I'm finally "done"

Bunpro
#22

@Pizzakanji2006 I have not, I don’t really care about the JLPT, for now I’m just having fun.

@acyanto I quickly lose interest in seeing the same content. YouTube is great because of its many channels, but I agree, the YouTuber voice does get annoying.

Here are a few options I have been enjoying, although they might be a bit on the easy side:

I always change what I’m watching but lately it’s been only vlogs.

6 Likes
#23

Very well done!

Just in case some beginners are reading this discussion and are tempted to follow your example, I want to stress it: do not do 10 grammar lessons a day if you don’t have decent preexisting Japanese knowledge.

I personally did 2 to 3 lessons/day all the way through N3 and it was already fairly intense on top of the rest of my studies.

15 Likes
#25

im gonna disagree here, if you have the time and want to, feel free to do 10 a day. Over summer break, I did about 10 a day and finished n5 and n4 grammar points within my free trial, relaxed during the semester, and am gonna do 10 a day to hopefully finish n3 in the next 2 weeks over winter break. I didnt have any prior japanese grammar knowledge (i did know a good chunk of vocab).

I am a big proponent of embracing the bunpro bomb and shooting yourself ahead in your progress. I feel like the earlier you can get lots of grammar under your belt, the better. If anything, the beginners (if they are able to and willing) would benefit the most from learning large amounts of grammar

1 Like
#26

Interesting counterpoint, I’m certainly not against going fast, but assimilating 10 grammar points a day is certainly beyond my mental capacity.

9 Likes
#27

i get why you would think that, but if you have the time to devote to it, the srs and ghosts will get you to learn it. i had a really large amount of ghosts at the end of that month, but they helped me iron out the kinks in the learning. You dont have to assimilate them all perfectly the day that you learn them, thats what the SRS is for.

that being said it is kind of a lot of work. near the end it was like wake up, do 100+ reviews and then before you go to bed do another 100+ reviews. But once you stop adding grammar points it gets manageable again pretty quickly. I went from like 250 reviews to under 100 in 4 days

#28

I mean I did do a similar thing but with Wanikani and Anki for kanji and vocab. The problem with going full bunpro like that for me is that with only grammar and no kanji or vocab knowledge I wouldn’t be able to do much I think, whereas with some kanji and vocab + basic grammar I could do quite a bit.

2 Likes
#29

There’s no point in going that fast when, at the end of the day, you still need to master each grammar point. It might be doable in the beginning, but once you get to the last levels (where you start encountering similar, yet still different, grammar), it’s not going to be as easy to fully grasp the nuances. The absolute best way to learn anything (grammar, vocabulary, Kanji) is by frequent usage/exposure, which obviously takes time.

I did the same thing with WaniKani, by going at the fastest speed (6 to 7 day levels on average), and now I regret it since, not only did I forget a lot of the Kanji I had previously “learned”, but I also burned out towards the end. Learning Kanji was not enjoyable anymore. That’s why I’m now taking my time to learn things properly with BunPro. There’s simply no way to achieve that at a super fast pace. At some point things will pile up so much, that they become a blur.

In short, I agree with the notion that it’s better to take your time learning Japanese. Push yourself, but be honest in how much you can take and still maintain high accuracy. If you’re gonna rely on ghosts reviews, then I think you need to slow down. At best, you’re familiarizing yourself with the grammar, but not really acquiring them.

12 Likes
#30

I appreciate you sharing your daily study method. No doubt putting this time in is paying dividends.

Do you mind sharing a bit more about what you do during those three hours of intensive study?

It’s helpful to hear the specifics of how others are spending time in the language.

#31

@JandroSantiago Sorry for the late reply I have been super busy.

Intensive may not be the right term; it’s just a focused time, there’s no secret to it. During this period, I try to understand everything by checking words, but a lot can also be learned by paying attention to the context. It’s important for the content not to be too easy or too hard. I choose a topic to focus on, like “daily life”, and I immerse mostly with Japanese subtitles and then some without.

The 3 hours is just the minimum of focused immersion I want to guarantee; consistency is very important.

Beyond that, I immerse casually with books and shows I enjoy. And since I work from home, I can also passively immerse the whole day.

The reality is, I’m just having fun.

2 Likes
#32

Wait what’s this youtuber voice? :sweat_smile:

#33

Thanks, I appreciate it! I learned a few years into learning the language that my ratio of intensive vs free-flow was way too heavy on the free-flow. I’m learning how to make time to sit down and wrestle with the language. I like the way that you structure your day. Thanks for explaining.

#34

@JandroSantiago
Now I understand what you meant by intensive.

My recommendation is to re-watch the things you watched during intensive immersion when you are doing free-flow or passive, or listen/watch easier content.

If I didn’t have enough time for “intensive immersion”, personally, I would lower my time with all other forms of study to make time for it. I have found it to be incredibly useful.

1 Like
#35

how many reviews per day/hours per day were you spending on bunpro on average near the end