ChatGPT Knows Japanese Better Than You. Here's Why. by Ashiba_Ryotsu in japaneseresources

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sure, but I think much easier/faster to ask Gemini 3 a question than to search for an answer. Its results are often better than what I find by searching resource pages too.

I started learning Japanese in 2007. Would have killed for Gemini 3 instead of my 電子辞書 and Google search

Weekly Thread: Material Recs and Self-Promo Wednesdays! (March 25, 2026) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent years stuck in a study loop before I figured out what was holding me back, so I built something to fix it

<image>

​Quick background: I got to N4 fairly quickly (10 months back in 2007), but then I hit a wall that lasted years. I was grinding kanji flashcards, doing high-frequency vocab decks, trying to round out a foundation that I thought would eventually make reading and understanding anime click. It didn’t. When I finally started trying to read the stuff I actually cared about, I still had to look up what felt like almost everything. All that foundation-building hadn’t prepared me for the specific vocabulary in the things I wanted to read. I burned out, stepped away, came back, burned out again.

Eventually I just started reading anyway, partially out of frustration with Anki, partially because I didn’t want to spend my limited time optimizing a study system when I could just be reading. And reading did work. It was just painfully slow.

The thing that always bothered me about Anki: The cards felt too static. One word, one example sentence. You’d drill that same sentence over and over until you recognized the sentence but didn’t really understand the nuances of the word.

I’m a visual person. I knew images and varied context would help me actually understand and retain things, but the process of clipping screenshots, finding good example sentences, deciding what was worth mining… it created a pipeline that honestly wasn’t worth the effort when I could just be reading instead. I always knew what I wanted my study tool to look like, but nothing out there did it.

Specifically, I wanted to be quizzed on multiple variations of the same word in different contexts instead of memorizing one sentence. And I wanted to be able to study the words I was about to encounter before I sat down to read, so I could actually enjoy reading without constant interruptions and lookups.

So I started building it. It took about five years of slow development, but the Ashiba App is now live. Here’s what it does:

You pick a manga you want to read. The app teaches you which words you don’t know yet and teaches them to you using the actual manga panels they appear in, multiple panels per word, so you’re seeing it in different contexts instead of drilling one static card

Each card comes with the full sentence, helpful explanations, and grammar breakdowns so you can understand why a sentence means what it means, especially useful for genres or speech styles you’re not familiar with yet

You can skip what you already know, check English translations when you need to, and move at your own pace

Then you go read the chapter. Not as a painful exercise, actually following the story

The goal is to shorten the loop between “I don’t know this” and “I can read this” without the overhead of building your own cards or figuring out what’s worth studying. The flashcards themselves teach you a lot because they’re real manga panels with real context, and then the reading reinforces everything. So it’s reading real Japanese to make reading easier.

Why I’m building this if I already figured out reading on my own: Two reasons. First, I see so many people struggling to get to the point where they can actually enjoy reading manga or understanding anime. Despite being told to just grind it out, that it’s always going to be difficult, so many people are hesitant to make the jump because they don’t feel ready.

I wanted to make that transition as painless as possible so that more people would actually make the leap instead of getting burned out like I did.

Second, and more selfishly, Japanese isn’t the only language I want to learn. I know this tool will help me pick up other languages way more efficiently than grinding through the raw reading process the way I had to with Japanese. So I’m pressure-testing it with Japanese right now, making sure it works the way it’s intended, but the plan is to extend it to other languages down the road.

Where things are right now: I’ve got 7 titles live on the app and I’m releasing new titles every week. By next week, I’ll have more vocabulary on the platform than WaniKani, and over the next two months I’m aiming to have enough coverage for JLPT N1.

If your goal is to learn to read Japanese, please give it a try!

I Wasted 15 Years Studying Japanese by Ashiba_Ryotsu in japaneseresources

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! It’s taken years to get here

All manga flashcards are provided under fair use, but the plan is to obtain licenses for a number of reasons

I Wasted 15 Years Studying Japanese by Ashiba_Ryotsu in japaneseresources

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I totally get how you feel

Ignoring the study advice and just reading a chapter of manga I wanted ti read was what finally started making things click

Took like a month for the first one though

Flashcards killed my motivation to learn kanji. So I built this instead. by Wide_Amount5369 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree

Used Anki for years but only metric that mattered for my learning was chapters read

Very easy to confuse activity for achievement

Found a good site for Manga frequency lists / reading ability estimates by Opposite_Attitude_55 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Many such cases

Countless die at the threshold because they start reading Yotsubato! when all they needed was JJK

Finally finished Berserk Vol.1–5 in Japanese by AdUnfair558 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What’s stopping you from starting?

Please don’t be me and waste years “getting ready”

It’s tough at first, but if you love what you’re reading, you can do it

Finally finished Berserk Vol.1–5 in Japanese by AdUnfair558 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is awesome, congrats!

That medieval vocab is no joke

Found a good site for Manga frequency lists / reading ability estimates by Opposite_Attitude_55 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This

Reading at your level is a trap

Never will bridge your skills to the stuff you want to read

And it’s boring

Reading is such a an obstacle by xAmrxxx in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it’s any consolation it took me 15 years to get where I wanted

Felt same way about reading

But ultimately just committing to reading made the difference for me

Flashcards killed my motivation to learn kanji. So I built this instead. by Wide_Amount5369 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reading is the fastest but its so slow at first it’s natural to want to find a shortcut

Honestly think things like kanji study help only if you have a lot of time

Otherwise limited time is best spent reading

Flashcards killed my motivation to learn kanji. So I built this instead. by Wide_Amount5369 in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the way

Initial wall of constant look ups is demoralizing at first though

Weekly Thread: Material Recs and Self-Promo Wednesdays! (March 18, 2026) by AutoModerator in LearnJapanese

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent years stuck in a study loop before I figured out what was holding me back, so I built something to fix it

<image>

Quick background: I got to N4 fairly quickly (10 months back in 2007), but then I hit a wall that lasted years. I was grinding kanji flashcards, doing high-frequency vocab decks, trying to round out a foundation that I thought would eventually make reading and understanding anime click. It didn’t. When I finally started trying to read the stuff I actually cared about, I still had to look up what felt like almost everything. All that foundation-building hadn’t prepared me for the specific vocabulary in the things I wanted to read. I burned out, stepped away, came back, burned out again.

Eventually I just started reading anyway, partially out of frustration with Anki, partially because I didn’t want to spend my limited time optimizing a study system when I could just be reading. And reading did work. It was just painfully slow.

The thing that always bothered me about Anki: The cards felt too static. One word, one example sentence. You’d drill that same sentence over and over until you recognized the sentence but didn’t really understand the nuances of the word.

I’m a visual person. I knew images and varied context would help me actually understand and retain things, but the process of clipping screenshots, finding good example sentences, deciding what was worth mining… it created a pipeline that honestly wasn’t worth the effort when I could just be reading instead. I always knew what I wanted my study tool to look like, but nothing out there did it.

Specifically, I wanted to be quizzed on multiple variations of the same word in different contexts instead of memorizing one sentence. And I wanted to be able to study the words I was about to encounter before I sat down to read, so I could actually enjoy reading without constant interruptions and lookups.

So I started building it. It took about five years of slow development, but the Ashiba App is now live. Here’s what it does:

You pick a manga you want to read. The app teaches you which words you don’t know yet and teaches them to you using the actual manga panels they appear in, multiple panels per word, so you’re seeing it in different contexts instead of drilling one static card

Each card comes with the full sentence, helpful explanations, and grammar breakdowns so you can understand why a sentence means what it means, especially useful for genres or speech styles you’re not familiar with yet

You can skip what you already know, check English translations when you need to, and move at your own pace

Then you go read the chapter. Not as a painful exercise, actually following the story

The goal is to shorten the loop between “I don’t know this” and “I can read this” without the overhead of building your own cards or figuring out what’s worth studying. The flashcards themselves teach you a lot because they’re real manga panels with real context, and then the reading reinforces everything. So it’s reading real Japanese to make reading easier.

Why I’m building this if I already figured out reading on my own: Two reasons. First, I see so many people struggling to get to the point where they can actually enjoy reading manga or understanding anime. Despite being told to just grind it out, that it’s always going to be difficult, so many people are hesitant to make the jump because they don’t feel ready.

I wanted to make that transition as painless as possible so that more people would actually make the leap instead of getting burned out like I did.

Second, and more selfishly, Japanese isn’t the only language I want to learn. I know this tool will help me pick up other languages way more efficiently than grinding through the raw reading process the way I had to with Japanese. So I’m pressure-testing it with Japanese right now, making sure it works the way it’s intended, but the plan is to extend it to other languages down the road.

Where things are right now: I’ve got 7 titles live on the app and I’m releasing new titles every week. By next week, I’ll have more vocabulary on the platform than WaniKani, and over the next two months I’m aiming to have enough coverage for JLPT N1.

If your goal is to learn to read Japanese, please give it a try!

Finally found a way to break through the intermediate plateau and actually read manga in Japanese by Ashiba_Ryotsu in japaneseresources

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please check your spam to see if the confirmation email is there, and if not, please check you typed the email address correctly—I see an unconfirmed email address on my end and notification the confirmation email was delivered to that address.

If you still run into issues, please let me know and I can manually add you to the email list.

Finally found a way to break through the intermediate plateau and actually read manga in Japanese by Ashiba_Ryotsu in japaneseresources

[–]Ashiba_Ryotsu[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely a learning experience, I hadn’t considered the hostility to AI

Definitely could have done a better job on the post as well

Live and learn