I’m so sorry for late thread - been a bit overwhelmed last week. But worry not! The vocabulary must grow.
I’ve started watching some J-Drama recently. Currently I’m watching MIU404 =}
Hey I use TV for languagelearning too! Cool. Do you use subtitles in english/your native language? Or are you already able to understand enough to not have those on?
I’m watching with JP subs 😅. It can be really hard to follow along without subtitles sometimes. Idk if that would be considered cheating or not.
I’ve been doing a listen every day challenge with the Wanikani forums community since late August, but I still use JP subs often. I try to focus on a video/anime or watch it without, but I’ll do a second run through/replay a clip with subtitles if I didn’t know what someone was saying. Maybe try that instead? Don’t be ashamed of using subtitles, at least you’re not using eng subs!
Definitely not cheating. After a while I’m guessing it can be a little bit like working the wrong muscle, where you might read instead of hearing. But reading is still engagement and very important.
That aside, the ideographic nature of Japanese text makes the sub into pretty nice hints. You won’t always be able to read the word, but maybe you know the word has something to do with the symbols, and you’re hearing it… I think watching with subs is a good approach!
Not cheating, really awesome.
Have some time this month and been working hard on my language app (bunpro for knowing how to actually use words).
But I missed yesterday
Never heard of bunpro before. Looks kinda cool! And this is a reminder notification for you to not skip today :) jk happy to hear you’ve been working on your languagelearning.
Got the lifetime thing after testing for months recently, it’s really good to learn grammar and the actual uses of vocabulary beyond the meaning. Would recommend for Japanese!
Thanks for the reminder, but fortunately didn’t need it for today.
There are quite a few japanese learners here so that’s a good tip. And nice, happy to hear :)
Doing my 30 mins a day on Spanish and Japanese. Doing more on Migaku these days for my Spanish, not sure if it’s helping as much as something like MM flashcards, but I guess it’s decent enough. Yesterday was actually pretty hectic for me, didn’t get to do the full workload yesterday, but I am noticing I am doing more maths again. So there’s that. Watching some Japanese videos too, an odd day I get an hour of Japanese instead of 30 mins, with 30 mins just being listening practice. Hard to say the same for my Spanish. And haven’t touched my Irish for over a month at this point, (I assume).
My GF is planning for a no-gaming day that we both do at the same time, so we can focus on things we need to do more. She’s decided on it being a Tuesday. So from now on we’re going to try stop gaming on the Tuesday, however the caveat there is I still will run Spirit City: Lofi Sessions, since it counts as a game on Steam, but it’s a tool I use everyday to help me study. Even having it in the background playing lofi music ends up encouraging me to study more, since I equate lofi with study these days. So just having it on gently in the background is a motivator for me through the day. So things like that where apps act as games but are really study/productive tools we can get to use. I normally use Minecraft for my journaling, since in the game I want to build a functioning library and want to have actual books for it, so I can log on Minecraft at the end of the day to journal then close out of it, so that’s another thing.
Sleep has been massively negatively affected, and I still feel far from on the horse, but at least I’m not entrenched in the mud completely.
Trying to balance so many lines of study is commendable. One language is plenty, trying three is going to be really hard. If you need rotate focus more, it’s understandable and probably for the best.
Always try to prioritize sleep. It’s like a superpower for whatever else you try to do. I wish I was better at taking my own advice there… :( The extra hour or two at the end of the day just always seems so promising and I fall for the trap.
That’s quite a nice idea, hope both of you get some stuff done on that day! (Although to me you are already incredibly efficient based on your weekly updates, amazing to follow).
If it’s a tool of productivity I’d say it’s still within your no-gaming restriction :) the minecraft library sounds awesome.
I am really happy to hear you are no longer entirely in the mud. Hope you can fix up the sleeping rythm. It’s gonna really boost up your day once you do.
Best of luck on your non-gaming day!
Hey! Just joined. Don’t know why it never occurred to me to join a general language learning community here.
Last week I started a new plan I developed for my Japanese study, structured by pomodoro sprints. The daily workload currently looks like:
- 2 sprints: Anki for vocab and grammar flashcards, move to Tobira textbook study with remaining time
- 1 sprint: Tobira
- 1 sprint: dedicated listening practice, which is currently podcasts with transcripts
- 1 sprint: no-dictionary reading practice, currently with a graded reader
- 1 hour on Saturdays: あつまれ 動物の森 (Animal Crossing: New Horizons)
I don’t always get to the reading sprint, which is fine since my listening is so far behind my reading anyway. Other than that, it’s been going great! I really started to focus on my studies last December and have seen a lot of progress. Almost up to 3,000 mature vocab and grammar cards.
I’ve also set a goal to sit for the JLPT N2 exam in December 2026. Probably ambitious in terms of actually passing it by that time, but the testing site is local at least. I figure it’s worth the investment and the experience anyway.
Really awesome progress. That looks like a really strong routine, if you mostly stick to it I bet you’ll keep improving fast. How are you spacing your pomodoro sprints out through the day?
Planning out study schedules in a similar way is very motivating for me, but then I find myself slipping up and falling off that bus before long. Hopefully I can muster the discipline to go back in that direction sometime.
N2 is a huge milestone, best of luck preparing for and taking the test!
Thanks!
I’m working on starting a new career, so I’m chaining my work productivity sprints with the first two language learning sprints especially. Had some major setbacks, so my career motivation has been in the toilet. I’ll typically do either the third sprint or minor tasks (responding to emails, office/home cleaning) before lunch and get back to it after the break.
I don’t know why, but something really clicked for me with Japanese in December, and it’s been enough to prop up the other stuff. Even though it was less structured last year, over the past couple months with solid structure I really feel like I’ve actually learned how to work at home. It’s been different!
Do you have goals to work in or with a Japanese company? I hear the N2 certification is one that kinda opens those doors.
Yeah, I’ve heard the same. It’d be nice to have the option, at the least. I figure in the end it’ll mostly be a freelancing certification, but eh, life’s weird. I could end up back in Osaka for all I know.
Welcome! You’ll find plenty of fellow japanese learners here!
That’s a pretty good learning structure you’ve got. And the goal is good, I think based on your structure I’d say you are gonna do well! Don’t be intimidated, if you fail you’ll know your level better and know what to focus on. Atleast that’d how I see exams.
