Day 200 Progress Update

皆さんこんばんは。

Well, here I am on day 200! I've definitely learned a lot these past 200 days...and I'm also at a turning point. I've been in self-reflection mode a lot both because that's normal for me this time of year and also because of losing someone dear to me this past week very unexpectedly.

In the spirit of inner reflection, here are a few of the things I've been pondering concerning going forward in my Japanese learning.

I've been spending a lot of time learning vocabulary, which is a good thing, but can get a little out of hand. Focusing a lot on vocabulary is particularly popular for a lot of people including myself who like to quantify their learning into numbers. I've used different apps and books to aid in my learning, including using Anki. The deck on Anki that I've been using has helped me so much - I think one's experience with Anki and how effective it is largely depends on what deck you use. The one I've been using has been SO helpful. My reading comprehension and reading skills have improved so much. I am going to continue using Anki, but the thing I'm questioning is the pace of learning any new vocabulary for at least a little while. 

Because I love numbers like most everyone else seems to these days, my most high goal has been to learn the all magical number of vocabulary words in one year - 10,000. Right now I'm at about 4400-4500 words that I can read and recognize well. No I can't use them all in conversation, but there are a lot of English words I know well that I would never use in a conversation either. That however is different since I can speak and think in English just fine... ;)

Because I'm now 200 days into learning Japanese, it's becoming more and more obvious to me how much more practice I need in making my own sentences. I do pretty well for the stage I'm at in reading other's writing and my listening skills are coming along well too. As for making complete thoughts and being able to say or think more than a sentence here or there, I definitely feel behind from where I'd like to be. The past week or so I've spent less time doing new vocabulary and I've been spending more time writing and speaking sentences. Simple ones, but I need to just work hard and build up my abilities in that area.

I've been a little addicted to reaching that 10,000 word goal for this first year, and I've evaluated that goal here and there along the way so far, but I'm really thinking about it even harder now. I've also justified continuing towards that goal because my reading ability has improved so much from expanding my vocabulary. However, I think because I do have some health problems and due to that situation I only have a small amount of time that I'm well enough each day to have "hard-core" study time. That means I really need to use that feel-good time wisely. I've been focusing so much on vocabulary, and while I know that's good and has helped me be able to read and know so much more than if I hadn't been doing so much vocabulary thus far, I really am at a turning point. 

So right now the question I'm considering is this: Do I keep going forward as I have been, learning up to 35 new vocabulary words a day so I can attain that magical 10,000 words come September? OR Do I slack off a little on learning new words, failing to reach that obsessive compulsive 10,000 words, but in so doing I would likely spend more time doing other types of practice that I hope will help me more overall?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be learning less new words from here forward, letting go of that 10,000 words in one year goal I've had. It's a really good goal, and I know it has done wonders for a lot of other people. It makes me sad to think about changing course a little and not being able to put a figurative checkmark at the end of my first year knowing that many words. But I can see that if what I really want is to be able to speak and think in Japanese and not just read and listen, I need to pull back just a little on being number obsessed and build up my core skills a little better. I know that I need to do this away from being in an app. Apps get you in kind of a quiz mode all the time yet put you in a situation where you're unable to recall many of those words outside of the app. I need to break free of that problem a little better by changing my focus.

So that sums up where I'm at right now for the most part. Self reflection mode. I know that losing someone close to me this week has made me think that much harder about how I'm doing things (not just with Japanese learning). I don't know what the coming days are going to look like exactly with my learning, but what I do know is that I want to be able to speak and think in Japanese, not just know a bunch of words as I read or listen that I can't put into sentences myself. 

Thanks for reading! <3

じゃまた。