I had a real passion when I started, I was about 16 and I started on my own entirely, but was able to join a class a few months into this (luckily my solo study paid off because there weren’t any full begginer classes!)
I studied w this group, which was amazing and I felt I was learning A LOT, for about a year and a half until COVID hit, then I moved away for university… And stopped studying
I’ve kept up the level I had, as much as I can tell, and built slightly on it through duolingo (ik it’s not good, but it feels like a way to ease myself back).
As of rn id say I have a N5 level, with probably better vocabulary than at that level but my grammar and kanji need to catch up.
How do I get back into it? I really want to progress, and I’m frustrated stopped studying when I did when I think about how much I could know by now.
Are there any courses, exercises etc online you’d recommend? I’d prefer something with structure as my main source of learning, although obviously id supplement with apps, media and independent learning (thankfully I’ve got a ton of resources for this part from when I went to classes)
Thank you all in advance! This subreddit has been one of the driving factors of getting my motivation back
2 comments
At N5-ish level, you’re still pretty much just starting out (not meant to be dismissive or insulting of the effort you’ve put in so far, of course, but just being realistic), so if you’re looking for structure, I suspect you couldn’t go wrong with Genki 1+2.
You can supplement this with [Tokini Andy’s videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/ToKiniAndy) on YouTube, which many self-studiers who use Genki say is a good substitute course for those who aren’t actually able to take an in-person Japanese class.
If you’re already comfortable with N5 grammar, then Genki 1 may cover some of the same ground, but if your grammar is kind of shaky, then I still think you could benefit from going through Genki 1 (if some of the content seems *v*ery familiar, then just skim through it as a review) before moving onto Genki 2 (which covers N4-level grammar, so it should probably be mostly new to you).
There are other apps like Bunpro, Renshuu, etc. that you can try as well if you feel like you need a grammar boost, but Genki should be pretty comprehensive and is structured well.
N5, you were barely on studying Japanese to begin with, but I have been there. Just retrospectively it’s not that bad to get back into the swing of things. Honestly this stage you can afford to just flop around and find what works for you and is a method you enjoy (which is probably a reason why you fell off to begin with aside from the reasons you believe it was).
I recommend writing down why you want to learn Japanese and maybe make a study plan that sounds reasonable. ala review your beginner text book that you used for class, and maybe make/find an Anki deck for the vocab to get you back where you were and just get in the habit of doing Anki plus reviewing your text book.
This advice is ultimately useless if you don’t follow through, and the hardest part of Japanese studying is making a habit of it every day.