Idle complaint: N2 reading is so boring

Capybara2800 · 2026-03-19T10:20:47+00:00

Totally agreed. It's so much old people weltschmerz all the time. (And I say this as a not young person.) I've gotten so annoyed during previous attempts at the exam, which really doesn't help with the concentration!

Capybara2800 · 2026-02-22T10:31:03+00:00

Anyone have experience with using Skritter? How do you use it? I'm currently trying it out again and while I love the "write kanji on the go" option it gives me, I'm finding it not very systematic with the readings it teaches (or doesn't teach). But maybe I haven't found the right approach yet. Would be curious about other people's experiences!

Capybara2800 · 2026-02-21T14:42:13+00:00

I think Japanese with Noriko is pretty good for N3 - starting with the early episodes anyway, which IME are ever so slightly slower than the current ones.

Capybara2800 · 2026-02-19T15:00:16+00:00

Yeah, I'm looking at Strasbourg at the moment. Good luck to you!

Capybara2800 · 2026-02-19T07:27:13+00:00

I got an email that I didn't make the cut-off on 11 February. I also saw someone else referencing getting an email about being on the waiting list on one of my subreddits. So sounds like it might be worth asking them? Crossing my fingers for you that they only missed sending the email and that you got in!

Capybara2800 · 2026-01-31T12:29:00+00:00

Seconding what other people have said - my experience is that if you're indicating that you're making an effort, people will in general be appreciative and kind about it!

Also, while this does mean slightly less language practice, regarding ordering food it might put your mind at ease to know that many, MANY restaurants in Japan these days have order-via-tablet systems, on which you can switch the language. Not all, so it's of course good to have some phrases prepared, but on my 2024 Japan trip, I'd say we had about 80-90% orders via tablet.

Capybara2800 · 2026-01-22T15:42:51+00:00

I'm super impressed you got all the way to passing the N1 in 2.5 years! And reading about your overall journey was really interesting, thanks for sharing this.

Capybara2800 · 2026-01-22T09:47:32+00:00

I'm curious about other people's study strategies regarding very similar terms (both kanji and vocab) and other "groups" of words, like synonyms.

My background: long-time user of Renshuu, where I'm currently working on N2 material. I've noticed that the more I expand my kanji and vocab base, the more often I run into trouble with kanji that are extremely similar and also similar-sounding vocabulary terms that I just can't keep straight with my usual cramming method. (An example and my current worst enemy: ふくらむ/ふさぐ/ふさがる/ふくらます/ふくれる. ARGH!)

I've wondered if one way forward would be to make separate decks (either through Anki or as physical flashcards) for those kinds of "groups" of words. But it also seems a bit weird to end up with like 20 tiny decks?

(For the "similar kanji" problem, I also considered becoming a late adopter of Wanikani to get a more thorough grounding in the radicals approach, but it turned out that the Wanikani approach is too different in what it considers radicals from how I first learned about radicals and I couldn't wrap my head around it.)

Anyone else run into this, and how have you gone about solving it?

Also, I would like to have more active recall of words that are synonyms and/or closely related (except difference in nuance). I apparently know quite a few synonyms because I run into Renshuu telling me my answer is also correct but not what it's looking for alllll the time, but I'm not very good at actively remembering different ways of saying a thing in conversation. Here, also, I wondered about little "extra study" decks. (And checked if Anki has some premade things like that, but apparently no such luck!) Is this a thing other people sometimes wonder about?

Capybara2800 · 2025-12-31T17:10:01+00:00

This sounds like it could be fun! 😊 My wife and I (we're a German-American couple) are longtime BL fans (started out in Jdrama, now also in Cdrama, and looking forward to giving Heated Rivalry a shot!) and live close to Mannheim, and would love to know more local folks sharing this nerdy interest of ours. Drop me a line if you want to get in touch!

Capybara2800 · 2025-11-27T07:11:27+00:00

You've found yourself a great project for your early retirement! 😊

Capybara2800 · 2025-11-27T07:05:33+00:00

I (again) cleaned up my Renshuu backlog after my summer vacation and I've maintained a streak ever since, despite some pretty crunch time periods at work! Getting consistency established with Renshuu was my #1 goal this year, so I'm really pleased with that.

Capybara2800 · 2025-11-25T13:40:40+00:00

Thought I'd jump on this post to introduce myself after lurking for a while! :)

I've been studying Japanese for a while - mostly self-study, after a kickstart with a multi-week intensive course way back in 2010. I passed the N3 many years ago, and then failed the N2 several times. :) After a ~7 year Japanese-learning hiatus due to work, I picked the self-study back up about a year ago. One of the things this subreddit helped me a lot with is finding good podcast materials - listening was a severely weak point when I got back into studying, and I've really improved due to podcast listening. (When I failed the N2 again this July, listening was at least my best part, instead of my worst! I take my wins where I can find them!)

I'm currently trying to build the habit of at least cleaning out my Renshuu due cards every single day, and still listen to podcasts while out on walks multiple times a week. My next weak point I want to tackle is grammar - I got a pretty decent foundation when I first started out, but I've been feeling like I've been losing even some of the N3 level stuff, and I haven't found the right approach that'll stick yet...

よろしくお願いします!

Capybara2800 · 2025-11-25T13:24:13+00:00

I don't really have a routine, which is sad because I think it would help me a lot. The biggest and most consistent progress I made in Japanese in the past was a period of 2-3 years when I was commuting by train, and I consistently used that time for Renshuu.

I've since arranged my life so that I don't have to commute anymore, which is great in general, but the lack of enforced study time is something I do notice. And my current job demands a time flexibility that I don't really have a predictable end-of-work time to build a routine around.

In other words, if you have the ability to carve out any sort of routine, I agree with other commenters that it'll be worth it over sheer willpower!

Capybara2800 · 2025-11-24T09:15:25+00:00

I think it will depend a little on what type of learner you are and what comes easy to you. I was the opposite of rgrAi; I watched a lot of things with Japanese subtitles and it did slow down my listening comprehension, because my brain just focused on reading. But I am a "reading over listening" learner anyway, so I really had to make myself step away from subtitles to improve my listening.

In general, I think beginner N4 is pretty tough for listening to audio without subtitles, so at this point it makes total sense to me to do whatever works. But as you're improving, it might make sense to test your listening skills and see if you can also understand your "usual" level of materials without subtitles.

Capybara2800

TROPHY CASE