MY *ADVANCED* JAPANESE VOCAB STUDY ROUTINE 🇯🇵
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Ali shares his strategies for enhancing his Japanese vocabulary after achieving N1 proficiency. Despite his advanced level, he acknowledges areas for improvement, particularly in vocabulary range and retrieval. Ali outlines his three main study routines: active studying with textbooks and resources for both JLPT and native speakers, immersion practice through extensive reading and media consumption, and output practice by speaking and writing in Japanese. He emphasizes the importance of natural acquisition over systematic methods like flashcards and discusses his current resources, including the Yiwa app and various study books.
Takeaways
- 📚 Ali has achieved an advanced level in Japanese after passing the N1 level of the Japanese Proficiency Test (JPT), but acknowledges there is still room for improvement, particularly in vocabulary output.
- 📈 Ali is focusing on expanding vocabulary by addressing two main issues: limited vocabulary range and lack of vocabulary retrieval practice.
- 🚫 Ali does not use flashcards or spaced repetition systems (SRS) for vocabulary learning, preferring a more natural acquisition method.
- 📖 Ali's active studying routine involves using both JPT-specific and native-level Japanese resources, including textbooks and exercise books, to bridge the gap in vocabulary knowledge.
- 🔍 Ali uses the Yiwa app for looking up words and kanji, but does not utilize its flashcard functionality, instead preferring to consult saved lists occasionally.
- 📚 Ali is currently using resources such as Shinken Master for N1, Poweru for N1, and Shin Kanzen Master for N1 to cover JPT vocabulary.
- 📚 For native-level resources, Ali is using exercise books like 'Minna no Nihongo' and vocabulary books like 'Shaaku' to expand vocabulary range and knowledge.
- 🌐 Ali practices immersion by reading extensively in Japanese, including manga, novels, and non-fiction, as well as watching Japanese dramas, films, and TV programs.
- 🔍 During intensive immersion, Ali actively looks up unknown words and practices finding advanced, specialized vocabulary, especially in the field of science.
- 🗣️ Ali emphasizes the importance of output practice, including speaking and writing, to improve language production skills and feels this is a key area for improvement.
- 📝 Ali practices oral expression by speaking to themselves on specific topics and recording it for self-correction, and plans to write essays in Japanese to improve written expression.
Q & A
What is Ali's current level in Japanese after passing the N1 level of the JLPT?
-Ali considers their current level in Japanese to be Advanced, but they acknowledge that there is still room for improvement, particularly in their output level, which they feel is lower than their input level.
What are the two specific problems Ali identifies with their vocabulary in Japanese?
-Ali has two main issues with their vocabulary: a lack of vocabulary range, meaning they often use the same words and lack specialized words, and a lack of vocabulary retrieval practice, where they know many words but struggle to recall them in certain situations.
Why does Ali choose not to use flashcards or the SRS method for vocabulary learning?
-Ali does not use flashcards or the SRS method because they prefer a more natural acquisition approach to language learning. They find systematic study methods distracting and unengaging, losing focus quickly.
What is Ali's approach to studying vocabulary from textbooks and other resources?
-Ali goes through textbooks and study resources once, aiming to retain as much information as possible from the first read. If there are still unknown words after the first read, they review the resource at least once until they feel comfortable enough to discard it.
What are the resources Ali is currently using for active studying of their Japanese vocabulary?
-Ali is using resources designed for the JLPT exam, such as Shinken Master for N1, Poweru for N1, and Shin Kanzen Master for N1, as well as resources meant for Japanese natives like an exercise book for Japanese adults and the vocab book Shaaku.
How does Ali practice immersion in Japanese?
-Ali practices immersion by reading extensively in Japanese, watching dramas, films, and TV programs, and by surrounding themselves with the language as much as possible. They alternate between passive immersion, where they do not need to understand everything, and active immersion, where they look up unknown words.
What is Ali's strategy for finding and learning specialized vocabulary in Japanese?
-Ali looks for specialized vocabulary in the fields of science and other areas of interest, especially words found in journal and news articles. They use a variety of resources, including books, comics, YouTube channels, and Netflix shows, to find and learn these words.
Why is Ali focusing on improving their output skills in Japanese?
-Ali is focusing on output skills because they believe that active studying and immersion practice are not enough. They want to be able to use the language effectively in both speaking and writing, and they feel that practicing output is crucial for this.
How does Ali practice their oral expression in Japanese without a tutor?
-Ali practices speaking to themselves on specific topics for 10 to 15 minutes, recording or dictating their speech to correct themselves afterward and ensure they are using correct expressions and vocabulary.
What is Ali's approach to practicing written expression in Japanese?
-Ali practices writing small essays in Japanese every week, focusing on creating, correcting, and developing their written expression skills. They plan to make a video detailing this process and the resources they use for this practice.
What is the significance of using resources meant for Japanese natives in Ali's study routine?
-Using resources meant for Japanese natives helps Ali to bridge the gap between JLPT level vocabulary and native speaker vocabulary. It also allows them to understand the differences and expand their vocabulary to a level expected of native speakers.
Outlines
📚 Advanced Japanese Learning Journey
Ali introduces his video on improving Japanese vocabulary, despite having achieved N1 level. He acknowledges his advanced proficiency but recognizes the need to enhance his output skills. Ali discusses his strategy to expand vocabulary by addressing two main issues: limited vocabulary range and poor word retrieval practice. He mentions not using flashcards or spaced repetition systems, preferring natural acquisition through various study routines and resources, particularly the Yiwa app for dictionary functions.
📘 Bridging the Gap with Active Studying
Ali elaborates on his active studying routine, which involves using resources for the JLPT N1 exam and those for native Japanese speakers. He explains the importance of understanding the differences between resources for non-natives and natives to bridge the vocabulary gap. Ali details his method of going through textbooks and study materials, intending to retain information and review unknown words until comfortable. He lists specific resources he plans to use, including 'Shinzen Master for N1 Ki', 'Poweru for N1 vocab', and 'Shinkan Master for N1 vocab' for JLPT, and 'Mei for Japanese adults' and 'Shaaku' for native resources.
🌐 Immersion Practice for Vocabulary Enhancement
The third paragraph focuses on Ali's immersion practice routine, which includes both passive and active immersion. Passive immersion involves extensive reading and watching Japanese content without the need for complete understanding, while active immersion involves intensive study of unknown words, especially in specialized fields like science. Ali emphasizes the importance of this practice for challenging himself with new vocabulary and sentence structures, aiming to achieve comfort in understanding any context and discussing any topic.
🗣️ & ✍️ Output Practice for Language Mastery
In the final paragraph, Ali discusses the importance of output practice to complement his input studies. He admits a lack of practice in oral and written expression and outlines his plan to improve. For oral practice, Ali speaks to himself on various topics, recording his speech for self-correction. For written expression, he writes essays in Japanese weekly, with plans to detail his process in a future video. He mentions not using specific resources at the moment but has some lined up for future use, particularly for written expression skills.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Japanese Vocabulary
💡JPT N1
💡Input Level
💡Output Level
💡Vocabulary Range
💡Specialized Words
💡Vocabulary Retrieval Practice
💡Spaced Repetition Method (SRS)
💡Active Studying Routine
💡Immersion Practice
💡Output Practice Routine
Highlights
Ali has achieved an advanced level in Japanese after passing the N1 level of the Japanese Proficiency Test (JPT).
Ali acknowledges the need for improvement in language output despite a high level of input understanding.
The focus for Ali in 2024 is on expanding vocabulary knowledge to overcome limitations in sentence creation.
Ali identifies two main issues with vocabulary: limited range and lack of retrieval practice.
Ali does not use flashcards or spaced repetition systems (SRS) as part of the study routine.
Ali prefers natural acquisition methods over systematic study methods for language learning.
The Yiwa app is Ali's go-to dictionary app for looking up Japanese words and kanji.
Ali uses both JPT and native-level resources for vocabulary acquisition.
Ali plans to bridge the gap between JPT vocabulary and native vocabulary through study resources.
Ali discusses the importance of using resources meant for Japanese natives to understand vocabulary differences.
Ali alternates between passive and active immersion practices to improve Japanese vocabulary.
Active immersion involves looking up unknown words and practicing with specialized vocabulary.
Ali emphasizes the importance of output practice to complement input and immersion practices.
Oral expression practice involves speaking to oneself on specific topics and recording for self-correction.
Written expression is practiced by writing essays in Japanese and planning to use specific resources for improvement.
Ali plans to make a separate video detailing the process of writing essays for written expression practice.
The video concludes with a summary of Ali's study routines and resources for improving Japanese vocabulary in 2024.
Transcripts
mines hi everyone my name is Ali welcome
or welcome back to the channel and today
we're discussing how I am currently
improving my Japanese vocabulary in
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2024 after getting the jpt N1 last year
I can say that my current level in
Japanese is Advanced however it doesn't
mean that I think it is perfect far from
it I still have to improve on a lot of
aspects in the L anguage while my
current input level in Japanese is very
high my output level is still quite low
at least in my opinion so essentially I
can understand the language much more
than I can produce it myself one way I
am tackling this issue this year is by
expanding my vocabulary knowledge since
the lack of vocabulary is usually what I
find is the most significant obstacle
when I go about making my own sentences
in the language in detail I would say
that I have two specific problems with
my vocab in Japanese today the first one
is that I lack vocab range so I'm always
using the same words and I lack
knowledge of specialized words but the
second problem I have is lack of vocab
retrieval practice I know a lot of words
and especially I've learned a lot of new
words during the past year but I rarely
use them because I'm not used to
recalling them in certain circumstances
so these two areas are the ones that I'm
focusing on this year a quick note
before we start you will notice that in
this video I am not mentioning anything
about flash cards or tools like eny
using the SRS method the spaced
repetition method and this is only
because I am not using those in my study
routine and they have almost never been
a part of my study routines in the first
place for language learning however I
just wanted to tell you that beforehand
so that you guys are not surprised by
the lack of mention of these tools
especially if you are using them
yourself because I know they are quite
popular however this kind of systematic
study method is not one for me I much
prefer something that resembles natural
acquisition I find that those are not
really adapted to my study method and
that I get distracted quite quickly I
lose my focus and I don't find them
engaging at all this is why during this
video I will will not talk about any
reviewing method of the vocab words I
encounter during each of my study
routines because I much prefer natural
repetition occurring while I encounter
the same words over and over again
through my different study routines and
using my different study resources and
immersion resources so instead today
we'll cover the three study routines I
currently have in place for my vocab
acquisition in Japanese specifically I
am not giving giving you advice on how
to improve your vocabulary I'm simply in
today's video telling you what I'm doing
to improve my Japanese vocabulary and we
will cover them one by one in this video
my active studying routine my imagion
practice routine and finally my output
practice routine during these study
routines I am using a unique Dictionary
app I've been using the yiwa app for
years now and I've been recommending it
to you guys for years as well it helps
me look up any word I want any kanji I
want in Japanese the app actually has a
way to save words onto study lists which
can then transform into flash cards
however I almost never use this
functionality and I only end up
Consulting my lists once in a while just
to remind myself of what's in them and
discard the words that I already know
and don't need
saved in there anymore so now that
that's cleared out let me tell you guys
what each routine is about all right so
let's start with my Japanese vocab
active study routine what I call active
studying is studying that uses specific
study resources for the particular area
of the language that we are talking
about in this case vocab acquisition so
I will be talking about vocab textbooks
and in general vocab study resources I
used two types of resources here I use
resources that are designed for the GPT
exam and I use resources that are meant
for Japanese natives so why am I still
using resources that are meant for the
GPT even though I'm actually done with
the jbt technically well this is because
even though I passed the jbtn one last
year so the last level of the exam I
actually still own resources study
resources for vocab that I still haven't
gone through yet and which I want to go
through before discarding them so
essentially that's what I'm doing this
year and that's not the only reason why
I'm doing it is also because I
definitely have not covered all of the
vocab required for the gpn1 before
sitting the exam last year so this year
in 2024 I'm essentially Bridging the Gap
here and the last reason why I'm using
the resources I still own for jpt is
because I see those resources as the
last stepping stone the last step before
moving on fully to resources meant for
Japanese natives so how am I covering
those resources I'm essentially going
through textbooks or other type of study
resources once from cover to cover with
the intention of retaining as much
information as possible from my first
read of the resource and then if I have
anything left after this first read that
I still don't know I go over the
resource again and review it at at least
once until I feel comfortable enough
with the resource to discard it when it
comes to which resources I'm using so
the vocab related GPT resources I still
own are my shinen master for N1 Ki which
I just finished so this one I will be
reviewing once and then discarding then
I have my poweru for N1 vocab so this is
a prep book for the exam and I'm
actually going through it a second time
before discarding it I'm doing it at the
moment and then lastly I have the shin
kazm Master for N1 vocab this one I have
not touched at all and I will go through
it before the end of this year so that's
it for my gel PT resources let's move on
to the npt resources I'm using for
active studying of my Japanese vocab
first why is it crucial for me to use
vocab resources meant for Japanese
natives is essentially to get an idea of
first of all the differences between the
GPT resources and the non-pt resources
to see the gaps there because the
knowledge especially the vocab required
of non-native speakers is not at all the
same as the knowledge expected of native
speakers of the language so I'm
comparing the two by using resources in
both categories and in the future this
is a gap that I hope to bridge myself
and I hope to get closer to a native a
NE native vocabulary range and knowledge
instead of you know keeping my vocab
close to the GPT level how am I going
through those resources well essentially
I use the same method as the one I use
for my GPT resources however the only
difference is that I will not be
discarding those resources for the
foreseeable future because I want to
keep them as reference materials so
after I go through them and even when I
get comfortable with the contents of
those resources I will not be discarding
them so I will be keeping them for the
foreseeable future which resources am I
talking about so essentially I have two
resources that I own at the moment one
resource which is an exercise
book this is me for Japanese adults and
then I have another resource which is
s haaku this one is really a vocab book
and I have covered about 70% of this
book and I will cover the last 30%
before the end of the year and there are
probably more resources that I will get
and in the future the amount of
resources for natives I own will
probably increase until I feel
comfortable enough to not use them
anymore for active studying but right
now I only have two mainly and in terms
of priority I want to prioritize my gel
resources just to get you know
comfortable with those and then get rid
of them just to make space Also on my
bookshelf and then move on to fullon
Native resources for Japanese vocab
range expansion the second study routine
I have for my vocab Improvement in
Japanese is of course my immersion
practice you guys see me do that pretty
much every single week and especially
when you see me do that during Vlogs I
read a lot in Japanese and I also so
watch a lot of things and listen to a
lot of things I keep myself surrounded
with the language as much as I can to
keep myself in this bubble of Japanese
and especially at my level now I feel
like this is absolutely crucial for me
to keep challenging myself and to keep
hearing new things new words and
hopefully through that Exposition get
more and more comfortable with more and
more sentence structures but also vocab
words of course so the goal here is to
feel so comfortable with the language
that I will be able to understand
anything that anyone tells me in any
context and uh not only that but I will
also be able with time to discuss any
topic with the correct language level
and with the correct words so how am I
doing this immersion each week I really
have two types of immersion that I'm
doing passive immersion and active
immersion my passive immersion is really
me reading extensively any type of thing
can be non-fiction books it can be manga
it can be other types of comics it can
be novels anything really and it's also
me watching Drama episodes or films or
TV programs anything that I don't feel
the need to listen to watch or read
intensively to understand 100% of those
so I alternate between this kind of
imersion practice ice and more intense
immersion practice in all forms so again
reading but also watching and listening
and when I do intensive imersion
practice I do look up all the words that
I don't know and the words that I'm not
sure about the words that I can't read
or the words that I kind of remember but
don't really remember so I really
alternate between those two practices
this works well for me when we dive
deeper into what I do exactly when I'm
listening to something intensively or
I'm reading something more intensively
essentially I take this opportunity to
look for more advanced Specialized or
rare vocab in my case you guys know that
I'm always looking for specialized
vocabulary in the fields of science just
because I am interested in knowing those
words any specialized word that you
generally come across in journal
articles in news articles I would be
interested in knowing because those
words are known by the whole population
so those are words that I would want to
know myself right when it comes to the
resources I'm using here essentially I'm
using anything I can find whether it is
books Comics whether it is YouTube
channels Netflix shows TV shows anything
I can find really and finally the last
routine I have in place is my output
practice routine why do I make a
specific points about outputs is because
active studying combined with immersion
practice is great it's already very good
however I believe it is not enough
anything I input I must also learn to
Output myself so essentially all the
vocab words I know all the vocab words
I'm learning through all of this input
study practice I must also learn to
reuse myself using output methods so all
of that to say that I must practice my
speaking more and I must also practice
my written expression more that's
essentially it in general it's fair to
say that I lack a lot of practice there
whether in oral form or written form
especially written form and you know I
was very painfully aware of this for the
past few years however I was really
focusing on prioritizing the GPT
examination and getting to an N1 level
after it became clear that I would move
here to Japan and I really wanted to get
to that level almost before I actually
came here and so since the GPT exam is
not focused at all on output skills and
only focused on input skills and testing
your general comprehension levels of the
language I find now that I must you know
from this year I absolutely must bridge
the gap here in my use of the language
and that I must get as comfortable as
possible with my output my production of
the language that's why I'm focusing on
this part this year so how am I doing
this currently for my oral expression
practice apart from my day-to-day use of
the language and you know making sure
that I am speaking as best as I can in
any setting when I'm talking to my
husband or when I'm talking to my
friends my dentist or the workers at the
immigration office or the workers at the
supermarket I try to use use the most
correct Expressions the most correct
words and I just in general pay
attention to how I'm using the language
so apart from my day-to-day use of the
language I practice my speaking skills
actually On My Own by myself because I'm
not using any tutor at the moment I will
probably go back to using a tutor
towards the end of the year or the
beginning of next year but currently I'm
doing everything on my own so each week
when I get the time I spend speak to
myself for 10 to 15 minutes about a
specific topic so for example I choose a
topic about politics and I see whether I
can talk about this for 10 minutes you
know what I mean and then I record this
or I dictate it on the document so that
I can correct myself afterwards to see
if I've made any mistakes there so
that's one way I'm doing it for my oral
speech and then finally for my written
expression skills I'm am actually
practicing them by writing a small essay
in Japanese every week or more essays if
I can during the week and for this
specific practice I will actually make a
whole video about it so you guys will
know everything I am doing to create my
little essays how I write them how I
correct them how I find the topics and
how it's helping me develop my written
expression skills in general you guys
will know exactly how I'm doing it about
the resources I'm using I'm actually not
using any specific resources at the
moment for either my oral expression
practice or my written expression
practice however I have them lined up
especially for my written expression
skills so about my written expression
skills I will definitely start using
resources for that specifically and that
will be covered in a future
video but that will be it for today's
video I hope it was insightful and that
you got a good idea of how I am in
improving my Japanese vocabulary this
year using which study routines why and
what kind of resources and on that note
thank you for watching and I will see
you guys in my next video bye-bye mat
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