I started studying about three years ago, but took a very extended break as I was doing an accelerated masters program.
I’ve used wanikani (I feel like THIS has been the absolute most helpful thing I’ve used), Pimsleur, drops, memrise, duo lingo… all the stuff.
So far Pimsleur is somewhat helpful though very stiff (yes I understand it’s targeted toward business people) but not much else outside of the wanikani and this . I feel like I’ve reached a plateau. Also, immersion and changing all the language settings etc … not helpful for me.
I also use books. Maybe controversial, but I kinda hate genki. I bought one and two and it feels very much a waste of time unless you’re a university student. Like what? The first 6 chapters are all what’s your major type of stuff. Not my only books, but …. I also paid for classes. I didn’t find those helpful, mostly reviewing but not much actual teaching.
Anyway, I have a Japanese boyfriend in Japan who’s learning English while I learn Japanese. I really want to us to both become fluent in the other’s language (and better at communicating with each other). Seems like I should be learning sooo fast, right? Not so much. We always use English since it’s a bit more important for him to learn quickly, so I don’t want to start asking for Japanese yet, but I still want to progress. I want to talk easily with Japanese people , but obviously mostly with him. Fairly certain he’s kansai dialect too.
I know a fair amount of vocabulary and about 700 kanji. Grammar sucks. Conjugation sucks. Have a lot of problems understanding actual speakers. Reading is …okay. I can read short stories and some easy manga and his texts in Japanese with only a little trouble as long as it’s not super advanced (cause grammar, particles, conjugation..)
What are some tips to improve quickly starting from where I am? Is watching dramas helpful? They speak so much more slowly and clearly from the natives on YouTube, so I can’t tell if it’s a wasted effort.
2 comments
Grammar (including particles and conjugations) can be targeted with textbooks or websites that are referenced on the starter’s guide. I don’t know how one can boost these skills without studying.
For listening, you could leverage podcasts or other sources that are at the N5 and N4 levels. Don’t bother with audio which you don’t understand at all but you can push the envelope a bit. Video is less efficient than pure audio IMHO (word density, distracting images, etc.)
If you already speak English with your boyfriend, changing to Japanese might be difficult, so don’t hold any resentment for that. You could find other people to do 50-50 language exchanges with. . .
I don’t think there’s a magic method to be fluent in no time, but from what I’ve seen, people reading a lot and using anki have by far the fastest progress. The most important thing to go faster is to spend more time. Don’t think you’ll be even somewhat fluent without at the very least 3000 hours.
Watching dramas can be really useful, especially if you do it instead of watching something else but in english.
I didn’t use genki but took a look at it. It uses school and formal settings but the grammar it teaches is universal so it can be a good source.
You can use a shorter guide like tae kim, but I think that when you’re past basics, you can just think of grammar like it’s vocabulary. Let’s say you know what やすい and にくい mean and see those words in the wild a few times, you should be able to use them too. You don’t need to have a textbook or an app to explain it in detail and spend a week on it.
Also you’re certainly past the point where gamified apps are doing more harm to you than good. Finish wanabikini if that’s not done and switch to anki.