Started it already 
I like the artwork in it and the colour pages at the start.
Not sure why but I wasn’t expecting it to start the way it does (kind of refreshing). I was expecting to see what happened to him and not just the aftermath, though I’m hoping somewhere along the way we will find out how it happened.
I don’t know much about it, just the short synopsis to know if it might be something I wanted to read (I’ll read the light novel later down the line).
2025/03/24:
This last week I’ve felt a bit unsettled again, though thinking that’s just going back to work after just starting to settle into a new routine while being on holiday from work, so things are a little up in the air again (not much new there though ).
I’ve felt a bit better doing my regular language exchanges and speaking freely conversation lessons since I started the daily sentences and listening more (only missed one day of sentences on Saturday due to not getting home until almost 11:30 after finishing work (usually work from home but issues with the systems sent me into the office).
Reading -
I’ve currently got 4 books in progress for reading (I’ve been trying not to have more than 2 to help prevent me feeling overwhelmed or burning out), 3 are Bingo reads, the other a book club read. I think it’s working out ok atm because one is more a listening practice with read along of about half a chapter a day, one is read only at work, one is a manga and the last one is a book club read so I’m limited on how much I have to actually read and it doesn’t feel like I’m forcing myself to study any of them.
I’ve continued to read through 坊っちゃん (junior bunko version) while at work and been retaining some of it, though most of the reading has been on breaks recently or first and last hour of the day since the calls coming through have been more frequent. Currently about to start chapter 3.
In addition to this, I’ve been reading また、同じ夢を見ていた alongside listening to the audio book so I have less look ups for readings of Kanji. Not sure if it’s just me or if there are actually discrepancies between the words spoken at certain points and the words written in the book. I think they should be the same version since the covers match, but I’ve noticed it a few times as I’ve been reading along. Currently about to start chapter 4 today.
The third book I’m reading is たったひとりのサバイバル・ゲーム! 太平洋を泳ぎぬけ!, part of the survival quest style books. I’m reading this alongside the WK book club. Quite liking it so far and there haven’t been a lot of words I’m having to look up which has been quite refreshing. I feel like my level is now solidly around 21/22 for children’s books through manga, teen novels and native novels all still seem to be more difficult for me at those levels.
I decided yesterday to switch out 竜のかわいい七つの子 manga for 光が死んだ夏 manga instead since it seems to be closer to my reading level with a lot less look ups for me. I’ll go back to 竜のかわいい七つの子 at a later date when I feel more confident with it.
Speaking -
Last week I managed to talk freely for most of the lesson and even used a few new words and grammar points I practiced from my Sunday language exchange as well as expand upon these. I think my biggest issue has been not regularly listening and not regularly outputting even if that was writing (I’ve only recently started writing more frequently again).
I’ve been shadowing words and phrases on and off while listening, and been trying to read out loud when I’m writing my daily sentences. So nothing concrete again yet but I am voicing things more frequently than I was before.
Listening -
For listening, I’ve been trying to listen more frequently, doing something most days. Not anime or shows, but instead listening to the audio book for また、同じ夢を見ていた while reading along, as well as the N5-N1 shadowing versions of 初めての日本語能力試験 series (free on audiobook.jp).
I’ve been using these as my listening only comprehensible input trying to get better at recognising the words and sentences quicker. These are also what I’ve been using for background noise while doing other things. I find them easier to listen to and focus on for short periods of active study rather than the podcasts where once I’ve lost the conversation, I tend to start blocking it out. These, if I lose where I am, it’s a fresh word and sentence pair to focus back in on.
I have also been putting an audio book on at night just before bed as a way to relax (Japanese version of course). More recently it’s been 吾輩は猫である. I’ve used it for relaxed listening a lot with no pressure to understand just letting it flow and seeing how much I could hear/ pick out. If I understand it, it’s a bonus.
I barely understood any of it when I first started listening to it a while back, picked it up thinking I could use it alongside the book not realising that they may be written using different word choices due to one being the junior bunko version. I was surprised the last few times when I’ve listened to it that I’ve actually picked out a lot more words and phrases that I can understand and reliably do so without having to puzzle it out. I also no longer have to slow it to keep up, though there are still sections I don’t fully understand, I wasn’t expecting to be able to understand it without actually having to break things down into simpler blocks.
Part of it may be that I’m able to recite parts word for word since I’ve listened to it that often but I’m wondering if it’s more than that and if so, can I use this kind of repetition to help me get better quicker with my listening and understanding as a whole. I don’t want to start using this audio book as a forced study method incase that restricts whatever is happening so I think I’ll continue with the relaxed listening of it and then try with a different book later in the year (possibly 本好き in advance of when I plan to read it), just repeated listening without any pressure and see where it leads.
Writing -
Alongside the notes from my language exchanges and lessons, I’ve been writing daily sentences. for this, I pick a topic, word set, phrases I’ve read but struggled with or a grammar point and start creating sentences. My minimum is 3 sentences (easy enough to do most days even when I’m not feeling up to it, so it ensures I still participate rather than leaving it). Most days I am writing at least 5-10 sentences, and rarely do they contain only a few words.
While using this, I have found I come up with Homework sentences quicker, I’ve been starting to find it easier to come up with more to say on the fly and express myself a little easier. That’s not to say it’s been a miracle cure for the issues I’ve been finding more as the gap between understanding and expressing has gotten wider, but it is certainly starting to bridge that gap.
My hope is that as time goes on, it will start to help more, leading to conversation coming easier and quicker than it has been.
I’ve joined the WK Study club for Quartet with a view to start this properly as of next week, doing one section of a chapter per week (eg, reading one week, listening the next etc.)
Reading -
Speaking/ Shadowing -
Listening -
Writing -
Textbook study -
My hope is that if I can keep this up and increase the effectiveness of my study time, then it should all help in the long run getting me to where I want to be, and hopefully quicker than I feel I have been progressing until recently again.
It’s so goodddd, I’m hanging on life by bare thread waiting for the next chapter (tomorrow). I can’t wait for the anime later this year but I’m a bit afraid what anime onlies will do with it 
2025/03/27: short update, how I’m feeling about my current books in progress.
Been continuing with また、おなじゆめをみていた read along, almost 2/3 of the way through and I understand so much more this time even though I’m mostly listening and skimming pages (originally tried to read it with the book club but ended up dropping it with a few weeks due to there being too many look ups and very little comprehension on my part). I’m not fully understanding everything but definitely catching a lot more this time around.
坊っちゃん is kind of growing on me though I haven’t read a lot this week since work has been quite busy and is likely to get busier over the next few months so I may have to switch to the vocab books for between calls and then just read on breaks or at home. This one will definitely get a second read through at some point as I’m not entirely sure I’m following everything.
Quite enjoying 光が死んだ夏 (manga) so far and I definitely want to read the rest. This is another series that will get at least a second read as since I’m not looking everything up I don’t know, I am missing out on a few things though getting the gist of what’s going on.
With the WK book club 太平洋をあよぎぬけ！, I really want to just breeze a path through it but also want to hold off and read it along with the book club (it’ll help me learn some patience while reading with a book club). I’ve got the others from the series that I can breeze through later once finishing this one.
The top 3 mentioned here are all part of my Bingo 25 list (since I switched out 竜のかわいい七つの子 for 光が死んだ夏) and I’m thinking my next reads will be Zoo 1 & 2 (Zoo 2 is another bingo read but I want to re-read Zoo 1 since it’ll be coming up for 2 years since I first attempted it and my hope is that I will understand more with less look ups 
).
2025/04/01:
This last week I have seen some improvements in reading, listening and also in my speed at writing. Not majorly significant levels, but enough for me to notice a difference. I’ve also felt more settled again and have been doing relatively decently considering the last so many months have been a struggle most of the time.
Reading -
I finished 光が死んだ夏 yesterday and added this into my bingo for “curious title”, I have a re-read of last weeks pages of 太平洋を泳ぎぬけ！as well as this weeks pages to do once the path is chosen. Decided that re-reading the previous weeks pages might help me to remember the story better since I’ve so far read all the pages in one day, and I’m reading multiple books at the moment.
坊っちゃん is coming along fine though there are pieces I’m missing out on understanding (it’s all extensive reading at the moment as I find intensive reading better with the textbook reading sections).
I’m using また、同じ夢を見ていたas both reading and Listening practice at the moment. Once this is done though, I’m considering doing the same with 本を守るとする猫の話す though the second of the series doesn’t yet have an audio book on UK Audible so that will be a read through, and Zoo 1 & 2 don’t have audio books so those will also be read throughs (want to complete Zoo 1 again before attempting to read Zoo 2 for the bingo)
Listening -
I’m only a few audio chapters away from finishing また、同じ夢を見ていた with my audio book read along sessions. I feel these have been helping my listening quite a bit though there are sections where I’m unsure if I’m mishearing or if they are using alternative words as I’m positive they don’t match fully.
I want to continue with using audio books for this kind of listening alongside anime (if I can find suitable ones) and will at some point go back to podcasts of such, though maybe on YouTube since I seem to need something to watch or my mind wanders.
Speaking -
I struggled a bit on my last language exchange but unsure if this is due to the lack of prep or lack of speaking over the last week. I want to find an alternative option where I can practice speaking without much prep and without having to set aside large blocks of time each week in advance but so far the only options I’ve come across are all paid lessons or paid for AI chat bots and I’m unsure how reliable that would be. I feel that I need more conversation practice and feedback but finding additional time for another language exchange which suits us both, or finding additional funds to pay for more lessons, is a challenge at the moment.
Writing -
Recently I have been writing more sentences and completing them almost every day (6/7 days is decent considering I was writing less than half of that previously). I’ve been alternating randomly between vocabulary sentences, grammar sentences and practicing particles, especially は and が, which I will be revisiting next week.
Textbook study -
Still not back on Quartet yet but I have been slowly working my way through my 初級日本語文法総まとめポイント２０ grammar textbook. The first 2 chapters were for particles, with an entire chapter just for は and が. It’s been nice doing a page or so at a time. Each page has the grammar explained then several questions, usually fill in the blank but there have been paragraphs as well with 10-15 blanks that need filled in. It’s been helping me to figure out correct usage since particles are something that I struggle with, but I’m starting to get the hang of.
Hoping to get back to Quartet as of next week since next week I have more time for study.
I’ve changed the plan slightly as I’ll be working through both textbooks from next week and be cutting down my reading to 3 books as well.
Reading -
Listening -
Speaking -
Writing -
Textbook Study -
I’ll continue tweaking my routine and materials as time goes on and I find what works best.
2025/04/02: Slight update
I found a tracker online (Toggl) that can auto track my use of apps on my phone or tablet using iOS shortcuts and mark them specifically for what I use them for with regards to language learning (it has a website version or app version but unsure if the website can be set to automate things or not). So I’ve set it up to track my Tsurakame (Wanikani), dictionary apps, Netflix, audio book apps etc that I use only for Japanese and I can also use the manual timer if I set it for what I’m doing if it’s textbook study etc.(also has a built in pomodoro timer if that’s your jam).
I had been trying to find one that was simple and quick to use but would automate some processes so I didn’t need to keep remembering to activate it (textbook study has more prep so it’s easier to remember to set it up for that than it is to remember it for audiobooks, Netflix and my Wanikani /dictionary apps that I can be using several times a day).
It took a little to set it up to automate things but I’ve been using it for the last few days and found it’s been pretty good for me so far and I like the fact different activities have different colours so I can see at a glance what the majority of my time is spent on (there’s even a breakdown of time spent for each activity too) and it seems to be accurate so far.
2025/04/07:
Been seeing more of an improvement when listening, both audio books while reading along (though I faltered a bit with 本を守ろうとする猫の話, possibly due to tiredness), and also with rewatching older content I’ve seen before.
Reading -
Enjoying 太平洋を泳ぎぬけ with the WK bookclub, though I do want to just read ahead I could read their previous books alongside but having 11 books on the go currently, I kind of want to reduce that as much as possibly and I doubt I would get one finished in the space of a few days so I’ll hold off for a bit on that option.
I did finish また、同じ夢を見ていた read along with the audiobook and the mentions of 本好き are making me want to pick that up but I also want to keep that for my final read this year so that I can then focus just on that as my reading/ audio at the time. I think I will need both intensive and extensive reading sessions for that one.
Picked up ゆっくりおやすみ、樹の下で as my intensive reading book for the moment as it doesn’t take too long to read one short chapter. I’m using this both for grammar understanding and vocabulary, the Furigana certainly helps with look ups in my dictionary apps.
坊っちゃん is still my in the office read. One of my language exchange partners says he wants to re-read it at some point and then once I’ve finished it, we can have a discussion about it to see if I’ve understood it properly. I have said I want to read through it a second time before hand as I’m using extensive reading atm and not looking anything up.
Listening -
Since beginning of April I’ve managed over 11 hours of listening, most of which was reading along to audiobooks. I definitely understood また、同じ夢を見ていた a lot better this time through than I did the last time I tried to read it back with the bookclub (natural speed, not slowed this time either). I will read through it again, though probably next year once I’ve more books under my belt. I didn’t look up anything this time, just used the book to help my understanding while listening (recognising the Kanji for a word so understanding roughly what it meant, or understanding the grammar in writing even if I didn’t quite catch the audio for it). There were parts where the words in the book were different from the words spoken on the audio but most of the time it was only a slight word change or a word added here and there that didn’t seem to change the meaning of anything from what I could tell.
I read along to レンタルロボット, a previously recommended audiobook at a lower level that I have listened to raw before but this time also understood a lot more due to reading along. Over the last few weeks, I also watched, Over the moon, Suzume, Spirited away and Mewtwo strikes back, all of which I’ve seen before (only Pokémon previously in English) but did understand quite a bit more than previous times, so something is working. Maybe just need to add more passive listening back in on down time again.
I think my biggest issue listening is that I don’t do enough of it. I can reliably transcribe in Hiragana most of what I hear both in lessons/ language exchanges as well as audio without music, even if I can’t understand the meaning of what was actually said. Frustrating at times but at least I’m moving in the right direction.
Speaking -
Continued with my language exchanges (have another one tomorrow) and tutor lessons. I’ve also been reading aloud when reading alone and for the Textbook answers before I write them.
This seems to be the slowest skill for me to level up though I think that’s still due to the fact it’s the one I do least often, especially now I’m writing something most days.
I haven’t picked up shadowing again properly due to needing a converter for my new phone to use the microphone again for the set up I had previously so hoping that turns up soon.
Writing -
I’ve kept up writing something each week, though I have figured out that writing out the corrected answers to the textbook questions isn’t helping as much as I thought it would. I need to find something that helps more with those.
As for the 3 sentences a day, I need to pull this up and start creating more sentences either using grammar or vocab from my lessons/ language exchanges as those are highlighting what I want to be able to say but can’t. Writing random sentences isn’t helping much, and I’m quite sure all of the sentences so far have gone right out of my head shortly after writing them.
Textbooks -
I made a small start on Quartet again last night by listening to the audio for the 1st reading section again. I’ll listen to it again later along side the second one, then read them both later and finish of the questions section if I haven’t already. Next week will be tough as it’s a busy few days even when I’m not working so most of that will be spent doing reading, with everything else taking a bask seat again.
The grammar textbook I mentioned last week has been helping and is more indepth than I was expecting. I can see where I need more work so once I’ve finished it I will be going back through each section and reinforcing what I need to before I look at the next one. I like the fact each chapter only has a few pages and each section has explanations for individual grammar, example sentences, exercises and at the start of each section is a starter test so you can see what your knowledge is like before hand. That sort of questioning does seem to help me to understand better, and see where the gaps in my knowledge are so I quite like the way these are set out. My understanding is that it covers N5-lower N3 grammar.
And, in the spirit of always needing to go back to strengthen my foundations, I decided to actually read through Dictionary of basic Japanese Grammar. For this, I’m also using intensive reading on the sentence examples trying to break down and analyse them to hopefully help me better understand what I’m reading in other formats. I have used it for look ups, but not just for a read through. I’m quite sure I’ll get bored of it at some stage and go back to just looking things up 
Added extra - I’ve been tracking my time spent actually studying, whether reading, listening, speaking, textbook study or priming with Kanji flashcards and dictionary look ups.
Tracking from the last week (31/03-06/04):
Reading -
Listening -
Speaking -
Writing -
Textbook study -
I’ll continue to track my study time best I can, though I’m not tracking time while at work unless it’s automated (WK or dictionary look ups in specific apps).
2025/04/30:
Didn’t realize it had been over 3 weeks since I last posted. Taking on the textbooks, the April listening challenge, trying to read through several books and deal with everything going on in my personal life atm (work threatening centre closures and a close family member being diagnosed with cancer) was not a good mix and I think it’s leading me back to burnout.
I have managed a small amount of reading in Japanese per day over the last few weeks but almost none of it has been from the textbooks, book clubs or bingo reads which has come to a standstill.
As a way of coping I have recently switched to less intensive writing in English and drawing old style maps, alongside some daily WK reviews to try to keep that side more fresh.
I’m hoping over the next few weeks to add reading back in properly though that’s becoming difficult even at work since things are becoming busy again, and then slowly pick things back up with the textbooks and listening.
I’m missing my studying/ Japanese reading as I had been doing but don’t want to push myself further into burnout while in the early stages of it.
Oh man that sucks, hope your personal situation soothes down 
Recently I also kinda feel study-burn out so if you have tips how to cope with that I’d appreciate it - the thing is I know I could just step down a little but then it’s kinda like fear that I’m falling off completely/not progressing enough…
Thanks. I was kind of just coming out of burn out when this all kicked off so it’s been a bit of a ride tbf.
For me, I usually switch to easier stuff so keep my knowledge fresh (so listening to music in Japanese or re-watching stuff I enjoy but already know by heart which is usually certain kids films or Studio Ghibli stuff or reading easier books).
I pull back on the studying though I still try to do a little of something each day even if it’s just a few reviews or reading something that’s really short and easy without any look ups. Or play a game with English subs and Japanese voices just listening without the pressure to understand. Or I practice writing Kanji since that’s one of the things I can enjoy without the pressure to learn concepts. I don’t know how much that helps my learning but it does help me move away from the burn out.
In between I tend to find something of my other hobbies to do that takes pressure off so I’ve been writing in English and drawing maps on the iPad. Or I go out for a walk somewhere quiet and just let myself be if that makes sense.
I have continued with my language exchanges though they aren’t too taxing (mostly just everyday general stuff, no in-depth conversations) and my lessons have been on hold while my tutor was off for Golden week and there was system issues so haven’t had that to contend with.
It’s the getting back into proper studying once I’m done that’s the biggest problem. Last year it took me months to get out of burn out though I had a late diagnosis of Autism to also come to terms with as well as estrangement from certain family members alongside a massive loss of routine when I was unable to cope with work as well as everything else at the time.
Not sure how much help any of that might be but I can look after work to see what else I did that helped (I kept a diary of stuff to use if it happened again but haven’t actually re-read it 
).
2025/05/14:
Just a short update;
Although I’ve not done any proper study over the last several weeks, I’ve continued to try to do my Kanji/ vocab reviews on WK as a way to still be reading something yet since I’ve been finding it more and more difficult recently to focus on reading books and articles or proper textbook study, I’ve decided to try a new tactic.
I’ll continue with my WK reviews, but along side this I’ve decided to try focusing on just listening with short comprehensible videos from native speakers.
Over the last few days, I’ve created a Japanese only YouTube channel, picked a few YouTubers to follow with short videos aimed at language learners and I’ve been watching a couple of videos here and there. So far it’s all N5/N4 stuff but the videos are short and being able to understand what’s going on is helping to re-motivate me.
My main take away isn’t to study at this point, just to see what I can understand and while I work through these, if I feel like reading, I will but if not, I’m taking the pressure off as much as I can in an attempt to see how far this can take me. It’s not really what I want to do, but I know if I dive back in to the textbooks or trying to read what I have been, I’ll just pull myself further into burnout and that’s not going to help. So I’ll focus on just trying to enjoy listening and build up from there.
Will be edited over the next while with times:
Working through JLPT-N5 Level Playlist from Simple Japanese listening with Meg.
13/05/2025 - first 14 videos (59m)
15/05/2025 - next 8 videos (watched episode 17 twice - 1h 4m)
17/05/2025 - next 21 videos (very short, a minute or so each - 24m)
18/05/2025 - last 12 videos (very short, a minute or so each - 15m)
2025/05/18:
TL:DR - No contact from tutor so looking into getting a new one and focusing purely on listening for the time being while I try to pull myself out of burn out.
Still had no contact from my tutor so looking into starting with a new tutor and shifting my subscription across though it will take me a little bit to find another one that works I think. I’ve continued with my language exchanges though starting to struggle with only having 30-45 minutes of speaking per week from those alone.
Proper studying is a struggle still, though I have managed to read a little at work on breaks yet even then, most of what I’m reading is going over my head so I think I need to find something closer to my level or even try re-reading one of the earlier books I have and take it from there.
The last almost a week, I have been purely focusing on comprehensible input videos and I want to see if this has a bigger impact on what I’m understanding/ able to output better with. I have noticed previously when I was listening to the beginner short stories way back at the beginning that it did help for a few things (especially certain particles with certain words) and there are phrases that I’ve picked up from some of the music I’ve been listening to so maybe it will have a bigger impact on me than I realise. It’s just difficult to devote a lot of time to pure listening since I need to focus on it for it to have the best impact and I’m finding it easy to burn out quick on anything at the moment.
To try to combat that, the short comprehensible input videos I’ve been listening to recently have been split across the day or into smaller chunks whenever possible so that I’m not burning out on it too quickly or switching off too early. I want to get back into listening to the audio books but even the easier ones at the moment seem to be too much at once, and I hate stopping part way through a chapter for audio files. I do have plenty of short stories for beginners and intermediates as well as some short chapter books for learners that are 3-12m long per story or chapter so I might need to switch to those to begin with then look at progressing from there.
I’ve also continued with daily reviews on WK just using it as simple reading exercises for the words I am currently reviewing though I’ve not added any new reviews recently. I also wanted to try using audio sentences through anki and focus on the listening rather than the reading again to see if that might help though I’ve done one session on that and think I might need to try just a few each day if I want to add it in regularly.
I want to study but at the same time, I know if I batter in like i did before, it’s not going to end well and it’ll just set me back in the long run so slow and steady does it. I’m not setting any specific goals at the moment, just trying to keep some sort of momentum with trying to do a little of something each day even if that’s just my reviews. On days when I’m not at work and have more time I’m spreading things out more across the day in smaller chunks and any of the videos where I’m not inherently understanding the full thing either from context or prior knowledge, I’m instead adding them to a rewatch playlist which I’ll watch again at the end of each week removing the videos as I understand them fully. Hoping the review of the familiar story with the knowledge after looking things up will help me to better retain the language as I go but it’s purely experimental at the moment til I see what clicks.
My original goal of reading daily has gone out the window so I’ll pick that one back up next year and I hope to still get at least some more of my Bingo reads done though I don’t think I’m going to understand the higher level ones as much as I would like in the time I have left for this year unless the listening helps me a lot more than expected.
This part below will be edited until I next post:
JLPT N5 playlist is completed - 2h 42m
Currently working on JLPT N4 playlist from Simple Japanese listening with Meg.
18/05/2025 - watched the first 5 videos (watched the first video three times and the others twice - 36m)
19/05/2025 - re watched 9 videos from the N5/N4 playlists (25m)
21/05/2025 - re-watched 9 videos from the N5/N4 playlist (25m)
22/05/2025 - re-watched 9 videos from the N5/N4 playlist (25m)
24/05/2025 - re-watched 9 videos from the N5/N4 playlist (25m)
(kinda got stuck re-watching the videos I was missing vocabulary from )
2025/05/26:
TL:DR - New tutor, some progress with listening and wanting to get back to writing and Kanji practice
So, my previous tutor got back to me last week after posting my update. She had been unwell (didn’t go into specifics but I’m hoping she’s ok and on the mend) and is (for the moment) unable to return to the platform so I would have needed to get a new tutor if I hadn’t been already looking for one. I start with a new Tutor tomorrow (so might put a short update then under the editing sections I’ll put below to track my listening times).
The new tutor uses Genki and I’ve advised going back to basics to see how much I do actually know as well as getting a better feel for what I need to work on. I have completed it previously and I’ve been reviewing the content of the first half of Genki 1 to see if there is any vocab or such that I’m unfamiliar with. So far only a few uncommon alternative words and some college/ Uni based ones which is to be expected since I rarely venture into that territory. All the grammar is covered but at least I know the rough content we’ll be discussing for this first lesson.
Reviewing has also been good practice for writing kanji and for particle usage since I stopped writing about the same time everything ground to a halt within the last few months. I’ll need to see if the new tutor will be giving home work but I should have a few lessons with them over the next few weeks with what remained from my previous subscription and then see if it’s worth the additional money since this one is more expensive.
- Speaking -
Continued with my language exchanges and managed to remember some words on repairs and car parts that I haven’t used in a few months since I learned them back in February. Other than that, I haven’t been doing much speaking recently. Hoping to get back to this properly once I’m back into a better routine again.
- Writing -
I’ve figured out that I much prefer handwriting in Japanese than using a keyboard though I have access to Japanese both on mobile/ tablet as well as the laptop (Laptop is where most of my typing has been recently). I know it’s slower, but there’s just something that’s more “me” when I’m writing by hand. So I’ll continue to take notes and write during review sessions by hand instead of keyboard whenever possible. I would like to get back into hand writing the Kanji for practice too as that was helping me before to keep track of differences between similar Kanji. I used to write calligraphy in English and I wonder if that and a background of art/ creative endeavours has kind of wired me up to prefer the feel of writing by hand. 
- Reading -
The last week has been mostly focused on re-reading through the Japanese content in Genki while skimming the English parts for anything I might be unsure of (nothing much except the uncommon alternatives and a few translations of the College/ Uni words).
I have read a little more of 坊っちゃん though not actually getting much out of it. I will continue working through it until it’s done though, so I can tick it off the list but it will definitely be one I return to later once I feel more confident again. I do think I will struggle to get through the rest of my original bingo picks so may check if I can fill them with manga or some of the easier books I have but it’ll be secondary to getting myself back into a decent reading head space.
- Listening -
Listening has been my focus more over the last few weeks with me managing to do some most days. I’m not putting a goal in for listening, just slowly working my way through the playlists I have bookmarked on YouTube. Though today, while walking to and from the car garage, I did listen to the first 2h 42m of 本好き book 1 (part 1) again. Was quite surprised at how much I was picking up though there is still a lot of detail I was missing, there were parts I was recognising the words (even when they were new ones I had only recently come across in WK). One word in particular just threw me for six and since there was an entire section of a chapter that relied on knowing that word, it was like looking at one of those old super catchphrase pictures and trying to work it out while squares are still locked and hidden.
I managed to finish my re-watch playlist and know the words by hearing them now from the ones I was struggling with previously. I’ll come back to these at a later date to see if I have managed to keep a hold of the info while I work my way through the rest of the N4 playlist I’ve been working on. The comprehensible input method is helping me to stay motivated and although it’s words that I know, because it’s listening, it’s still helping train my ear. There are occasional words I don’t know but have figured out from context and a few I have had to actually look up but I do feel this is an easier rout for me to work through than trying to brute force my way through more complex content.
- Gaming -
On a side note, I’ve received a few new games recently that have Japanese text options (PS5 - Fantasy Life i: The girl who stole time. Switch - Tales of Symphonia remastered and Echoes of Plum Grove - unsure if this is translated by machine though), and seem easier to read, one of which has furigana (Fantasy Life i). I’m using them purely for fun and not for studying at this stage, though I do still have 13 Sentinels to play through once I get myself back into a better head space.
- Audio sentence flashcards -
I’m experimenting at the moment with this but haven’t been especially consistent so will need to pull this into my daily/ almost daily routine for several weeks before deciding if it is a suitable method for both listening as well as for practicing.
Section left to be edited for listening times
Running total since started tracking:
JLPT N5 playlist completed - 2h 42m
JLPT N4 playlist and rewatch playlist - 2h 16m
26/05/2025 - 本好き audio book - 2h 42m
27/05/2025 - Next 5 videos in N4 Playlist - 24m (especially liked the one about the limestone cavern)
29/05/2025 - watched the next 9 videos of the N4 playlist - 41m
30/05/2025 - watched the last 4 videos from the N4 playlist - 29m
31/05/2025 - watched one video each from two new playlists - 20m (didn’t like the way the video was played out on the first playlist so switching to the one from Comprehensible Japanese).
That’s pretty cool - and eventually you’ll probably be able to write quickly. There is something nice about writing by hand, even if it’s a lot of effort
What a great way to put it
Sorry, I meant to reply yesterday but didn’t get a chance to.
My hope is that if I can write more, it should help me to embed stroke order etc into my memory. I feel like it helps me to remember things better if I’m forced to actually write it rather than just type. Maybe it’s just because it means I focus more on what I’m doing.
That and I would love to actually learn to write Japanese calligraphy further down the line.
2025/05/27: Short update
Thoughts on New Tutor; first lesson:
We mostly went through basics, checking my pronunciation, correcting me when I stumbled, and focusing on the dialogue from Genki while switching roles for the conversations before we progressed onto him asking me questions and getting me to use the info on the screen to form sentences in answer though I did trip up at a few points. Partly nerves and partly not recognising the words (Place names that I know of but have only ever read in English or never had to translate to Japanese).
I feel like I had more opportunities to speak and he was testing my reading ability as well though currently it’s all furigana’d Kanji or just Hiragana (his grammar sheet had romaji on it instead but we switched to the textbook relatively quickly).
He explained the next few lessons we would continue reviewing Genki, picking up on where I’m struggling and what we need to work more on. He spoke mostly in English for the explanations and when directing me to do things which I don’t mind for now.
I know it’s all review stuff at the moment but that was my choice to make sure I can fix the holes in my foundation then I shouldn’t struggle so much for what builds on that.
I’m considering keeping a separate journal for Lesson stuff and seeing if that helps me to work better on my own learning since I currently feel a little lost again having to learn how the new tutor works and with having such a break from regular study routine. I’m not entirely sure what I would put in it, maybe words I’ve struggled with, new grammar explanations or such. Kinda feeling like I need to look at every aspect of my study (including how I learn) and my progress till now then re-jig everything til I’m happy with it but I’m not sure how to do that effectively without scrapping everything and starting from scratch.
For now, I’ll continue focusing on my listening with the comprehensible input, working through WK while attempting to add in Anki audio sentences alongside the lessons, reviewing Genki and see how I get on. I’ve not given up on reading, just not focusing on it at the moment until I get back into a better routine before adding it back in regularly. I’ve still been reading occasionally though may go back to the graded readers and Read Real Japanese books for a bit to try to make it easier to transition back to full native materials.
2025/06/01:
I feel like I’m getting back into some sort of regular study recently.
Textbook -
Been re-working through the Genki 1 textbook and work book both as a refresher for what my new Tutor will be covering as well as using it for writing and translation practice since I seem to have lost the ability to write a lot of the Kanji I knew previously (can still recognise them but couldn’t write them out from memory without prompts). Between last week and this, I’ve managed to complete about 75% of it between Friday-Sunday last week and Friday-Saturday this week. Will hopefully finish it again between today and tomorrow.
I’ve picked up on a few of the vocabulary/ Grammar points I’ve been struggling with so kept a note of these and I’m working through those as well. My hope is that between this and the refresher lessons with my Tutor, I will pull my foundation in Japanese up across the skills that have been flagging so I have a stronger base to work from and build upon.
Writing -
Been re-practicing writing Kanji and sentences as well as building longer sentences - handwriting again since I prefer it. It seems to be calming and more meditative than typing on a laptop or mobile device. Even trying to use the pencil on a mobile device doesn’t feel the same so I’m back to paper notebooks and pencils.
Reading -
Most of this recently has been from the text book or the small amount I’ve read of 坊っちゃん recently. I’m just over half way through it at this point but my focus hasn’t been on reading recently. I missed out on 黒猫 starting so I’m considering trying to read this though I think it will be way above what is comfortable for me at this time. Kinda on the fence for if I should try it and see how I get on or not so will see how I feel over the next few days.
Speaking -
I felt my speaking was ok last week in my lesson once I got the tech issues sorted, next lesson will be on Tuesday this week. I did realise it feels more natural for me to use certain forms of grammar in Japanese when speaking (more formal than casual forms, especially for negative forms) and it seemed more natural for me to use certain responses as I think back on last weeks lesson. Unsure if that’s just lack of practice with other forms or if it’s just because I try to keep my speech more polite with anyone who isn’t a close friend.
Listening -
This has been my focus recently and I managed for complete just over 9 and a half hours of focused active input from comprehensible input videos and the first part of 本好き over the last few weeks since I started re-tracking my listening. I’m not going to set goals for this since at the moment that seems like too much pressure, but I will continue to track this over the next while and see how I get on.
One thing I haven’t taken into account is the audio flashcards I’ve been listening to over the last several days as a way to try to boost my listening speed and understanding. I’ve been doing these through Anki in addition to my WK flashcards so we’ll see how that goes as I continue.
Monthly stats
Total listening for May - 9h 34m
Section below will be kept for updating regular active listening sessions, I’m not tracking passive listening at this time:
02/06/2025 - rewatched the full Simple Japanese Listening with Meg N4 playlist in 2 sessions - 1h 59m
04/06/2025 - started Simple Japanese listening with Meg N3 playlist - watched video 1 to 8 in the morning and videos 9-17 in the evening - 43m + 42m
05/06/2025 - last 6 videos for Simple Japanese listening with Meg N3 play list - 51m
06/06/2025 - New playlist started - Comprehensible Japanese complete beginner playlist - N5/N4 stuff again but I’m also trying to shadow it as well going forward. First 6 videos - 50m
2025/06/09:
Textbook -
This week has not gone to plan so I’ve spent very little time focussed on anything other than listening practice. Meaning I still need to re-finish Genki 1.
Writing -
I have spent some time writing down sentences, and some vocabulary from my lesson and language exchange as well writing out words from trying to read the first few pages of 黒猫ニャンゴの冒険, more on that shortly.
Speaking -
I have attempted some speaking outwith lessons and language exchange, shadowing words and phrases while listening as well as from the audio flash card sentences I was listening to using Anki.
Listening -
This has been my focus recently and I have been finding it easier to hear individual words correctly when listening, even though my vocabulary is still pretty weak.
This last week I’ve managed just over 5 hours of active listening alongside several hours of passive listening (untracked) and listening to Japanese music.
My hope is that I can continue to keep up the comprehensible input videos, interspersed withe the occasional film/ anime/ drama episode or audio book and see how I feel I’m improving.
Today I managed to re-watch 呪術廻戦 0 understanding more of the actual dialogue than I did the first time (there are no Japanese subs on Netflix so I don’t have anything to check my missing vocabulary against). Also watched an episode of House and tried to understand what I could (subs don’t match the spoken Japanese so that was fun ).
Flashcards -
I managed to create a deck on JPDB for 黒猫ニャンゴの冒険 but the lack of audio is frustrating (not sure why there is no audio for me as there should be) and although I could add audio using one of the plug ins on Anki, I can’t transfer the words across without manually inputting the details either into Excel then importing or just creating them from scratch (tried the ways suggested exporting the review file from JPDB but it doesn’t work for me at all when trying to import to Anki). So I’m struggling to actually make it work for me. Still trying to puzzle out how to fix it so I can start reading 黒猫ニャンゴの冒険 as I really want to read it but know trying to struggle through it atm will just pull me back into burn out.
Listening so far:
May - 9h 34m
01/06-08/06 - 5h 5m
This week:
09/06 - watched 呪術廻戦 0 - 1h 35m, House (pilot episode) - 44m. Total - 2h 19m
10/06 - watched Comprehensible input videos from Comprehensible Japanese complete beginners play list - videos 7-10 (10 was a lets play video) - 53m
11/06 - watched another 2 Comprehensible input videos from the above playlist - videos 11-12. Another game play through describing locations and what things are, then one about crisps. (How come Japan gets pizza flavoured crisps? They looked tasty 
) - 25m
12/06 - watched another 7 Comprehensible input videos from the above playlist - videos 13-19 - 49m
13/06 - Watched another 4 videos from the Comprehensible input video playlist above - videos 20-23 - 31m
14/06 - watched another 5 videos from the same playlist as above - videos 24-28 - 34m
15/06 - listened to the prologue and first chapter of ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 again. - 30m
Textbook -
Re-completed chapter 9 of Genki for writing practice and speaking out the answers. Also good conjugation practice now I understand it better. Hoping to get the last few chapters finished between the Monday and Tuesday this week so I can then focus more of writing practice as well as working on the mistakes I made in my last lesson. As much as it’s not a textbook I enjoy, it is helpful just for practice though my tutor has the most up to date one and mine is still 2nd edition.
Writing -
Been writing a bit less than last week though I have been doodling Kanji and trying to transcribe words again as I’ve been listening so I can look them up afterwards.
Speaking -
Last weeks lesson I muddled through parts of as the tutor was trying to get me to speak faster and practice the words I was struggling with (namely long chains of numbers and the pause between はっぴゃく, ろっぴゃく etc).
Reading -
Managed to read more of 坊っちゃん though there are chunks I’m not understanding (currently not looking much up, just trying to understand what I can or I get bogged down with looking stuff up and lose whatever has stuck in my head - will definitely be a re-read at a later date).
I also picked ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 again for something that should be easier to read and knowing there were parts I was struggling with before. This time around, I’m understanding a lot more of the grammar and vocab without having to look much of it up, maybe 2-6 words per page for the first chapter, mostly onomatopoeia words or emotion words that I don’t yet know. Definitely an easier read this time around though my reading speed has dropped from what it was before but that will come back in due time. I tend to read slow even in English unless I’m totally engrossed in the story to the exclusion of all else and I’m not quite at that stage yet with Japanese due to having to look words up still.
Listening -
I’ve managed to continue with the listening. The comprehensible input videos have been good at keeping my attention and being able to understand about 98-98% of it each time. They are obviously on the easy end of the scale but I’m using them as a way to ease myself into listening more regularly while still ensuring I don’t feel discouraged on days that I’m not 100% as it’s still been fun listening to the short videos and picking up the occasional new vocab or refreshing my knowledge of vocab I’ve kind of forgotten but recognise.
I listened to the first chapter of ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 after finishing re-reading it today. I can pick up more than I did previously but I’m struggling to follow it all even though I know the chapter pretty well now (there are still vocab that I’m not 100% on so this may account for me struggling at points). Part of that might also be the fact that my attention was drifting at points.
I can understand what’s happening, just some details are missing. Not sure how to get around this except with more listening and learning the vocab I’m unsure of. Not sure if listening to it slower or listening then stopping to look up before re-listening to that part when I come across something I’m missing might help.
Flash cards -
I’ve tried to keep up with Anki for audio flash cards (sentences and individual vocabulary), JPDB for 黒猫ニャンゴの冒険 vocabulary (managed to get the audio to work on my PC though it doesn’t work on my phone) so I can hopefully try to start reading it over the next few weeks though I doubt I will catch up to the book club with how many pages I’m now behind, and also keeping up with my WK flashcards for kanji recognition and vocab. Probably overkill for all of that but I’ve been using the WK one for a while and it’s easy to do while at work. The other two have been part of my Listening study routine to try to vary things enough that I’m not getting stuck but also the focus is more on the listening rather than the reading part (though I am doing both). I’m also using my Anki and JPDB decks for shadowing practice to try to help with my speaking and pronunciation too.
At the moment we have been focusing more of my pronunciation, pitch accent and speed with speaking/ reading out loud from the text book or answering simple questions. The Tutor is testing me to see where my weaknesses are within the basics (I was struggling previously to use じゃないです since I’m used to using じゃありません or ではありません but now finding it easier).
We’re working through about a chapter - chapter and a half each week then reviewing my mistakes before continuing with the next sections. Numbers were an issue for me last week (not something I have to use often so didn’t realise how much of a struggle that was for me to speak them).
The start of each lesson has been small talk, asking about the weather, temperature and such. I feel like that is going to evolve as we continue and he’ll start using the first 5-10 minutes for free conversation then focusing on my pronunciation/ pitch accent and going through grammar studies and sentence building. He has advised we are powering through what we can from the text book and trying not to spend too much time on the things I can do easily (unless he is correcting my pronunciation or getting me to speak faster). I do feel that even in the last few weeks this has helped me more that I realised.
My plan is to add additional lessons in once my new shift/ job starts after training so I can then progress quicker, though I may need to hold off on this for a while since we’re still waiting on info for when training will start once we’ve been moved to the new department. If I can’t add additional lessons into my usual routine, then I will instead look to add additional lessons in on weeks when I’m off work on Holiday.
Listening so far
May - 9h 34m
01/06-15/06 - 11h 6m
Kept for tracking listening:
16/06 - another 14 videos from the Comprehensible input playlist. Videos 29-42 - 60m
17/06 - listened to Chapter 2 of ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 Chapter 2 (will listen to this again once I’ve re-read the chapter) - 24m, Videos 43-55 from the comprehensible input playlist - 45m - total 1h 9m
18/06 - watched the first video of the Comprehensible Japanese Beginners play list - it was a game play through and the vocab was a bit more complex than expected as he read out some of the Game text. A lot of plant and item vocab - 25m, then re-listened to chapter 2 of ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 - 24m, then chapter 3 - 22m - total - 1h 11m
19/06 - watched videos 2-7 of the Beginners Comprehensible Japanese play list - 1h 2m
21/06 - listened to Comprehensible Japanese beginner videos 8-24 - 5h 27m, chapter 4 of ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 book 1 -25m, total 5h 52m
22/06 - re-listened to videos 11+12 then listened to videos 25-27 of Comprehensible Japanese beginner playlist - 1h 2m
23/06 - listened to Comprehensible Japanese beginner play list videos 28-33 - 1h 2m
