Achieving Your Japanese Goals – February 2019
We all have goals, big and small. Things get in the way, preventing you from achieving them. Not any more. This time you are going to win.
Task
Write down specific goals you want to achieve for the month of February
Initial Instructions
Leave a comment by February 1st and include:
1. Your specific goal(s)
2. Resources you will use
3. Game plan/strategy
Completion Instructions
Reply to your comment by February 28th and include:
1. Which goals were you able to accomplish
2. Which goals did you fail (how far did you get)?
3. Your experience (issues, struggles, discoveries)
If you don’t come back and leave a reply, it will be assumed you didn’t meet your goals for the month. Pressure. But sometimes a little positive pressure can be a good thing.
Complete your goals, finally.
* Make sure to update your January goals!
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
My goal is to get to 250 cards in Jalup beginner.
It’s modest but I’m always very busy.
My goal is to finish Jalup Beginner. I’m at 635 cards learned so far so it should be doable.
I also want to add 85 cards to my vocabulary deck in Anki, from 115 to 200 cards.
All done with Jalup Beginner. Now I’ll work on reviews, RTK and my vocab deck for a couple of weeks before diving into Jalup Intermediate.
#1 Goal: My goal is to revise and learn up to 350 words in kanji.
#2 Resources: Light Novels, blog posts, and Youtube videos (without subs) in japanese.
#3 Strategy: Read stuff, write down unknown words in paper, find proper meaning, profit.
I’m not a complete beginner so I know that I can accomplish my goal if I work hard.
I’m also cheating a little cause I’m not waiting for day 1 to start, I’m not fond of date limiters.
Good luck, fellow learners.
I may come back in the end of February.
１。目的
RTK 1255（拷）から1657（余）まで
[through “torture” until reaching “too much”… 爆笑]
２。教材
RTK、ノート、暗記（索引カードのアプリ）
[i.e. https://imgur.com/a/WY3qfo8 + スマホ]
３。勉強法
daily reviews and ~20 new cards/day Monday-Friday (weekend for mental breather / catch-up as needed)
P.S. In case it helps anyone else “gamify” their own ambitions, a peek at my RTK studies:
study schedule = divided into weekly index cards (w/daily hearts I fill in as I complete the day’s studies… visual of front/back theme: https://imgur.com/a/9G5rquS ). Doubles as a bookmark.
For added motivation, bonus: create progress meters w/tangible rewards for completing the week’s studies (in addition to the rewards of literacy, of course ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ)
A. a sweet treat (ex: a mint chocolate) countdown (visual: https://imgur.com/a/RcB6FpF — made w/toilet paper rolls… tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6dcUS-O80g )
B. iron-on patches (think “Scout badges”) that go on an achievement sash to chronicle tough Japanese conquests (visual: https://imgur.com/a/StTBREI ; patches available at craft stores; or you could use stickers or search “BuJo productivity meter” for simple doodle/pen-paper ideas)
C. a sticker to “defeat bosses” on a progress meter (visual: https://imgur.com/a/ojieCSM .. currently on week 4 of 12, “Groundhog’s Shadowy Lunar New Year”… next will be pummeling the Setsubun oni with 福豆/roasted soybeans… If holidays/seasons don’t light up your brain, maybe choose bosses related to your favorite book/game/hobby/etc).
& D. Grand prizes to earn for finishing the entire challenge = https://imgur.com/a/7UULmr1 [whatever may motivate you… mine has a box of traditional/cute Japanese goodies (風呂敷/furoshiki, 茶器/tea containers, お弁当ピック/bento food picks, など) and a book to enjoy after RTK (J-J picture dictionary『小学館ことばのえじてん』). You could also reward yourself with a new Japanese game/movie/album, or tools/ingredients to expand your Japanese cooking skills, or a trip to a local eatery/bakery/café that serves Japanese treats you’ve been wanting to try.]
Whatever your method, the (February) Lunar New Year いのしし is cheering you on!
https://imgur.com/a/PBORbBe . ＼＼\\٩( ‘ω’ )و //／／ファイト！
Feedback:
１。So far, so good (currently at 1575, on the way to 1657 by the end of the week/month). やった！
２。No fails (RTK = “only” goal). よかった。
３。Discovery: If any RTK stories bore you, you could insert your own characters or ideas that add emotional appeal or fun ambience to spark your brain’s interest/memory (pro tip: take a peek at the keyword index in the back of the book to make sure your idea isn’t going to emerge/conflict later in the book).
[This may seem obvious to some, but if it takes you time to trust how your brain learns kanji best, and then confidently embrace your own memory-story creativity…? You’re not alone. ファイト！]
たとえば、
貝 The Little Mermaid (b/c clam bra ;-P)
羊 the sheep from “Babe”
隹 a Butterball tofurkey
午 Mr. Ed
人 Mr Darcy from “Pride & Prejudice” (asking around, most people used Mr. T)
勧 Rainbow Dash from “My Little Pony” (b/c powerful pegasus)
之 Zorro (his blade slash)
Pinnacle = (Norse god) Thor visiting Mount Olympus (& the Greek Gods)
隣 Totoro (tall as a pinnacle, rice-white belly, casts shade like sunglasses…& I hum the theme song for となりのトトロ)
矛 a wildling woman (like Ygritte) from “Game of Thrones” (halberd hiding in a tree)
足 Captain Wentworth from “Persuasion” (I gave him a limp from his years of service)
糸 Spiderman (spidey threads)
玄 The Invisible Man (wearing a hat and cloak to hide the mysterious void beneath)
凶 Scarface from “The Lion King” (I also used Simba in some earlier stories, like 徴 = Simba annointed as future king by Rafiki on the mountain cliff)
勢 sumo wrestler (holding rice seedlings in an earthen pot as part of his exercise, to be eaten as an ongiri later ^w^)
亥 squirrel the color of an inoshishi, clutching an acorn (like Scrat from “Ice Age”)
anything with 廿 is a minotaur (bull head)
characters with eruption 噴 relate to Pompeii
and several 留 / 殺 / etc I related to serial killer Ted Bundy (b/c I had just watched a documentary about him, and he got busted with receipts connecting him to crimes and remains left in fields. *shudders*)
Okay this month I have these goals in order of priority:
1) Start Jalup expert, 10 cards a day. 300 cards total
2) Keep up with RTK and anki situation reviews
3) Finish Pimsular Japanese 4 – ~13 lessons left
4) I’d like to try and do all of Jalup Speaking Missions not sure if I will get through it all this month but I’ll try
5) Immersion – Finish SAO Alicization and do 15 episodes of Terrace House Opening New Doors through episode 20
6) 5 chapters Yotsubs reading
This month was tougher for me. Short month and I had a week long trip out of the country so missed some goals:
1) Start Jalup expert, 10 cards a day. 300 cards total
**Missed a bit. I got to 270 cards into expert. It is going well though overall.
2) Keep up with RTK and anki situation reviews
**Complete
3) Finish Pimsular Japanese 4 – ~13 lessons left
**Missed, I did 12/13 though. Mostly on track.
4) I’d like to try and do all of Jalup Speaking Missions not sure if I will get through it all this month but I’ll try
**Complete. These were fun and mostly successful. Adam if/when you do more I would love more to be real world situations. These were funny and fun but I would love one where you order food at a restaurant, buy train tickets, book a reservation, ask directions, etc.
5) Immersion – Finish SAO Alicization and do 15 episodes of Terrace House Opening New Doors through episode 20
**Missed, I caught up on SAO but I didn’t get all the Terrace House in that I wanted. I did 9/15 eps.
6) 5 chapters Yotsuba reading
**Missed I got in 3/5 chapters
1. Read 宇宙兄弟 16 and 1 (going back to the first one as finishing Adam’s cards on it as while ago.
2. Add 100 new cards from expert 1 and other new cards from my tutoring sessions.
3. Watch 15 tv shows.
Didn’t fully finish 16, finished the card goals, and close or finished tv goals not sure.
Goal is at least 30 cards a day, 15 from the Jalup Beginner deck, 10 from Core 2k, and 5 from Kanji Kingdom.
So, by February 28th I should have completed:
Card 610 of Jalup Beginner
Card 325 of Core 2k
Card 175 of Kanji Kingdom
There is no one way to learn Japanese. But curious why you are doing core 2k and beginner at the same time. I messed with the core decks before I found jalup and they are a mess and have a lot of overlap. Personally I think you are better off dumping the core decks and focusing on the beginner and kk decks. Just my thoughts :) good luck either way
Couple reasons.
One, Jalup has never been good for vocab. At least when I bought into it years ago, that was advertised, don’t know if it still is. Someone who only does Beginner is only going to be able to count to 1 or 2, won’t know any days of the week but Monday, etc. You were always intended to supplement your vocab in some way. And while Core 2k definitely has some overlap, the feels like a minor cost to pay for learning many of the most common Japanese words that Jalup doesn’t teach you.
Two, I’ve already done Beginner. Completed it a few years ago and then crashed badly at the J-J transition. So a lot of beginner is either a review of stuff I still remember or a reminder of stuff I once knew but forgot. So supplementing with some extra vocab really isn’t detracting from my study of the Beginner deck and is just better equipping me to start reading things sooner.
Doing Core is fine as a personal choice (https://japaneselevelup.com/everyones-working-core-2000-review/) and plenty of people mix methods, so I say do what you think will work for you.
But I think you are throwing in a slight misconception which I wanted to clarify.
Jalup purposely focuses more on grammar so it is easier to learn vocabulary once you get to Jalup Intermediate (grammar is much harder to teach in J-J). Yes, you don’t learn to count past 3, or more than one day of the week… in Beginner. But Intermediate and beyond fills all those gaps and more, covering all the important words you are going to want to learn. The idea is to trade short-term gains for long-term ones.
So while supplementing is completely fine, that wasn’t the intention of why I set things up the way I did. I’d say the one downside that some people have when they do supplement too much in addition to Jalup Beginner, is not duplicate material (which is always useful for review anyway), but covering material that you would soon learn in J-J, losing some of that initial J-J practice. But again, plenty of people have done this without issue.
Also I’m not sure when you tried Jalup Intermediate, but card linking in the apps made life a whole lot easier to make the transition.
Anyway, best of luck on your monthly goal!
Still keeping it simple, so…
* Do all reviews
* Immerse more!
* Done.
* I’ve been done really good with the listening immersion this month, and making great progress.
I also added 14 J-J cards to my deck for the first time in months, so I think I’m ready to start feeding my decks again soon :)
A little late, but I finally worked up the courage to comment, as I thought making my goals public would help me motivate myself.
Goals are:
1. Finish the Japanese course on Mango Languages
2. Do at least 1 hr of immersion a day
3. Get caught up and back to doing my Anki cards daily
Resources:
For immersion:
Playing Xenoblade 2 in Japanese, and also listening to podcasts
Game plan:
1. Do at least an hour of Mango Languages a day, not really worrying about making vocab cards or anything, just focusing on learning grammar as I feel that’s what it does best
2. Just fit it in in my free time as best I can, I really just want to get used to hearing natural speed Japanese even if I understand very little
3. Just do as many reviews as I can each day
Maybe not the best game plan but I’m only a late beginner so I’m just doing my best :^)
Hi Fiora,
Thanks for making a comment on the monthly goal post. Best of luck in February!
Thank you! I’ll do my best.
Just bought the Maximum package. I love it! Great not to have an English translation.
Goal for February: Jalup Beginner, 30 cards a day
Pimsleur: 20 lessons
Genki II: Reading of the grammars points (at least 6 lessons)
Welcome to the site Gervais, and rock those February goals!
Glad to be part of the JALUP community!
My goal is to be 954 cards into the modified RTK deck.