Hello everyone!
Yup, here’s another one of those pesky “how do I tackle grammar and vocab” advice-seeking threads 
Sooo…
Bought Genki 1+2, bought the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar set, also English Grammar for Students of Japanese (I’ll need it as English is not my mother tongue) and Jay Rubin’s Making Sense of Japanese. Yeah, I like the feel of turning book pages more than browsing the Internet
But I did also subscribe to JapanesePod101 for audio, found TokiniAndy’s Genki series on YT as well as CureDolly (although the voice and the doll are really creeping me out) for supplimentary resources.
Then I found out BunPro exists, too
The initial thinking was that I’d go through the Genki materials at a slow pace, one lesson a week or even slower to really nail down the grammar.
But now… I think I want to do a 180 on that and go through it as quickly as possible: 2-3 maybe even more lessons per week depending on the complexity of the materials. So that I can get to the juicy bits quicker: that is, reading and listening to actual enjoyable content
But before I create an account on Bunpro I thought I’d ask for opinions and tips here first, so as to make the most of that first month free and also to finalize the ‘learning plan’
At the moment I am doing WaniKani lessons in the morning (SRS stage 1), followed by SRS stages 2 and 3 in the same day.
Same schedule with KameSame, picking up Guru-level items from WK.
On a ‘hard’ day WK+KS can take up to 2h.
Now for grammar, I was thinking something along the lines of:
- day 1: Read through one or two lessons in Genki, go through the textbook exercises (those that aren’t stupid), start the corresponding grammar lessons in BunPro in the afternoon (SRS stage 1) and follow in the evening (SRS stage 2).
- day 2: BunPro stage 3 in the morning (which will then push stage 4 and later on mornings), and later in the day review grammar points in the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (maybe only the trickier ones?), watch TokiniAndy’s corresponding videos, do Genki workbook exercises
- days 3&4 and 5&6 rinse and repeat with other lessons
- whenever there’s time to spare along this schedule listen to more JP101 podcasts and do some shadowing
- day 7 give it a rest (BunPro reviews only)
Of course, if the lessons become too difficult or life gets in the way slow down a bit. But carry on daily with WK and BP reviews - gotta stick to that schedule!
That’s actually why I want to end up with the bulk of BunPro reviews in the mornings, keeping WK geared towards the evenings.
And I expect KameSame will have to go on hiatus, not enough time for everything…
Maybe this would work for grammar, maybe not. Any opinions or suggestions are more than welcome
I do have a direct question, though:
Could I maybe skip the Genki exercises and rely on the BunPro ones for now?
With the idea that I’d be further solidifying the grammar (and vocab too) as I progress with reading ‘actual’ books later on.
And there’s also the second part of the equation: vocabulary.
I hear BunPro also offers vocab decks, I think there’s one even for Genki?
Should I maybe start one week in advance (more? less?) with vocabulary so that it would make going through the Genki lessons a bit easier?
Also, what BunPro vocab decks would you recommend for someone who so far has only acquired vocab from WK plus some 60-70 words from JP101?
And finally… what spanners do y’all wanna throw in the works?
What haven’t I thought of? What else might work better?
Thanks much in advance!
