For the last year and a half, I have been updating a study log on the WaniKani forums. But I’ve realized I really want to talk about other languages other than Japanese. While I could expand my current study log to cover more languages, I think it makes more sense to talk about them here instead. If you’re interested in my Japanese learning journey, I’ll still be updating my original study log here:
In this log, I will share resources, authentic texts, and my experiences with language learning. My hopes are that this will motivate me to study these as much as I do with Japanese!! Aiming for ~1 update per week. I’m probably going to be primarily focusing on Mandarin rn because I’m suddenly super in the mood to learn it Especially since I just impulse bought a month subscription to HelloChinese… In the future it’ll likely shift to Irish or French
Foghlaimímis! Let’s learn!
Languages
language
since
current level
general goal
notes
French
2013
was B2, now A2?
conversational
quit in 2019, several failed attempts to get back into it
Japanese
2016
n3
fluency
very interested in Kansai dialect
Irish
2019
A2
fluency
primarily Munster dialect
Mandarin
2024
HSK1
basics, primarily listening-focused
technically tried learning years ago. trying again now that I’m more intermediate at Japanese. learning traditional characters
Definitely not learning all these at once; these are just all the languages I’ve seriously attempted to learn. Irish and Japanese have been the main ones.
Not sure if I’ll ever truly get back into French but I’ll at least try to read the books I own when Natively adds it. And finally Mandarin: a language I sort of tried learning years ago (2018? 2019?) and really struggled with even the basics. I just redownloaded the app I used back then (HelloChinese) and it’s so much easier now! So I’m going to see how much I can learn
Resources
does not include authentic texts
Resource
Type
french grammar book (will edit later to add title)
Absolutely going to listen to this!!! Thanks for the rec!
the only reason I haven’t added 星の王子さま to my collection is b/c I only get physical copies of this book and I have to carefully plan my CDJapan orders. And also my 積読 pile is big enough as is But someday…
The Little Prince never quite scratched the itch for me, but I do like using it as a standard language-learning book since it’s been translated into so many languages. Feels like a decent beginner stretch book: fantasy-lite, if you will, in that is has a much broader range of vocab than you might first expect. I own it in three different languages myself.
I learned a bit of it as a kid (just a few random words and some expressions) when my dad was trying to learn and from one of my grade school teachers. And they teach Irish at my local university so when I started college I got to start learning for real. I’m very lucky to live in an area of the states where there’s Irish classes, but outside of those it’s definitely hard to learn more…
We “learn” Irish for 13-14 years here and an awful lot of people come out the other end with the sum total of their knowledge being “An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas”, so I think even here a lot of people that actually functionally learn it do a lot themselves.
This looks familiar. We did a language trip to Ireland a looooooong time ago. Does this by any chance ask where the toilet is? I know we were taught to ask for the toilets and Sláinte. but I only really remember the latter…
Specifically it means “Do I have permission to go to the toilet?”. It’s a common thing here for schools, especially primary schools, to make their students ask permission to leave the classroom for the bathroom in Irish to encourage some usage.
Entirely possible that the person you were talking to misremembered it as a general “where is the bathroom?” question, especially if they were a long time past their school years
Been working through the beginning of HelloChinese again. Compared to when I tried learning 5 years ago (?!) this is a breeze! Even the noncognate* words I used to struggle with like 蘋果 (リンゴ/林檎), 菠蘿 (パイナップル) are really easy to remember now
*noncognate to Japanese that is
also smth interesting just now is that when I typed pingguo/苹果 the red apple emoji showed up, but when I switched to the Taiwan Mandarin keyboard so I could get traditional hanzi and typed pingguo 蘋果, the GREEN apple emoji showed up instead?! I wonder why? Tried a couple times switching between the two, it’s consistent
Ran through my anki deck for the first time since october looks like I still remember most of these words so I might as well say they’re burned. My deck is pretty small rn (especially compared to my old deck from ~5 years ago which had ~2000 cards), going to start adding more items soon
also changed up my card template ^_^
Functionality’s the same, but I made it a bit prettier and added a gif to the front side (character is from the rpg In Stars and Time which I’m currently obsessed with)
Speeding through HelloChinese. Did the Time, Hometown, and Taste lessons today. I think I’m about to where I stopped before so we’ll see if the difficulty increases a ton or not.
Apparently I’m already at an HSK-1 level. Grammar-wise maybe but I know only a handful of vocab…
I also rewatched this video I’d watched years ago, it’s very helpful for getting used to how tones interact with each other!
Just by coincidence I ran into my Irish prof at the cafe this morning, he was asking me what I was planning on ordering (in Irish) and I answered thinking he was just getting me to practice the language. But then he ended up ordering and paying for me! Go raibh maith agat, a m’ollaimh!!
Recently I’ve been learning a bunch of prepositional phrases. I’m trying to think of the literal meanings alongside the English translations, which in turn is making me remember them more
MANDARIN
Haven’t done any more HC lessons, just reviews. But I’ve downloaded the Spoonfed Chinese anki deck that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. I only did a few cards, I’ll probably start the deck for real in a few weeks.
ASL
Not currently learning ASL (but that’s a language I absolutely want to be fluent in someday), but I found an app called Lingvano. It’s created by Deaf instructors and seems to cover a TON, and it also has a dictionary included. It’s paid so I only got to see the very first section but it seems pretty solid. It also has BSL and ÖGS (Austrian Sign Language) for those who are interested in that
refresh my memory of the 11 irregular verbs because man is my memory of those rusty
MANDARIN:
Hello Chinese Lessons Completed
Hello
School
Food
Money
Family
Dates
Locations
Personal Information
Time
Hometown
Taste
Restaurants
Daily Schedule
Leisure
Appearance
switched from monthly to yearly sub of Hellochinese thanks to a sale. That’s as long as I’m going to use it; if I’m not done with this app by next February, I’m switching to something else
the main thing I like about HelloChinese is the speaking practice/feedback. The immersion lessons are good too… but those are behind yet another paywall and there’s no way I’m spending $150 on this app >_<
February plan:
reach the next shortcut checkpoint (complete Ordering Food lesson)
I’ll start slowing down after February, but I want to get these beginner lessons done with.
find decent beginner listening practice on youtube
Halfway through the month now, I’ve actually been studying Japanese more than anything else recently so not much to talk about. Except:
Based on how quickly I got to the HSK1 checkpoint I thought this was completely doable, but since I haven’t been studying Mandarin much in the last 2 weeks I’m going to adjust my goal and say I’d like to be done with 3/5 of the HSK2 lessons instead. And then in March I’ll finish up the section
Still mainly focusing on Japanese, trying to finish WaniKani asap so I can finally be done with it
Mandarin
I’ve lost all motivation with Mandarin tbh. This always happens with this language… I randomly get super interested in it, and then after a month I’m back to Japanese. I thought this time was different (which is why I spent money) but now I’m not so sure
But I think in March if I’m not too busy with FF7 Rebirth I’d like to work a bit more on Mandarin. But also, it’s probably the least highest priority skill I’m trying to work on rn, so no promises
Irish
I used to be a lot better at Irish… but I don’t feel like I’m improving anymore, and the stuff I did know a few years back don’t seem to want to come back to me. It’s like my mouth doesn’t want to move into the right shapes. And I still keep blanking on irregular past tense verbs in class >_< I’ve known these for years why have I forgotten them?!
But I’m trying to stay positive. Going to add a lot more listening practice to my routine and focus on pronouncing things. And figure out a better way of reviewing the irregular past tense verbs because re-re-rewriting them and reciting them in class hasn’t helped at all
Especially since I just impulse bought a month subscription to HelloChinese… In the future it’ll likely shift to Irish or French
but I’ll at least try to read the books I own when Natively adds it. And finally Mandarin: a language I sort of tried learning years ago (2018? 2019?) and really struggled with even the basics. I just redownloaded the app I used back then (HelloChinese) and it’s so much easier now! So I’m going to see how much I can learn 
But someday…
so when I started college I got to start learning for real. I’m very lucky to live in an area of the states where there’s Irish classes, but outside of those it’s definitely hard to learn more… 
showed up, but when I switched to the Taiwan Mandarin keyboard so I could get traditional hanzi and typed pingguo 蘋果, the GREEN apple emoji 
showed up instead?! 
I wonder why? Tried a couple times switching between the two, it’s consistent
JANUARY SUMMARY 