Am I slow?

Bunpro
#91

Everyone has their own pattern, limits and process. I consider my process to be pretty slow to be honest, but I’m content with it because it allows me sufficient study time as well as allowing myself free time outside of study. Which is super important, especially when working full time.

As you are starting with N5 grammar, it probably feels like it is taking forever because you’ll be subconsciously establishing your personal learning habits. It can take a lot out of you without realising.

Please don’t be too hard on yourself. I have days where I feel like I should be a lot further on than I actually am. I’m sure everyone does. But we should never let it get the better of us. :slight_smile:

If you feel like you are sufficiently challenging youself, and you’re managing to retain the information you’re learning, then you’re doing great. If you genuinely feel like you could push a little harder, then by all means do so!

We’re behind you either way :slight_smile:

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#92

Brilliant advice. If I may also add, if you feel you are struggling to keep everything in and it’s all piling up, take it down a few notches too, quality over quantity! がんばれ！

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#93

The titles are kinda clickbaity and the doll may be off-putting at first but she really does give another perspective that has been very beneficial to me. She has personally helped me with direct questions many times. She may not work for some like yourself but to others, and with a healthy mix of learning material, her lessons help fill in some gaps. :slight_smile:

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#94

こと and もの are pretty hard to get to terms with. もの、when used as a descriptor is a lot closer to らしい。

I will use a strange analogy, I guess this kinda refers back to my diagram. Imagine you have a ball, もの are the things painted on the outside of the ball that you can know without a doubt are real, you can see them, maybe its the pattern, the scratches from use, etc etc. こと is everything inside the ball. It’s always there, but you can’t verify it unless someone else verifies it for you, (is it full of air, poisonous gas? Who knows. Maybe someone maybe no one).

Example, if I show you a scar on my arm, it’s a もの、however if I then tell you the story of how I got that scar, it’s a こと、eventhough I told you the story, that history exists in my head, not yours.

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努力というのはもっと主体的に目的的になされるもののことだ
#95

100% this. The joy of learning at your own pace is that you can pump it up or ease off whenever you feel is appropriate.

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#96

Most advices turn around not being overwhelmed, which is a good point to check
But on the flipside of the learning coin, it is also good to try and assess one is not too cautious in not being overwhelmed. Sometimes the chosen progress speed may indeed be too slow. I recently discovered that I could understand more than I thought in japanese only video. It is a good thing to assess regularly one’s own capacity regardless of what one thinks. As for being too slow, a good indicator is if reviewing or studying is not tiring at all.

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#97

If you are learning, then you are not going too slow.

I use BunPro, Rocket Languages, and WaniKani and some days it can feel overwhelming to the point that one of them is neglected. WaniKani and BunPro are the ones that I never neglect though as the review and lesson thing really hurts my brain if I stop.

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#98

I know you didn’t say this, MacFinch, but would you mind explaining more how this works? Or providing any links?

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#99

I wish there was some method or mnemonic to remember the grammar points. I’ve stopped adding new items at 20 because I still confuse the various versions of “there”, “is”, “isn’t it”. My free trial ends today and I don’t feel like I’ve learned 30 days of worth of stuff, compared to something like WaniKani.

1 Like
#100

Grammar can be frustratingly slow to learn, and it isn’t as satisfying to remember a grammar point as it is to be able to write a Kanji. Unfortunately mnemonics don’t really work for complicated things like grammar as you really have to comprehend the grammar to ‘know it’. Similar to a point raised in another thread, you can get away with being able to read a Kanji even though you couldn’t hope to write it, it doesn’t work with grammar though, you really have to know it.

Also, its worth bearing in mind that the deeper you get into Kanji, and the more complicated and similar they all seem to look, the more and more useless trying to use mnemonics becomes, you just have to memorise the strokes.

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#101

Maybe I need to learn more vocabulary first.

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#102

You can know all the grammar in the world, if you don’t have enough words you’ll never be able to do anything with it.

I’m a firm believer that beginners should stay away from Kanji for a good year-ish. Focus on your vocab and grammar. Once you have that you can build Kanji on top of it. Knowing 2000 kanji is useless if you cant hold a conversation with someone.

Keep at it mate, I still struggle with grammar, every JLPT i’ve sat grammar has been my weak spot. It is the least enjoyable and the most difficult part of the lanauge I’d argue, but it is essential. ファイト！

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#103

Speaking as someone with kanji as my strength, this is absolutely true.

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#104

Have you try the additional reading tab? They may help you understand the grammar more.

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The thing I have found with grammar is that there are certain thing you just can’t rush it, put it in the backburner, let it sink in and eventually your brain will figure it out. If you are too stressed out about certain things, considering outright removing it from your review and adding it back after a week or so.

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#105

The method to remember grammar points is to use them while writing, reading, listening and speaking. In my (limited; I’m still a beginner) experience, Bunpro can only support you - remind you which grammar point exists, check if you still know how they work, but just going through the SRS is not enough. You have to use the grammar.

(In my case, for example, I use Bunpro together with the explanations and exercises in the Genki book series and regular conversations with a study buddy and tutors.)

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#106

Depends on your goals, I think.
Personally, I mostly wanna be able to read - that’s just more important to me than having conversations. You need kanji for reading.
(Well, words written in kanji. Knowing 2000 kanji meanings in isolation and 0 words would be a different story)
I for one am very glad I started learning kanji from the beginning :sweat_smile:

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#107

Well, you can ignore speaking if your aim is consume Japanese pop media, but as you said yourself, if you don’t have the grammar and the vocab underpinning, then the Kanji is useless. Same goes for those that want to live and function in Japanese society, you can have a top notch accent, if the grammar ain’t there, it isn’t going to work.

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#108

Not a mnemonic but something that can help: whereas some grammar points are usually or always written in kana, some can be also written in kanji whose meaning can give insight in the logic behind the grammar point. You can display the kanji by clicking on the title of the grammar point.

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#109

Learn English grammar with Asher, the kind, and just!

Today’s grammar point (As far as — is concerned)

as far as fhgti sospnm fbnfsk ias is concerned isn asd i aos msif friday

Moral of the story, it is impossible to understand grammar, unless you understand the words first. Don’t sweat it if things are hard to undesrtand at first, focus on the grammar AND the vocab.

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#110

my-point-exactly.jpg800×1164

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