Kanji (16th day) Watched GTO ahh.. the good old days :) Done with the Radical Deck and Pomodoro Technique is Awesome :D

Hi Everyone

    Ahhh… Great Teacher Onizuka is fun 🙂 Watched the live action and the anime both of them are good :D. I watched them before But I wanted to watch them again 😛 I’m done with the radical deck which only has about 234cards so that’s a good thing. I still have about 2,541 unseen Kanji cards left from Super Simple RTK deck and 6,295 unseen cards on All in one Kanji Deck. If I take out All in one Kanji Deck it might not be a burden for me. But if delete this deck I’m just telling myself that I gave up lol. Some of the Kanji are the same, so it’s still good. I make sure that my names on the radicals are correct. Because in making stories if your radicals name is not correct then you are going to have a hard time.

I had a tough time using this characters ~.~;
Because they practically look the same.
spears 戈
march 戌
warriors 武
arrows 弋

        I didn’t know what a teepee was and other English words. So I had to check google images to picture out what it is and it helped me picture out the Kanji and remember them as well :D. https://jisho.org is useful as well for the Japanese words and meaning. https://kanji.koohii.com for my stories. But if I can’t remember the specific Kanji then I will make my own stories instead. I can make 2 or 3 stories until I get used to it. Apps I use while studying: Imiwa? for IOS and Google Translate (It’s still useful. But some translations are not accurate. So be careful).

         The Pomodoro Technique is awesome. It helped me remember all of the Kanji. I think It improved my concentration as well. I’m not sure :P. But the rules did say no distraction so it helped me a lot. When my break time starts, I will get out of my study zone to help me relax xD. It motivates me to study and appreciate my breaks more. Because it’s only 5 minutes(Except for the 4th cycle). The 4th cycle 25-minute break is Heaven @.@

Kanji (13,14,15th day lol) I missed 3 days again @.@ ughhh.. What I did with 846 Anki cards. +Pomodoro Technique+

Hi Everyone

     Let’s start off with why I missed all of the cards. Here are my excuses lol lame starting off with excuses xD

1.) I had a difficult shift + overtime D: I could not finish all of the reviews
2.) The reviews are a lot D:
3.) I didn’t study in the morning. I should’ve but time didn’t permit me. Sleep is a priority for me 5 hours of sleep or 6 is good.

I was tempted to change the 20 new cards to 10. But I didn’t change it, the fact that today was my day off. Means that I still have time to study all of the kanji today. Telling myself that I was just being lazy 😦 yeah truth hurts I know. But the good thing it’s my day off so I could finish it.

Things I did to solve 846 Anki cards:

1.) Pomodoro Technique
Wait, WHat? It’s a Technique that you can use if you have a bigger task that needs finishing today. By managing your time wisely and using breaks. Because our brain has a limited attention span. I have 25 minutes for studying the Anki cards. After this, I take my 5-minute break. Make sure you’re away from the task or In my case, it was my computer so I need to take my breaks outside my study zone. On the 4th cycle, I take my 25-minute breaks well it’s supposed to be 20 minutes. But I’m a little bit greedy so I made it 25 minutes lol.. And NO DISTRACTIONS.

Here’s a great video explanation about Pomodoro Technique. If my explanation wasn’t that awesome D:<
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNBmG24djoY&t=281s

2.) Some of the Kanji doesn’t stick into my head. So I put a lot of stories into 1 kanji so that I could remember them better. I am not sure if it’s effective or not. But hey, It’s working 😛 Might not work for others but yeah try at your own risk. I guess.

3.) Find your North Star or your Goal. Yeah cheezzy, I know. But it’s true. I want to read and write Japanese that’s why I started this. So If I quit now, I will have to start again. I would never ever be able to go study mode again.

Video on Self-Discipline: (Yes, Another video D:< cause it’s useful lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD8qqlyEI08

4.) Make sure to reward yourself on breaks. Things that you want to do or eat. Things that make you happy will boost up your motivation in studying 🙂




Kanji (11th or 12th Day) I missed 1 day on ANKI AGAIN :(

Hi Everyone

      Studying after night shift is a little bit tough for me and sleeping through construction noise after night shift. I couldn’t sleep the noise was just awful the drills, shovels, concrete and the people talking outside T.T. So I just studied today 568 cards in 191 minutes 😦 . The Radical Deck I also put stories in them as well. It’s weird but I couldn’t remember them well if I don’t put stories in them. Even though it’s the radical form. But yeah… might as well do something to remember your Kanji. I’m enjoying the TV shows in Japanese and the Japanese news is a little bit interesting 🙂 so yeah. I’ll be more careful not to miss a day in Anki 😦 more gamba lol. 

Kanji (10th Day) I missed 1 day on ANKI and I took a BIG PUNCH(461 cards in 154 minutes) and I have night shift later :( lol

Hi Everyone 🙂

       I studied some of the Kanji yesterday. But I accidentally slept 😦 lol… I was really tired and BEHOLD cards piled up. I was about to give up. But If I give up now I will have to start again (It’s like my 3rd time studying in Anki). I don’t like to do that again. There is an extension in Anki that could help you with your OVERFLOWING reviews. https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1417170896
But if I use this it defeats the purpose of having Anki. Anki is a spaced repetition system. It helps you remember the cards based on the days you’ve seen it. So yeah it was a painful decision. But I need to finish all of the reviews 😦 461 cards in 154 minutes. It is a good thing it’s my day off or I won’t be able to finish this. xD Gamba!

Kanji (9th Day) Putting Kanji words, Onyomi or Kunyomi in Anki stories. Added RTK Radical Deck more Decks more pain. No pain, No gain lol

Hi Everyone 🙂

          I added another new Deck (MatthewHawkins.co | BritVSJapan’s RTK Radical Deck). I have said before I won’t study this but it only has 234 notes in it so might as well study it. Ahhh… I wish I could buy more time @.@ I want to read more manga to check the Kanji or watch more anime to check if I have improved. I also added Onyumi and Kunyomi on my stories. So that I get to read it in Japanese. But if I couldn’t memorize it then I won’t force it xD. I have already enough decks to study anyways 😛 I’m also using sleep calculator as well because my usual sleep pattern is off @.@; ahhh so sleepy. So my future Me~ here’s your stats no not AHT god damn it lol 🙂 have fun~

Kanji (8th Day) Writing a diary in Japanese (Didn’t like it :( but it was useful)

Hi Everyone 🙂

            Writing a diary hmm… it was a painful experience lol. It was helpful though. Because you get to remember what you did that day (Records what you did duh? lol). I was pretty much a lazy person so writing it every day was pretty tough for me. I had to work as a caregiver, study for the JLPT exam, homework, and study for caregiver school as well. About the grammar check and Kanji check. I had my coworkers help me out with my grammar and Kanji in my Diary( I didn’t put all my daily life in it. As I’ve said I’m pretty much exhausted. So it was “ok” even if they check the diary).

           One thing that was pretty tough for me was my “appearance”. I look Japanese so some people would expect me to know more stuff than everyone else. Which is I’m not and It’s pretty frustrating. But I’ve learned that if you want to live here in Japan. I have to learn Kanji. Like everything from A to Z. ahhh.. lol they don’t have Alphabet xD k… Even though I hate studying 7000 or 3000 kanji. The truth is I need to xD.

           When my coworkers are not there I used an old Microsoft word to check my grammar in Japanese. Yeah, not efficient. I know if someone could suggest me something great that would be awesome xD. In the end, I stopped my diary it was a bit tiring for me. I will concentrate on Kanji(Anki). But if you like to do the Diary. That would be great. Do the stuff that makes you happy ^.^. It makes your studying more enjoyable.

Kanji (7th Day) JLPT Japanese-Language Proficiency Test = She took the test and slept x.x

Hi Everyone 🙂

       When I took JLPTN4 and N3. I didn’t practice writing Kanji at all. I think I didn’t need to as it is multiple choice from a~c lol. I only have a year and a half to study as well. The JLPT books(questionnaires) are very useful. It’s pretty similar to the actual test. I put all the answers in my JLPT books. I also need to put the meaning of the Kanji and the hiragana. I had like 4 pencils YES 4 four. I was so nervous back then I still have 4 pencils on both tests hahaha. Pencils(HB pencil), sharpener, eraser (Be sure to take off the erasers cover) and wristwatch (not the digital one).

        The hardest part of the test was Grammar/Bunpou and Stories. The Stories are pretty long and it has a trick question @.@. You better read that fast(carefully xD) or time is gonna run out. Also, watch your time as well. Because time flies~ lol fine it was not funny ~.~; Some of the Kanji are furigana but the unfamiliar ones are not furigana. About the Kanji, I think you need like 300 Kanji for N4 and 600 for N3. I have Kanji Starter Pictograph for the 300 Kanji. Which is pretty useful It has pictures for the corresponding Kanji 🙂 which is pretty neat. I’m a visual learner so it helped me a lot to remember some of the Kanji.

           When I took the JLPTN3 test the person next to me was SLEEPING. Yes, she was SLEEPING. I was like wtf It’s like life or death for me when I took the test. But yeah she slept through the whole thing. I mean come on you paid for the test right. At least answer some of them it’s multiple choice @.@. Oh, yeah answer the easy ones first and think about the hard questions later. Some of them were in Kimono. A lot of different nationalities took the test which is pretty awesome to look at xD. If you are taking the test don’t be nervous 🙂 It will only make it worse just relax and answer it.

KANJI STARTER (Pictographs) by Daiki Kusuya

Kanji (6th Day) Kanji Radicals

Hi Everyone 🙂

     Radicals hmm.. wow I’m not really good at explaining them. But I will try xD lol If you take a look at some Kanji it has a lot of parts(Radicals) if you break them to pieces. It tells a story about the Kanji. So it’s easier for you to make stories out of them through radicals :D! 草, For example, we have くさ It’s a grass radical above it and 早い はやい what’s above it is fast.  Story: Grass is faster than flowers *maybe* lol The funnier, interesting and exaggerated stories you have the faster you will remember the Kanji. But if you are lazy you could always go to https://kanji.koohii.com

I’ve looked online and I saw Kanji Radical Cheat Sheet
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*hOlY4hhCM4OwVo0RQDYhdw.png

This video is awesome for learning Kanji as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmXzslAGkCI&t=345s

Kanji Radical Deck
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1475370591

I tried studying this Deck. But I already have 2 decks that I’m studying right now. It might not be a good idea to study all of them and overtask myself. But it would be good if you study the radicals first before you study Kanji. But whichever works for you that would be great ^.^ Have fun~

Kanji (5th Day) Kodomo Shinbun = Kids Newspaper *Wow I forgot to post lol xD*

Hi Everyone 🙂

              I got so sleepy yesterday that I forgot to post my blog. Not that everyone is waiting for it. But I want to post so that I would be held accountable to study more. This newspaper is great It would keep you updated on the news and it has furigana as well. But the tendency is if you read furigana you only tend to read what’s above it and not the Kanji which is bad. Put the words that you don’t know in Anki Flashcards and read the Kanji as well not the hiragana. Don’t read it or you won’t improve. Read it only if it’s necessary 🙂

Kanji (4th Day) Studying and watching Japanese TV shows, anime or anything as long as it’s Japanese LOL

Hi Everyone 🙂

           When I am studying my flashcards. I always turn my TV “on” and put Japanese subtitles on my TV. So that I get to study my flashcards and look at some of the Kanji that pop up on the TV screen 🙂 killing two birds with one stone. But if you don’t like distractions you could always study the flashcards first so that you will be able to finish them quickly. I tried turning the TV “off” and study all my flashcards and it seems faster that way. Whatever works for you that would be great :). Remember not to follow everything that I wrote here on my blog. You can use it as a guide. But please discover your own study habits. What Works For Me May Not Work For You. As I’ve said before have “fun” 🙂

           I have 2 Kanji Decks right now. I’m afraid if I could finish them all or it would bite me if I couldn’t finish them all in 1-day xD. My reviews are piling up. But I managed to finish them all. If I do some of them in the morning and what is left in the evening. Ahhh good luck to me then x.x If you have any tips for studying Kanji and about Anki that would be great :D!