Similar grammar lessons are too bunched up together

I feel like in a lot of instances Bunpro teaches grammar points that are very similar to each other all in a sequence one after the other (be it because they vary in small nuances or be it because they just sound very similar to each other). That, at least for me, causes A LOT of confusion and makes it a ton harder to learn them on top of building a potentially lifelong doubt about which one to use when. Tbh i feel that learning one point very well first and then introducing another one later that is slightly different lets you better capture the nuance and prevents such confusions from arising

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Hi! A long time ago, all of the grammar points used to be in a fairly random order, and we had lots of people at that time that were concerned about the opposite problem of not being able to compare things when learning them. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a method that suits everybody’s unique learning style.

However, we do feel that learning certain grammar points in clusters is helpful for solidifying the concepts that underlie them, which is why the path is in its current order. For example, そう よう and みたい might seem (no pun intended) a bit tricky to learn all at once, but what we actually want you to be able to focus on is the concept of presenting supposition in its various different forms. The same can be said for polite language which is also clustered.

At the end of the day though, only you know you, so if the path really disagrees with how you like to learn, you can always add new grammar points in any order you like! I personally used to do this quite often if there were some grammar structures that looked more useful than others. Hope this helps and that you have a rockin weekend!

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I’m totally with you on this problem. It’s hard for me to learn similar content back to back cause my brain just smashes them together and will mix them up for a very long time. I then have to painstakingly sort that out later with dedicated practice :sweat_smile: it’s not only grammar, it’s vocab, too. Weekdays, colours, train terms, etc. The more they belong to the same group, the more I have to space them out, or I will never learn to distinguish them.

What helps me:
I look at my upcoming learn queue to see if there are too many similar items in the future. If so I start to add items manually, ensuring I get something different inbetween the similar items. It’s not very practicable, but it works for me.

You could also take a look at the different paths, maybe one of them has a better distribution of grammar points for you. If all else fail, you can make a custom deck, resorting all the grammar points randomly. Feel free to share it with everybody :slight_smile: Most people learn better when similar stuff is together, but a few people have the same problem as you.

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I have a huge issue with this, too. Vocabulary is similar. i have several words in my reviews with the same meaning and have to cycle through them all to figure out the right one.

i do want the grammar close together, but it’s tough when you have four or five grammar points being translated the same way in the sentences. I’m not sure there’s an easy solution for this, though. On one hand, it would be nice if there was a better way to distinguish it’s wanting a certain one, or if it counted “wrong” answers as right if they could be used synonymously, but then you could end up not practicing certain points at all, which wouldn’t work.

I do like that it often gives hints if you get the wrong one, but yeah. I think this is one of those things that there’s just not a good solution for and it just is what it is. I do wish that with vocabulary it was more random (not with grammar) because I have several words that mean something like “system” all around the same lesson as an example, and then I can’t even guess based on how far it is in the SRS. Alternatively, having the vocab be more focused on kanji could also be useful even if they had similar meanings.

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I totally get you — I also hated how hard it was at first when similar grammar points were so close together !

But after trying both approaches, I’ve realized this way is actually much better.

When they’re close together, yeah, it’s painful at the beginning… but it forces you to notice the subtle differences. That’s what makes the nuance stick long-term.

When they’re spaced out, you might think “oh! That’s just like xxx” — but by then, you’ve already forgotten the exact form or nuance. It feels easier short-term, but comparing and retaining becomes way harder later on.

At least for me, I really prefer that approach.

So yeah, it’s a struggle at first, but it pays off :muscle:

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