Well I reached level 10 about a week ago and I suppose I should follow tradition and share some thoughts. It’s a long one, so buckle up!
I believe I reached it in 89 days, which it certainly felt much longer. I definitely intend to slow down, and maybe aim for 14-15 days per level instead of the 9 I was averaging. My review log was getting very tall very quickly each day, so I’ve opted to only do new lessons once my Apprentice pile dips below 100. This decision definitely helped my retention of newer items. As it’s always stated, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
I’ve been slowly branching out and finding additional resources to help expand and brush up on other aspects of my learning. Most of these I have the wonderful community here to thank! I thought it might be nice to share ones that have stood out for me. With any hope, someone else may find something handy!
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KameSame
Both probably need no introduction. They’re like WaniKani, but in the other direction, where you are given the english and need to recall the Kanji or vocab in Japanese. I, personally, started with KaniWani and switched to KameSame, but there is no wrong choice. Both let you sync and use your WaniKani progress via API key.
Bunpro
Kind of like WaniKani, but for grammar. Super handy and categorized by JLPT level, learn grammar points through SRS. Much more self-moderating needed, Bunpro will not tell you to slow down or stop, so don’t go too crazy!
Bilingual Manga
A personal must-have for reading practice. Free manga, ready for reading that you can toggle between Japanese and English (or your chosen languages) with a button on the side. Even better, the text is all HTML, so you can highlight and copy text from speech bubbles. What’s more, it means Rikaikun (listed later) even works on it, so you can use it to spot-check new kanji and vocab.
Yotsubato! has been a great first reading material so far for me (https://bilingualmanga.com/manga/yotsubato)
Speechling
Listening comprehension practice. IMO, not as geared towards beginners as it may think, but still nice enough to share. Individual audio clips from categorized phrase modules. Listen, repeat and/or interpret for yourself, see/hear sentence with translation, repeat. Uses multiple people, so voices constantly change; some speak very slow and clear, some speak conversationally.
Self-testing
A large collection of self-testing material. Mostly categorized by JLPT level, listening, grammar, reading, etc., plus miscellaneous categories like Death Note and Dragon Ball phrases.
Cure Dolly
A controversial share, apparently. She uses a 3D avatar and voice filter, which understandably bugs a lot of people. She also tends to use click-baity titles. But, having said that, her explanations are fantastic. I am currently going through her grammar videos, but beyond those, she has a ridiculous amount of content. Each video is usually around 10 minutes long.
Japanese Ammo
Misa’s videos very thoroughly explain Japanese in general. Focus is definitely aimed more at the listening and speaking aspects, so she’s great for understanding everyday conversational skills. Her videos describe things wonderfully, and she gives a lot of real sentence examples along the way. Each video is usually around 30 minutes long.
Tofugu Grammar
I believe this is where I spent most of my grammar-learning at first. Individual grammar points are nicely explained in their own articles. Great for focusing on a single item, as many resources tend to explain multiple related ones simultaneously.
Jisho
I assume pretty much everyone knows and uses Jisho, but including just in case. Jisho, being “dictionary” is just that – a very accessible Japanese dictionary.
Rikaikun Chrome Extension
A must-have extension for Chrome users. When toggled on, mousing over any kanji/kana will pop up a box showing possible pronunciation, translations, and more. Extremely handy as a beginner for double-checking your understanding or when bumping into new kanji.
Feel free to share more for me or anyone else! I didn’t list Tae-Kim, Anki, or some other frequent mentions. Those just didn’t click well enough with me to give a fair overview of, but I am not at all offended to see those or anything else shared!