First off I hope that this post belongs here. It didn’t seem to fit in the pinned daily question thread, but I may be wrong.
So I’m at a point in my Japanese language studies where I feel like I should potentially be branching out, but I seem to hit an immediate wall everywhere I turn. This isn’t a “discouraged” post at all, but rather a question on how best to proceed and advice from anyone more learned than I.
I don’t feel like an *absolute* beginner anymore, but I’m still very much a beginner. I’m cruising on my vocab and general low-level grammar studies with a combination of Genki and Wanikani. The same as I have been doing for about 6 months. I’m almost lesson 11 on Wanikani and going to finish Genki 1 in about 2 weeks. About 1100 vocabulary words or so. Again, I understand that this isn’t anything above beginner level, however I feel like I should start branching into reading or speaking in order to better solidify the vocabulary and grammar that I’m learning, as I have somewhat of a tenuous grasp on a lot of the concepts I learn.
My issue is this: in reading graded readers for practice for instance, I find that level 0 is not much more than a vocabulary test, as I often don’t recognize words, but they are not difficult grammar wise. Once I try reading material that seems to test me on grammar, I can’t understand *most* of the words being said, so it’s not too helpful as I can’t understand enough of the context.
For anyone that has experienced this same issue, is it best to keep grinding vocabulary to build that base before moving onto reading? Is reading something that really should be jumped into head-first? I would like to avoid having a glaring weakness in my language studies if a year or so down the road, I realize I haven’t been developing in the way I should have been. I’m content with working the same as I have been, but I have a nagging feeling that I’m neglecting some areas that I’m not sure about. I understand that YMMV, but I feel like I’ve been making good progress and would hate to see it start to dwindle, or have such a weak spot that what I’m learning isn’t really applicable.
Any help/advice would be much appreciated!
1 comment
My personal advice is to just skip graded readers and try to find some natural Japanese material that you might be interested in. I have a [list](https://morg.systems/e50a5ae3) of stuff that personally **I** found useful/enjoyable as a beginner but obviously everyone is different. The hardest part of going from beginner to intermediate is what I call being able to deal with your own independence. There is a lot of trial and error and a lot of experimenting with different tools and material until you find what clicks for you. At this stage it might feel frustrating and not everything will work but try to not be discouraged, it’s totally normal. Some people might recommend X or Y because they worked for them, but if you don’t enjoy them, just find something else. Always keep moving and even through failures you will improve. You find something that is too hard? Set it aside **for now** and come back to it later. Eventually you’ll get better and better.
When I had first started I wanted to read a certain book (Spice and Wolf) and I remember getting my shit kicked in really hard when I tried because it was very very hard. I put it on my shelf for a few years as I went to read other (easier) stuff in the meantime. Eventually I decided to pick it up again and give it another go and while it was still very hard and I didn’t know most of the words I encountered, I still felt like it had become manageable and in the end I finished it (well, the first volume). It was a very satisfying moment for me and I’m glad I stuck to it as a longer term goal. I recommend trying to find something like that for yourself too.