Hi! I’m currently learning Japanese as my 5th language and I’m using the inmersion method instead of grammar books and boring exercises.
I first started with memorizing the most common 2000 words and the basic and intermediate grammar (without spending too much time on it, just using flashcards and texts for begginers). After that, I’ve continued learning 20 new words a day using SRS and adding on top of that 5 new kanjis a day. My kanji method is to use the “Kanji!” Ios app with an ipad and a pencil to do the lessons (writting and guessing practice) and then adding just the vocabulary words to my SRS app to keep reviewing those new kanji until I’m able to read those words consistently.
On top of this, after spending around 1 hour a day with memorising, i usually inmerse using japanese podcasts, streaming series and anime. The time amount spent per day is random, depends on how much time and energy i have left, but i usually do 2 hours on average.
I’ve decided to use this system because some years ago I learned English by just watching youtube and twitch after only knowing the basic grammar taught at spanish schools (if someone doesn’t know it, English at Spanish schools sucks). I don’t really know how the fluency came, but it did somehow, and I’m wondering if this is gonna work as well for japanese or other languages.
My main question is, at the beginning, is it worth spending hours watching or listening to content I’m able to understand 30% only and part of the rest guessing by context, or it’s more efficient to keep studing vocabulary and doing easier content, which by the way, I can’t find for begginer level (at least not interesting one).
I’ve also tryied testing myself and i passed the N5 last year after studying this way for 1 month and a half. Now I’m passing N4 exam on todai app easily and getting pass score on some N3 exams. Even with this level, I’ve found myself unable to understand japanese easy manga and novels, such as doraemon or また同じ夢を見ていた, and i wonder what should i do to be able to consistenly understand the sentences on these kind of books. Kanji is not a problem since furigana can be easily added.
I would be happy to know your experiences and opinions on Japanese learning. I’ve tried many resources, apps and methods and these seem to be the most effective for me (at least, vocab and kanji).
by paulososo