I know it’s not been that long since my first post went up. But honestly, the learning has been going on for about a month at this point. So I just wanted to catch you up on how I’m doing.
Do I know all the hiragana yet? Yes and no. Most of the time, I’ve got them down but I still have to double-check every now and then. I know most people pick them up quickly, but it’s more just… getting them to stick so that I won’t forget. Katakana…still not great there. I think I need to focus on them a little more as I don’t feel like I’ve put enough time into them yet.
The bright side of alphabet learning though?
I’m starting to pick up on some kanji! That’s so much sooner than I expected to do so. I can read watashi and boku. Both are just different versions of I, but it’s something. So I’m pretty pleased with that!
How I’m learning is pretty much the same. I’m using DuoLingo daily. I know DuoLingo really isn’t the best way to learn a language. Especially for Japanese. But I’m using it as a way to learn through repetition. I’m not really noting the phrases as things I should be saying and using in conversation. But as a way to pick up on words and remember them.
I’ve been using my textbook every week too. I’m learning from Japanese from Zero 1 and it’s pretty helpful. It points out when it’s using something formal and suggests what you should use instead which I appreciate. It’s also growing my vocab slowly too.
As well as that I’ve been watching videos on YouTube. Some are in Japanese with subtitles in English and Japanese, Plus a fair few videos on actually learning Japanese. Some of those are making me want to try some other ways to learn too. Like through video games and actually trying to read some of my manga and err the light novels I picked up by accident. It really was an accident, I swear. I didn’t read the description and assumed they were manga. Dumb of me, but it’s nice to have something new to practice on.
I’ve decided I’m going to try reading the manga and light novels through translation apps which I wrote a post on last week. It’s not going to help me as much as trying to read it all by myself. But when I look at the translation, I sometimes look back at the original text and pick up words I know. Like, I know school so I used the translation app to find out what line of text it was and then looked at it in the book. I was able to translate that word by myself which felt like something.
So, yeah, I’m still in the early stages. I didn’t think I would’ve gotten really far at this point. But I am keeping it up which was better than I expected at first. I think holding myself accountable has helped for sure.
Here’s hoping for an even better update next month!
Lace and Dagger Books 