Other recommendation for grammar: check out bunpro. It does nag for log in and try to push subscription for SRS (flashcards), but the last time I used it, it did a great job of laying out the grammar points (by profiency level or following textbook order), and linking to various sources of info on them.

Been continuing to play through a game, read news, and also started trying a short novel, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m excited to find new words and Kanji as I go through these but have to keep reminding myself I should be more focused on the content than the language. The biggest learnings won’t hit until the language fades into the background. So I’m trying to find the balance, but having a hard time preventing myself from looking up a word or two every other dialog box.

Glad you kept trying and it worked out better Lazycog!

Yep, I think that’s the real terror of it, is that the line between ad and content will blur even further. There’s already everything ranging from astroturfing to paid endorsements, but eventually AI maybe can get good at finding that line of what you think is trustworthy and crossing it maliciously.

Pizza is also, like other foods, apparently a salad.

Started playing the new Pokemon game in Japanese. I think this series is really good for language - it asks what language you want up-front regardless of game region or system settings, kids are the main audience, it’s full of concepts I’ve been exposed to all my life, most dialogue is taken at your own pace, there’s furigana most places. There is a story I want to follow, and plenty of text to read, but most of it’s not that important so I don’t mind if some goes over my head.

This particular game, the battles aren’t turn-based, and a few cutscenes are real time text instead of push to continue (and weirdly even in those no voice-over.) I also think you’re locked in after you pick language? And if so, not sure why. Still, a good low-stakes game to immerse with.

It’s been a little dialogue heavy at the start, should be less exposition once I get into it. For now I’m looking up a lot, but I think I’ll lose patience for that pretty quick.

I can usually get the gist of what they say, which is exciting. I’m at the point where most of each sentence is intelligible, but the most important couple of words will be new to me. Between the context and the Kanji used, not too hard to hazard a guess at the new ones. Those i+1ish sentences are exactly what you want for learning.

Super Paper Mario’s line “I love going on message boards and complaining about games I’ve never played.” is really good.

Do you feel like it’s pretty effective and enjoyable?

Community link: !japaneselanguage@sopuli.xyz, because for some reason Lemmy/Voyager still doesn’t do that right.

Curious if folks in this community have tried LLPSI style-resources, and if they worked for you? Also, feel free to link or mention similar resources for your target languages.

For the OP’s question, I see Japanese tweets (on bsky) write words using these small width characters like ｸﾞand ｷﾞfor emphasis and effect. That and they more often use those long emoji things like (( °ω° ))/

In Spanish, I’ve at least seen that people use jajaja instead of hahaha.

Switched my main Anki deck and JPDB cards from just the word on the front, to instead show a sentence as the cue. I think it’s a big improvement.

At first I thought having the sentence would give away what word it is… but I’ve slowly realized that’s the point. Understanding words in context is the reason to learn words in the first place. And having the sentence up front, with no furigana, helps give reading practice on other words.

That’s quite a spread! Not to pry too much (feel free to not share details), but why the immediate needs for all those?

Sounds like a big promise.

I know the feel. I’ve tried to build up a deck of words that cover each common reading of characters, and only a couple hundred charcters in it’s already taken a lot of time. Usually I’m just using other people’s decks, much respect to the people that build the high quality ones.

In one sense it’s probably not a very productive use of time, but I think it can be a great motivator. No resource (deck, video, app, class, etc) is going to make things easy or instant, but if you find or build one that gets you fired up to learn, that counts for a lot.

Reading is great! It naturally has that spaced repetition and focus on high-frequency words kinda built in. Still, I do think Anki is a very useful supplement.

I’m maybe not disciplined enough about it, I kinda play it by ear.

I do try to at least do reviews every day. I’ve been doing my Kanji reviews (in Kohii, but still flashcards) first thing in the morning, and other Anki cards throughout the day in pockets of spare time.

At first I was doing way more new cards a day, but once I built up a backlog I’ve simmered down a lot. I mostly do new cards if I finish all my reviews. Sometimes I’m in an Anki mood and do a bunch.

If I get too many unreviewed cards building up, I don’t sweat it too much. Just review what I can - when I forget cards, the spaced-repetition-system will work it out.

What you learning? Just getting into Anki, or been doing it a while?

Do you have goals to work in or with a Japanese company? I hear the N2 certification is one that kinda opens those doors.

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.

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!

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!