Choko-San, sorry if this has already been asked, but how do you study? I'm at lesson 6 in genki and think I'm good at making basic sentences and stuff but idk how to improve from here idk whether to focus on grammar or vocabulary or listening my mind is messy so I would like to know how you organise your studying schedule since you self study too? Thanks a lot I love your blog ❣❣❣❣
こんにちは、アノンさん！Thanks for your question, and congrats on making it half way through Genki 1! That’s wonderful progress! ^_^
I wrote about how I study from the Genki textbook in this post. I also talked about the additional resources I use here!
I don’t really have a study schedule because I’m working almost full-time. I just fit studying anywhere I can, whenever I have spare time and not too many other commitments. For example, I’ll skim my notes on my phone while I’m on the bus, or listen to a Japanese podcast while buying groceries at the store. I try my best to make my self-studying as low-pressure as possible because:
It’s supposed to be fun! I’m learning for my own benefit, no one else’s.
I’m not in school, so I can learn at my own pace.
I don’t want it to feel like a chore or a “must do” task every single day. (This leads to burnout, which I’ve experienced before.)
I also highly recommend this post for advice on continuing forward as you learn more in Genki.
diverse noses on male characters: crooked ones, straight ones, big ones, small ones, tip pointing downward, tip pointing upward, wide nostrils, slim nostrils, … diverse noses on female characters: yeah you see, this one’s even smaller than the others and this one’s tip points a little more upwards making it look even more like a button nose than the button noses of the other ones
my family used to have this sort of abstract watercolour painting up in our dining room, it was there as early as i can remember, and i always hated it. one day when i was like ten my mom came up to me, and i guess handed me something but i dont remember what, and she was like “can you put this on the shelf, by the bird painting?”
and i was like “..the what?”
and she was like “the painting of the bird on the branch. can you put it there” and she pointed to the abstract painting
and i was like “how is that a bird”
and she said “well what do you think it is?”
and was like “it’s a beached whale with a giant eye, blowing blood out of its blow hole onto the legs of a guy who’s running away”
..and i guess my mom thought that was like funny or weird or something so she told my dad about it, and he immediately said “oh, you mean the reindeer painting?”
loved one: sorry, i can’t hang out! i have plans with other people
my hellbrain’s instincts: wow you love them more tha-
me, ignoring her and working on being a better person: that’s okay! i hope you have fun! can we hang out some other time?
I love this bc it’s a little snapshot of what the intermediate stage of recovery/treatment/growth can look like.
It might not be what you expect. I think people want to stop having those thoughts immediately, and if they can’t they feel that they’ve failed. But that’s not true! Challenging those old thought patterns is exactly what recovery looks like
