Here I am on day 135 of learning Japanese! I've been working hard doing all the cards in my Anki decks each day and it's been awesome to see myself progress. Words that seem hard one day aren't so hard the next. The human brain is amazing. In addition to using Anki to do a lot of my studying, I've been faithful about listening to JapanesePod101 everyday. Sometimes I just listen to one lesson, other times a couple. It just depends on how much time I have or how I'm feeling that day. I also have been making a bigger effort to speak Japanese daily. Even if I'm just thinking in Japanese or talking to myself as I drive I've found everything getting easier little bits at a time as each day passes.
I have also been continuing to study grammar in little bits each day. Doing just a little each day really takes off the pressure but really adds up. I alternate using A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, English Grammar for Students of Japanese, and Tae Kim's guide. I've been going by whatever question I have each day to guide my grammar studies. It been much better than just reading things straight through. That's painful and boring.
I've been doing well in increasing my vocabulary. I've been learning around 35ish words per day. When I average the approximate number of words I know at this point over the 135 days I've been learning it averages out to be about 20 words learned per day since I first started. It's exciting to see my reading comprehension increase as well. The Anki deck I'm using doesn't baby me too much so I've made a lot of progress knowing the various readings associated with each kanji as I add to my vocabulary without having to rely on furigana too much. It's a great feeling when I know the correct reading for a kanji. This goes for newer words I'm learning as well as also getting better at recognizing the correct kanji/readings for words I've learned previously. I'm really trying hard.
I really do love the Japanese writing system. I loved it as a kid, and love it still. I hope to find the best way to learn to actually write the characters by hand at some point, but I'm not going to get too worked up over it. I've been writing in hiragana a lot the last couple weeks and it would be so much better if I could write the kanji without having to look up the proper order each time on every character. I know a lot of people don't need to or want to learn how to write the characters, but it just goes to show that we all have different interests and needs when learning a new language. I know of some people that have never even learned the kana and just focusing on spoken word only. I like to take notes - it helps me remember what I learn. It's kind of annoying me to have to write everything in hiragana for speed's sake. I definitely have a desire to do it all even though it will take a lot of practice.
Well, that's all for this update! Can't wait to see where I'm at the next time I check in!
じゃまたね。
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