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

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?

Well, except for JLPT N3 I didn’t really have any goals for 2021.
But for 2022, I have plenty !

Goals for 2022 :

-Reach level 60 on Wanikani
-Pass JLPT N2
-Read at least a whole book (I am not optimistic on that one)
-Finish the Japanese games I bought in october 2021 (I don’t have a lot of time for them, but I am optimistic on that one)
-Improve my expression level. I mean, I understand Japanese quite correctly now, but when I talk or write I am a baby. I want to improve that.
-Take the B1 German exam (This one will require extra effort from me)

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In 2021, I didn’t have any concrete language goals. I did try to pick up kanji again, but that was a slow process (involved a lot of writing it out and trying to memorize before I rediscovered WaniKani at the end of the year). With my old method, I did learn around 100 new ones, but I lost motivation in the latter half of the year as I found it too tedious.

Now with WaniKani, I hope to make it a habit. Been keeping it up for over a month and feeling good about it. My emphasis this year will be on reading.

2022 Goals:
-Reach level 20 on WaniKani
-Read a manga volume with furigana
-Read a manga volume without furigana (Started on 春の呪い earlier this month and so far I’m surprised how easily I’ve been able to read compared to the past years)
-Attempt to start reading a novel I have on hand once I get around level 15ish on WaniKani
-Get over my social anxiety and start to book speaking lessons with a Japanese tutor

It’s been really nice reading about everyone’s goals and ambitions. Good luck everyone on your goals this year!!

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Hello, hello! Welcome to halfway through 2022. My bookmark on this post just pinged to remind me to check-in on my goal progress. Let’s take a look:

  1. 365-day review streak: I actually removed the plugin that was displaying this info because I recognized it was going to give me too much stress. However, Wanikani has definitely become part of my daily routine, so I don’t feel as if I’m at risk of suddenly stopping. I’m having too much fun learning new kanji!

  2. Keep durtling, avoid burn out: :white_check_mark: so far, so good. I love everyone who pops in to the “Let’s Durtle the Scenic Route” thread. :durtle_hello:

  3. Don’t chicken out on Tadoku group meets: Sad to say I have been avoiding these. BUT I’ve read many of the free graded readers thanks to the :books::books: Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 :cherry_blossom: :seedling:. I’m also looking into other ways I can get some Japanese speaking practice.

  4. Take a language proficiency exam: Actually not that big of a priority for me at this point. And with covid number creeping back up, it might not be possible to take any exams this year either.

  5. Read a short story (not just manga): :white_check_mark: Been reading more thanks to the read-every-day thread. And I bought a Haikyuu 小説 and the Kiki’s Delivery Service novel. Super enjoying both of those.

  6. Stream live translation of Oshiritantei: :white_check_mark: I did this! I’m a nobody on Twitch, so the VODs are gone, but I’ve been slowly (very slowly) uploading the recordings to a private YouTube playlist.
    Thanks to this experience, I’m also playing through Dragon Quest 5 with a friend, but off stream. It’s super fun!

  7. Apply for MEXT: :white_check_mark: I did this! Planned everything out, got it all organized, asked for help, and put together the best application I could and sent it in. Fingers crossed I get asked to the next round for an interview :crossed_fingers:

皆さん、how’re you doing on your goals for the year? Are there any new ones you’ve set for yourself along the way? Any that aren’t the right fit?

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My 2021 goal was to sit and pass N5, which I did. Great success!

As for 2022:

  • Do non-srs Japanese learning activity at least 4 days a week (textbook, reading, listening)
  • Finish みんなの日本語 1
  • Finish “Japanese the manga way”
  • Finish みんなの日本語 2
  • Finish one more textbook of appropriate level (Quartet 1 or Tobira or something else)
  • Read a tome of manga
  • Do Wanikani reviews every day
  • Wanikani: reach level 20
  • Sit and pass JLPT N4
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Hii~! Good idea to do check in on the progress of our goals for this year. Looks like you’re doing great! :star_struck:

I’ll do a quick update on my previous post~ :durtle_the_explorer:


2021

It’s confirmed, I passed! Yay! :partying_face: Scored 128/180. Feels good to know that I’m making progress. [x]


2022

Currently at 108/170. Seems like Bunpro is adding some more N1 stuff. Was going at a nice pace of 3 new grammar points per week, but exam time was busy time, so haven’t added anything new in a while.

Well, I’ve read 6 books so far this year, so while 12 should be a reasonable goal, I suspect 20 might be a bit of a far stretch xD. It would be super fun if I can make it happen, though! :eyes:

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Well, I did actually do the entirety of Tobira, who knew :joy:
Now “just” need to pass N2 this year and ummm read read read I guess…

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2021:

  • I started resuming Japanese studying full-blown around Oct, after I found an interesting manga, I guess.

2022 goals:

I might have cheated a little, as I started writing in the middle of the year. Though, I actually started making my goals around Apr 2022.

  • Closely mapped would be “number of books”, as said in extensive reading - I probably won’t change it yet.
    • 3 books
    • 20 mangas
  • Can really identify sentences and vocabularies in audios
    • Naturally, my listening skills should on par with my reading skills; considering I read manga with colloquial language sometimes.
  • Stop hating Japanese articles and websites, that is, being able to read them with relative ease, and can finish articles properly in reasonable time.

About Japanese level test, it might be nice, but the priority is to have real skills first, anyway. Tests (with certificates) may come handy when losing a way of how to improve, and being too satisfied with my current good-enough skills (which is currently not good enough).

My Minna no Nihongo’s are still there; but I can’t remember where I lost my Tobira - maybe I need to go to Kinokuniya later.

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Not going well at the moment, so I guess looking back at these is like a little motivation boost :sweat_smile:

I finished Kiki and 銭天堂 a couple months ago, and am currently reading かがみの孤城, though I fell off the reading wagon at the beginning of May. I’m super busy at the moment with finals due and exams coming up, so when I have more time I’ll make that habit again.

Slowly getting there!! When I posted at the end of December, I was Level 42. Slow but steady (ish) progress. My goal is to reach Level 60 around September, which is my second anniversary.

I’m definitely going to have to aim for December, and even then, I’m unsure of my own ability to get there, with the amount of time that I have, and my bad time management. Trying to improve, though. I also need to do Tobira more consistently, like I did with Genki last year and in 2020.

With this I meant Anki, not WK. Which… failed. I’m not even consistent with the reviews I currently have. Will try to do better.

I haven’t had a tutor session for speaking practice for about a month — but after exams are over I want to organise doing weekly tutor sessions with my Korean friend (living here in Aus) who is also learning Japanese, and around my level.

Other goals

Uh… I… slightly improved, but stopped learning new vocabulary, so I’m kind of at a standstill right now. I assume practising a random tongue twister in Mandarin with my Chinese and Taiwanese friends doesn’t count. Lol.

This also completely failed. But I started a ‘sunrise challenge’ with a couple of friends yesterday — waking up to see the sunrise every morning, and also having a five minute walk. It’s also an attempt to improve my messed-up sleep schedule.

Ah… working on it…

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Checking in is a great idea! Here’s my progress so far for 2022:

  1. Reach level 20 on WaniKani: I’m currently at level 12, so over halfway there! I’ve slowed down my progress, but I’m keeping at a steady pace and am regularly doing WaniKani.

  2. Read a manga volume with furigana: Recently started Spy x Family!

  3. Read a manga volume without furigana: I’m 1/3 done 春の呪い vol. 1 so I guess that counts as something :laughing:

  4. Attempt to start reading a novel once I get around level 15ish on WaniKani: I’ll attempt this goal in the latter part of 2022. First though I do want to complete the series I’ve mentioned above, as I could learn a lot of vocabulary before jumping into something more difficult like a novel.

  5. Get over my social anxiety and start to book speaking lessons with a Japanese tutor: While I haven’t booked for a Japanese tutor, I did build up the courage to talk with Japanese natives as well as people with high proficiency in Japanese. It was nerve-wracking but a ton of fun to up my speaking game!

Overall really happy with my progress in language learning! This is honestly the furthest and most consistent I’ve ever been on this journey. I’m really happy that I’ve been able to keep up with WaniKani for almost half a year, as I tend to give up hobbies within a month. Let’s keep going for the rest of 2022! :durtjovahs_witness:

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I did achieve some of my 2021 goals. This year? I have no idea :smiling_face_with_tear:

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My Japanese Goals:

  1. Level 30.
  2. Be able to understand a manga volume in Japanese.
  3. Be able to read an NHK Easy story.
  4. Be able to read Japanese Twitter to some extent.
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This year’s goal is just improve my listening in conversation. I struggle with conversation, because I am really confident at speaking (not good, just confident) but not good at listening. So I tend to ramble a lot and I want to force myself to ask more questions and try to listen what the persons saying.

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I feel like my goal last year was to reach 60… that didn’t happen lol.

This year, I’m focusing a lot more on reading, connections, and grammar. I’ve changed from trying to reach a certain amount to trying to do things in a consistent way. Like this year, I’m trying to read a book every week. It feels like it’s getting easier and easier to reach and I find myself wanting to stay up for hours in order to keep reading in Japanese. I’m also working on improving my connections with my coworkers by improving my language abilities. I want to stay in Japan for the long term plus I really like my friends so I want to make our communication easier and make talking about various things more smooth.

I’m still struggling a bit with grammar, but I think the more exposure and experience I get with more complex forms, the easier they’ll get for me. A DS game I got recently that helps elementary schoolers practice Japanese has been a major help. The language based logic puzzles and questions wear me out, but they also help me learn and retain so much better than anything else I’ve found so far. I hope to make a thread/post outlining what the game is, why it works, and how to get it.

With all that, WK has really fallen by the wayside for me. I think that’s ok though. I’m learning a lot of words elsewhere and noticeably in context. It’s become a lot of “why spend 30 min doing 50-60 reviews when I could read instead?”

Tldr/summary: 2022 goals- read 50 books/volumes, practice with Japanese learning game, acquire more vocab and grammar through apps like Drops and LingoDeer.

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I feel like I’m little by little making progress with my VN reading.

Since for some time I prefer non-hentai versions whenever available, that often means going for console versions. And even though I’m playing those through emulators, sometimes text-hooking software won’t cooperate, which in turns means no nice and easy instant lookup by hovering mouse cursor over the word :wink:

First such experience was PS2 version of よつのは which I played year ago. This was relatively easy one, since it was 90% dialogue, so almost everything was voiced.

Another one was Switch edition of Aonatsu Line, which I finished a week ago. I loved it :slight_smile:

And it so happened that my next choice - PS2 version of あかね色に染まる坂, which I’m playing now, also doesn’t work with text-hooking.

On one hand, this is challenging. But at the same time, being able to play this way feels very rewarding. Instant lookup is nice, but since it’s so easy, it often made me to look up even the words I knew - kind of double-checking myself.

When that ability is taken away, it forces me to change approach - I try to understand as much as possible from context, and resort to lookup (manual, usually it involves searching for kanji on jisho by their radicals) only in cases, where the unknown word seems to be essential for the sentence’s meaning.

I guess it isn’t optimal from the efficiency of learing point of view, since I will often skip some unknown words, being satisfied with getting the general meaning, instead of meticulously checking all of them - but it’s fun :slight_smile:

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Its better doing it this way than focusing all your time and effort on WK. The point of WK is to help you read in Japanese, but if you aren’t reading in Japanese it doesn’t mean anything.

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Well, now that we are almost halfway done, I can take a look and do some adjusting.

  • Getting to Level 30 will probably be hard since I was a little bit overwhelmed with work, studying and other stuff in my life. I am currently picking up a faster pace again, but probably no Level 30. Maybe Level 20 will do
  • I´m relatively confident that I will complete Genki before the end of the year. I´m ahead of my schedule and can probably start doing some Genki 2 before the year is over
  • I was doing the absolute Beginners Book Club but sadly fell behind at the same time as other stuff became a bit overwhelming. I will still finish it and complete this goal and hopefully it won´t be the only manga in 2022
  • I don´t know if I can do that one, I haven´t started anything yet and I have some other stuff I would like to prioritize so maybe I have to let that one go
  • still hoping that I can do that one, I will apply for the JLPT in december and with my currenty schedule I should have finished Genki 1 by this point and done some JLPT studying
  • Not really a weekly basis, but I think I can do the 50 entries by the end of the year
  • I am currently watching more anime that VTubers but it´s still some kind of listening immersion. My goal isn´t really to learn a whole lot from that but to build some passive recognition for grammar patterns. It really helps when I have a new grammar point and it immediately feels familiar because I have heard it a bazillion times before. There are also a lot words that finally stuck after I heard them in an anime. I could probably learn more if I would start watching with japanese subtitles, but I want to keep studying fun for me. I will add that to my list when it feels more feasible

There is another goal that I made for myself shortly after I did this list and I was able to stick to it for now. I wanted to learn at least one new thing about japanese every day, because I found it kinda fun that every time someone saw me again after a day I would probably be more knowledgeable about it than the day before. So even if I have way to many reviews and don´t do any lessons I still make sure that there is someting new every day that I´m learning.
Sometimes it´s just because I picked up a new word or use case for grammar while watching anime but it still counts

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I want to get to 60 (from 49) by the end of the year, but

is making it hard.

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