What are your goals for Japanese in 2022 and have you been able to reach your goals for 2021?

Goals for 2022:

  • Realistic Goal: N4 by end of the year. Stretch Goal: N3 by the end of the year.
  • Get through both Genki I and II by years end (hopefully by mid-year)
  • Get to level 30 or 40 on WaniKani (from 2 right now, not even sure if that’s possible)
  • Start reading at least a paragraph of news, manga, etc. a day, and then slowly move up over time to pages, multiple pages, etc.
  • Manage a routine that fits within my student and work life right now.
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I’d like to be more consistent with WaniKani this year, and hopefully level up about twice a month, meaning I should hopefully be level 30 by the end of the year! I’d also like to immerse myself a little more, work on grammar and perhaps get through my first novel.

Thoughhh, considering my depression only getting worse last year, my mental health should be prioritized hah

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Those are super helpful! Since you bought up to 5th grade, I assume you didn’t buy 100 yen ones but Daiso has them up to 2nd or 3rd grade and a few different kinds for each level. Makes it easier to try once and buy another one after several months to see how much you’ve learned!

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I don’t know if this is realistic for just a year but i hope to be able to reach level 30 on Wanikani and be able to read Japanese on games like pokemon while not being completely clueless as to whats going on. Hopefully, i can manage.

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That’s a great goal, and reminds me that I should actually read what professor Oak says on Pokémon GO and not just skip through his long-winded research tasks :joy:

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Get to level 30 or 40 on WaniKani (from 2 right now, not even sure if that’s possible)

There have been people who managed to get to level 60 in just around a year. I actually think that getting to level 30-40 in a year is a great pace! It’s relatively quick and less stressful than doing the same to level 60. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend:

You can do it!

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It might be ambitious, but because of your avatar I have to tell you that the first volume of 本好きの下剋上 is often free to keep on Bookwalker and Booklive. (Sadly not right now)

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I should do the same :joy:

Right, in English the word novel perhaps refers to specifically longer and more complex writing? If I’ll try to get through reading a Japanese book this year, I’ll definitely go for a more simple one, most likely one directed for children (:

And ahah, reading Miya Kazuki’s original writing and tweets may be one of if not my main reason for learning Japanese at all! Though considering that I first found the English translation a little difficult to read, (especially when nobility and their prayers and such gets involved,) it’s definitely way too early for me to read it in Japanese, though perhaps trying to read its’ manga would be possible eventually?

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Ah, yes. An additional requirement is that it has to be a (fictional) story. So a biography, for instance, isn’t a novel, no matter how long or complex.

I only read the light novel version, so I don’t know how hard the manga would be. Based on my experience with a different series, the manga should be much easier, though. It would still be really tough to get through before being at the N4~N3 level.
Specifically about 本好き, I have no idea how they translated the nobles’ speech patterns, but those are very common in fiction. Reading it is just a matter of experience.

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I really really appreciate you sending over that link! It definitely helped me contextualize how I’m gonna do this, and yeah I think I’ll be able to get 30-40 this year, if not 60. So far, only level 2, I’ve just been maxing out the lessons learned and such, but I think soon I’ll have to put a limit on how many new kanji or vocab I learn a day just so I don’t have a crazy slog of reviews to catch up on as I get further into this.

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Just so I can hold my self responsible, I might as well write it down.

2021

-I haven’t advanced as much on wanikani as i wanted and I have seriously slowed down during the last few levels.
-after some c***** lockdowns my irl Japanese course started again, but with a different teacher (who is neither japanese nor an experienced teacher or graduate of japanese) but it at least gets me talking a bit and I have an archievment experience when I score good on Kanji tests.
-I started talking and chatting more with my tandem partner, but since we mostly concentrate on her learning german, it doesn’t really contribute to my studies.
-I watched more J-Dramas in the last few months and since it always spirals from me liking one actor to watching more of their work I guess I won’t stop for some weeks

2022 :nerd_face:

-Advance more on WaniKani
-Speak and write (not only digital) more
-read more frequently in japanese not only manga(I bought so many japanese books, but I’m always intimidated after a few pages and too lazy to check kanji and vocab I don’t know. Manga are easier with furigana and the pictures for context)
-Maybe start my own bookclub on here, but I guess my to read list wouldn’t really appeal to a broader audience :see_no_evil:
-Definately try a more classical approach to grammar and not only “I think this sounds right” :sweat_smile:
-try seriously to aim for the N1. two and a half years since n2 and I have not progressed at all besides some Kanji knowledge

well I guess we will see in 2023 how much I really did.

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Throw it out there and see! Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. :slight_smile:

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Well, I started learning Japanese about two months ago, so there weren’t a lot of goals to reach for 2021.
But I set myself goals for the coming year, so I might as well put them somewhere official because all those lists and schedules I already made are certainly erasable.
First of all, there is studying Kanji and Vocabulary, where WaniKani (with a bit of Anki sprinkled in, when I need to learn some Vocab for my Grammar studies) will probably be my primary study tool. At the moment, I seem to be able to do a level within two weeks to three weeks, so I guess this would put me at Level 25, and since 30 sounds a little better, I will go for 30 by the end of the year.
Then the second Topic I will be spending some Time in will be Grammar, I bought both Genki 1 and 2, and I want to finish both by the end of September 2022 (one week for each chapter on Genki I and two weeks for each chapter on Genki II). I am not sure what I should follow Genki up with till December 2022, but I was thinking about using the Shin kanzen master JLPT4 book to get me to a decent beginner level (And looking into ways to get beyond N4).
The third one would probably be reading. I will probably start with reading as soon as I finish Genki I because I presume that I should have at least some grammar knowledge before doing so. The plan on this is Topic is probably reading along with the absolute beginner’s book club. The only real goal on that front is to be able to keep up with the other folks reading. And if I should be faster, there is always a backlog of stuff to read.
To anyone who got through this wall of text, I apologize for the grammatical shortcomings that neither I nor my grammar tool noticed. Sadly my English is somewhat okayish but not my mother tongue (which doesn’t make learning Japanese easier since many learning materials seem to be in English).

So the only thing left to say is, I believe in all of you, and you will reach your goals, I’m sure of it.

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You can do it! And this way you get to practice two languages at once :blush:

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I want to pass N2 and N1 one this mid year and end year JLPT test, respectively. I think my goal is too ambitious here lol. Actually just N2 is more than I could hope for but we should aim high, right?

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I’ve been going mostly ノープラン about my learning. In fact, I didn’t do much actual, active learning last year, apart from doing the remaining WK reviews*

(I had forced break caused by catching Covid in November, and so now I have 30 lessons and 157 reviews waiting - it’s been long time since I saw such numbers on WK main page :open_mouth: )

My main Japanese-related activity for now is reading Visual Novels - I switched almost completely to untranslated ones. In 2021 I finished 11 untranslated VNs (and one in English :wink: ) I go at pretty slow speed, because I have to look up many unknown words - my play times are 2-3 times longer than the average indicated on VNDB, but I love it nevertheless :slight_smile:

(For comparison, in 2018, when I played only English-translated ones, I finished ~40)

Since being able to read VNs in Japanese was my main reason to start learning Japanese, it feels great :slight_smile:

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My goal last year was to get through Tobira and pass the N3, I haven’t gotten my JLPT results back yet but even if I didn’t pass I believe I got pretty close so I am satisfied. I also took iTalki lessons pretty much every week the whole year and that helped my speaking loads.

I actually decided not to make any goals for myself this year and basically ‘take a break’ from actively learning Japanese. I have a lot of hobbies, am super social, and work full time, so I felt a bit tired from studying Japanese in any space of free time I could find for the last year and a half ish. It also meant that I never took a break to do anything ‘fun’ with my Japanese. So this year I just want to start reading and watching as much content as I can to improve my vocabulary. Will not be SRS’ing anything but just taking whatever soaks up naturally. Then sometime during the fall/2023 I plan to pick up studying again and start working towards an N2.

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2021 goals
  • Wanikani:
    – Continue doing self study for wrong answers and don’t let leeches pile up :white_check_mark: I didn’t do self study as much at the end of the year, but my apprentice is almost gone either way /o/

  • Kitsun:
    – Get to 40% on 10k (~5 lessons/day) :white_check_mark: and strive for 50% (~10 lessons/day) :x: I have exactly 40% on 10k now xD
    – Finish sending suggestions for the Russian deck (912 cards left) :x: Wasn’t really my focus

  • Grammar:
    – Continue doing BP lessons when they add more :white_check_mark:
    – Try to get rid of some leeches :question: Not really I guess? I didn’t do any studying for leeches, but I do have a better grasp of grammar

  • Reading:
    – Read at least 50 volumes of manga (volume/week). It’s still my main point of interest xD :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark: 95 volumes read!

  • Portuguese:
    – Finish part 1 of the textbook, :white_check_mark: and maybe finish half of part 2 :x: Only 2.5 chapter out of 12 finished
    – Finish reading the book in Portuguese :x: It was much easier to read knowing the conjugations, but I’m still on page 30 out of 78. Hoping that the new books that I have now are gonna be more interesting and easier!
    – Know 3500+ words (~5 words/day) :soon: Almost! 3300 words learned by the end of the year

  • Other:
    – Continue exercising and take care of my health :muscle: :white_check_mark:

2022 goals:

  • Kitsun:
    – Get to 50% on 10k (~5 lessons/day) and get through 170 words in the lessons queue
    – Add unknown words to either 10k or my exposure deck

  • Reading and Writing:
    – Read 70 volumes of manga and 2 books :sparkles:
    – Write weekly essays in Japanese :page_with_curl:

  • Portuguese:
    – Finish the 2nd part of the textbook
    – Read at least one book, maybe finish the one I’ve started already + new ones
    – Have 5000 words in my PT deck

  • Other:
    – Continue exercising and finish the new program :muscle:
    – Work on my splits and stretching in general
    – Practice violin :violin:

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Surprised to see someone learning portuguese around here! Have you been enjoying the language?