13 comments

1. Is it bad to finish anki then do more new cards later in the day if time permits?

2. https://imgur.com/a/4tJSPa1

   I am bit uncertain with the word 意気込み in 明日の予定入れてるかで今日への意気込みが伺える. Does 今日への意気込み refer to his or her enthusiasm for today?

3. Should I wait until I finish quartet 1 to do JLPT n3 specific practice? Or do it in tandem? In general how should I prep for the JLPT? I’m halfway through quartet 1 with a tutor and want to take N3 this year in December. We started maybe 3 months ago so in another 3 months we’ll be done. idk if I should move on to quartet 2 at that point or try to solidify the grammar I learned in quartet 1.

   The idea of being over halfway through the textbook is creeping up on me and I’m really wondering about next steps. I’ve never taken/studied for the JLPT. I took a practice exam for n4 and got almost perfect on it around when I started quartet 1. But I’m finding the n3 level material in quartet to be way harder. Especially the listening.

4. I struggle with the format of Japanese From Zero, any tips to help make it work for me?

   Hey folks! I saw how highly recommended JFZ was in this sub and with a July trip coming (and a little while studying in renshuu) I bought the first book!

   I like a lot about it, and I like the writing practice. However, I find the mixing of roman and hiragana characters jarring (e.g. they might write daるma), and I find the slow introduction of characters annoying.

   I am really enjoying the brute force method for learning the syllabaries.

   I do want to still learn some basics from this book, do you guys have any suggestions before I just abandon it? I want to especially get the writing practice still.

   I just want to scream when I see roman and Japanese writing systems mashed into one word. ToT

   Thank

5. I was studying with Tae Kim’s Guide with Japanese Grammar, and currently going through te form for connecting verbs. But the thing is, he didn’t explain how to conjugate ます into negative te form, only casual form with くて. Before that the book used to explain things in all configurations, and it was easier for me, the same was with negative te form for い adjectives, but I found out about くなくて ending. Maybe he doesn’t give these things because they are unlikely to be used? But I feel that my knowledge is incomplete then. I can’t find answers anywhere about negative te form of ます, could someone please help me?

6. Finished Kaishi 1.5K today! Took 108 days. While it’s nice, I realize now that I need at least 10 times more words to be comfortable with the language!

7. I was doing conjugation drills and it asked me to convert 上(のぼ)った to present tense. How should I know whether it’s 上る or 上う from looking at it. Or should I just know that there is no 上う (I’m just guessing here).

   Also are there two different words that have the same conjugation? In that case I guess guessing is the only way to get the drill right.

8. Is there a way to scan images for vocubalary/definition purposes?

   Of course I use Yomitan, but say i’m reading a manga in Japanese via some miscellaneous website, or via a JPG I downloaded online. Is there a tool to scan words on an image to get definitions, similar to Yomitan?

   Manually looking up words can be tiring/ruin immersion.

9. I use anki to store vocab words but it’s tedious to use an app to translate and then use anki to add to the list.
   Is there a way to highlight a word and in 1 or 2 clicks add it to a vocabulary list in anki or some app automatically?

10. Today I got not a 上手, but a 上々! And it was followed by a マジです! I’ll take it lol

11. Is there a secret to learning grammar other than encountering it in natural context and/or using flashcards? I’m struggling with grammar more than anything else, I know the concepts but they don’t stick. I have a book called “English Grammar for Students of Japanese,” if I actually read it would it help?

12. What can the meanings of the word 悪/あく/aku be? I know it usually translates to evil, but I also heard people saying that its meaning was more nuanced than the Western concept of evil. I was wondering if it actually had these nuances, and what meaning it could have other than ‘moral evil’. The reason I ask is that in Pokémon, the dark type in Japanese is called the aku type, and I was wondering what it means/could mean, if it’s really literally ‘(moral) evil type’ or if it could be something else, given that it was translated as another word than it usually is.

13. I saw some word when I was reading yesterday. It was an adjective with two pairs of repeating kanji, like “ABABしい”. Each of the kanji was made of three vertical radicals. It looked something like 伽啊伽啊しい (but it wasn’t this). I feel like the kanji included parts of 加 and 阿 but I’m not sure. I skipped the word and can’t find it again. Does anyone have any idea what word this was? Sorry and thank you lol 😭