Progress Report - 9/14/2016

I haven't actually done one of these since I began using this blog back in May (wow, it's been that long?), so I think now's a good time to start.

In May I'd say I was still at a very basic level of Japanese. I didn't know much beyond stringing nouns and adjectives together to try to form simple descriptive sentences. The most I could do in terms of "verbs" is use 好き or きらい to say I like or hate something. (I know those are not verbs in Japanese, they just translate as such in English.)

Now, I'm able to use verbs in past and present form, polite or casual. I also know the "desire" form, as well as the volitional. I can specify direct and indirect objects, the location, time, and means by which something is done, as well as who I may perform that action with. I also know about noun and adjective conjugation for positive/negative and present/past tense.

My current study tools:
-Tae Kim's guide
-Genki I
-Anki (kana deck)
-WaniKani

I need to continue on my grammar studies most of all, because that is critical for being able to read things like NHK Easy News and Satori Beta articles. I also need to vastly increase my vocabulary, because although WaniKani teaches ~6,000 words, not all of them are relevant, and that's still not nearly enough.

I would like to complete Genki I and have a thorough understanding of all its contents by the end of this year. That leaves me to do a chapter about every two weeks, which I think is perfectly reasonable, even with the workbook included. I'm feeling very confident in the material thus far, so hopefully that will continue. Then I can start Genki II in the new year, and continue to improve my grammar.

I recently bought a book called Japanese The Manga Way, which is very highly recommended for its concise but well-explained grammar points. Reviews state that it contains a great deal of info for casual Japanese conversations, which you're not going to find in standard textbooks, so I think it'll be a great Genki supplement. It'll help me learn to read manga earlier on, which will be encouraging.

Right now my two weakest areas are speaking and listening. They're the most difficult to improve without pure immersion in Japan, but there are two ways to overcome that: one, practice listening with the Genki CDs (which I do already) and JapanesePod101 (I have an account there but haven't used it), and two, use italki to do speaking practice with a teacher. This is the most difficult part due to my lacking vocabulary and shyness, but it's something I need to overcome.

Overall, I feel pretty good about where I currently stand. If I continue learning kanji and studying grammar while simultaneously expanding my vocabulary, then my understanding of the language will only grow. It will make learning how to speak and listen easier, and make practice a lot more fun in general. I'm excited to continue improving my skills.