HAHAHA 
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New fun things came in the mail today! Super excited (and nervous) about starting Minna no Nihongo, but hopefully now that I have the Translation & Grammar Notes, it won’t be that scary. The other book, highly reviewed on Amazon and often bough together with All About Particles is something I’ve wanted for a while too. Just thumbing through the pages looks like it is full of sentence structure and grammar knowledge - and - it says “beginner friendly,” so that’s always nice 
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Quick question - how far are you guys in Yotsubato? I want to try to catch up. Slowly. Steadily. Not dying in the process. 
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Tomorrow we’re planning to do pages 17 & 18, however, the technical manga begins on page 6, so really you’re only about 11 to 12 pages behind! Some go by quickly too (fewer bubbles). I’m sure we could take a pause day in there too to help you catch right up so it’s not too much for you to handle! Just enjoy it at your own pace, then our plan is going to be 2 pages a day with our little 
study bunch All checking in with each other each day with our “interpretations”
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Welp,
I’ve done at least 200 reviews today, and I still have 49 to go! However, I did practically ace the 94 I just did in 1 batch - I got a 96%! Most of those moved into Master, though, so my apprentice pile remains at 138 
I also did Torii reviews twice today, and I’m slowly gathering some common kanji / vocab on the side with it! Not concerned with how fast I go, I just plan on feeling out adding more lessons as my reviews get smaller and more spaced out.
I don’t think I have the brain power to begin MNN tonight, but I am about to open my new sentence structure book to learn about it and get some Japanese reading done for the day!
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Super cool, I hope MNN works well for you!
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Oh I hope so too! I have a few of you (I’m assuming you have used MNN?) that I will rely on for some guidance I’m sure
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I actually used Genki, so I can’t help directly with the book! Happy to try to give other perspectives on the general ideas, though.
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Oh of course! You’re one of the “tools” in my Swiss Army Knife (I’m not calling you a “tool” , rather, a blade! 
)
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Does anyone do this:
Stare at a kanji/word forever, trying to make it pop into your brain, and it just won’t. Then, you get distracted (tab out to something, look at your phone, give your cats some treats, etc.) and come back to the computer and the correct answer instantly pops into your head??
This happens to me somewhat often, and it makes me wonder if there should be a “come back to this question later” type of function!
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Gestaltzerfall, maybe?
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Yup! That absolutely happens to me.
I see it as a bad habit though, and I’ve stopped doing that (as in, the intentionally doing something else part, I still get distracted really often). I’m not gonna stare at a kanji for five minutes while reading. If I don’t know a kanji within seconds, I should probably just consider it forgotten, and let it fail. Having to let my brain idle for an hour while dredging it up from my subconscious doesn’t mean I still know a kanji, it just means I haven’t forgotten it completely - but it’s buried so deep I might as well have. And sure, sometimes I forget things that have totally internalised and I do remember, like randomly blanking out on my PIN, but… I’ll take those fails. Worst that could happen is having to review a kanji a few times more 
There is a userscript to do what you ask for: WaniKani Later Crabigator
Do keep in mind, it may not play nice with other userscripts, especially reordering scripts.
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Fascinating!!! There’s a discovery and term for everything it seems
Thanks Belthazar!
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I was thinking this too… which is why I’m guessing they don’t have a skip question feature.
Okay good! I’ve been doing this too now that I’m not obsessive about getting everything right.
Yes this is true. I just hate seeing my apprentice pile going down like 5 a day, and then ultimately adding 5-7 more lessons on top of that as I pass Kanji 
Oh right I’ve seen this but haven’t gotten it. Maybe I should avoid it, I might be tempted to “abuse” it and hinder the balance I’ve been trying to achieve.
Thanks yamitenshi!!!
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Wooohoo! I just got a nice 37 chunk out of my apprentice pile! Only failed one Down to 111 now!
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My brain just feels like it went through manga boot camp…
Here's my attempt for today!
Page 17 - 1/14/22
ちなみに
By the way…
燃えるゴミは月木燃えないゴミは土曜日ですから
Burnable garbage is picked up Monday and Thursday… non-burnable garbage is picked up Saturday…
他にも何かわからない事等ありましたら遠慮 なくおっしゃって下さい
Furthermore, if there’s a matter you need clarified, or something please don’t hesitate to ask…
………
君高校生だよね
You are a senior high school student, right?
はい？
Yes?
そうですけど
That is so, however…
いや
Well (?) oh (?)
しっかりしてんなあーと思って (had trouble with this one)
Then I would think you are hard working (reliable?)
俺が高校のときはもっとー
I need a high school student on occasion and sometimes more.
あ今でもしっかりしてないんだけど (had trouble with this one)
Ah, as of now I need someone dependable…
しっかりして下さい (had trouble with this one)
I can kindly be dependable for you…
はあすみません
Yes, thank you.
ところでこちらに住むのはお一人で
By the way, do you live here alone?
あ いや 小さい娘がいてー
Ah, well, my small daughter…
さっきちょっとどこかに消えちゃったんだけど
She disappeared from here just a little while ago, however…
え？！大変！！
What?! That’s awful!!
PAGE 18 - 1/14/22
じゃあ私捜してきましょうか
Well then, I will go search for her?
あ！ いいんだ
Ah! Good, please do.
いつもの事だから心配しなくても
This is a regular occurrence, so that’s why it isn’t a real concern. (had trouble with this one)
…そう なんですか？
…Is that so? (just took this from the study guide)
あ じゃあ
Ah, well then
この後私出かけますんで
I am about to go out and…
その時それらしい子がいないか
Look for a child appearing lost at this time (REALLY struggled with this one)
ありがとう
Thank you.
変な奴だって思う子がいたら
Hey, listen. There’s a strange fellow also looking for my child. (REALLY struggled here again).
たぶんそれ
Probably (?)
はい
I see…
ずいぶんね
Wow…
Page 19 - 1/14/22
では
Well then…
んじゃ
Please do…(?)
あ！ そうだお子さん お名前?
Ah! It appears that you know my child’s name?
よつば
Yotsuba
よつば
Yotsuba
よつばちゃんですね！
Yotsuba’s her name, yes?!
じゃーねー
See you later.
あした
Tomorrow.
あそぼーね
To play games.
うん
Okay.
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No 
. As in, I used to stare at kanji until I could see the shape of the meaning in the kanji itself. If it wouldn’t appear, I would just brute-force it into my head. 100% success rate guaranteed 
@anon33985902 if you’re using another SRS outside of WaniKani (Torii, I guess?) that’s what I would recommend doing as well. I know WaniKani tends to be very forgiving with this, but it’s not worth it. Either one knows a kanji or word or not.
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I will HAVE to try this method!!!
Like for real, mnemonics, especially of more complex kanji are overrated . If you know how phonetic components work, it will take you less time remembering the reading when compared to trying to understand the mnemonic story
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Okay I think I already do this a little. 90% of my mnemonics are my own, and they are short 1-2 word relations. I often take similar kanji/radical meanings and create the mnemonics from them, and I do sometimes rely on the phonetic components. If I’m understanding you correctly, seeing 生ける, for example, if I forget what 生 means, but I say “ける” in my head, I can remember the “い” easier?
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