What Japanese learning advice would you give to your past self?

Japanese
#21

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best is now.

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#22

My main bits of advice for myself after learning for 8 years are:

  • Find ways to measure/benchmark progress. Daily studies can feel like a slog especially as it can feel Iike you’re getting stuck on the same 3 kanji over and over. Stats, metrics, and even reading/listening to something you found hard before can be very rewarding.
  • Learn kanji in the context of words.
  • Learn words in the context of sentences.
  • Bunpro is amazing because it gives words in the context of sentences, and I’m too lazy to sentence mine.
  • Anki is easier than it looks (the Android app is good.)
  • Every mistake you make in a flashcard is a mistake not made in real life. Be strict and diligent.
  • Language learning is like spray painting. Each flashcard is a small speck of paint. It’s fine to have gaps or not understand a word or idea perfectly because you can come back to it later.
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Is bunpro really worth it?
#23

Did self-study via Minato (free online learning course) that would sometimes put me to sleep. Should’ve started with WaniKani and BunPro SRS instead. Eventually found my way to those 2. (Have had to slow down WK a lot to catch up on grammar.) Wish I had started on Comprehensible Input Japanese at the same time as those 2 or soon after to improve my listening and recall of vocabulary. Also trying to watch more Japanese movies/tv shows that I enjoy watching but the main issue is time.
Completed Genki 2 and passed N4 last year. Working through Quartet 1 right now with my online sensei and still feel like I haven’t mastered all those conjugations in Genki 2. Also somehow feeling discouraged with BunPro reviews lately. @jhoeksma “now I’m going to read and listen and enjoy myself for at least a year before I even think about N3.” is resonating with me. Will be checking out the Folktales book from my library soon. Thanks!

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