Kenshin_sama

That's good to hear. Happy birthday, Kaguya!

I'm not trying to compete with other guides, though. I'm really only interested in sharing a method that I found useful for learning the grammar. It's mostly because, in my opinion, the stage of learning that I'm currently at feels kinda neglected as far as application goes. That's the crazy thing about languages; there are far too many complications to teach it reliably in a book. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for schools (in most developed nations at least) to put so much emphasis on language study from pre-K to college (and even they can't always make a capable wordsmith out of a native speaker). Do also keep in mind that it can take well over a decade (likely two) to become proficient in Japanese. Unless you're some sort of god-tier linguist with more than 25 languages under your belt, the path to learn Japanese will be a long one. Be patient with it. If learning Japanese is anything like learning your native language, then I think your goal should be to read for fun rather than for improvement. I remember how I used to struggle to read Harry Potter when I was 10, but I didn't beat myself up when I came across a word I didn't know or a few sentences I couldn't completely comprehend. That never kept me from wanting to read more books throughout the years, and English comprehension is no longer an issue for me (hasn't been for years). As long as you continue to immerse yourself in a language over a long period of time, you will learn it. Huh, that's something I actually want to do. I'm nowhere near good enough to do this now, but once I become more proficient in programming, I was thinking about designing a desktop app that would act as a base for anyone who wants to write helpful guides on individual VNs for up-and-coming Japanese readers to reference while reading. Sadly, that is going to be something of a stretch goal since I'm still only learning the basics, but it is something I could devote myself to while learning how to code stuff. Considering how hard it is to translate VNs already, I don't think it'd be practical to include a translation explanation as well. I'm not sure if my approach would garner much attention either, but I do think there'd at least be a wider range of Japanese readers who'd be willing and able to explain the mechanics of difficult sentences rather than translate it outright. Also, while it may be necessary to translate the language in your head when you first start reading, you will eventually need to get in the habit of treating Japanese sentences like Japanese sentences. I don't think reading a translation will do much to help you progress. Also, if anyone's curious, part 2 is still in editing~ My first week back at college had me a little more preoccupied than I expected, but I'm finally caught up on everything for now so I'll have some time to work on the guide tonight. Sorry for the delays!

Yeah, that was the hard part for me. It wasn't until I put greater thought into my approach that I began to enjoy learning Japanese. If I'd figured this technique out when I first started learning, I'd have been reading VNs a long time ago. Thanks for the comment. Also, any thoughts on studying every day as opposed to studying 6 days a week? I'd like to think the latter is more effective since it gives your mind some time to cool down, but I can't say I'm overly familiar in this area.

Thanks. To me that feels like a more difficult than reading a book, but that's mostly because I perform better in a structured environment. But hey, any method's fine as long as you're able to learn.

Oh, that's where your ava's from? I had no idea, lol. Thanks for bringing up the sale, although I may have to wait a little bit later to buy it since I'm kinda broke right now.

Index Hello and welcome to my Learning How To Learn Japanese guide series! My name is Kenshin_sama, and today I’d like to go over a basic overview of what these guides will be about. What I aim to accomplish with this series is share some of the observations I made while studying in hopes that they aid you in finding a sustainable method for yourself. While many of the techniques I discuss can be applied to almost any area of study, I’ll be writing these guides specifically for those who want to learn Japanese. Guide format: After dedicating several hours to writing this guide, I came to the realization that I’ve put in far too much information to consume all at once; and after some deliberation, I decided to break my guide into a series of smaller guides to provide moderate break points and make it a little less intimidating. Each guide will be dedicated to certain lifestyle aspects or learning techniques that can make the process of learning Japanese easier. Every time I create a new guide, I'll add a link to an index at the top of each entry for convenient navigation. What you should know before you start learning Japanese: Gaining proficiency in any new language is going to require a substantial time investment throughout the entirety your life; make sure you can justify that kind of commitment to yourself before getting started. There are plenty of reasons you might want to consider learning Japanese other than for increased enjoyment of your hobbies, but make sure they’re enough to keep you motivated. The key to studying effectively is studying consistently. In the wise words of James Raymond Watkins, “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” If you can spend more time studying, great, but it is imperative that you take the time to study almost every day, even if it’s only for a short duration. I’m not sure if this is still a commonly held belief, but I think I’ll go ahead and address this argument in case you get the wrong idea. It is not impractical to learn a completely new language as an adult. You may have heard it said on occasion that the best time to learn any new language is at a young age. I’m not willing to verify the accuracy of that statement since it’s not exactly relevant to this guide (I’m not writing this for 5-year-olds), but I can say with some certainty that it is never too late to get started. I’ve heard plenty of stories about people who’ve started learning their second language in their late 20s or older, and have achieved fluency in that language with enough practice. Just know that it’s perfectly normal to suck at learning a new language at first; your age is not to blame. Afterword: Thank you very much for reading. It was not my intention to make the introduction post this long, but I wanted to be sure I made some of my points as clear as possible. I'd greatly appreciate it if any of you would be kind enough to share your thoughts on this guide. In part 2, I’ll be going over a certain method of learning Japanese grammar through Anki. I'm almost positive that this method won't take over as the primary go-to for learning grammar, but I figured it'd be worth sharing anyways since it's working well for me and I haven't seen it brought up in any other JP guide (at least the ones promoted on this site). Hope to see you there!

Happy birthday, Nayleen-dono. Thanks for everything you do for the site and I hope you enjoy your day.

I always liked Rin x Komari moments. They warm my heart. https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=564736

Oh, you did pass that? Congratulations! I'm still taking lessons, lol. I'm hoping to have my license in another week or two.

Yaaaaay S Marie! Got a little scared when I didn't get her on my first pull. Pretty happy with the CE I got too.

Florida is not an ideal place to be for Summer. Sadly I can't afford to live the snowbird lifestyle and move up north when it gets this hot, so I pretty much have to deal with it. That said, I have had a few moments of inspiration during my 3-month Summer break from college, and I think I've finally managed to gain a certain sense of clarity I didn't have during the previous semester. I've made tremendous progress on mental health recovery, I'm learning how to manage my time better, my overall fitness has improved drastically, and I've even figured out a few techniques to help me optimize my studies while I was learning Japanese (especially with the Pomodoro Technique, which was recommended to me by 1P1A). Though there were some downsides with the weather, I'd say my Summer was good overall.

Huh, I'm surprised Senran Kagura got a sequel after a whole five years, lol. This is kinda one of those shows I picked up when I was just getting into airing anime and watching just about everything that seemed somewhat interesting. The original video games had some buzz going around in the community, and that pretty much motivated me to watch it. It wasn't a terrible anime, but I wasn't particularly impressed with it either, so I think I'll be giving it a pass this time around. SAO Alicization is either going to be amazing, or amazingly uneventful as the previous adaptions were (after the SAO arc, that is). I do hope the producers manage to bring their A game for this one. One of my old Army friends recommended Tokyo Ghoul to me some time ago; maybe I'll go ahead and start watching that in preparation for the sequel. Yay, Index III is happening! I watched season 1 of the anime, but I'm up to volume 13 in the LN atm. I should probably get around to watching the 2nd season just for a little refresher (I enjoyed what I got from S1 also). Normally I'd wait until I'm caught up in the LN before I start watching an anime adaption, but I think I'll make an exception for S3 time since YP is not likely to translate S3 content before this finishes airing, and I refuse to read the fan translation. And from what I hear, S3 is where the series should start to really kick off. Oh damn, are we getting another Satou Takuya Sci-Fi!? Hope he does just as well with RErideD as he did on Steins;Gate! Goblin Slayer might be something to look forward to since it doesn't come with the standard LN fantasy protagonist. Curious to see where this goes. Ya know, as much as I wanna watch UzaMaid for the loli shenanigans, I already have so much anime I plan on watching this season (by my standards; 5 is already going over my limit). I'll consider adding it to my watch list if anything else flops.

This is probably what I'll be listening to for the next few days lol.

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Oh damn, even I didn't vote to keep in honorifics for non-Japanese settings. Still, if I had to choose between keeping them entirely or losing them entirely, I'd definitely go with the former. I wasn't sure how popular the removal of honorifics was gonna be for Japanese settings, but I'm a bit relieved to see that they're mostly viewed favorably.

Is that why you left it out of your title? Smart move, actually. I'd be much more likely to scroll past your blog entry if you did since I kinda lost interest in the main VN.

It's too bad we won't be getting anything other than a cheap translation for this work. Guess I won't get to appreciate Kantoku's art in this. If it weren't for the shoddy writing in the Steam page, this CG could've convinced me to buy it right on release day.

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Yay, Suzuha episode! I did not think this would get as heavy as it did, but damn did it get me right in the feels. I thought this was gonna be a lighthearted romance slice of life episode for fleshing out the characters, but it was a real tearjerker this time around.

It's funny you should mention the 212 EVO, cuz that's exactly what I have installed. And I agree, it's pretty sexy. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Ahlor/saved/ I know there are more factors to look into with the case other than just airflow, but I kinda assumed that any case that prioritized that would already have the slots needed to install more fans. I suppose I could be wrong, though. Wtf, did you hack my list or something!? I did prioritize spending on GPU over CPU, mostly because my research lead me to believe that the former has more impact on gaming than the latter. I kinda confirmed as much when I tested the build out while playing The Witcher 3, and found that the game relied very heavily on my GPU, but moderately on my GPU. As for RAM, I don't remember why I went with my choice, but it doesn't feel like I spent too much. The lowest my MB can take is DDR4-2133, and what I bought was 2400. I'm, like, 50% sure I got my ram on sale, which may explain why I went with that over 2133. At least I didn't go with the fastest it can take. Although lately it feels like I need to double the amount of RAM I have since browsers are so heavy on it nowadays.