N3 to N2 in 5 Months

Japanese
#1

CURRENT STATUS
Bunpro 1/10 N2 Lessons Passed


Bunpro 1/5 N Level Vocab Completed

WaniKani 1/11 Levels Passed

This is kind of a studylog/self challenge post I suppose! Recently I decided to take the JLPT N2 test this winter, knowing that there is a high likelihood of failure. However, looking at my current progress in Bunpro and Wanikani, perhaps I stand a better chance than I previously thought… I give myself maybe 25% chance of success LOL. Anyways, I thought it would be fun to kind of keep a log of the next 5 months, because thats what people do when they are inspired!

##PROGRESS (routine and strategizing)

  • Bunpro - Highest Prio
    I’m finishing N3 grammar today. I think 2 grammar points a day should get me comfortably through N2 by the end of November, but I want to cram ahead (or to catch up) maybe once a month with a day where I do maybe 8-10 reviews. I’d like to have a nice cushion of time mid November where I focus on re-reviewing older grammar and pause on learning anything new.
  • As far as BP vocab goes, I’m taking it extremely laxed, maybe 8 new N2 words a day if I have time after grammar and kanji. Flashcard style only for maximum exposure to words. I recently just started looking at BP vocab so N5-N4 are pretty done already, and I’m going in and hand selecting + master everything I feel very comfortable with, and leaving things I don’t know or things I’d like to know better. I’ll only do reviews if I have time and not stress out about numbers here.

  • Wanikani - High Prio
    Currently at level 33 as of this morning. I need 11 more levels to reach 90% of N2, which seems doable with 13 new items a day (12 vocab + 1 radical, or all kanji). I got overwhelmed with WK last year, so I will not hesitate to take breaks here if I need to. I recently got my apprentice items down to a very reasonable number, though still working through a large amount of guru items. WK will probably be my primary vocabulary source for the moment. I actually have a sizable backlog that need to sort through today (200 reviews ugh, but the daily forecast this week looks comfortable beyond that)

  • JLPT Listening Practice - Med Prio
    I know my listening skills could be a lot better, so just trying to get in 10-15 min of JLPT N3-N2 listening practice from practice tests on youtube. I work on a comp so this is pretty easy to get in if I’m not super busy. I might start listening to these on my daily commute as the test draws near.

  • Satori Reader Low Prio
    Trying to do 20-40 reviews a day, with one page thoroughly read a day. I have a decent backlog of words and phrases already. SR is pretty low priority currently in my routine, as it doesn’t tend to stack up as bad as BP or WK. My focus here is just boosting listening and exposure to daily expressions.

##SUMMARY

  • 2 new Grammar points on BunPro a day
  • 13 new items on Wanikani
  • 10 minutes of Listening Practice
  • Whatever else I can fit in comfortably

I know this is a pretty crazy challenge, but since I’ve already decided to take the test, I figure why not give it my best shot. At worst, I’ll have an amazing head start on next year’s exam. :slight_smile: I’ll try to update every month around the 17th.

Edit: hmm, after some thought, I’m probably going to cut back on the bunpro N2 vocab and focus more and filling the holes in N5-N3. I decided to just bring over my Wanikani info for the sake of efficiency, and got my vocab list looking like this:

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I realized quickly that I don’t like learning vocab if I don’t know the kanji (it really slows me down more than anything), and that I’ll probably be learning the kanji as I progress in WK, so maybe best to turn the knob down on N2 and focus on the other levels for now.

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#2

Great way to look at it. Good luck!

9 Likes
#3

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I went ahead and started looking for some testing materials to practice with, and found this used for a good price. I feel like I’m probably going to do poorly on the listening test no matter how much I listen, just because I think it takes a bit longer to train my ears to hear words than it takes to learn them. I figure that I can still do really well on the reading and grammar portions of the test if I focus hard there (not worried about passing kanji at all). I feel pretty optimistic so far!

When I nab a few other versions of the Shin Kanzen N2 books, I’ll start taking the tests and posting my scores. It still feels a little too early to start testing with these though. Maybe in another month.

3 Likes
#4

I wanted to add a little more about myself and my Journey. Originally I didn’t really care about the JLPT besides using it as a guide for my language journey. I do have connections to friends working in anime in Tokyo and lately I thought it could be fun to have the option to work on anime (I do animation for a living).

I also have some really good Japanese friends in Tokyo, and it would be lovely to maybe work there and see them in person.

-One Month Update-

Okay, so N2 is … harder than I anticipated. Like I did know it would be difficult but making sure I grasp the nuances and secondary meanings of some terms is a bit tough. Its fun though, in a challenging way! I want to make sure that I remember as much as possible for the test. The various forms of 上 are kicking my butt.

WK is on pause atm because reviews built up quite high. I may need to lower my daily WK reviews to like 10 maybe…

I finished watching the Hunter x Hunter anime. I didn’t intend to watch the whole thing, but I started and couldn’t put it down lol. I could almost understand entire scenes without needing subs, which was very exciting.

Also finished Kiki Mimi Radio on Satori Reader (after an embarrassing long time) and started The Jam Maker. I really want to read more stories here, and I keep forgetting about SR because I’m usually swamped with grammar and kanji X(

Attempting to read volume 1 of Dungeon Meshi, which I know is out of my league just based on the sentence mining from pg 1 and 2. I’m enjoying the slow process of it though and I feel kind of happy when I see those words pop up in my feed though.

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2 Likes
#5

I really respect your ambition, seriously impressive drive! I’m just curious though, why focus on WaniKani levels instead of something like Anki with a JLPT vocab deck / Bunpro’s JLPT vocab? I imagine that it might get you to your goal faster, especially with a 5-month timeline. Either way goodluck!

2 Likes
#6

Thank you so much! :grin:

Oh, my thoughts on wanikani are kind of like this:

  • Some people say to not study kanji, and to focus on vocabulary. However, my number one priority in learning Japanese is to reach a point where I can read (especially subtitles, for immersion purposes). So I think learning kanji is extremely helpful for reading. Not only can you better differentiate more complex letters, but you can use kanji to infer the meaning of words/sentences you don’t know, which will be really helpful on a test! So, to me right now, learning the N2 kanji is a priority.

  • I like the wanikani process of introducing kanji and then introducing vocab immediately afterwards to cement meanings and the variety of pronunciations. This is another thing that I think helps with my reading skill/speed and getting familiar with the characters.

  • Finally, there is an overlap of words sometimes between WK and Bunpro, and Bunpro lets me just instantly burn words I’ve already guru’d in Wanikani (this is currently why I’ve stopped using Anki for vocabulary… for now). Since I feel pretty committed to WK for learning kanji and that set of vocabulary, for now Bunpro is for filling in the gaps, as well as sentence mining. :slight_smile:

Also I guess I would say keeping it this way is nice because if I need a break from WK and the constant imput-style reviews, the flashcard style I have for the Bunpro vocab right now is quite relaxing, haha

3 Likes
#7

Hmm, well I ended up needing to pause most reviews for both WK and Bunpro for about two weeks due to being busy and being really stressed out. I’ll need to try and catch up a little bit.

2 Likes
#8

Still really behind on WK but somewhat back in the saddle with Bunpro.

When I do practice reading, its been more about a lack of comprehension than a difficulty reading. I Think more reading practice will be required!

Sign ups tomorrow. I wish I felt more confident about passing, but I really don’t want to wait an entire year to feel good about it, when there’s a chance I could pass this year.

2 Likes
#9

If you can afford it and it won’t be too much of a loss to you if you don’t pass, it wouldn’t hurt to try this year and at least get the experience. If you pass, woohoo, but if not, you have a better idea of what to expect and what you need to work on.

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#10

hey, this is cool and I just wanted to say good luck! :smiley: I’m in a really similar boat with N4->N3 and I flip flopping between which one to take this winter. I’m just starting N3 grammar on bunpro and I’m mid level 30s in WK (I believe N3 & N2 finishes around the same level there). I think I have just enough time to finish by dec but I’m leaning towards taking it chill and just doing the N4 this year. Then maybe try for N2 next year.

You seem like you got a schedule figured out so best of luck! Don’t stress too much about missing some days, it’s unavoidable with work, being sick, and life :slight_smile: You have a great attitude about trying it!

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