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.
