Just ordered it on your recommendation! Thank you!
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I’ll second that. Actually the whole youtube channel it’s packed with some of the clearest explanations I’ve seen about japanese grammar. (the whole animated character might be a little off putting, but the content it’s superb)
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Wow you’re all working so hard. Currently I’m only doing Wanikani reviews/lessons and when I have time from uni, I have two Japanese text books and I’ve completed the first one. I don’t know does this count but occasionally I watch anime which is sort of a listening exercise. Oh and I do LingoDeer course too.
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@reichter, @Ncastaneda,
How does her book’s content compare to her youtube content? Does it cover additional material? More detail?
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I’ve been watching most of the videos on the Youtube channel this last week, and to be honest, the content in the videos surpasses the content in the book by now.
I could say the book goes perhaps a bit more into detail about the ga particle and the zero pronoun, and I’m seeing there’s explanation about the そう ender that still has no corresponding video.
For the time being I guess the book serves more as a way to contribute with the author. Perhaps the Patreon she has started it’s a better way now to contribute and get extra content.
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I could say the book goes perhaps a bit more into detail about the ga particle and the zero pronoun, and I’m seeing there’s explanation about the そう ender that still has no corresponding video.
I hope this person at least references where they got the concept of the zero pronoun from. I think it’s good that they use that concept since I think it’s extremely helpful for beginners, but I don’t like how they pretend to be better than every other resource while taking from those resources.
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I’m new to learning Japanese, having only started studying about three or four months ago. I am semi-retired so I have more time to spend on study. Here are the things I do:
a. Every morning, during breakfast, I watch an episode of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I also have learned lots of new words from Okada, Tanahashi, and Naito.
b. I do a new lesson or review an older one on Rocketlanguages.com. I usually spend about an hour doing that.
c. Then I work on duolingo.com for a while, or now, on this site, which I'm really liking. That's another hour or so.
d. At work, I have a co-worker who lived in Japan for nearly 20 years, so she is fluent and I can talk to her in the little Japanese I know. She married a Japanese husband so I have lots of help when I need it. It is really motivating with them because they are so excited that I am learning their language.
e. After work I repeat the above, then make and study vocabulary and/or character flash cards.
f. I often listen to interviews on You Tube or New Japan World. Sometimes I watch Japanese cartoons on You Tube as well. It is so motivating to see how many new words and sometimes whole sentences I can understand.
g. I'm not reading much yet as I am new to the written part of Japanese. I hope to be doing that soon, though. I have to get Okada's book! Thanks for letting us know about that, Ctinctin!
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Hope you like it! Even if it just clears up some of wa and ga for you (and for me it did a lot more than that), an epiphany to understand one of the cores of Japanese grammar (ie, が is always in the sentence, even if you can’t see it) really helped me move forward with the rest of my grammar studying.
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I consider them companion resources. At this point, the videos cover a broader range of material than the book does, but I think the book is often better at explaining things/does so in more depth where there is overlap in material in addition to just being easier to reference. If you have doubts, you can look over the table of contents (available on the Amazon page by clicking on the book preview), and you can refund a kindle book within 7 days of purchase if you want to try it out and then decide it’s not for you.
Edit: As a quick clarification, the book is not essential to using her resources, but I think it is a useful companion resource that made the material more accessible for me
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I also like to play games and consume media like comics and anime. I set the system language of every device I can to Japanese. My home and work PC, my Nintendo Switch and PS4, and my phone. I play as many games in Japanese as I can manage. The switch is really nice because it will play a game in the system’s language if that language is supported regardless of where you buy it, so it plays Zelda in Japanese. I had to import Disgaea 5 though, since for some reason the physical and download US versions don’t support Japanese.
The PS4 also does this for Nier Automata, but that’s the only one I’ve seen so far.
I follow several Japanese youtubers and just in general try to consume as much media as I possibly can. I participate in Facebook groups that are in Japanese. I translate content when I can. This in particular is helpful because it requires going beyond getting the gist of something and requires really understanding it.
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Wanikani everyday sometimes twice a day. Listen to Pimsleur. I also use memrise, lingodeer, and duolingo if I’m in a situation where i’m idle. I’m about to start the first genki book as well.
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I’ve been learning Japanese for a few years and it always goes in fits & starts. Sometimes there will be an inevitable 2-3 month break to a set routine, and I’ll need to catch up or reorganize myself. My current routine is:
WK: 3 new lessons a day, leech squashing and reviews 1-2x a day.
Anki: After a lot of fits & starts with Anki, I finally got it to work for me. I go through my available flashcards (I have the 10k deck & tobira decks, but I only release words as I come across them in textbooks or reading)
Tobira: Grind through a few pages of the text or workbook, add to Anki as necessary.
After I finish Tobira (slated for around July) I’m planning to do some N3 prep books. Hoping to pass N3 with flying colors this winter.
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During the week, I will do my WK reviews in the morning before work. During my lunch hour, I go for a walk and listen to two or three JapanesePod101 podcasts. On the way home I do a Pimsleur lesson in my car, which is exactly the right length for my commute home. In the evening, I will catch up on my WK reviews and any lessons that may have pinged up during the day. If I have time (or feel like it), I’ll also so some text-book exercises.
On weekends, I concentrate more on text book work / grammar - I’m currently working through Japanese From Zero book 2 and the Marugoto A1 books. I also use Rosetta Stone and do the live tutoring sessions that are included in my subscription, which I find really helpful for getting practice with a native Japanese speaker.
I’ve been practicing my reading using the Japanese Graded Reader books (which I love!) and I’ve also recently bought the Yotsuba manga series, so I’m starting to (slowly) work my way through those, which I’m really enjoying so far.
For me, keeping my interest in my studies is mostly down to variety - by mixing up different sources of information / learning, I’m not getting bored or overwhelmed and I feel like I’m learning at a good pace so far.
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Terrace House!!! <3 TH is how I learned the slang terms ヤバイ and めっちゃ, among other things. 
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Most of my learning so far has just been working through WK, doing reviews and at least 20 lessons a day. I’m also trying to catch up to my current WK level on KaniWani while practicing handwriting. It is slow going since I can easily spend an hour just practicing writing the kanji for each level
I also use Memrise and HouHou for extra vocabulary, and I’m slowly working my way through Genki.
Reading this thread really makes me want to find more learning resources!
@ctlnctln Did you happen to go to UMD? I have a friend who said their friend was also learning japanese just to watch wrestling.
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Ah I didn’t! My compliments to your friend’s friend haha
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Amazing how many of us are learning Japanese for wrestling purposes!
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My routines change constantly and sometimes just die for weeks at a time, but my current one as I build up to JLPT N4 is:
- Listen to 2 JPod101 podcasts (or line-by-line review old ones) on the commute to work
- Do WaniKani reviews/lessons before other people get into work
- If I have a free lunch hour, I’ll do a couple of Genki exercises then. If not, I try and do them at the end of the work day, before I head home.
- During downtime at work I’ll do a couple of BunPro reviews
- In the evenings, I’ll watch an episode of Terrace House and/or use Japanese Graded Readers.
For the most part I leave my weekends free, save some WaniKani and the occasional Genki exercise, but I’ll ramp this up for a few weekends before the exam.
I also track my weekly progress with each tool using a RAG system so I can see where I’ve been avoiding and double my efforts on that for the next week. Most importantly though, I don’t let myself feel guilty about doing less than I expected - it’s all gravy
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Both in the book and the website most of the credit goes to professor Jay Rubin.
Actually I’m reading Jay Rubin’s ‘‘Making Sense of Japanese’’, and indeed there are some of the best explanations about japanese grammar I’ve found.
Lately I’ve become a patreon for Cure Dolly… And it’s super available to answer doubts about japanese learning , so I think has been a great decision.
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I also got interested in Japanese because I wanted to know if Okada’s words meant what they seemed to mean. Then with Naito talking about eyes and ears, I got even more interested. And, of course, Tanahashi teaching me to say “I love you!”
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