Jessie's Study Log

Japanese
#1

Hi everyone,

I have decided to create a study log to help with keeping focused on my goals. I will aim to update at the end of each day.

Background

I have been learning Japanese for years, but I have never been able to push myself out of my comfort zone and I struggle with impostor syndrome. I have completed Genki 1 along with a couple of the Japanese from Zero textbooks and various apps.

I traveled to Japan last year and the 3 weeks spent outputting the language was more beneficial than anything I had done up to that point.

I have had bad experiences with Hello Talk (with one person coming to my house unannounced and declaring his undying love) which has restricted my 1-1 conversation practice.

However, Iā€™m tired of feeling stagnant in my studies so have committed to myself to work harder and believe in my ability more.

Study process

Each day I will work on my ā€œdailiesā€:

  • Wanikani reviews
  • 15 new Wanikani cards
  • Bunpro reviews
  • Adjective conjugation drills
  • Verb conjugation drills
  • Shirabe Jisho mined vocabulary
  • Learn 1 new grammar point a day
  • Finish Genki 2 before my holiday in October (this equates to 1 lesson a month)
  • 45 mins of active output - conversation practice, speaking, writing
  • 45 mins of active immersion - actively listening on YouTube, being able to note the grammar points
  • 30 mins reading my Japanese novel
  • Work through all N4 grammar and vocabulary before my October holiday (Iā€™m just over 50% now)
Goals
  • To complete N4 Bunpro Vocabulary and Grammar
  • To reach Level 20 of Wanikani (currently L15)
  • To finish Genki 2 textbook and workbook
  • To build my speaking and listening confidence
  • To finish 1 novel in Japanese

I appreciate that my approach may not be super fast but I donā€™t want to burn out like I have in the past. I welcome any advice that people think I should consider, for example if you think that I am missing some aspect of learning but please know that I only have an iPad, meaning I cannot run things like Yomitan to mine vocabulary etc. Any vocabulary that I mine from books etc will most likely be added to my Bunpro SRS or to my Shirabe Jisho SRS.

Hope you all have great success with your own studies too!! :heart_decoration:

10 Likes
#2

25惻05惻19 ęœˆę›œę—„
Wanikani reviews are at zero with 15 cards added, I should move up to level 16 in 3 days so long as my reviews are all correct.

My Bunpro reviews are slightly behind with 52 vocabulary cards left to do, but they can wait til tomorrow. I have done 3 new grammar points though, which is progress.

I use conjugation city for my conjugation drills and have done my adjectives and verbs for the forms that I know so far, and I have run through the vocabulary mined from reading äø–ē•Œć‹ć‚‰ēŒ«ćŒę¶ˆćˆćŸćŖ悉.

I ran out of time to do my listening and writing but I have capacity for this tomorrow so I am not too worried.

I know I havenā€™t done a significant amount of work today, basically Iā€™ve done my flashcards and conjugations. But if I remain consistent then Iā€™ll find the time for the more fun stuff too.

4 Likes
#3

If I read your initial post correctly, you plan on doing more than 2 hours of japanese a day, right? Thatā€™s quite a big chunk of time. Since you were worried of burn out, it might be a good idea to have a backup plan, of what to drop if it gets too much. My advice would be to make sure you never skip your favourite part of japanese learning, whatever that is for you :slight_smile:

Also, I just noticed, another ipad only japanese learner :sweat_smile: We have to deal without all those fancy tools. Found any nice apps or games so far? :slight_smile:

4 Likes
#4

Actually, you can! If you install Firefox on the iPad, you can install the Yomitan extension. Thereā€™s also a way to set it up to add cards to anki, even on IOS and Android I believe, but that part is a less simple process that I just havenā€™t attempted myself yet. You can at least use Yomitan to look up words if youā€™re pulling up your book in ttsu reader though. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#5

Thank you for your reply :heart_decoration: I am doing a fair amount of hours throughout the day but I am very lucky in that my job has a bit of down time throughout the day and I can do my reviews.

My favorite part of studying is reading and kanji practice so I do try to save my energy for that.

Eek Iā€™m so glad Iā€™m not the only iPad user, I see loads of videos on YouTube and comments in discord about using Yomitan but its not supported. I am so tempted to buy a laptop but I seem to manage without these complicated tools haha.

I use Tsurukme for doing my Wanikani reviews on the go, and Shirabe Jisho is an amazing dictionary with SRS flashcards (so when I mine I just star the word and it goes into the pot). One of my favorite apps is ā€œJapanese Conjugation Cityā€ for doing adjective and verb drills, its 99p but worth it.

I used Todaii for reading news articles, everyone recommends Satori reader but I canā€™t justify the spend whilst saving for my holiday. Wagotabi is a cute Japanese game for N5 level.

As I love reading, I have a few physical books and graded readers but I also bought a few books on kindle - my Japanese account has been region blocked but I found Japanese language novels on the UK amazon site if searching for titles in kana/kanji.

What about you, whats your process, favorite tools, methods etc

2 Likes
#6

ooooh thank you!! I will have a look into this as people rave about Yomitan @Chimmsen You may find this helpful too :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#7

Just a small warning - adding the dictionaries to it on a tablet can be a bit of a pain. When you go to extensions and click on yomitan (it might say ā€œerrorā€ next to yomitan, just ignore it), then click on the settings, it may look like the settings didnā€™t come up. Thatā€™s because it opens in a new tab without telling you. I had to add each dictionary one at a time or occasionally it would bug out on me and tell me it failed to import the dictionary.

Here are the dictionaries that I use. Youā€™re welcome to download them from there. Thereā€™s even grammar and names/proper nouns dictionaries! I didnā€™t learn Yomitan even had those until earlier this year. Theyā€™ve been an absolute lifesaver.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0jeO6DChKYS3RHlRGmt7-MlrPhFagkL?usp=sharing

3 Likes
#8

This is so helpful, I think I remember looking at this a while ago, that Matt vs Japan had links to the dictionaries but I was worried about downloading anything in case it was a virus lol

I will have a look into this tonight, if I run into any problems, do you mind me messaging for advice?

2 Likes
#9

Not at all! If you or @Chimmsen need any help with it feel free to message me or post here again.

One more thing. When youā€™re in the Yomitan settings. Under ā€œScanningā€ set the scan modifier key to ā€œNoneā€. Usually on PC itā€™s the shift key, but obviously weā€™re not working with keyboards here. It still works if you donā€™t do that, but seems more buggy. Like it tries to select words when youā€™re just trying to scroll up and down.

Donā€™t worry. This process will seem a little annoying at first, but once itā€™s set up itā€™s absolutely invaluable to learning. If you do ever get a laptop, itā€™s even easier to setup there. You could even purchase a mini pc if itā€™s just something you want to use at home. You can get something like that for $300 or less now.

(note: I work in IT so thatā€™s why Iā€™m familiar with all of this)

I think thereā€™s probably better ways to spread a virus than through yomitan dictionaries. I meanā€¦how many people are actually downloading them? :laughing: Learning japanese is a pretty niche hobby.

1 Like
#10

Oh! I use that, too. Didnā€™t even know it has an SRS function. I was just happy to have an offline dictionairy. Iā€™ll definetly start to star words now!

#11

Thanks! I never even tried to look up if using yomitan is possible, I just assumed it wasnā€™t :sweat_smile: If I got any questions, Iā€™ll know who to ask :slight_smile:

1 Like
#12

Haha no worries! At least now you know and hopefully itā€™ll be of use to you. Iā€™m glad I can help. I only just bought myself a Pixel tablet about a month ago, so Iā€™ve been learning a lot myself! Initially, I thought I would just use it with the Kindle app and their built in dictionary. Thank goodness I donā€™t have to do that, their dictionary isnā€™t always the best. :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#13

I can not see where it is not fast :slightly_smiling_face:
I wish you best of luck on your rapid journey!

1 Like
#14

But itā€™s just not :slightly_smiling_face:
Browsers on iOS can not use other browser engines

1 Like
#15

yeah im really struggling and looking online its stating that I cannot use extensions even thought firefox. I got an ipad because it was convenient but I think when I come back from Japan Ill need to invest in a laptop :frowning:

#16

Thank you, I compare myself against too many other people haha

#17

For learning purposes, I really recommend buying thinkpad for 120-180$
I have T495 and itā€™s perfect for light web programming and learning. I run Ubuntu, and itā€™s super comfortable.

1 Like
#18

Learning 2 hours + is already in the top few percent of those who havenā€™t quit yet, I would say.
Your study routine looks like 3-3.5 hours to me which is awsome if you can continue it long term

2 Likes
#19

This is exactly the kind of reason I avoid Apple products. :sweat_smile:

1 Like
#20

Thank you to everyone helping me today with IT stuff, I think I will reward myself with a purchase in a few months if I stick to my holiday saving plan and study plan :slight_smile:

Today has been very good, Iā€™ve done all my reviews on all platforms and added in 3 new grammar points, which means I just need to do 552 vocab and grammar cards to complete N4.

My holiday is in October so I fully anticipate being able to complete N4, Genki 2, Level 20 Wanikani and still have a month or so to really drill down the conversation practice.

I want to be able to introduce myself and make friends in Japan, so I have been working on a č‡Ŗå·±ē“¹ä»‹. Im trying to use the new grammar in the sentences. Perhaps I should share it here, if I did would people be able to correct my grammar?

Hope you are all enjoying your studies! Letā€™s do our best!

Edit: I have recognised that I spend a lot of time each day studying but I am autistic and language studies are my special interest. If I start of feel burnt out, Ill take a break for a week or so and come back, but feeling positive so far :slight_smile:

2 Likes