#tdtphoto

[tokidokitokyo]

about me

Hi, I'm toki (she/her)!

I've been studying Japanese for 10+ years (omg) and I've had this Japanese langblr since 2019. I learned Japanese formally starting in high school and although I've never taken the JLPT, I consider myself lower advanced level (N3/N2?) except when I'm not.

I post:

beginner to advanced level Japanese content * kanji * vocabulary * grammar * kanji kentei test * kotowaza kentei test * other content

photos of Japan (mine & others')

Japanese culture/fashion/art/illustrations

random personal thoughts

unrelated things

Please feel free to talk to me about Japanese (or not-Japanese) anytime! I will do my best to answer questions related to Japanese or point you to a resource that can help.

My Japanese goals:

be better at Japanese

teach my son Japanese (he is learning to talk)

improve my 敬語 (formal Japanese) all around

write more in Japanese and have my writing corrected

Personal stuff:

native English speaker

old enough to have a husband and a son (2020 pandemic baby)

full time working mama (adulting is hard)

my hobbies include raising my son and catering to the whims of my 3 cats

I like anime/manga/reading/movies/hiking/travel

I track #tokidokitokyo (and post original content under this tag) and I also track #looktoki

#japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #langblr introduction #studyblr introduction #pinned post #my photo #tdtphoto

[tokidokitokyo]

Photo by Samuel Berner on Unsplash

2024年1月31日

It's been a while since I've done a goals update, but here I am! I'd like to do a quick comparison between how last year ended up and how things are going this year. Then, I'd like to preview what I'd like to do in February.

お久しぶりです！最近日記を書いてなくて、今月は去年と今年目的をまとめてアップデートしようと思います。それから、2月の目的の話をするつもりです。

2023 Wrap Up

In 2023, I spent the most time with Vocabulary, Kanji, and Listening and the least time in Grammar and Writing. I started off strong with Reading in January, but gradually that fell by the wayside over the course of the year as I got busier with life things. I focused on Listening the most in the last few months of the year, and August was the month I spent my time mostly evenly divided amongst the 7 main areas of study. I tried a lot of new things, like new apps and daily reading goals, but as usual I didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted to do.

I most wish that I could have kept up with the daily history reading (日本の歴史366) but I am glad that I stopped trying to vocabulary mine with novels (I just don't have the time for that, and reading is easier without doing that).

2023 Successes

Studied lots of kanji

Lots of speaking and listening practice with Japanese mom friends

Finished the Sou-matome N3 workbook series

Began teaching my son hiragana (and he recognises some characters!)

2023 Challenges

Less writing than I'd hoped

Not a good time to find a tutor

Not much reading progress on the novels I've started

Need to work on grammar more consistently

So with that said... let's move on to 2024!

January 2024

Now January is over and 2024 is in full swing, but let's take a quick look at what I did in January.

In January, I spent the most time Reading! Starting the year off strong with novels, I made a point to read each day before bed, even if it was only a few pages. I also spent a lot of time Listening to podcasts, dramas, and shows.

I did very little Grammar or Writing practice, but the year is still young. I also focused a lot less on Kanji than I would have liked to in January.

February Goals

For February, I'd like to continue with Reading but also focus more on Kanji, Grammar, and Writing. I get lots of practice with Speaking and Listening thanks to the moms at my son's Japanese preschool, and I continue to pick up Vocabulary when I research words or read novels.

So, my February goals will be:

Read daily

Write sentences once a week

Review kanji flashcards daily

Review 1-2 grammar points weekly

Learn 1-2 new grammar points weekly

How are your goals for 2024 going?

Is there anything in particular that you want to focus on this year?

Best of luck with your studies!

皆さんを応援しています！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals #japanese goals 2024 #tokidokitokyo #japanese studyspo #japanese goals january 2024 #my photo #tdtphoto

[tokidokitokyo]

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash

2024年3月31日

Spring is in the air, the cherry blossoms are blooming, and every year around this time I get energized to study more. In March, I spent a lot of time focusing on the things I want to improve upon in Japanese, so I am proud of my achievements.

また春が来てて、桜が咲いてて、毎年この季節に勉強のやる気が出ます。3月に日本語の成長したかったところに集中して、結構上手くいったと思います。

March Progress

My goals in March included Reading, Writing, and Grammar, with a focus on Kanji and Vocabulary taking a back seat.

Here is how my goals went:

〇 = Great, △ = Decent, ✖ = Not Great

Read daily - read almost every day 〇

Write sentences 4 times a week - only wrote sentences about once a week △

Review kanji and vocabulary flash cards daily - didn't practice flash cards much at all ✖

Review 1-2 N3 grammar points weekly - goal achieved 〇

Learn 1-2 N2 grammar points weekly - goal achieved 〇

Work on recognising あ～お hiragana with my son - he is doing well with あ、い、う so far 〇

I made good progress with the areas I was focused on! I completely neglected Kanji and Vocabulary, but since Reading and Writing use both of those, I think I'll be okay. I'd like to practice Grammar more often, and I'd like to practice writing more sentences with the grammar I learn.

My son is going to be 4 soon, and so at both Japanese preschool and English preschool they are beginning to work on writing lines. So I have downloaded some print out pages to help him trace and recognize the first five hiragana (あ～お). He is interested in it, and we draw pictures and I try to make it fun for him. He can already recognise these first characters, so I'll try to keep adding to them (か～こ next!).

April Goals

For April, I'm going to try to harness my momentum and continue with Reading, Writing, and Grammar. I'd also like to fit in more podcasts to work on Listening. Not too many changes with my goals between March and April, but I'll adjust as needed (for time constraints, interests, etc.)

Read daily

Write sentences 4 times a week

Review kanji and vocabulary flash cards daily

Review 1-2 N3 grammar points weekly

Learn 1-2 N2 grammar points weekly

Listen to 1 podcast a week

Continue to work on あ～お hiragana with my son, add in か～こ

Wishing everyone a lovely spring!

皆さん、素敵な春を過ごせますように！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals #japanese goals 2024 #tokidokitokyo #japanese studyspo #japanese goals march 2024 #my photo #tdtphoto

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年8月31日

お久しぶりですね！Hello, I'm still here! My study log has been on a hiatus since the end of May, but I am here to regale you with tales of my Japanese studies. Why the hiatus? The usual suspects: Work, real life (including vacation!) and family had to take some precedence, but I am still here studying behind the scenes.

I feel refreshed from having had to put down my pencil and focus on other things for a while during the month of August, and so I feel rested and refreshed and I don't feel overwhelmed to come back to my studies. I don't feel like I have to catch up or like I haven't been doing enough during my time off. Rather, I feel very excited to get back into my regular study routine.

お久しぶりですね！まだここにいますよ！日本語の勉強日記が五月の終わりからお久しぶりですね！まだここにいますよ！日本語の勉強日記が五月の終わりから休暇中でしたが、只今戻りました！休暇の理由は？いつも通りでしょうね。仕事や生活や家族ーバカンスも入れてー色々で忙しくて休まなければなれませんでした。しかし勉強の休みはなかった。

8月に色々に集中しないといけなかったので、その間リフレッシュができて今は勉強を続くのは楽しみにしています。バカンスが楽しくても、勉強についてがっかりしているわけじゃなくて、むしろまた勉強ができてわくわくしています。バカンスも大事だし、自分の時間を過ごすのも大事だし、これからまた頑張れると気がします。

Study Methods I Used in June, July, & August

In June through August I mostly studied Vocabulary, Kanji, and Listening. The areas I focused on the least were Writing and Grammar. The study tools I used most were mobile tools so I could bring them with me on my phone anywhere I went.

My pro study tool this summer was the mobile app for renshuu.org because I was able to use vocabulary and kanji flashcards to get in some practice even during busy work days and holidays.

Podcasts were my second pro study tool, especially the Let's Talk in Japanese podcast. I could listen during my work commute, on the plane, while the baby takes a nap, and just before bed.

ママ友 or mom friends are a great way to practice listening & speaking. My son just enrolled in a Japanese preschool and I've already made a few new friends for playdates. Playdates are useful for improving his Japanese and mine!

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so here is an update with my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

How is it going? Terrible! I did not bring this book on my vacation, so I have not kept up. But I will get back into reading the daily pages as often as possible. I am not going to finish the entire book this year, but that's ok. I still learn something new every time I pick it up, and even retain some of the information! Goal: Read as many entries as possible by the end of the year.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

How is it going? Good! I plan on returning to these workbooks now that things have settled down after my holiday, but I will only be able to do extensive practice on the weekends. I still have two weeks left of exercises in the books, so I think I am on track to finish it by the end of the year.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

How is it going? Okay! Although I didn't have much time in August to review kanji during my holiday, I was able to get through reviewing Grade 3 of the Kyoiku Kanji during June and July. Goal: Review through at least Grade 4 during the month of September.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

How is it going? Terrible! I still haven't had the time (nor the motivation) to pick back up the books I stopped in March, and I'm trying to be okay with that ^^; I would like to pick back up one book in September and try to finish it by the end of the year. Books are a big commitment, and I have to prioritize my studies, so unfortunately books tend to be the first thing I drop.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

How is it going? Terrible! I have not begun to even look for a tutor, despite telling myself I would for the entire month of June. I am not sure if I am going to try to find a tutor at this point or if I will just continue with self-study, writing sentences on HelloTalk, and getting some help from my husband. I would like to try to write more and get my sentences corrected by native speakers. I'd also like to interact with native speakers, but finding the time is really tough.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes every day.

How is it going? Good! Although the rest of my goals have suffered greatly this summer, my goal of continuing to practice a little bit everyday has allowed me to persevere and to feel like I've accomplished something.

Going Forward in September

I am a bit sad to see the summer go as it's my favourite season, but the changing of seasons is always exciting and motivates me to try new things and continue moving forward.

Focus on Grade 4 of 教育漢字

Write in Japanese on HelloTalk

Read one of the books I started this year by the end of 2023

Read 日本の歴史366 as continuously as possible

Review N3 Grammar

What does everyone else have planned for Japanese study in the fall?

皆さんの秋の勉強予定は何でしょうね？

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals june 2023 #japanese goals july 2023 #japanese goals august 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

総まとめ JLPT N3 workbook practice (^.^) ft. Eustass Kid (ユースタス・キッド) milk tea

#japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #総まとめN3 #日本の歴史366 #紅茶花伝

[tokidokitokyo]

Photo by pepe nero on Unsplash

2024年2月29日

I'm pretty proud of my February Japanese studies. I was able to stick to a fairly steady routine and to focus on the areas I wanted to focus on (like Reading and Writing). Spring is on its way and I am looking forward to pushing myself a little more.

2月の日本語の勉強はなかなか上手くいったと思う。安定的なルーチンを進んでて、集中したかったところを目的にした（読書や文章など）。春がすぐに訪れて、これからもっと勉強を努力しようとする。

February Progress

My goals in February included focusing on Kanji, Grammar, and Writing whilst maintaining my dedication to Reading in Japanese. I continued listening to podcasts, which means that I did a lot of Listening practice, while Speaking and Grammar were my areas of least attention. However, my goals included learning and reviewing 1-2 new grammar points weekly and I was able to maintain this.

Other goals included reading daily, which I managed to do thanks to my Japanese book club, and writing sentences once a week, which I did on HelloTalk. I wasn't great about reviewing kanji flashcards once a day, but I did spend some time with kanji.

March Goals

I did a lot better in February with the areas that I tend to neglect (like Grammar and Writing) so I'd like to continue that in March! It would be great if I had time to do something from every study area every day, but that's just not my reality. Since February went so well, I'll just tweak those goals a bit for March and keep going!

Read daily

Write sentences 4 times a week

Review kanji and vocabulary flash cards daily

Review 1-2 N3 grammar points weekly

Learn 1-2 N2 grammar points weekly

Work on recognising あ～お hiragana with my son

How have your studies been progressing? Wishing you success in your March endeavours!

皆さんきっとうまくいくよ！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals #japanese goals 2024 #tokidokitokyo #japanese studyspo #japanese goals february 2024 #my photo #tdtphoto

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年11月30日

The end of the year is approaching quickly, and the JLPT is just a few days away! Good luck to those taking the exam: you will do great!

I'm still trying to balance my chaotic life with my Japanese study, but I have really slowed down on the Japanese study this month. And that's ok! I am not taking the JLPT but I am still immersing in Japanese in everyday life, so I am happy with that. For some reason, the end of the year always seems to hold a lot of difficult things for me and my family, so I will keep pushing through and hope for a better start next year!

もうすぐ年末年始ですね。後数日間に日本語能力試験もありますね。試験を受ける皆さんを応援しています！

めちゃくちゃな生活と日本語の勉強のバランスをまだまだ探しているんだから、今月の勉強はなかなか進んでいないな。でも、大丈夫ですね。今年は日本語能力試験を受けられないのに、日常生活に日本語をずっと使っているので充分ですね。なぜか毎年の年末はうちの家族にあんまりいいことがないんだけど、まだ頑張って、来年をポジティブに向かって、続きます。

Study Methods I Used in September & October

This month I again used conversation and Japanese media as my primary sources for Speaking and Listening practice. I didn't have as much time to listen to podcasts, but I did watch more dramas than usual. I used renshuu.org for Kanji flashcard practice, and specifically for joyo kanji (kanji separated by grade levels). I also collected a lot of Vocabulary from daily encounters in the wild.

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study back in January of 2023 in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so here is an update with my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

How is it going? Terrible! I really thought November would be my month to read a page almost every day, but I haven't been able to fit in the time. I suppose I could push back my bed time, but in the winter months I feel extra tired and prefer to catch up on my sleep. That's ok, though, I will try again next year.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

How is it going? Pretty good! I had hoped to finish these workbooks in November, but I am still working through the last week of exercises. I think I can still finish them by the end of the year, though!

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

How is it going? Not awful! I spent November reviewing Grade 4, so while I probably won't finish Grade 6 by the end of the year, I have made good progress. I usually do flashcards by grade level on renshuu.org, and I am satisfied with my scores for the first three grade levels. Hopefully I can get Grade 4 down by the end of December.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

How is it going? Terrible! Books are a big commitment that I really just don't have time for, between life and my son and everything else I have to do. Maybe next year I can aim for one book...

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

How is it going? Terrible! I am satisfied with my ママ友 (mom friends) for now to help with my speaking and listening. Plus, there's the added bonus of my son getting lots of Japanese input. I hope that I will be able to someday get a tutor, but the time is not now.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes every day.

How is it going? Great! This is the one goal that I have always been able to keep up with because it is simple and can be done anywhere. No workbooks required! At least I will achieve 100% in one goal at the end of the year ^.^

Going Forward in December

It's almost the end of the year and my goals are far from being achieved. I've had to reshuffle my goals and to put most of them aside to keep up with everything else I've had going on. But! I have been mindful about the study time I do have, and I have made what I feel is significant progress in my Japanese language learning journey.

I am optimistic about next year and continuing to push myself forward and improve my Japanese skills. In December I will reevaluate the goals I had and what worked or didn't work, and come back with some new goals for 2024!

For December, my focus will be:

Focus on retaining kanji from Grade 4 of 教育漢字

Write in Japanese once a day

Read 日本の歴史366 as much as possible

Review N3 Grammar

Finish 総まとめ N3 workbooks

Christmas/New Year vacation!

For those of you taking the JLPT this weekend, GOOD LUCK!

日本語能力試験を受けるみんなを応援しています！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals november 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年5月31日

TL;DR: Don't feel inadequate if your language learning journey is not the same as that of others. Your path is valid and you are doing great!

May seemed to just speed on by! And now it's time for my monthly Japanese study log. I think this month I felt a lot of shame for not having time to do the big goals that I have set for myself, and seeing people on langblr or studyblr accomplishing a lot of big goals makes me feel inadequate. It's important to remember that your language journey is your own, not someone else's, and there is no shame in going at your own pace. I try to focus on the things that I accomplish and not make the journeys that other people are on into some kind of impossible standard to hold myself to. Look at your own learning through the lens of how far you have come, and you will feel less like you are lacking.

つまり、自分なりに言語の勉強を続いてね。周りの人の道は自分とは違っても、自分でも成長していますね。これからも続きましょう！

5月はあっという間に終了です！今からは日本語の勉強日記を書こうと思います。今月は大きいな目標をなかなか進まなくて辛かったです。それに、タンブラーやインスタグラムの勉強垢をよく見てて、なんか自分が足りないって感じていました。日本語や言語の勉強は自分のやり方で自分のペースで進んだ方がいいと覚えた方がいいと思いますから、それを頑張って思い出そうとしています。他人の成長を見ながら自分の成長が足りないなと思うことはよくやりますが、それを辞めるように努力します。一か月や一年前の自分を見たら、今まですごく成長してきたと気づいたら、足りなくないとわかるかもしれません。

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so, as always, I start off my update with my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

How is it going? Good! I am finally getting back on track after setbacks from late work nights, illness, and vacation time. Since this is a page-a-day study book, I would have preferred to keep reading in order and to catch up on the days I missed reading, but that was physically impossible due to a lack of time in general. So I am continuing on even though I skipped some days because it's good reading practice and I still learn vocabulary and kanji daily.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

How is it going? Good! I have been doing one workbook daily entry per day for at least 2 days a week. There are 4 workbooks (Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar, Listening) with 6 weeks and 6-7 daily entries per week. I am still on Week 5 out of 6 weeks, but I am progressing much more than I did last year (or the year before that lol).

I take my time with each lesson, reviewing the vocab/kanji/grammar points meticulously, so that I absorb the information rather than just rush through it. Sometimes I already know most of the vocab or kanji or grammar, but other days require more focus. I feel like I am retaining more information by doing it little-by-little, rather than just trying to get as much done as possible in one sitting. In May, I didn't review the lessons afterwards and throughout the week, so I might take some extra time to do that once I finish the series.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

How is it going? Okay. I have been trying to focus on Joyo Kanji in my kanji reviews, so I went back to Grade 1 kanji to start my review. It helps me to figure out which ones I know well and where I am struggling. Goal: Review through at least grade 3 during the month of June.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

How is it going? Not great. I haven't had the time (nor the motivation) to pick back up the books I stopped in March, and I'm trying to be okay with that ^^; I would like to pick back up one book in June and try to finish it by July. One thing that I am continuing to read is the Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun manga series (in small chunks, usually before bed).

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

How is it going? It could be better. I am going to set a deadline for finally finding a tutor. I just worry that if I find a tutor I won't be able to commit to a regular schedule and I'll just drop off like I have before. I keep thinking if I had more time to search for a tutor it'd be more permanent, but I think I am just procrastinating (shocked gasps from all). There's also a small worry about the financial commitment, but I am going to try to be frugal in other areas to allow for this luxury. Goal: I will find a tutor by June 30th (or at least start making regular appointments with tutors).

I've also added on to this goal that I would like to start writing sentences on HelloTalk so that I can get feedback without needing a tutor. This might help me to get motivated to improve instead of being terrified of making mistakes. Goal: Write one sentence a day on HelloTalk in June.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes every day.

How is it going? Good! Thank goodness I have been studying Japanese every day for so long that it's not even something I have to think about trying to fit into my schedule anymore.

May Study Log

This month my top study areas were Vocabulary, Kanji, and Speaking. I spent the least time studying Grammar and practicing Writing.

Study Methods I Used in May

Social Media

Not only did I use apps like renshuu.org (flash cards) and Easy Japanese (articles in Japanese) to study in May, I also used Instagram and started back up on HelloTalk. The idea is to interact with social media in a meaningful way by reading and writing in Japanese. I commented on other user's posts and reached out to some of them as well to start a conversation. The only drawback to this method is that you can get lost in endless doom scrolling if you don't focus on what you are there for (i.e. interaction) and just get lost in the algorithm.

Conversation

I speak Japanese daily (with my husband and son) and since my son is starting to speak in 3-4 word sentences and to copy our speech patterns, I am more mindful of what I am saying to him and how I am saying it (for example, using 大変 instead of やばい ^^;). However, when speaking with my husband it is easier to fall into a Japanglish routine with him, to drop formality and be lazy with sentence construction, and to speak in a more masculine way (because I tend to mimic the speech patterns of those I am speaking with). I have recently made a few Japanese mom friends with whom I can practice Japanese conversation. So I try to utilize our play dates by speaking both formal and casual Japanese, being mindful of my interactions, and trying to utilize new words or grammar points. Using Japanese is the best way to improve it, after all. The only drawback is that the conversation practices can be spaced few and far between, so spending time mindfully speaking at home is also important.

Reading

I have been doing far less reading than I was at the beginning of the year, but I still try to read something for just a few minutes a day to practice reading. Either an article, manga, or even just social media, just to keep myself practicing. Like conversation practice, the best way to improve my reading skills is to keep reading. The drawback is that if I try to read a book but then I have to put it down for a while, I forget what was happening or I lose my motivation to keep reading it because I feel like I am not making progress. If reading books is just not feasible due to a time crunch, I find it much better to read something shorter (articles or part of a manga), and I try not to be hard on myself for not reading a whole book when it seems like everyone else is reading tons of books every month.

Going Forward in June

Be continuous with 日本の歴史366

Focus on grades 1-3 of 教育漢字

Start regular italki tutor sessions

Write in Japanese on HelloTalk

Read one of the books I started earlier in the year by the end of July

I've been studying Japanese for a long time and I still feel inadequate a lot of the time. If you have studied Japanese for any amount of time, please be proud of yourself. You've done something that a lot of people only wish they could do. As always, I wish you much success in your language endeavors, and I hope we can continue on this journey together (no matter where our paths take us)!

長い間日本語を勉強しててもまだまだ足りないと思てます。今までちょっとでも長い間でも日本語を勉強している人に伝いたいことは、よく頑張ったね！日本語を勉強したくても勉強したことない人もたくさんいますので、勉強している人はすごいと思います。そして、自分なりにつづいてください。これからも、皆さん勉強の成功と成長を願っています。どんな道でも、一緒に勉強を続きましょう！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals may 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年4月30日

This month was again very busy! Do I ever have not-busy months? Probably not! I still accomplished quite a bit, but I didn't do everything I had planned to do. One thing that I noticed though was that my reading skill and my listening skill have progressed because of incorporating reading and listening into my daily practice routine. I picked back up a manga I had started a year ago and found that it was easier to read this time. I also realized I am able to pick up more from news and other TV programmes now. The key is really just practicing consistently! It feels good to see tangible progress, and that motivates me even more.

今月はまた忙しかったです！忙しくない時はあるのかな？多分ない！今月は結構勉強が進めて良かったです。すべての目的には成功できなくても、まだまだ進んでいます。今月気づいたのは読解力と聴解力が結構上がったと思います。毎日ちょっとだけでも読んだり聞いたりするので、日課に入っていることになりました。そして去年読み始めようとした漫画を今月また読み続いたら、去年より楽になったって気づきました。最近ニュースや色んなテレビ番組を見ると、前より全然簡単に理解ができるって気づきました。毎日ちょっとずつ勉強するのはポイントです。具体的に成長を感じるのもモチベーションになります！

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so again I will update my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

How is it going? Good! In March my reading fell behind due to work and illness, and I didn't exactly catch up in April, but I am trying to continue even though I missed quite a few days and have not yet been able to read them. The goal is reading everyday, and although I really wanted to stay in order and to stay on top of it, sometimes things happen! I'll keep reading a page a day and catch up where I can.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

How is it going? Good! I have been working one of the four workbooks (Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar, Listening) into my schedule several nights a week (mostly weekend nights!). I have worked through Week 4 out of 6, so I am close to the end of these workbooks! I am also taking more time to review them, so I can do fewer pages at a time but I feel like I am getting more out of them. I read each day's lesson carefully before I tackle the questions, and then I pick up each workbook again throughout the week and just read through the questions again.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

How is it going? Not great. I definitely did not pick back up specifically the 常用漢字 in April, so I will try it again in May! Tbh, I just forgot to focus on these during my kanji studies and was more focused on vocabulary words ^^;

4. Read at least one book every two months.

How is it going? Not great. I am very behind on the books that I wanted to complete by the first half of this year. I lost motivation in March or so and haven't been able to pick them back up. I was reading them slowly and mining for vocabulary/kanji, which takes a lot of time that I don't have. I have been reading other books sporadically (although I haven't finished any) and I have been reading manga and articles semi-regularly. I thought this goal would be easier than trying to read a book each month, but it's still a lot for me. It's ok to change your goals, and next month I'll try to reformulate this goal to make it work for me.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

How is it going? It could be better. April was busier than I thought! I hope to find a tutor in May, but I find it difficult to find someone who suits my needs (and my time constraints). I hope to have better news on this next month! Wish me luck!

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day.

How is it going? Good! Variation in my study schedule is the key to keeping up a daily Japanese study goal. If I'm tired, manga or an article, or a quick flashcard session, are quick ways to practice. If I have extra time I squeeze in a workbook lesson. Finding lots of little ways to practice helps me to stay interested and to stay motivated.

April Study Log

April was another busy month, so let's see how I did!

Vocabulary - This month I spent a lot more time practicing vocabulary. Not only did I write down words and look up words I didn't know, I also tried to conscientiously incorporate new words into my daily conversation. This helped me to remember them as well as to figure out what situations I would use them in.

Listening - I spent a lot of time with podcasts (during my commute) and TV/movies (with my son!) so I got a lot of listening practice in. I did realize the other day that I find it easier to listen to even more fast-paced or advanced TV shows, etc. That was a nice realization!

Kanji - I slacked off on kanji and definitely did not focus on school-age kanji. I honestly just forgot, and didn't have much time to commit new kanji to memory. I'll try again next month!

Speaking - We had a lot of play dates and so I got in a lot of speaking practice. The more I speak the more comfortable I am and the more information I can convey. This is definitely something I'd like to work on with a tutor!

Grammar, Reading, & Writing - I would like to incorporate these more into my daily studies, but they have really dropped off my radar recently. I have been quite busy and very tired as a result, so I am not going to be too hard on myself.

Going Forward in May

Continue working through N3 総まとめ workbooks as often as possible

Work more on 漢字 and specifically focus on the 教育漢字

Get an italki (or other?) tutor that suits my needs

Review and practice 3 grammar points per week

Next month I will really try to stick to the goals I have set and I hope to have a better report. But I still think that any progress is good progress, so let's keep working towards our goals! See you next month!

来月はもうちょっと目的に集中したいと思いますが、目的を超えなくても成功ができると思っています。そしてまだまだ勉強を進んで頑張りましょう！また来月！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals april 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

2023年10月31日

Well, it's *checks calendar* November already, and I haven't done a study update since August, but I am still here studying away, despite life throwing a lot of obstacles in my way. Autumn has come and that means cosy time and increased motivation to study. It also means the JLPT is on its way (although I am not taking it) so I hope the motivation is there for all of you who are going to take it!

もう11月になって、今回も勉強のアップデートはちょっと遅れてすみません。大変忙しくてもまだまだ勉強が進んでいます。秋になって、おうちの中で勉強したくなりましたね。自分の勉強のモチベーションもたっぷりあふれています。秋は日本語能力試験の勉強の季節ですよね。自分は試験を受けないのに、受けるつもり皆さん頑張ってください！応援しています！

Study Methods I Used in September & October

September and October were a bit c r a z y for me so my primary form of Japanese study was conversation and media (TV/movies), thus, the study area which I focused most on was Listening (33%). I did a lot of speaking too, speaking with my husband and son, but also with ママ友 (mom friends). Podcasts again made up a lot of my listening hours, including Let's Talk in Japanese and 日本語の会話のpodcast -ことのは-. I also managed to keep going strong with Vocabulary and Kanji, mostly in researching posts for this blog.

Writing was only really done in messages to ママ友 (mom friends) and so that suffered quite a bit. I also neglected Grammar, which puts me back in a little in terms of where I wanted to be by the end of the year. I had very little time for Reading which is very sad for me, but I was too overloaded so I had to cut back somewhere.

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so here is an update with my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

How is it going? Terrible! It's been very difficult to keep up with this. And once you miss an entry, you feel like you can't continue on until you've read the entries you've missed. Which accumulate. And on and on. This is definitely an endeavour for someone who has a lot more time. So, my current strategy is to read the entry of the day as often as possible. Which is not often for me! Current Goal: Read as many entries as possible by the end of the year and try again next year!

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

How is it going? Not great! I had planned to do more of these workbooks in September and October, but due to unforeseen circumstances I really haven't gotten to them. I had hoped to be done by now, but at least I am on the sixth week of the exercises (there are 4 books). I think I can still finish up the workbooks by the end of the year, so that gives me hope.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

How is it going? Terrible! I have been focusing on learning new kanji along with vocabulary rather than reviewing 常用漢字. Current Goal: Review through at least Grade 4 by the end of the year.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

How is it going? Terrible! I still haven't had the time (nor the motivation) to pick back up the books I stopped in March, and I'm trying to be okay with that ^^; Books are a big commitment, and I have to prioritize my study materials, so unfortunately books tend to be the first thing I drop. I don't think I will end up accomplishing this goal, and that's ok. I will try again when things settle down.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

How is it going? Terrible! I think at this point I am not able to invest the time and money in a tutor, even an iTalki tutor. I think that trying to write sentences and get them corrected is the best I can hope for. And at least I have ママ友 (mom friends) to help with my speaking. I'm going to drop this goal for now, and that's all I can do!

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes every day.

How is it going? Good! Making Japanese a part of my daily life has helped me to push through the hard times and keep up my language practice.

I cannot emphasize enough that the most important thing about learning a language is to keep going. Even if all you have time for is 10 minutes per day, just being continuous will help you improve, even just a little bit. You will start to remember the things you read or listen to or practice, and little by little you will understand more.

Of course, if you don't have a strong foundation or a lot of time to study it can be very frustrating, and difficult to really start to grasp things in only 10 minutes a day. And I've watched a lot of people give up because they didn't have time to focus on Japanese, or a class to help them get the basics, or others to communicate with about Japanese. But I've seen other people who have persevered through a lot of ups and downs and have been able to successfully attain their language goals.

I've also gone through a year at a time where I didn't actively study Japanese, and I still was able to retain my understanding at essentially the same level (although there were some things I forgot, and still forget lol). So you can take breaks and come back to Japanese, and it will still be here waiting for you. Which is really the lovely thing about Japanese and other languages. So don't be too hard on yourself, and I hope that you find 10 minutes to study today. Remember that watching anime totally counts as studying!

Going Forward in November

To be honest, I've felt pretty disappointed with what feels like a lack of progress in my Japanese studies this year. I still feel optimistic, however, about the last two months of the year. I hope to be able to finish up my N3 workbooks and to review kanji and grammar, as well as try to write more often. Let's see how that goes ^.^

Focus on Grade 4 of 教���漢字

Write in Japanese on HelloTalk

Read 日本の歴史366 as continuously as possible

Review N3 Grammar

Finish 総まとめ N3 workbooks

For those of you taking the JLPT, I wish you the best in your studies!

日本語能力試験を受けるみんなを応援しています！

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals september 2023 #japanese goals october 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

2022年10月31日

Fall is in the air and it's a cozy time to study Japanese. It's also a time of the year that marks the busy season for students and employees alike. This fall I have been focusing on reading, trying to read anything and everything, and focusing on retaining things like vocabulary and kanji from these readings.

秋されの折、皆様にはますますご健勝のことと存じます。家で日本語の勉強することがぴったり季節ですよ。そして、学生も社会人もますます忙しくなる時期ですね。今年の秋の目的は日本語でいつでも何でもことに集中しています。読んだ単語や漢字も覚えられます様に努力をしています。

What I've Been Reading This Month

夜カフェ (Yoru Cafe) - A chapter book aimed at children, with the characters being around middle school age. Cute and heartwarming, but with a very slow pace, this is the first book in a series.

月刊少女野崎くん (Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun) - A manga about a male high school student who illustrates girls' manga, his female classmate and fan, and all the other characters around him that he inserts into his work.

おじさまと猫 (A Man and His Cat) - A manga about an older man and the cat he adopts. Funny but with plenty of tear-jerking moments, this is a fast and adorable read.

NHK News Web Easy - Quick, easy-to-read articles designed for language learners and school kids to read. You can turn on/off ふりがな and the articles include up-to-date news information.

NHKニ���ース - The regular NHK news site, for when I have some more time, to read more in-depth articles for a Japanese audience.

絵本 (picture books) - Reading picture books with my son is a great way to practice 1) reading walls of hiragana, 2) reading aloud, 3) daily words with my son.

にほんごたどく (Tadoku Graded Readers) - A treasure trove of free graded readers for beginners and those who want to practice reading in Japanese. (Might I particularly recommend デカりんご).

Other Study Tools I Used This Month

renshuu.org - Kanji & vocabulary quizzes

Jisho.org - English/Japanese Dictionary (one of the most used dictionaries)

weblio - Japanese-Japanese Dictionary

言葉で遊ぼう (Kotoba de Asobo) - Japanese Wordle

Japanese podcasts

Things to Try Next Month

I spent October working on reading, and trying to focus on attaining new vocabulary and kanji knowledge at the same time. So in November, I'd like to focus on a different aspect of Japanese learning. I would like to get back into grammar, reviewing and learning new grammar points.

Handbook of Japanese Grammar - A grammar learning resource, separated by each grammar point.

日本語の森 (Nihongo no Mori) - Grammar videos separated by level, short and sweet for review or learning new grammar.

As the year comes to an end I will be looking back at how I started this monthly diary of my Japanese studies, and where I am now. I would like to review my goals and renew them. Have some of them changed? Definitely! Have some of them remained unfulfilled? Most certainly. But that is a natural part of the language learning process, and the changes in my goals reflect the changes in my priorities and the evolution of my knowledge of the language. So look forward to that in the next update!

Thanks as always for reading!

年末がどんどん近づいてて、今年の最初の目的と今までの進歩を分析したり、比べたりしてまとめて書こうと思っています。来年の目的も考えておいて、日本語の能力の成長について書き留めておこうと思っています。今までの目的が変わったり、満たされてなかったりしても、それは言語の勉強の一方だし、それからも成長ができて、自分の目指してる夢も叶えられますし。だから、来月も楽しみにしてね！

いつもありがとうございます！

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[tokidokitokyo]

2023年3月31日

TL;DR - Much busy, no time, some study!

March was my busiest month so far this year. Between rushing to finish work projects and getting sick, I am surprised I found time to do anything else! The reality of not having a lot of time but still wanting to fit in Japanese study is that I just have to use the time that I do have wisely.

When I worked late I had very little time to fit in Japanese study before bed, so I switched it up and did a bit of study right before work started. When I wasn't working late and had put the baby to bed I was usually exhausted, and I had to choose between watching something easy and letting my brain relax (sometimes you just need to do that!) and putting in some study time.

Life is about balance, and so is studying Japanese. You have to be consistent in your studying to make real progress, but you also have to make time for rest and self care. When I was sick I prioritized rest and myself so that I could get better, and let everything else go. When I was exhausted after work I prioritized rest and sometimes just studied for 5-10 minutes or even not at all.

The moral of this story is to take care of yourself. Studying is important for progress, but if you just don't feel like it or you need rest more than you need to drill 50 kanji, just take a break! I see people who feel guilty for taking a day or two or even a year off, but Japanese is more forgiving than that. Take some time to rest and refresh, and come back whenever you're ready!

Now, on to my study habits!

3月ってすごく忙しかった。仕事がめちゃ忙しくて、風邪も何回引いてて、休む時間も少なかったです！時間が無くてもどうしても日本語の勉強を進みたいと思って、頑張って少ない暇の時間で勉強する動力しました。

仕事の残業があった日は寝る前に勉強時間が無くなって、朝早く仕事始まる前にちょっと勉強しました。残業が無くても、息子の面倒を見て、寝かしつけの後でもめちゃ疲れてやる気ない日もありました。そして空っぽでテレビを見るか勉強するか、どっちか選べないといけませんでしたね。

人生というのはバランスが大事だから、日本語の勉強も、それともどんな勉強でもバランスが必要ですね。風邪を引いてたときはゆっくり休んで、勉強なんか諦めました。風邪が治るまでに休むしかやらなかったです。仕事の後めちゃ疲れたときも休みました。

つまり、自分のことを大事にしてください！勉強も大事だけど、無理してはダメですね。休みたいと思ったり、元気がなかったりしているとき休んでいいよ。一日、一週間、そして一年間でも大丈夫ですね。勉強がいつまでも待っているので、ごゆっくりどうぞ！

じゃ、まとめをはじめよう！

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so here I will update my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

In March, my routine schedule of reading one page (one entry) a day fell apart because of work and illness. I am still behind, but I am not (too) stressed out about it. I am back to reading one or two pages a day, and while part of me is frustrated that I am not caught up, I am trying to be calm about it and to enjoy the history readings, rather than have it be a chore I have to catch up on.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

I still haven't had as much time as I would like to go through these workbooks in detail, but I have made some time recently to work through some of them. I prefer to go through the four books I have (Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar, Listening) at the same time, but I am trying to be satisfied with doing one "day" of one workbook at a time, since that is the best way to work it into my schedule.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

This has definitely suffered in March, but I hope to get back into these kanji with flash cards in April.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

Do you see me laughing and crying at the same time? I did read a book club book from the Seitokai Bookclub but only because it was very short! But I read none of the books I wanted to read and hoped to have finished by April. Oh well!

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

April is my month! I will find someone who will help me with speaking and writing (italki?) and I will finally achieve my writing goal in Japanese! (I hope!)

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day.

Despite my hectic schedule, massive amounts of time dedicated to family, work, and illness, I managed to keep this going most of the time. Studying Japanese for AT LEAST 10 minutes a day has been a habit I have been keeping up since at least 2021. It also helps that I communicate with my family in Japanese daily. I spoke with someone the other day about learning Japanese, and my best advice, no matter how you choose to start learning Japanese, is to make it a habit to work on your Japanese every day. This is the one habit that all successful language students have (this one cool trick!).

March Study Log

March's study distribution graph and percentages reflects the lack of time I had to study and the ways I tried to fit in studying anyways.

Listening - This was the biggest area of study because I was not only spending more time trying to fit in Japanese study with podcasts, but I was also watching a lot of educational shows with my son. I don't count passive listening in my study log, but I also did quite a bit of that (other TV shows that I had on whilst doing other things, or Japanese shows with English subtitles).

Vocabulary & Kanji - I usually study most of my vocabulary and kanji with reading or with renshuu flash cards, but I also learned a lot of new words through conversation and through educational children's shows this month.

Vocabulary & Kanji flash cards (renshuu.org)

言葉で遊ぼう (Japanese wordle)

Speaking & Reading - I had to basically cut out reading for the month of March, except for the page-a-day history book (日本の歴史366) and the Seitokai Bookclub manga that I read. I still have 3 books I'd like to finish!

とつくにの少女 - manga, read in March

Writing & Grammar - These subjects really suffered. I prefer to spend a bit more time learning grammar, and writing really fell by the wayside as soon as I got busy. There's always April, though!

Going Forward in March

Work through 総まとめ workbooks more often, broken up into smaller chunks

Work more on 漢字 and specifically focus on the 教育漢字

Read 満月珈琲店の星詠み to the halfway point

Find a new study method to try out!

I try to make my goals reasonable, but it always seems like there is something that comes along and forces me to reduce them even more ^^;; I guess this month's lesson is to be flexible, take care of yourself, and stay 元気! I hope that everyone fulfills their study goals in April!

毎月、達成可能な目標を作ろうとしても、毎月、なんかあって、また目標を減らさないといけません。仕方ないね…　今月の一言は：頭が柔らかくして、自分を大事にして、そして元気でね！4月にみんなの日本語の夢が叶えるように！

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[tokidokitokyo]

2023年1月31日

Welcome to my first study log update of the year! The year is still fresh and I'm happy to report that my motivation is still high. I find that making these study logs to track my progress I can maintain my motivation throughout the year, even during times where life and work get really busy and I think I won't have as much time for study. So, let's start this off!

今年の初勉強記録へようこそ！新年はまだ新鮮のに勉強のモチベーションはまだ高くて頑張っています。この勉強記録を作るのは勉強のモチベーションの一つになります。一年中に書くと、モチベーションが下がったり、忙しくなったりするときでもやる気が出ます。それで、今から1月の記録を始めます！

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post. This is my first report on the progress I've made on these goals during the month of January!

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

Since it's only a page to read, and the subject is history, I make time to read the page (and look up the vocabulary I don't know ^^) every day.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

The JLPT N3 workbooks I am using are a bit more involved, so I can't do the work daily, but when I do have the time (about once a week or so) I sit down and go through the Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar, and Listening workbooks all at once.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

Lately, I have been focusing more on new kanji rather than kanji review of the 常用漢字, but in February I will return my focus to the grade 2 kanji I was reviewing previously.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

I think I might have taken on too much in January, as I have been trying to finish up a book I started in December, then I picked up a new book and a new manga in the beginning of this year. I am going through the new book page-by-page and recording any words or I don't know, which is taking up a lot of time. I doubt I will finish it this month, but once I am done with it I think I will have learned a lot of new vocabulary.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

I have put this goal on hold because of work, but when things calm down in April I plan to search for a tutor and make a weekly tutoring schedule. I plan to use italki because it is the most popular platform.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day.

This goal has been a habit of mine since the beginning of 2022, and I am glad to see that I have been keeping up with it so far in 2023. I have a basic tracker set up in Notion, and this inspires me to do something every day so that I have something to record. I've also picked up a heat map tracker from No zero days in 2023 langblr challenge which provides another visual method for tracking my daily study.

These methods help me to be very mindful with my studying, which is what 2023 is all about for me!

January Study Log

Reading - I have started off strong with reading, although I've probably taken on more reading material than I have time for. Books I am currently reading:

コンビニ人間 - finishing from December (22% done)

満月珈琲店の星詠み - started Jan. 1st (15% done)

花野井くんと恋の病 (manga) - started Jan. 1st (30% done)

Vocabulary & Kanji - A lot of my vocab & kanji comes from my reading and making a vocab/kanji list from the 満月珈琲店 book I'm reading, but I also try to do vocabulary & kanji flash cards on a daily basis.

Vocabulary & Kanji flash cards (renshuu.org)

言葉で遊ぼう (Japanese wordle)

Listening - Primarily conversational listening with family and friends, or TV/movies, but with some 総まとめ workbook listening sprinkled in. I'd like to do some focused JLPT listening practice soon!

Grammar - Grammar videos are one of the best ways for me to study since they are about 15 minutes each and I take hand-written notes. This month I finished up the Nihongo no Mori JLPT N3 grammar videos!

日本語の森 N3

Going Forward in February

I would like to build upon the momentum I created this month, and while I'd like to continue with the routine I have right now, I would like to add in a few other things to try to mix things up and keep studying interesting.

Continue with the six primary goals I made at the beginning of 2023

Try focusing on a different skill category each month (January has been focused primarily on Reading - I'd like to focus on Listening in February)

Try out a new app - I've downloaded a few different apps that I would like to try out in some detail

Refocus my kanji study on 常用漢字

I hope your language learning journey in 2023 is everything you want it to be! Best of luck everyone ^.^

皆さん、2023年の勉強を努力しましょうね！とても生産的な一年になりますように ^.^

#日本語 #japanese #japanese language #japanese langblr #japanese studyblr #langblr #studyblr #日本語の日記 #japanese diary #japanese goals 2023 #japanese studyspo #tokidokitokyo #tdtphoto #my photo #japanese goals january 2023

[tokidokitokyo]

2022年11月30日

The end of the year is looming, and with preparations for Christmas and the New Year comes thoughts of the JLPT for many. Good luck if you are taking it this year! I won't be taking it, but I am definitely already thinking about my goals for next year. This will be my last regular monthly update, as next month I will review my progress over this past year and talk about my goals for the next year! Let me know how you are doing with your goal progress too!

そろそろ年末年始が近づいて、後ちょっと日本語能力試験も来ますよね。受けてる皆さん頑張ってね！私は日本語能力試験を受けませんが、もう来年の日本語の目標について考えていますよ。今月のアップデートは今年の最後の普通のアップデートですよ。来月は2022年の成長についてを書いて、来年の目標の話をしようと思っています。皆さんの目標の進歩は今までどうでしたか？

My Goals at the Beginning of the Month

Spend at least 10 minutes per day studying Japanese

Reading practice daily (articles, manga, books)

Review 5 kanji a day

Active listening practice once a day

How I Studied This Month

Spent at least 10 minutes studying Japanese almost every day 〇

Read (article, manga, book) once a day 〇

Reviewed 5 kanji about once a week or so ✕

Actively listened to the news, a movie, or kids' shows every day 〇

〇 = completed, △ = partially completed, ✕ = did not complete

Primary Study Tools/Methods

Articles (NHK News Easy)

Manga (月刊少女野崎くん・Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, おじさまと猫・A Man and His Cat)

Books (コンビニ人間・Convenience Store Woman)

Children's shows (いないいないばあっ！・おかあさんといっしょ・アンパンマン・ギョふんでサカナ★スター)

Netflix children's shows in Japanese

What Were My Strengths?

Reading - I was able to read short articles daily, and manga or books when I had a little extra time

Listening - I can fairly easily pick up the dialogue in the children's shows, although it does help that I watch the same shows over and over again (love that repetition), and I even learn stuff (animal names, various phrases, etc.)!

What Were My Weaknesses?

Kanji - I have been slacking off on my kanji -practice during the second half of the year so I'll need to find a way to reintegrate it into my daily study habits. I used to do flashcards daily, but I'd like to try to increase the number of new kanji I'm learning too

Writing - I haven't been writing much in Japanese either, and although it wasn't a goal, I find that the lack of practice shows

Other Study Methods I'd Like to Try

Writing Practice - I do occasionally write on tumblr, but I'd like to write more often, and if possible get it corrected

Workbook - I love using the 総まとめ (Sou-matome) series workbooks (vocabulary, grammar, kanji, listening) but I don't have much time to pull them out and sit down to work on them, but I'd like to do more workbook study if I can

Grammar - I enjoy the short grammar videos from 日本語の森 (Nihongo no Mori) and I would like to get back into watching these videos a few times a week (and taking notes)

Keigo - I'd like to work on learning formal Japanese better, to improve my speaking ability when in conversational situations

I always say that the most important thing to improve your Japanese (or any language or skill for that matter) is to practice daily. I think that having daily conversations at home in Japanese helps me a lot, but the extra effort I put into continuously studying and trying to stretch myself and learn more really does pay off. When I use a new vocabulary word that I've taken the time to internalize in front of a group of people, they don't even notice the huge accomplishment it is for me, but I feel quite proud of myself when I can seamlessly communicate with native speakers for a majority of the time. When I learn something new about an animal and can communicate it to my son in Japanese, I feel excited about learning new things. When I can read and understand a whole sentence without looking up a single kanji or word (even if I'm guessing at some of the meanings), I feel quite pleased with myself.

Taking a look back at the time and effort I put in to my studies, I think that these small wins should be great sources of pride (for myself and for you too!). What are the things that you notice about your own Japanese progress?

いつも繰り返し言うのは毎日日本語を勉強するのは目標の進歩に一番大事なことだと思います。他の言語の勉強やスキルを習いにも当たり前ですよね。うちには毎日日本語で会話するのは大切だけど、その日常会話以外に勉強の努力も大事だと思います。「今」の能力よりもっと上に上がりたいと思っている気持ちも大事だと思います。例えば、人前に新しく習った単語を正しく使う時や、日本語で息子に新しい動物について通じられる時や、辞書を使わず文書を理解ができる時、とても自慢したくなります（笑）

今までの日本語の勉強の努力を考えると、別にちょっと自慢してもいいかなと思っていて、皆さんも自慢していいと思います。皆さんは頑張ってて、成長していて、すごいと思っています！皆さんの進歩について何か気づいたことがありませんか？

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[tokidokitokyo]

2023年2月28日

February was busier than January (how can it possibly be busier? ^^), but having habits in place makes it easier to study Japanese daily. I tried focusing on Reading skills in January and Listening skills in February, and I enjoyed having a specific area to focus on, so I think I will continue to focus on a specific skill area each month.

なんか2月は1月よりもっと忙しかったのに、毎日日本語を勉強する習慣があるのはとても役に立つですね。1月は読解に集中して、そして2月は聴解に目的して、これからも月々一つのスキルに力を込めるつもりです。

My 2023 Goals Progress

I laid out some broad goals for my Japanese study in my 2023 Japanese Language Goals post, so here I will update my progress towards these goals.

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) everyday in 2023.

Going very well! I have been keeping up (I fell behind once and it took a while to catch back up after only 2 days) and I take notes on vocabulary I don't know.

2. Finish 日本語総まとめ N3 (にほんごそうまとめ N3) workbooks.

I haven't had as much time to go through the Sou-matome N3 workbooks as I would like, but I hope that once work calms down in mid-March I can make more progress on them.

3. Review and learn the first 6 levels of the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), specifically the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) up to grade 6.

I haven't been tackling the Joyo Kanji as much as I had hoped, and instead I have been working with kanji from my readings, so I will again try to bring this goal to the forefront for my March studies.

4. Read at least one book every two months.

I definitely took on too many books in January, and in February I still struggled to get through them. I haven't finished any of the books I wanted to, but I also haven't picked up any new books. One of the books I have been going through and recording the vocabulary I don't know page-by-page, so that is taking up a lot of time. I hope to finish it by April, and perhaps take some time to read manga (and not vocabulary-mine) in between.

5. Improve my speaking and writing by finding a tutor.

This goal is still on hold until April due to work. I am trying to write in the meantime though, and then I hope to search for a tutor on italki and make a weekly tutoring schedule.

6. Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day.

Going strong! Having a 10 minute goal often leads to a jumping-off point where I spend more time than I had intended on studying Japanese. This isn't a bad thing, but I find that I am more often actively studying Japanese in place of watching shows or consuming other media, and sometimes I need to remind myself to take a break ^.^

February Study Log

Compared with January, my study time with each skill area hasn't varied too greatly. That being said, I spent relatively less time with vocabulary and kanji, and more time with reading, grammar, writing, and speaking.

Vocabulary & Kanji - I am still going strong with vocabulary and kanji, thanks to flashcards and vocabulary mining from reading.

Vocabulary & Kanji flash cards (renshuu.org)

言葉で遊ぼう (Japanese wordle)

Reading - I have started off strong with reading, although I've probably taken on more reading material than I have time for. Books I am currently reading:

コンビニ人間 - started in December 2022 (22% done - currently on pause)

満月珈琲店の星詠み - started Jan. 1st (23% done)

花野井くんと恋の病 (manga) - started Jan. 1st (30% done - currently on pause)

Listening - I focused on listening to podcasts in February, especially during my commute. I have done JLPT-focused listening practice a couple of times this month and will try to do one JLPT listening practice a week going forward.

Going Forward in March

Study 常用漢字 more frequently and purposefully

Focus on my Writing in March by writing one sentence every day (and getting them corrected at the end of the week)

Try out a new app - I've downloaded a few different apps that I would like to try out in some detail

Read 満月珈琲店の星詠み to the halfway point

I feel like this year is already flying by, so I am trying to be very mindful and conscientious of what I am studying. I am trying to keep my goals manageable for the time I have available and the things that I want to accomplish. Working towards what you want to accomplish is important, but don't forget to take time to do something fun and take a break every once in a while!

光陰矢のごとし。もう2月が終わって、やりたいこともたくさんあります。今年ちゃんとした目的を作ったり、その目的の為に勉強に集中しています。しかし、頑張っている最中に休んだり楽しんだりするのも忘れないでください！

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[tokidokitokyo]

2022年12月31日

It's the end of the year! And to summarize my progress in 2022, I am going to look back at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year, how they changed, and what kind of goals I would like to set in 2023. (I know this is long, but you can skip around to the different headers if you would like!)

年末ですね。そして今年の進歩をまとめて、2022年の年始目的や目的がどう変わったや来年の目的について書こうと思っています。(めちゃくちゃ長くてすみませんが、もし良ければ、見出しがあるので興味があるところだけ見ても構わないです！)

My Japanese Goals in the Beginning of 2022

These are the goals I posted on tumblr at the beginning of 2022 for myself. I wanted to keep the goals simple, easy to fit into my busy life, and to make them tasks that I could stick with.

Spend 10 minutes per day studying Japanese

Learn one new vocabulary word a day

Review 5 kanji a day

Learn one new kanji a day

Spend 30 minutes per week studying grammar

Have someone correct my written Japanese when possible

How I Tracked My Goals in 2022

I tracked my goals in 2022 using a spreadsheet I set up on Notion. I started with the major areas like Kanji, Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening, & Speaking, and then I added the more particular ways I studied, like Kanji Flashcards, Articles, and Podcasts. For each day I studied (and remembered to record it), I recorded the category I studied and the method I used to study. Being a busy working mom, I didn't always keep up, so some of the results might be a little skewed. But I think that my final tally in general accurately affects how I studied.

My Goal Progress in 2022

So my goals at the beginning of 2022 were fairly simple, but goals that I wanted to make into daily or weekly habits for studying Japanese. So how did I do?

First, let's take a look at my 2022 Japanese study breakdown (in graph form!):

What areas of study did I spend the most time on? Vocabulary (22%) was my top area of focus, especially after I started using renshuu to practice with flash cards in the later half of the year. I also did a lot of vocabulary lookup whilst reading Japanese language materials. Listening (20%) & Kanji (20%) were tied for second place since I spent a lot of time listening to TV, movies, and podcasts, and reviewed kanji almost every day. Reading (18%) came in third thanks to the Japanese book club on Discord that I have been reading with for the better part of the year.

What areas of study did I neglect? By far, Writing (2%) was the most neglected area of focus for me. Aside from occasionally writing updates on tumblr or taking notes from grammar videos, I really didn't spend much time writing. Grammar (7%) was also somewhat neglected, although I did watch 日本語の森 videos quite often during the middle of the year. Although I did not intentionally focus on speaking, I do speak Japanese every day, so I am not as worried about my Speaking (11%) being neglected, although I would like to focus on more mindful speaking study in the future.

How My Goals Changed in 2022

Goals in general cannot be stagnant things, because once you have achieved them you must change them to continue your improvement. Rather than giving up on a goal, if you don't achieve it you can change it to better suit what you actually want to accomplish.

My goals when I first started my Japanese studies (over 10 years ago!!) have changed because the person I was when I started studying is very different from who I am now. The goals I had at the beginning of 2022 are different than the goals I have at the end of 2022, and different than the goals I will have in 2023. This is because setting those goals and following through (or not!) has shown me where my strengths and weaknesses lie, where I thought I wanted my focus to be vs. where I actually want my focus to be, and the reasons I study Japanese at this point in my life.

So, how did my goals change?

TL;DR - My goals changed in general from bigger goals that required a significant time commitment, to smaller goals that I could incorporate into my daily life and that eventually became daily habits. I decreased my goals for writing by the end of the year (to basically zero) because I was not meeting them, and added goals for speaking, listening, and reading because I gained opportunities or the desire to improve more in these areas.

Work, taking care of my son, and vacations all played heavily in the type and number of goals I had for each month, and whether or not I met those goals. I've learnt not to be as worried about not meeting a goal and appearing foolish (to myself or to others), and that ditching goals that no longer meet your needs is a great strategy to make your studies more effective and more rewarding.

I'm still not great at making goals that I can stick to long-term without any changes to the goal, but as long as I know I can always change it, I'm not afraid of making goals that will challenge me in my Japanese studies.

Oh, you're still here? Great! Here's where I'll go into (incredibly unnecessary) detail about my goals:

As you can see above, the category focus for my monthly goals shifted from the first half of the year to the second half of the year. Kanji & Writing made up the most part of my goals for the first half of the year, while Reading & Listening were the categories my goals focused on most in the second half of the year.

Writing. The biggest change in goals that I noticed was that at the beginning of the year I really wanted to focus on improving my writing and set goals that ranged from vague ("write more in Japanese") to more specific ("write 2-3 sentences in Japanese per week and get them corrected"). However, I found that month after month I really didn't ever meet these goals. So I stopped including them in my monthly goals by the middle of the year. The failure to meet the goals was my own fault, because I just didn't write even when I did have the time. I never felt motivated to write anything, and I also didn't take the time to ask for any corrections (there's also a fear of judgement in there somewhere, but I digress).

I definitely failed to achieve this goal, but I am not going to be too hard on myself for failing to meet this goal when there is so much else that I have achieved. I think it's important to note how and why I didn't meet these goals, as well as to understand that it's ok not to have met them. If I keep forcing myself to do something I don't want to/am not going to do, I will just become frustrated and unmotivated, rather than actually improving.

Grammar. Not having a lot of time to sit down and just study hampers my ability to learn and practice new grammar. I really need to sit down with the material, and then come back to it later, to absorb it and be able to use it. So although I've been trying to review grammar points, I haven't made much progress with new grammar points.

I keep meaning to go back to the grammar points I don't understand and review them, but not having at least and hour to sit down and study grammar makes me reluctant to do much more than watch grammar videos. So my goals for grammar have mostly gone from learning new grammar to reviewing grammar I know but in which I am not confident.

Speaking. At the beginning of the year I didn't focus much on speaking, and I only started incorporating it into my goals in the middle of the year. I have the opportunity to speak Japanese everyday in the comfort of my own home, so sometimes I become complacent with pronunciation and sentence structure.

However, now that my son can talk (90% in Japanese - he's putting together up to 3 words now!), I am more conscious about what I say and how I say it. I want him to learn proper Japanese, so I pay more attention to my own speaking. This has made speaking-oriented goals a higher priority than even the beginning of this year. The goals are pretty simple and focus on speaking with my son which helps me to accomplish them.

Reading. Reading also popped up as a goal in about the middle of the year, and I have been fairly consistent with achieving this goal. I have joined a Japanese book club on this Discord server and reading with others has kept me motivated to read more frequently. I have also incorporated reading articles with a smaller group, which inspires me to also practice translation.

Kanji. My goals fairly consistently centered around reviewing and learning kanji, and I was pretty consistent with my kanji study and the goals I made for them. I met these goals frequently because they were simple goals (review 5 kanji per day, learn 1 new kanji per week, etc.). Simple goals that I can incorporate into my daily Japanese study have always been the goals with which I have been most consistent. Kanji is the goal area that has changed the least.

Whew!

In Conclusion

So why go into all this detail about goals? Well, I am interested in how I study as well as what I study, and so I tracked and compiled my study data in order to match it up with my goals. I started this studyblr/langblr to keep myself accountable as well as to connect with others who study Japanese (or other languages) and also I am not cool enough for studygram. Creating goals is a great way to personally challenge myself, and posting them here makes me accountable for them to some extent.

So now that you know how I did this year, that begs the question...

What Are My Goals for 2023?

I'm glad you asked!

I bought a book last year called 日本の歴史366 (にほん の れきし 366) that has a page for every day of the year (including February 29th for leap year) with an interesting or important (or both!) historical event. It's for elementary school children, so I feel like I have a chance with this book. I would like to read one page of this book every day.

I think I am high N3 level (but I've never taken a JLPT exam, not even a mock exam). I would like to seriously tackle the N3 study material to improve my level. Up until now I have been working on it sporadically, but I'd like to make a dedicated effort to tackle the material. So I'd like to work through the 総まとめN3 (そう まとめ N3) series at least once a week.

As I mentioned, I have been reviewing five kanji almost every day for a year, and I'd like to focus my kanji studies a little. I want to study the 常用漢字 (じょうようかんじ), particularly the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ), up to grade 6. The 常用漢字 are the 2,136 kanji taught in schools that are "daily use" kanji, which means that you can read newspapers and most other things in daily life if you know these kanji. I would like to have the first 1,026 教育漢字 mostly memorized (on'yomi, kun'yomi, meaning) by the end of 2023. I believe I have a good start from my prior studies, so mind you, I am not starting from zero.

As always, my goal is to study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day. Even as a busy working mom, I can always find 10 minutes to get in some Japanese study (before work, before bed, whilst watching TV). And as I always remind my readers, consistent study is the key to improving your Japanese (or any skill for that matter).

Thank you for joining me on my language journey in 2022, and I look forward to continuing to study with you in 2023!

今年はありがとうございました！

Thanks for everything this year!

良いお年をお迎えください。

Best wishes for the New Year.

そして、また来年よろしくお願いいたします。

And I look forward to seeing you next year.

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