Study plan suggestions?

[Skydog287_500137]

Hey all! The days are flying by quick it seems and I wanted to make sure I was getting the most out of each day with studying. Short term goal is I am planning on going to Japan in 5 months, so my goal is to learn enough to survive when I go, while hopefully improving as much as I can while I'm there. (Long term goal is to one day become a translator or interpreter.)

I was wondering if you all had any suggestions to get the most out of my time? So far my study plan is this:

Start off the day with a lesson. Study all the new words/grammar in that lesson til I feel I have them memorized and pronunciation correct. Use what I learned with family and friends I talk to throughout the day (so grateful they put up with me responding in Japanese to their questions, or making random statements in Japanese. I repeat right after what I said in English. xD).

Everyday I write all the kana I know at least once along with learning at least a few new kanji. While also doing a run through with my flashcard program on my phone for Kanji, and the flashcard program on this site with the words I learned so far. After that, if I have extra time and I feel like I have everything else down, I'll try to squeeze more lessons in.

Then I do it all again the next day. (Not sure what this blob emote is but I like it, lol.)

I started off with Absolute Beginner Season 1 but switched over to the "Newbie S2 --> Newbie S3 --> Beginner S4 --> Beginner S5 --> Beginner S6 --> Lower Intermediate S6" study plan when I found out about it.

Any tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Biggest, most ambitious goal and project I have set for myself in my life but it is very exciting to finally have a dream to chase after (Interpreter/Translator). Everyone that has taken part in the audio and video lessons have inspired me to find this path and I am greatly appreciative of all of you here at JapanesePod101 . Thank you. どうもありがとうございます。

[community.japanese]

Skydog287 san,
You are really motivated and studying hard so I think you can stick your way at the moment and see how it goes.
If you become an interpreter or a translator, please help us.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[Skydog287_500137]

Skydog287 san,
You are really motivated and studying hard so I think you can stick your way at the moment and see how it goes.
If you become an interpreter or a translator, please help us.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

ありがとうございます、由紀さん！

いっしょうけんめいがんばります！

You guys are awesome, I would love to help you guys out any way I can if I become an Interpreter or translator. ^^ Thank you for helping me pursue this life path, your website has been a tremendous help.

Sincerely,
Skylar スカイラー

[community.japanese]

スカイラーさん、

がんばってください。

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[doodoofan6899]

I never actually had any study plan for Japanese, but this is what I did for a year (I studied Japanese full time 24/7):

- I started with Japanesepod101. Finished all levels, from newbie to advanced.
- I created my own Kanji flashcards using Microsoft word and printed it out to practice every day (I tried to remember 50-100 Kanjis a day).
- I tried Rosetta Stones out and totally loved it. It helped me remember and reinforce what I already learned from Jpod101. Finished all levels.
- I started reading novels in Japanese, the first one is Harry Potter. I finished all 7 books. It's an awesome way to learn new and difficult vocabulary and grammar.

That's pretty much what I did, and I passed JLPT N2 exactly 1 year after I started learning the first Japanese word. As you can see, I mainly studied with Japanesepod101 and then spent most of my time reading novels. I'll write a review someday about how useful Japanesepod101 had been for my whole process.

[community.japanese]

doodoofan6899　さん、
Thank you for sharing your study tips.
I think you are very strong-willed and can do your best until the goal.
Ganbatte kudasai.

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com