So I started learning Japanese in 2018. At my height I would say I was ~N4/N3, I never really had a goal with Japanese which made it hard to stay determined for longer periods of time.
I would like to work towards actually getting a JLPT certificate as that will help me stay motivated towards a goal.
My problem is that I’m not really sure where I’m at. Looking at Genki I seems too easy for me, but it’s hard for me to tell what things I actually know vs. “think” I know.
Does anyone have any tips on how to move forward?
3 comments
You looked at Genki I, so now look through the table of contents of Genki II
if it seems ok/easy, figure out your goal. N3 or N4?
If you want N3, get quartet or hire a tutor or use bunpro or something to get grammar
Get some N3 test prep books and work through them
Beef up your vocab with anki and reading books
I don’t know much about getting JLPT certificates, but I’m probably N3 on a good day. One thing I found helpful is going through novels with a resource like [jpdb.io](https://jpdb.io). It gives you flashcards in an SRS format and saves you the trouble of creating an Anki deck (which I tried for many years but could never stick with for some reason).
I really like novels and not a fan of anime or manga, so [jpdb.io](https://jpdb.io) has been great in getting me over that significant jump from basic textbook stuff to native novels.
try Bunpro – you can select your level – there are specific decks for vocab and grammar as well as decks based on popular publications. There are also graded readers and a huge community as well.
​
No Tests yet, you can also go as fast as you want unlike Wanikani – with this being said you can drown yourself very quickly adding too much too fast. Otherwise, I really enjoy it, as I find books pretty boring – I’ve been studying for roughly about a year and am writing N4 this July.
​
Keep in mind N3 has no furigana, so you should be able to read large texts of only Kanji to successfully pass this level.