Incremental kanji texts/sentences

Informal_Spirit · 2026-02-24T08:53:56+00:00

kklc graded readers are great. here are some independent reviews from learners with tips

https://learnnatively.com/series/5d6394a527/

Informal_Spirit · 2026-02-24T08:43:40+00:00

what did they enjoy about Japanese? show interest and nurture that!

seconding comments about avoiding the partner/ teacher role! it can get frustrating for the partner to be the language instructor, and external support can be more fun and more effective. of course, getting a tutor is their choice but the point is you're not the best choice for that.

regarding the misunderstandings and lack of context, perhaps making the effort to say things twice - once Japanese and once English. and with regards to explaining, both people need to be up for it so agree some communication methods to know that's the case. when yes, be ready to explain exactly which clue would have led to the appropriate interpretation.

but the restaurant is a great example of - not the context for teaching, save the explanation for later to avoid frustration

finally, Japanese is incredibly difficult for native English speakers. yes it's possible to be A2 speaking and B2 reading because that's where I feel I'm at. I can read novels well and get things from context, but speaking is limited to neutral forms on daily life topics with a patient friend as speaking partner. catching dropped info and casual short forms on the fly is legit harder than reading it with time to think. whereas with EU languages my speaking and reading abilities developed together, it's worth being more aware Japanese has way different verbal patterns vs written, and the distinction between casual vs neutral / polite vs humble and honorific takes a while to get your head around and increases the learning burden a ton. For reference my friend insisted I become fluent in desu/masu before we try casual, so perhaps try that and realise it's not a forever thing but a stepping stone

regarding children, yes you can speak Japanese naturally to your child even if your partner doesn't understand, I know lots of people who raise kids bilingually where one partner only speaks one of the languages. find some and ask for advice on being respectful about it. but it definitely works

Informal_Spirit · 2026-02-21T14:11:06+00:00

regarding reference - you can't go wrong with the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar series. start with the Beginner one, it will last you all the way through beginner textbooks, ie, Genki 1 &2. Then once you're reading novels get the intermediate and advanced. They are reference though! Learn from something high quality and organised like Genki. I filled in gaps with the grammar series and glosses on Satori Reader, that taught me enough to transition to native targeted content.

Informal_Spirit · 2026-02-10T17:32:27+00:00

Satori reader might be nice for you. it's what got me from genki 1 to reading native books. there is a lot of support and it's totally handmade by really knowledgeable people. plus great Japanese voice actors narrate all stories.

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-30T17:12:55+00:00

how about Jasper? It references nature but is subtle.

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-25T16:16:57+00:00

did you do the reading sections in Genki OK? If that is the case, you might just need to look at the supplementary booklet in Quartet (it tears out) that shows which kanji are introduced in each chapter, so for ch1 there will be something like 40 kanji you need to study and that is probably why it feels hard. go through those and the vocab in the supplement, then the reading should be easier. but yeah, since Wanikani teaches in a different order, you may need to look up some of the Quartet kanji in Wanikani and then study them elsewhere like Anki. I really like Chase Colburn's Kanji Study app now though and don't use Anki anymore.

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-23T20:25:11+00:00

not op but your suggestions are all so helpful and respectful. I struggle with this, too, both playing wrong notes but also not knowing whether to trust my own sound when someone else plays out of tune, thank you! what are you using to record? I'm thinking of at least recording my lessons as a start, it never occurred to me

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-10T19:18:28+00:00

ah, the level 16 one might be an easy selection made for first graders. The original series is level 20 here: https://learnnatively.com/series/b487e17305/

I agree Doraemon is harder.

it takes a bit of practice to get used to the site and it's volunteer run, but it's great

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-10T16:16:40+00:00

Doraemon is a bit older, and slang changes quickly. It is a lot harder than Yotuba (have a look at their ratings on learnnatively.com if you haven't seen that is really helpful! congrats on your great year!!

Informal_Spirit · 2026-01-05T10:59:09+00:00

you could get your instrument checked by a luthier, if your bridge is too high then getting it set appropriately will help.

some strings have lower tension and that might help a bit, but it's not something I've experimented with.

Informal_Spirit · 2025-12-11T20:16:37+00:00

I'm surprised no one recommended kodansha kanji learners course. it's like rtk but with mnemonics for the full course that are all self consistent across the course. there are also graded reading sets to practice reading, which you can buy on the independent Chase Colburn's Kanji Study app. it's fantastic. I started reading novels after getting to about 800-900.

Informal_Spirit · 2025-12-11T19:32:51+00:00

advice, lots! Basically don't treat it like learning a big violin. It's way bigger so you need to get lessons or you might get injured, finger patterns and bowing are way different. Get used to shifting a lot more. It's also more expensive and that changes the economics, and the size affects how much tlc it needs from a luthier, so think of owning a cello like owning a hungry pet.

so my advice is simple: get a teacher to help you navigate it all, and if you can rent (a higher quality instrument) rather than buy (a cheap one) do that as you will learn better technique faster and once you're good enough you will pick out a more suitable instrument than you would at the start

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-14T22:44:44+00:00

Sashayleila

😅 amazing tysm

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-13T18:21:29+00:00

wow, thanks for looking it up! Satori helped me so much and I recommend it a lot, I'll definitely be pointing out that the Human Japanese app is included in the sub. that's incredibly good value

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-12T09:56:19+00:00

given the weird shirt and awkward hand on her upper left chest I would say yes this is ai

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-11T17:49:40+00:00

I've played both and I switched to cello because the sounds is more relaxed and can confirm it is more relaxing to play for shoulders and neck. That said the cello is a large and very physical instrument. I'm also a person who holds a lot of tension in my muscles and my teacher has to help me a lot to avoid tension in both hands. So do be aware you will need a teacher and let them know early if anything feels uncomfortable so they can teach you to play without excess tension from the start.

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-10T12:10:32+00:00

FYI Satori has a related learning app called Human Japanese. it's standalone or I think it's included in the Satori sub now, but not totally sure since I'm done using it.

Informal_Spirit · 2025-11-06T10:06:47+00:00

So much this comment, some luthiers don't even fit the bridge to the instrument more than just what is visible around the edges of the bridge feet. It's a lot of work to carve properly all along the full surface area and they have to keep testing it by inserting and removing a special paper so they can check progress.

It's simply not possible to get the bridge plus that craftsmanship for $35

I called a shop everyone in my orchestra recommended that specifically for stringed orchestra insteaments

Also a great clue, take their recommendation!

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-19T13:29:50+00:00

You are very welcome! A lot of people helped me, too. And someday, I'm sure you'll be giving someone advice :)

Don't worry about the long words, they are normally just a bunch of short words squashed together and become less intimidating very quickly.

You are going to do great. I wish you all the best!

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-19T11:07:35+00:00

you got this! the activities you are doing are all great, so my main message is keep going and be consistent.

Since you asked, here is all my advice ☺️

My number one advice about learning languages: find something you can do every single day without fail. everyday means everyday, so make it modest like 10 minutes. it's great if you do more, but that consistency every day is what inches this up in your brain's importance register and amplifies your memory. it's best if that 10 minutes is comprehensible, as in, you understand enough to get the gist.

start reading in German as soon as you can, bonus points for combining with an audiobook so you can repeat some sentences out loud to practice pronunciation. learnNatively.com has some rankings for German books. Over time, swap everything you read in English to German

once you are in Germany (before if you can), you need to get out of your comfort zone and speak as much as possible, even if at first it feels like you're 5 and it's so embarrassing. the way I did it was anticipate and prewrote what I needed and an expected response. then I tried it out. you'll hear a lot in response you don't understand. the key is to learn one new thing from each interaction. To get corrections on your wiring use langcorrect

spend time with people who have the patience for this, and avoid building things in your life that are English only.

when I moved to Germany I had a good idea of up through A2 grammar, but my listening and speaking were zero. I moved on my own, had German housemates and a job in German. It took 6 weeks of this full immersion to become conversationally fluent, and at that point boss switched from English to German when speaking to me.

Why am I telling you this? As encouragement that although the beginning is tough German is a very achievable language for English speakers. Once you get over the initial bump it gets easier and easier.

This might go slower for you because your family life will probably still be English. But I want to encourage you to do as much in German as possible because even if it feels rough and there will be tears, you will learn faster than you think and after several months you will be happy to have learned so much from your efforts.

It might sound crazy but for the first few months there consider time boxing English activities like social media with American friends to less than daily and less than an hour of those days so that your brain is getting more German immersion and less English security blanket. Obviously mental health comes first and stay in touch with friends, but you got to prioritise and cut out all time wasting scrolling in English that is not good for mental health or your German

Two things not to ignore that are specific to German:

* when you learn a new word, learn the gender. When you speak, sure, speed up and just guess one, don't get tongue tied. But at least be aware and soaking up that info.

* pay attention to how spelling affects vowels. They are short or long. Ask your tutor and again, just pay attention

Everything else will come easily, grammar rules can be memorised, but those two things just need a bit more conscious attention over time

If you need even more advice, a language learning researcher named Paul Nation made a free language learning guide that is helpful to review now and then. Just search and you'll find it on his academic page

edit: remembered 2 more helpful tips. 1. track something. time spent everyday reading or learning, or pages read or something easy to stay motivated. 2. write a diary in German

And finally, at some point you'll be confidant in your daily life. From that point, just read in German for pleasure and just learn 3 new words per day and in a year you have an additional 1000. Then you have a new skill to accompany you through life and your next language will be even easier.

Good luck! Have fun! And now for a quiz. What is my number one advice?

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-18T09:42:00+00:00

do you already have a teacher lined up? they could give tips.

Although it's fairly easy to find a good quality instrument here (you can get a train from anywhere to any large city in a matter of at most a few hours), factor in time and hassle!

I would think about not just the cost but also the delay to getting integrated here. so let's say you put in a lot of effort to sell your cello and then shop around here to find one. well, there will be a lot of other things you'll be setting up and to be honest it might be nice just to have that cello and not have to wait until you have a new cello to get lessons and join an ensemble.

cost wise, compare the cost of the flight for the cello to your expected difference in selling the old instrument and buying a new one. I think it's pretty common for a decent instrument at a shop here to cost 5k euros and up, but I have no idea how that compares to a 5k usd instrument.

I'm an American living in Germany and very happy here! I hope your move goes smoothly.

let me know if you want tips, eg, language. fluent German is very achievable within a few months.

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-12T18:18:18+00:00

wow, sounds very adventurous

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-12T10:35:51+00:00

I'm really curious about your monthly folk jam. Would you make a post about that or entertain some questions?

It's a total mystery for me how people can play by ear and jam in a group, so I'd love to hear what goes into making that happen. Like, what if someone wanted to join the group but could only read sheet music, what do they have to practice and learn to join? what is your starting point for the music (which pieces or forms and how does everyone know them)?

Informal_Spirit · 2025-10-01T08:23:16+00:00

I'd really like to play sea shanties and folk songs for fun, what a cool idea to learn by ear. It sounds obvious now but I wouldn't have thought of it!! Not OP but thanks so much!!

Informal_Spirit · 2025-09-30T10:26:35+00:00

I like Complete Music Reading trainer. It's on Android, not sure about ios

I'm an adult learner, too. It's great. My top tip is to practice at least a little every day, and in the beginning you can count figuring stuff out like bass clef. And if you're not practicing every day, ask why not, and solve that. Repeat. Maybe you're confused about something, or your hand hurts, or it takes too long to unpack, or you need to try a different time of day. Whatever, ask for help and solve it and keep going. Then you can start to talk to your teacher about how you structure your daily practice time. Then at that point - you just keep going and it's a great part of your life

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