing myself too hard, allowing myself to also relax and slow down when needed). Again this was another week with my main focus being on language immersion (mostly through listening and also some reading). This week should be a little bit calmer, so hopefully I’ll be able to get some more Japanese studying (and immersion) done. Wish me luck! 
Progress tracking (7 september-13 september):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Read manga (Ojisama to neko vol. 1, Death Note vol. 1) | |||||||
| Italki lesson | |||||||
| GENKI II (ch. 14) | |||||||
| Watch anime/TV-show | |||||||
| Practice shadowing (Miku sensei) | |||||||
| Watch grammar lesson in Japanese | |||||||
| Play Ghost of Tsushima | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese podcast | |||||||
| HelloTalk moment diary entry (voice recording/text) | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese music | |||||||
| Vocab SRS (Anki/Memrise) | |||||||
| Bunpro lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Nativshark lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Watch Youtube videos in Japanese w/o subtitles |
Your horses are so sweet! <3
Congratulations on completing 5 manga!!! Huuuge!!! 
Thank you so much!! <3
Okay, as some of you may have noticed I’ve gone on a hiatus for about a week. My horse is injured and I’ve been busy caring for him and my other horse and with day to day life in general, so I kind of needed a total break from Japanese studies for a few days. I also activated vacation mode and took a break from WK. But, now I’m back on track again! I will keep my expectations lowered for a while longer and just focus on doing a little (something) related to Japanese every day, trying to keep up with WK reviews on the daily. During my hiatus week I did still immerse a little in Japanese and did do some WK reviews (but kept reactivating vacation mode, so that the review pile wouldn’t keep growing), listened to a couple episodes of the Nihongo con Teppei podcast, read a few pages of some manga and yesterday also joined my Japanese conversation group for the first time in a few weeks. But I needed a break from keeping track of what I did (didn’t) do each day.
So, here’s to new beginnings!
Progress tracking (21 september-27 september):
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Speak Japanese | |||||||
| Read manga | |||||||
| Italki lesson | |||||||
| GENKI II (ch. 14) | |||||||
| Watch anime/TV-show | |||||||
| Practice shadowing (Miku sensei) | |||||||
| Watch grammar lesson in Japanese | |||||||
| Play Ghost of Tsushima | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese podcast | |||||||
| HelloTalk moment diary entry (voice recording/text) | |||||||
| Listen to Japanese music | |||||||
| Vocab SRS (Anki/Memrise) | |||||||
| Nativshark lessons & reviews | |||||||
| Watch Youtube videos in Japanese w/o subtitles |
Hoping for your horse’s swift recovery! And… お帰りなさい。～<3
Thank you! 
It’s going to take a few months, maybe even a year, though I’m afraid (injured ligament 
). ただいま！