Minimalist language learning

(I finished this manga series in 2025) I loved the Yu-Gi-Oh GX anime as a teenager. That's why I wanted to read the manga version in Japanese. Interestingly, the manga has many similarities but also big differences. To put it simply: they took familiar characters from the anime, added some new ones and told a complete new story. The manga version feels like a parallel universe. I really liked the anime so I was a bit sceptical at first. It's a very different story, yes, but overall a good one in my opinion. For example: I liked how the manga gave the protagonist (Judai) more depth. Quite early in the story, his backstory explains how he became a duelist and why he uses this particular deck. In the manga, Judai has a strong "why". This is something I missed in the beginning of the anime version.  Difficulty Most chapters contain two types of scenes: story scenes and duel scenes.  Language wise, the story scenes are much more interesting and beneficial for Japanese lear...

 (I finished this novel in 2025) Volume 1 was so much fun! The setting was very interesting and I really liked the rather unusual yet relatable main character (He acts not very nice in the beginning, but the more I learned about his feelings the more his reactions made sense.) There was lots of action but also very emotional scenes. I'm looking forward to see how the main character develops during the following volumes! Language-wise, the book was a bit challenging. Some scenes were very difficult because of technical or biological details, but overall the level was okay for me. By reading more volumes of this series, I hope I'll eventually reach a point where I can enjoy it with only occasional look-ups.      

What I regularly see online are Japanese learners arguing about whether their way of learning is better or more efficient than another. Or people who simply describe how they learned Japanese up to their current level (say, around JLPT N2 or N1) get accused of claiming that this is the "only right way" to learn (which they never claimed). I want to share my personal thoughts on this. About Advice   Of course, people are different, and what works for person A may not work as well for person B. As long as you enjoy your way of learning and are reaching your goals (whatever they look like for you), you are doing fine.  It’s okay not to like another person’s approach (because your learning activities reflect your goals, which may be very different from the other person’s goals). However, if a person is comfortable with their way of learning, I think that choice should be respected. But often people seek advice because their current way of learning didn’t get them the results the...

 (I finished this game in 2025) It was so nostalgic and fun to play all three parts again after so many years! Interestingly, playing part 3 (especially the last chapter) felt almost like a completely new experience. I remembered only a few things, so I was surprised by all these twists again. The last chapter was quite confusing towards the end. I wished I had taken notes during my play sessions. Can't wait to play the other Ace Attorney games in Japanese, too!    

 (I finished this novel in 2025) The second half of the book felt much more dynamic and dramatic, and I found myself reading it much faster than in the beginning. The mysterious tunnel wasn't just central to the plot, but also a very fascinating element. Especially in the latter half, the tunnel scenes were at times quite eerie. To me, the story is ultimately about coping with loss—about letting go of the past and finding a way forward into the future. This is hard, it hurts and takes time, of course. But once you let it go, you'll feel libertated. Suddenly you can see new possibilities and other things you couldn't see before.     

 (Note: With this post I just want to share thoughts and tips based on my own experiences and observations. If you have a different opinion that's fine. Language learning is an very individual process. Everyone has different goals and preferences. Try different things and do what works best for you.) Reading is an effective way to increase your vocabulary. But the really interesting books are often very difficult for a language learner (especially if you have little to no experience with native level books). Looking at a page full of unknown words can be intimidating. And if it’s a physical book, reading even a few pages takes ages if you need to look up many words. Reading texts above your current level can be slow and difficult.  From time to time I see language learners who tend to avoid books for natives and keep studying from textbooks or apps to “prepare“ themselves until they are “ready“. And I understand their decision. Textbooks and language learning apps provide stru...

The more I read in Japanese, the more I feel like the constant stream of new words and expressions will never end. Despite all the progress, there's always more to learn. It's intimidating and amazing at the same time. This is the reason why I think that it's important to enjoy the journey instead of focusing only on the end goal. Otherwise, you’ll burn out long before reaching a very high level of comprehension (if that’s your goal).

I finished  ヒカルの碁 in 2024, but I only shared my thoughts on Tumblr. Now I want to share it here, too.  A long time ago, I've read the first 4 or 5 volumes in German. I was fascinated by the story and the board game Go. (I even bought a Go set and played a bit) Somehow I never bought the other volumes which I later regretted… Now, many years later, reading this manga series in Japanese was a very special experience to me.      Story & Characters (Very light) spoiler warning: In the following, I want to highlight some aspects of the story and characters. I tried to be as vague as possible to avoid clear spoilers. I didn’t describe specific events but just in case you definitely don’t want to know anything before you read the manga yourself you probably should not read the following text. The manga is quite old, but the drawings are still excellent in my opinion. I like, how the main character Hikaru slowly changes his opinion about the board game Go ...

Some learning methods become very popular, especially in language-learning communities. One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is why popular methods don’t necessarily work well for everyone. There are several aspects to this but one part seems to be success bias: we hear far more about what worked than about what didn’t. Over time, this creates the impression that certain techniques are universally effective, simply because we’re exposed to them so often. I think it’s worth being cautious when we come across “popular” methods. A method may work extremely well for some people, but popularity alone doesn’t mean it’s inherently better than less well-known approaches. People are much more likely to share their successes than their failures, which can make certain methods seem more effective than they really are. We might see a handful of learners or content creators who achieved great results, but we don’t see all the people who tried the same method and quietly moved on because it did...

I’ve noticed that I haven’t updated my blog in ages. I kind of switched to Tumblr , but now I miss writing here. So I’ll start sharing my thoughts and my Japanese progress here again. Stay tuned! :)