I have been studying Japanese for about 10 months now. I would say I am approaching N4 level in terms of grammar (I just need to learn some more Kanji and the necessary vocab) so I am hoping to take the N4 test in december (I know I could aim for N3 but I am playing it safe so that I know I definitely pass).
I know this progress is quite slow, I don’t want to make excuses but I have been in my final year at uni and I really wanted to prioritise that especially the past couple of months (and I think it has paid off). I have also suffered from depression recently which has stimied my motivation unfortunately.
But I have officially finished Uni now and am just awaiting results so desperately want to get back into studying Japanese.
I am planning to move out to Japan in about a year to teach English (my degree is in Education, so it feels like a good opportunity before i go into teaching here). So my goal is to get as good at Japanese as possible before moving there, and then hopefully reach fluency while I am there.
I feel as though my study times could be more well used though. Especially as I plan to work during this year (obviously) I want to ensure I maximise the efficacy of my study time. I currently study using Genki 2 for grammar (about a third of the way through), Understanding through Pictures 1000 Kanji for learning Kanji and then revision through custom sets on the kanji study app, occasionally use LingQ for reading (I am planning to subscribe to this when I have the money as I do find it very helpful), Anki for making vocab flashcards, and finally I listen to some Japanese podcasts (Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners and Japanese with Shun – I find this one very good) but nowhere near enough as I usually only listen when on buses/trains etc. I every now and then dabble with HelloTalk to improve my writing but I end up forgetting about the app for a few days so when I eventually reply to people I was talking to they end up never responding.
Other than doing obvious things like making sure I use HelloTalk every day, keeping on top of Anki, listening to my podcasts more, what are some specific changes that could be made to my study schedule. I’d appreciate suggestions that consider my current level of Japanese and ones that look at exactly what is wrong with my study schedule and what could be better. What are some manga or games I could read or anime I could watch that would be more or less comprehensible for my level for example?