Vocabulary vs. Grammar as a Beginner?

Japanese Language
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m still new to the Japanese language. I’m enjoying Wanikani a lot, and I’m probably going to subscribe soon to access level 4 and beyond. But I’m a bit unsure as to how to progress my study plan, and maybe some of the more experienced learners can help me with that.

Basically, I wonder how much I should worry about grammar versus vocabulary and kanji this early. I have the kanas down, so that’s good. But then my next step was starting Busuu, which was actually very fun, until I noticed a drop in quality with the lessons just throwing a lot of vocab at me. I also felt like it didn’t properly prepare me for some of the grammar that was required to complete the freeform exercises.

So for vocab I went to Wanikani, which has the added advantage of teaching kanji as well, and for grammar I started with Kim Tae’s guides on Youtube/Tofugu. Both resources have been excellent so far, but there is a lot to go through with each. How do you think I should balance the two at the moment, and do you know of any good ways to practice the grammar I’ve learned (preferably through free means)?

This question may seem trivial to some, but I’m kind of bad at charting a course for long-term goals like learning Japanese. I guess any progress is better than none, but I’d rather be following a plan that I know is able to produce good results.Thank you!

#2

I would practice via reading for one thing. You can dip your toes into graded readers. This has a bunch of free ones:

They start out simple and progress to get harder as you move up the levels.

As to the general balance, maybe come up with a regimented schedule and block off maybe an hour or 2 a day for grammar studies and then set aside blocks of time you go to WK to do your reviews? And then just see how that works for maybe a week or so and then adjust if you feel too overwhelmed or feel like you can handle more.

#3

Thanks for the reply! I didn’t know graded books were a thing, to be honest, or that there was a resource of free samples online. That’s pretty cool. I’m not sure if this approach would be the right one for me, but I might try it out.

#4

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