How Do You Juggle Multiple Apps/Resources?

Japanese
#22

My resources:
Anki for words and kanji - I would be happy to learn at least vocab with Bunpro but on Bunpro there is no FSRS, alas, my retention with anki is better.
Bunpro for grammar - now this is on the backburner, 1 grammar point per day and reviews.
I have usually one lesson with a teacher per week and we just started quartet 2 together.
Lingq for reading - but since I love reading, this does not count as learning in my books (pardon the pun).
I listen to Japanese podcasts when I have the time, and watch mainly Japanese content for fun, these I do not count as learning either.

This is my regular learning set up for now, if I would plan to take the JLPT, it would amend it to include specific test preparation.

A word about Duolingo - unless you are attached to maintaining your streak, ditch it, it is useless compared to other learning resources. Recent changes made it worse, the sentences do not make sense anymore, most of it is AI garbage.

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#23

The way I see it, I use apps for three things :

  • Kanji
  • Vocabulary
  • Grammar

The first can be covered by Wanikani (with an overlap with Bunpro, that can probably be covered by the sync feature since you’re at the beginning of your journey), and the other two by Bunpro. Of course you could switch that with Anki, but I find that trying for the least amount of apps with SRS is better.

For listening, I advise you use Bunpro as well (and try and watch YouTube comprehension/anime/whatever floats your boat on the side whenever you start to be able to). I only use reading-type reviews, but when they’re above a certain point in SRS level (usually entering the seasoned point), I do them by ear. I won’t mark an expert 2 review as mastered if I can’t understand the whole sentence just by listening to it. It helped a lot with improving my listening abilities

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#24

Oof, that is a little intimidating! It’s good to hear how long others take though, it’ll make handling the struggle better for me. I try not to compare myself to others, but it can be disappointing when I feel like I’m struggling where others did not. I also get verbose fairly easily, and I like all the extra details and advice, so thank you!
I really like Bunpro’s cloze style, it makes me think hard on the answer. So I may end up with Bunpro as my primary resource, and trying to pull in other decks (like the Genki one).

I feel ya here! Rationally I know it’s just a little number in an app, but there’s a part of me that needs that number to go up every day. I might just have to uninstall it and ignore my email for a few days to break up with Duo.

I also want to try a class or something where I can practice actually speaking and working on my pronunciation. I’ll have to see if some place near me offers anything, I think in person works better for me than online meets.

I did not know you can sync with WK, I’ll have to check it out! Thank you :slight_smile:

#25

During the lesson with the teacher, we mainly cover grammar problems and nowadays reading and translating.
For speaking practice, thankfully there is a free-style Japanese language meet up every Friday, which I attend whenever I can. Usually a decent number of Japanese turn up, so I can practice. Since it involves drinking beer and shooting sh… at the end of the workweek (mainly in Japanese), I don’t count it as learning :sweat_smile:
There are some events and courses arranged by the Japan Foundation here, worth checking it out if something is available near you.
I recommend checking out langauge exchange groups as well. I was lucky to find a nice Japanese person to exchange English-Japanese. Once again, since we usually just talk about anything that comes to our minds, I do not count it as learning.

Anyway, the more the merrier and getting used to talking from the beginning is super important, so see and try whatever you can.

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#26

Clear your Reviews everyday.

This is important.

The SRS is a key component of the “memory” part of learning. I find that when I keep on top of my reviews, I learn much better than if I cram 25 new things, then let the reviews pile up and don’t revisit those new things until much later.

The science/psychology behind the SRS means you need to revisit and test your memory at specific intervals.

If you aim to do this, you’ll find a daily amount that suits you.

I use KanjiStudy, Bunpro and Duolingo every day, though the time I spend and the effort I put into each one varies. Grammar points are serious and require mental effort, so I do them when I can set aside proper time to focus and be alone. Duolingo I can do if I’m waiting for someone to use the toilet. It’s a quick and fun repetitious system that does have its uses for some.

I don’t think anyone has mentioned it, so I’ll throw in the KanjiStudy app for learning kanji. I love it and prefer it to WaniKani, though I liked both. It has a free trial for the 85 (or so) N5 kanji. It’s got some great History/etymology of each Kanji and different quiz styles to test you. WaniKani will give you some wacky images and mnemonics to remember kanji and their meaning, but KanjiStudy will actually tell you where the components come from and what they represent, which for me helps me to remember better when they crop up in other forms.

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#27

Agreed. Everyone works at their own pace, so comparison is not always ideal, but it’s good to have a rough feel for how you’re doing, because often you’ll feel like you’re super far behind the curve, then you realize you’re actually only a little behind the curve, and that can help a ton. I think there was someone in the group who took 3 hours to get through those pages, but they were stopping and looking up every since kanji they didn’t already know and not continuing until they felt they got it. I went with the “do I have the gist of it?” method. If there were words I didn’t know, but I felt like I mostly understood the gist, that is good enough for my low-N5 level of knowledge. I mostly just want to get a feel for actually reading instead of drilling vocab or grammar points, even though right now, drilling is my best bet to build the foundation for everything else.

Just a heads up with this. I have been syncing with WK since day one. I really like it, and regret nothing. But every now and again, I’ll get prompted for a word in Bunpro that I have NO idea where it came from or what it’s asking, and that’s because it synced from WK but Bunpro has a slightly different, or more complete definition for that term. So be prepared for that. For the record, I think that’s a good thing. If that’s how it can be used, then I want to know, and Bunpro is good about showing things in context, and using multiple interpretations of a word, so you get a feel for how it’s actually used.

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#28

I have KanjiStudy on my phone after a friend introduced it to me! I feel like there’s a ton of overlap with WK overall, and I’m already pretty deep into WK, but one thing that I really like about KanjiStudy is the writing portion of it. I know that in this day and age, actually writing Kanji isn’t strictly necessary, but especially for the Kanji that are similar to each other, it can really help reinforce the differences.

That said, KanjiStudy is one of the third wheels of studying for me. Since there’s so much overlap with WK, it hasn’t become much of a solid habit. But I do like it, and if I were back at the beginning, it would be a VERY tempting alternative.

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#29

Kanji Study user here too ! I’ve never tried Wanikani so I can’t really compare them, but I’m really happy with where Kanji Study took me. The fact that you’ve got to pay (lifetime) for multiple modules might be a bit of a deterrent to some, but it also means you get the space to customize your learning journey with what actually interests you. I also use it a lot as a plain dictionary

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#30

I would recommend building your own tier list of your tools you use and then set your use on that. For example, I have lifetimes for Bunpro, WK, lingopie and marumori. Bunpro and WK are my SSRs. So those I use multiple times a day. The others become once a day or less with no stress if I break a streak or whatever.

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#31

Yes, I use KanjiStudy as a dictionary too. It’s the best/easiest dictionary I’ve found. I used to use the Tanoshii Japanese website, but don’t anymore because it’s too fiddly on my phone.

I bought KaniStudy during the Xmas sale, and I got the Kanji history and the first batch of sentences. Kanji history is brilliant, but I find I don’t use the sentences that much. As with Bunpro, the sentences use so much vocab that is beyond the current level I’m trying to study at, it’s not much help in actually learning, beyond the basic nature of cloze.

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#32

I can relate to this!

I normally do my reviews during lunch every day and then again after work if there are any random ones popping up but I wait for new WK or Bunpro new lessons to be done when I can properly set the time to be alone and focus on them. Specifically Bunpro since grammar requires lots of concentration for me at least. And I also take it as an opportunity to read a lot from the examples that they give you.

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#33

Go with just 3. Once you get really well acquainted with Kana I would focus on Bunpro, Wanikani, and probably Genki. I’ve learned over that years that 3 is a good place to stop for apps and books at one time. Anymore than that at you’re not getting enough time for immersion (god I hate that word) which is a crucial part of the learning process.

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#34

I reduced my effort to BunPro, Anki and Reading (and handwriting) NHK-easy-News, WaniKani from time to time. Now I learn so much faster than before. I wasted nearly 1,000 days on Duolingo before I deleted the app. Duo became just AI nonsense with no connection to reality (sorry for not sorry).

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#35

I had the realization that I was spending all of my learning time on apps, felt like I was a slave to them. So I reduced to just one that fits most of my needs.

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