Advice before starting N4?

Japanese
#1

Hey everyone, I am creating this topic to ask you for suggestions on what to focus on before moving on to N4. Here is my situation and thoughts:

I finished learning N5 grammar a while ago and decided not to start N4 grammar until I have finished all of Bunpro’s N5 vocab. I find that if I know more vocab, I can focus on the grammar better so I decided not to rush. This also gives my brain time to cement N5 knowledge - My past language learning experiences tell me that I should not rush since fundamentals are very important.

Since I’ve finished N5 grammar on Bunpro, I have been watching videos by ToKini Andy and others to review and practice. I have also recently found out that Chat GPT can be great to answer specific questions and break down sentences since I do not have a tutor. Otherwise, I am learning Kanji on WaniKani (level 19) and regularly listening to Nihongo con Teppei to practice some listening, as well as some Japanese bands (check out 花冷え).

In my current pace, I still have ~20 days before starting N4 (basically New Year!). So I wanted to ask if you have any advice for me. What are things you think I should have a strong grasp on before moving on? Do you have any recommendations on free resources for extra practice? The last thing I want is for this “break” to make me forget important N5 topics.

どうもありがとう!

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#2

You doing fantastic my friend. I would add in some reading if you can. It really helps with actually understanding the language in its nature, as well as enforcing kanji…

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#3

I am at a level close to yours (if you ignore the 12 wanikani levels you have on me lol). I will definitely check out the resources you spoke about, so ty for that!
Personally, I enjoy reading NHK easy news articles so maybe you could incorporate that into your routine.

Good luck w ur studies!

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#4

Thanks! I have been mostly relying on Bunpro’s short sentences to practice reading, but I should try to read more. I was thinking of trying manga after finishing N4 to make it a smoother transition

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#5

I haven’t tried NHK easy yet. I will do that!

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#6

I would personally not put grammar studies on hold to focus on vocab. A better understanding of grammar should make it easier to learn vocab in context, no? Since the grammar will make it more clear to you what you’re actually reading or hearing.

Utilize the Cram-function on Bunpro. N5 only consists of 10 lessons, so if you cram 2 lessons a day you will have made three full rotations through the N5 grammar in slightly over 2 weeks. That would keep it fresh in your head, and keep you from forgetting it.

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#7

If you’re into podcasts and want more long-form listening, I can highly recommend the バイリンガルニュース (Bilingual News) podcast. An American guy and a Japanese girl both fluent in Japanese but only one of them speaks Japanese, the other speaks in English. So you won’t get lost in their conversation since the English is there to steer you in the right direction.

Also the NHK ラジオニュース podcast is very good for listening and it’s updated multiple times every day. You’ll also keep yourself informed on all kinds of current events (I first learned James Earl Jones had passed away through this podcast).

5 Likes
#8

Bookmark this site. There is a ton of great manga waiting for you there when you’re feeling ready.
Since the formating of the manga dialogue is a bit special on that site I would recommend that you also download the browser extension 10ten Reader, to use in conjunction with the site. So when you see a word you don’t know, just hover the mouse on that word and a dictionary definition will instantly pop up.

This is why I didn’t recommend you prioritize learning vocab over grammar. If you focus on grammar and read manga in the described manner you’ll be able to learn vocab through the manga. Much more enjoyable than just going through vocab decks.
Awesome, right?

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#9

I’m in your exact situation, am doing both, trying to be more aggressive on vocab and slowly moving on grammar, I aim to have a maximum of 8 beginner level grammar points at a time and I feel like it is working for me

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#10

Some ideas:

  • Lightly go through some of the N4 grammar to see whats out there before starting to learn it. The idea is to give your brain time to adapt as in “ohh there is a grammar point that does this / expresses this”. Personally this gave me time to make connections and grasp gammar points smoothly.

  • Look at the initial grammar points and their sentences and check if you know the vocabulary. That way when you start N4, you can just focus on grammar as the vocab will be already known.

  • Maybe copy once a week a small passage from something eg Bunpro’s reading passages or an NHK web easy article. It could help with comprehension.

To be honest, it seems like you are doing really well and good luck with N4 and onwards!

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#11

I’ll check it out. I was indeed looking for another podcast. Nihongo con Teppei is easy to start listening to, since they are really short, but it is kind of annoying how half the episode is just the introduction.

I already had it bookmarked and I’m looking forward to starting to use it!

Downloaded!

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#12

Yeah I will likely go more slowly with N4 grammar. N5 is just really simple at the start

#13

That’s an interesting suggestion. I have very little practice building phrases myself.
Thank you for the other suggestions as well! I’ll have a look at what’s waiting for me on N4.

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#14

Would you say this is too challenging for someone who has finished N5 grammar and is working on N4 (where I’m at)? I heard it was more challenging than that, but maybe the aim is just to be exposed to more content even if it can’t be comprehended yet?

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#15

I’d say it more boils down to how much listening immersion you’ve done so far. I follow their conversations decently, but I’m also watching a lot of Hololive / VSpo JP streams and listen to lots of 雑談 streams.
If you’ve not done a lot of listening so far it might be harder to get into, but definitely give it a try at least.

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#16

Am in the same boat and appreciate all the links provided by @FubuMiOkaKoro (Thank you!) Put Bunpro on vacation mode for 2 weeks in Nov, came back and tried reviews and realized I’d forgotten so much already! :sob: Tried to review and cram the ones I’d forgotten but haven’t gotten back into the groove of daily reviews as life is getting busy.
My main realization is I do not have a good grasp of N5 grammar yet in terms of speaking it, thinking it, etc. So I found an online tutor and will focus on improving my speaking and listening. Last night was my first session and I had so much fun. Once the holidays are over, I’ll get back to daily reviews. My tutor will eventually start me up on Genki II and I will use BunPro to reinforce the grammar points I learn with her.
In the meantime, someone else in the community recommended the anime From Me to You 君に届け (Netflix) I thought I would not enjoy it as it’s about high school life but the show deals with emotions and relationships in a very mature way. I have laughed out loud several times too. So it is my entertainment for now. I may get back to it for another round but with Japanese subtitles.

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#17

Honestly I didn’t find N4 more difficult than N5. With N5 everything is new, so much new stuff that has to sink in a bit like all the conjucations. If I were you I’d just start with N4.

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#18

You’re doing great! Below are suggestions I wish I had done earlier when I first started studying:

-Read more native content in conjunction with an SRS app such as Anki or kitsun.io

Every time you run into a new word, add it to your daily SRS review deck.
よつばと is a great beginner’s manga if you haven’t checked it out already. Plus its really cute too!
The WK book club thread has a bunch of useful resources if you go this route

-Take something you’re passionate about and make an effort to only do it in Japanese.

For me, this was video games. Switch is the best console for language learning it turns out; just by switching (no pun intended) the system language it will automatically switch all your existing games to display in Japanese. This is possible on other systems, but I’ve found with PS5 there are sometimes separate versions needed to play a game in Japanese.

-Listen to Japanese as much as you can at every opportunity.

Ripping anime audio or japanese streams and listening to the same thing on repeat will burn the dialogue into your brain. Put it on your phone or home sound system and have it playing all the time. I’d advise picking something you love to listen to for this, because this takes literally hundreds of listening sessions over time.

-Vtubers. (wait don’t run!)

For whatever reason I had some apprehension to start myself, but I’ve found there is a virtually infinite supply of native japanese dialogue through this medium. There are a variety of dialects and speaking styles on display, and I’m almost always picking something new up every day listening

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#19

Hell yeah. It might seem like weird concept at first look for a lot of people, but for immersion and vocab expansion (and entertainment) it’s truly a huge goldmine.

#20

I would encourage you to try to keep up with reviews instead of putting them on hold. I find that if I stop learning new grammar/vocab on BunPro, the review volume falls off very quickly - just stop learning new items a couple of days before you plan on taking it easy. And it’s much more carefree to just do reviews than having to think about new topics.

I think I had already heard good things about it! I will actually put it on my “to watch” list

Thanks for the tips! I was actually playing Pokemon for a bit. The bad thing is the version I was playing lets you either set the game to all kana or kanji with no furigana (and very low resolution). It was kind of funny seeing Pokemon names and moves in Japanese. I might get back to it at some point.

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