Hi,
I am Marional and I will complete level 30 and hit the halfway mark. This is my first post at this forum, mostly because I try to focus on completing reviews and focusing on level upping than reading different threads about studying ect. This entry is mostly to a reminder for myself how far I have come and a little record that I can compare once I hit level 60.
As for my history of studying Japanese, like most people I first started self-studying the language on and off for several years ago, but never got past the beginner level. This was mostly because I tried to do too much at once and during short period which led me to burn up my motivation quickly and I would quit studying all together.
Until spring 2020 I was putting off active Japanese learning, but once pandemic hit and all studies were done remotely, I got this new inspiration for studying. Ironically, I had started my master studies at previous fall semester, but I figured out that I still would have time and motivation to start studying kanji. I had just discovered Wanikani and figured that I wanted to actually learn Japanese further and be able to read things kanji knowledge would be must. I had tried Heisig-method of Remembering the kanji, but after the stories ended, I was not motivated to come with stories of my own.
The first levels fly by and when level four was unlocked I decided to buy yearly subscription and decided that if I managed to complete a six-month period of studying then I would up date to life time membership at the end of the year sales. Needles to say I had Life time membership by the one-year mark at level 20. The second full year was much slower and I managed to unluck just 10 levels. This was because I finished my master’s studies and master thesis, graduated, moved two times and went back to my old job to make some money while hunting for new one.
I would have never imagined reaching the halfway point after two years or sticking to this program so long. Something about SRS with gamification like level up messages from Kouichi and the amounts of burned items displayed is so satisfying to me. I have picked up learning new vocabulary every day and listening different kinds of podcast for immersion (mainly Nihongo con Teppei for beginners and Japanese with Noriko). My weakest point is learning the grammar, but I trust my previous experience that immersion will eventually help solidifying the grammar point when I encounter them at the wild (it happened with English and it will happen again with Japanese eventually).
So what I have learned so far:
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Consistency is the key, doing the reviews again and again to make it a habit.
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It is okay to slow your pace and adjust your goals according the changes in life.
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The Vacation mode used in moderation can help to avoid overwhelming you self with reviews.
I will keep going and try to reach level 45 within the next full year (but just reaching 40 is still an archievement).