So I’m about a month into learning Japanese… I taught myself how to speak Spanish… I actually can’t speak Spanish but because I lived there I learned how to communicate on the most basic, basic, basic level. I live in the USA so I’m trying to bring what I’ve learned with Spanish and use it to learn Japanese.
I do Duolingo on the bus or when I’m bored, and also a few other 5min a day lessions to get the basics in my head. I also try to write a few sentences a day before bed.
Questions: If I do Duolingo and other similar apps everyday with the lowest amount of effort how much do you think I’d learn over time eg… 1 year?
Second question I plan on using Genki 1 everyday but so far I’ve only skimmed through the first chapter… Should I write down and copy every japanese, kana, kanji, sentence, I read or is it like a work book???
Final question do you see any flaws in my learning method or obvious rookie mistakes? Eg. 10-15 min Duolingo, 10 minutes of other apps, writing every Japanese word and sentence I read in genki I ~ 20 minutes, watching one anime episode 25mins, before bed trying to write down a few sentences from memory or just copying down my favorite gana or phrases ~10 minutes…. So all together about 65 – 75 minutes daily.
****Also I still want to learn Spanish so I was thinking a squeezing a single day of the week where I don’t learn any Japanese and just switch all my apps to Spanish?****
Thank You!!!!
3 comments
All that is good to an extent but its not going to get you far. First you need to learn hiragana and katakana then from there you will need to use anki (anki is a flashcard app) every day to learn words and kanji. As you are learning words you must also study grammar. If you would like me to give you some videos to help learn hiragana and katakana just dm me, i can also give you a good anki deck to learn words and kanji
“Questions: If I do Duolingo and other similar apps everyday with the lowest amount of effort how much do you think I’d learn over time eg… 1 year?”
Minimum effort: nothing meaningful, prob be able to read hiragana, katakana, and parrot some basic sentences. There’s an incredible amount to learn.
I recommend getting a proper routine, and a tutor (I wish I got one sooner).
The time horizon for learning Japanese is dramatically longer than Spanish for English speakers, we’re talking 3-10 years, rather than 1.
I’d choose **Lingodeer** over Duolingo. I think they provide more as an overall package but the first key is to get the alphabet nailed.
JapanesePod101 have some great videos on learning these with mnemonics which I watched and self taught myself.
Aside from this I’d also check out **Skritter**, **Wanikani** and **LTL Flexi Classes**.
Good luck