So far I’ve completed both Genki 1 and 2 and I’m almost done with Quartet 1. I just don’t know where to go from there. I know there’s Quarter 2 which I thought to get, but it took me 4 years to go through all the books since I always end up studying on a very on/off basis. I’ll get motivated and study for a week or two, then either get lazy or get busy IRL ( usually both end up happening at same time ) and stop studying for some time.
Since I’m almost done with Quartet 1, I kinda don’t want to repeat the whole on/off cycle with the second book. But I definitely want to keep studying Japanese. My focus is more on reading and translating since I want to read manga and Light Novels and hopefully translate them. Frankly I don’t practice speaking at all.
I want to read more Japanese outside of books, but the main problem is there’s a lot of vocab/kanji I don’t recognize so I end up spending a lot of time just looking words up. Reading from the books is easier since it won’t use Kanji that the chapter didn’t talk about, so I get to focus more on meaning and grammar.
4 comments
I think you should get on a more regular practice routine
besides that, it’s probably time for you to pick up some books and start reading them.
Go to jpdb.io and look for books at around the 3 level. Then go to amazon.jp and buy those books. Then read.
> vocab/kanji I don’t recognize
Look things up a lot. Your vocab will grow.
Do you currently do any reading outside of textbooks? If not, start with graded readers. There are free ones and some for purchase. Try to make a habit of reading with these simpler, shorter texts. Start with something very easy, but then make sure to choose a text that is just a bit more difficult as you continue reading.
”I want to read more Japanese outside of books, but the main problem is there’s a lot of vocab/kanji I don’t recognize so I end up spending a lot of time just looking words up.”
If you want to learn how to read you need to go through the growing pains of learning how to read. There isn’t anything that is difficult to learn that isn’t a struggle to get through. This isn’t a problem but a necessary process. At first it will interrupt enjoyment but if you really enjoy what you’re reading it, then the growing pains won’t feel like work.
Try out Satori Reader. It’s a great app with reading content, and you can choose to turn on the furigana above the kanji and also select which amounts of kanji you’ve studied, etc. There’s the free version which gives you access to two chapters of each story, and then there’s the subscription.