Studying a language requires a huge amount of immersion and exposure. However, if you're not living in the country of origin of the language, it's quite a challenge; much more if you have less free time because of work and other stuff.

That is the case for me (not). Even so, there's always a way if you really want to do something.

The Setup

I use Anki as my primary tool. I used to read some books as well for the basic grammar structure (Genki I and Genki II).  My current Anki setup is somewhat derived from below article with my own tweaks to make sure I don't get flooded with cards daily.

My BIGGEST Discovery From Tweaking the Anki Setting
Updated version This is the default Anki’s setting:
Master How To LearnMasterHowToLearn

I have two options group, one for my sentence bank (Nihongo Sentence Bank) and one for pre-made decks (Nihongo Sentence).

I am using a retirement addon for the pre-made decks which suspends and tags a card that is past the set retiring interval (365 days). When a card has been retired, it can mean that it has been retained in my memory long enough (or maybe not but whatever).

Review Anytime and Create Small Goals

Except for the "Dictionary of Japanese Grammar Revised" deck (I don't even know why I still keep this but maybe, someday, I'd need to review it as well), these are the decks that I have been reviewing.

Current decks.

I usually start with the biggest number of due - from the screenshot, it is the "日本語文" deck which is the sentence bank. Then, the "Nayr's Core 5k", "Japanese Core 2000", and the kanji deck - "常用漢字"  which are pre-made decks. And then Lastly, I end my anki review with learning new cards from the "日本語文" deck.

Of course I'm not the whole thing in one-sitting. I do it anywhere, anytime. I do it when I just woke up or while having breakfast. I do it on the bus, on the train, while waiting in a queue, or waiting for someone (who will never comeback 😢), or during breaks. Basically within the day, I find time and set small goals. It can be 10 cards per set then I'd do something else, or maybe set a duration of like, 5 minutes review then move on to something else. Time well-spent 😉.

Enjoy the Process

The most important thing is, I enjoy the process. I spend around an accumulated 2 hours per day studying the language which, I know, is not enough to become fluent. But I can read and able to understand normal conversations now. Plus, I am able to do other stuff too, so I don't mind the slow progress.

It started as a routine and then it became a habit. I have been doing this everyday ever since I started, without skipping a day. There are times that I skip learning new cards if there's a lot to do (this seldom happens. heh.), but I always make sure to finish reviewing the cards that are due.

Anki Addons

  1. Morphman - For arranging my sentence bank based on my stats
  2. MeCab UniDic Japanese Dictionary - used in conjuction with Morphman
  3. Japanese Support - for furigana support
  4. Migaku Retirement
  5. Low-Key Anki - Pass/Fail, ResetEZ, and No Penalties or Boosting