Your learning resources

Japanese
#28

For Grammar > App, I highly highly highly recommend Busuu. It’s basically the exact same concept as Lingodeer, only it’s totally free. There is a subscription model for extra features, but it’s supplementary. The entire JP course is free and covers complete beginner to upper N4 level. The grammar explanations, pacing, exercises, and vocab variety are all excellent. It’s how I started learning jp and I’ve since recommended it to friends who also attest to its quality. It can be used on PC too if one prefers. I think this would be really beneficial to jp learners if added to the spreadsheet.

Tool > Website. YomiChan. Works the same way as Rikaikun, I just hear it mentioned more than Rikakun so it may have better functionality, but that’s just speculation.

Tool > Website. Subadub. This is a Chrome Extension that allows the subtitles of a Netflix show to be displayed as on-screen text (ie. not video-embedded). This allows the user to interact with the text in the same way they would with 10ten, Yomichan etc. Additionally, given that it can be used in conjunction with Netflix’s built-in subs, users will be able to watch material with both eng/jp subs at the same time, something I’ve found greatly beneficial.

Reading > App. Todai (Easy Japanese). News reading app that highlights language based on JLPT level, allows for furigana toggle, has built in translator tool, and user based translations/feedback pages, along with misc. other helpful features. Free, with premium features too.

Grammar > Website. Ichi.moe . Very surprised to see that this wasn’t on the spreadsheet. You input a sentence and it will break it down word by word to give not only a translation of each individual word, but will also show how its been conjugated and its exact grammatical description. Given the type of language japanese is, this is an essential resource, no questions asked.

Tool > Website. DeelL. An AI powered online translator that claims to be ‘3 times more accurate than our closest competitors’, which I don’t doubt. Though no online translator will ever be flawless, this is significantly better than the likes of Google Translate for a go-to translator.

Tool > Website. Migaku. A Chrome Extension which develops on the idea of Subs2SRS and makes it as easy as using the 10ten extension. Simply hover a word (be it on netflix, youtube, your own personal video or text files etc.), and it’s added to an anki deck. allows for the creation of anki decks with full sentences, colour coding from grammar and pitch accent, and of course full audio and screenshots. Essentially, it’s all the tedium from subs2srs completely removed, so what used to be 2 minutes of work per card is now done in 10 seconds. It’s paid, but if sentence mining is your thing, it’s worth every cent.

Listening/Reading > Animelon. This is a streaming site with 100s of anime series, with every episode of every series having eng and jp subs that can both be displayed at the same time. It also allows the user to select romaji, furigana, and hiragana, so any combination of all 5 can be displayed at once. The subtitles themselves can be adjusted to the users preference too (size, font, colour etc.) A hover-over translator is included, as is a full transcript of dialogue. When the hover-over translator is off, dialogue can be selected with the cursor, for use with yomichan or just general copy and pasting. The site also allows users to save previously hovered-over dialogue and create flashcard decks. The entire site is free, with the titles varied in popularity, and the catalog is constantly updated.

The ‘spreadsheet’ I refer to is here, and is the quintessential resource guide to learning japanese. I’ll let it speak for itself: Jo-Mako's Japanese Guide - Readability List

#29

Consistency gives you time traveling powers :flushed:

1 Like
#30

Note to self: must spend less time reading about learning Japanese and more time actually learning Japanese.

I get really bad FOMO - I’m pretty sure there’s no silver bullet to learning Japanese (except maybe being adopted by a Japanese family who speak no English? DM me!) - and my danger is overloading myself with lots of learning rather than missing out on a killer app or book or approach that will make me 5% more efficient.
What’s clear is that there are a ton of resources out there, stick with what you’re enjoying and ditch what is making you dread it without worrying too much.

Just realised my prospective adoptive family won’t be able to read this :man_facepalming:

7 Likes
#31

I’ve also started to keep track of my Monthly Immersion Minutes, which simply looks like this:

● Monthly Immersion Minutes: [15]
● Monthly Grammar Video Minutes: [12]

Content Immersion Minutes can be from the following:

● Focused Immersion (just jp subs) and Bunpro Examples
● Assisted Immersion (eng and jp subs)

I’m not including eng-subs only content for now, as I don’t want it to feel like study.

Grammar Video Minutes can be any jp grammar/vocab video watched with any level of focus, and it doesn’t matter if I’ve seen the video before.

Here’s a tracking of my progress through various playlists thus far.

● Cure Dolly: 5/93 videos completed
● FFVII Remake: 3/30 videos completed

#32

Loved that wallpaper. Where did you get it?

1 Like
#33

Wallpaper engine, it’s animated

1 Like
#34

A few months ago I was checking this out and I do think FOMO is a bigger thing in the Japanese learning community than most other languages. I’m not sure why, but my suspicion is that Japanese is just easier to mine for views/clicks on social media and !!shocking new information!! is the best way to do it.

In comparison, if you look up learning Russian on Youtube, a lot of it is vocabulary tips, conjugation advice, greetings and phrases, etc… If you look up learning Japanese on Youtube it’s a lot of “YOU’RE DOING EVERYTHING WRONG YOU’RE SO STUPID!” and “UNLESS YOU DO THIS YOU WILL FAIL!” style videos. Funnily enough I looked into the author of one of these videos and they haven’t even passed N4 yet.

As others have said in the thread the big thing is just sticking with it.

2 Likes
#35

I don’t think there’s a huge reason for you to change, but have you ever used Language Reactor before? Was previously called Language Learning with Netflix. I’ve never personally used Subadub before but it seems like LR does the same things with some potential added benefits you may or may not find useful. Just thought I’d throw my 2 cents in! :v:

1 Like
#36

That is the blessing and a curse. Back when I started learning resources were limited. Now there are so many if I started now I’m not even sure where I would begin.

Over the years I’ve used dozens of books, programs, and learning methods. But the three things that seem to help most learners that very few people will argue about are:

  1. Exposure to the language

  2. Spaced repetition

  3. Using the language

If you continue to do these three, results will come. They will vary by person, but they will come adopted family or not. I’ve known people who lived years in Japan and probably couldn’t form a sentence at your level.

5 Likes
#37

Very interesting. Thanks for the consideration!

#38

Japanese language YouTubers really irk me, lol. While some are legitimate and helpful, most are just pretentious and annoying. Acting like language and cultural gods. Most of their audience aren’t there to learn, they are there to live vicariously through the YouTuber who either lives in Japan and speaks Japanese at a decent enough level like the viewer wants to.

You know, I’ve impressed Japanese people with my Japanese before. The only difference is that I didn’t self indulge in it and create an entire channel about it.

Ok, rant over. Lol

#39

It is! The fun begins: here!

1 Like
#40

I took a few classes on italki a couple of years back and they were excellent, but a bit pricey. I’ve just returned to studying again and took another look, and now they have group classes too! I took one this afternoon. There was just me, another student, and the teacher, and it was great fun and half the price of a regular class. I’m going to be doing a lot more!

3 Likes
#41

Ah, thank you, I appreciate it!
I’ll have a read through the first chapter and see how I fare!

1 Like
#42

I’m at beginner level, This is what I’m currently trying

  • Bunpro
  • jpdb.io
  • kawaiiDungeon - Learn Japanese

Learning kanji has been my greatest challenge, I’ve just recently been trying these, and they seem to be working. Also writing the kanjis with the kanji study app seems to work pretty well but I don’t like that it doesn’t have a srs system yet.

1 Like
#44

Have you tried using WaniKani? The first 3 levels are free if you wanted to give it a try. It has one of the best SRS systems for kanji out there, and the mnemonics are a gamechanger. You could also use a WaniKani Anki deck if you aren’t able to pay for a subscription but still wanted the essence of it. It’s what the majority of people use for kanji, or at least what a lot of people started with if not a textbook.

#45

For writing Kanji, you may want to give Skritter a try. They will probably have a Black Friday sale within the next few weeks.

1 Like
#46

I did, but it was taking too much time like 1h or even more, I realize that I was slow then I got frustrated and gave up that was my 2nd attempt at japanese I did it for 1 year and this is my 3rd attempt hahaha :,)

#47

Hmm, to me it sounds like you weren’t pacing yourself properly. I burnt out my first time using WaniKani as well because I did lessons when they were available and tried to rush through things — which left me with hundreds of reviews per day.

This is the schedule I personally use now, which means I can get through my reviews in the morning in 10-15 minutes.

It’s of course still not for everyone! I do recommend giving it another try with a paced schedule (language learning isn’t a race ^^) but otherwise I do recommend Anki decks! You can set your pace more easily yourself, and some people work better with the straight flashcard method.

Best of luck!

2 Likes
#48

for grammar it has been only bunpro for one year so far.

my subscription ends in december 2nd and keeping two SRS for one year (wakikani as well) became quite overwhelming for me. For 2023 I will focus more on getting more vocab.

Bunpro I ended up in N1, but since N2 halfway through became a mess in my head so I think it is not the time for me for advanced grammar at the moment, later on I will try some book for n2 and n1 and see where it goes (I dont have time or patience nowadays for books)

Bunpro at least helped me a lot from n5 to n3.

1 Like