Minimalist language learning

I finished 心霊探偵八雲 vol. 2 !  I really enjoyed this volume. This series combines two of my favorite genres (ghost and detective stories), which I absolutely love! The writing style is quite easy to understand which makes reading really pleasant. I never felt like I had to struggle through the text, so it was easy to get immersed in the story and just enjoy the mystery. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next volume!   

I finished the first volume of この素晴らしい世界に祝福を!  (or short: このすば).  I tried several different series lately (just reading the first few chapters), and this one was the one that made me keep reading. Some things were a bit weird, and I'm not sure if I understood everything, but I really enjoyed all the comedy moments. I had much more fun with it than with the other isekai series I tried before. スライム倒して300年 or くまクマ熊ベアー, for example, were nice but they became a bit boring after a while. I realized that somehow it feels "off" to me that so many characters in these series are nice all the time. There are no real conflicts or drama. Plus, the main character is overpowered and always wins. There are no real stakes.  I find it hard to root for overpowered main characters when they solve every challenge or problem with little to no effort - every single time. If nothing can go wrong, there's no need to worry. That's probably why I can't really build a connection to such ...

I finished 名探偵コナン 漆黒の追跡者 !  I have to admit that some scenes in the first half were a bit confusing to me, but the final fight was exciting!

I just finished the second volume of 灰原くんの強くて青春ニューゲーム ! The relationships became more complex in this volume, which I really enjoyed. The main character is interested in this one girl, but gets accidentally closer with two other girls. This will probably get him in big trouble! 🙈 So far, I enjoy this series because it's a nice slice-of-life story with an interesting premise I can relate to. But I think I'll focus on another series for a while.   

I just finished the 10th volume of 名探偵コナン! Considering how long this series is, hitting 10 volumes already feels like a small milestone to me. 😃 Originally, I planned to watch the anime regularly so that I could hear the words I’d read in the manga. Well... somehow I didn't manage to keep up with the anime. 😅 I'll try again.    

After 3 volumes of くまクマ熊ベアー I wanted to increase the level of difficulty a bit. 灰原くんの強くて青春ニューゲーム was perfect for that.  Since the story is slice-of-life, it’s easy to follow. I also liked the twist later in the book. The main character’s desire to change the past and reinvent himself felt very relatable to me. It’s interesting to see how he tries to improve his situation and how the outcome differs from his expectations. This series is more difficult than くまクマ熊ベアー but after finishing the first few chapters, I was quite used to most of the authors favorite vocabulary and expressions. I think I'll read the next one or two volumes before switching to something else.     

I just finished volume 2! Some chapters were a little bit more difficult because of trading and finance related vocabulary, but overall it was very easy to understand.  As the series continues, I learned more and more about different side characters, which was really nice. At the beginning, I expected Yuna to travel from one place to another, with side characters only being temporarily relevant. Instead, she revisits these characters and either helps them solve new problems or improves their lives in some way. Occasionally, Yuna reflects on her previous life. This is something I wish she would do more often or in greater depth. I’d like to see how her experiences in this world have changed the way she views her old life. But so far, it seems like it doesn’t really matter to her. To her, she’s just doing whatever she wants (like before), even though her life now is completely different.  She isn’t just sitting alone in her room enjoying games and manga all day anymore, she’s co...

I finished the first volume of くまクマ熊ベアー ! This light novel is often recommended to Japanese learners as their first book because, compared to other light novels, it's quite easy to read and contains a lot of repetition. However, some people say that the story is a bit boring and predictable. I understand these opinions, but I think whether you enjoy it or not really depends on your expectations and preferences. In my case, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this volume. Difficulty Level  After reading quite challenging material for months, it felt refreshing to read something simpler. This light novel is easy to read (as long as you have some kind of foundation). On Learn Natively, it's labeled around the N3 level. There isn’t as much slang or as many special speaking styles as in other light novels or manga I've read before. Especially the little girl (フィナ) speaks in a very straightforward and basic way. Plus, many words are repeated so often that it's almost imposs...

I would like to share my current study routine in case it's useful to someone. It's not a strict plan, I change things depending on how I feel that day and how busy I am. Plus, it's tailored to my main goal: reaching a high comprehension level. I try to practice writing more but it's not my priority. On workdays (around 1h 50min a day): Anki - max. 20 minutes (often less) Listening (podcasts, anime, audiobooks, YouTube, etc.) - around 45 minutes Extensive Reading with occasional look-ups (not too difficult light novels, manga, video games, etc.) - around 45 minutes  I usually do Anki in the morning and listening and reading in the evening. When it comes to listening or reading material, I often stick with a particular novel or series, but sometimes I just choose whatever I feel like that day. When I’m listening to podcasts or audiobooks, I often do some housework. Additional activities on weekends: Writing (practice with sentence pattern book) Intensive Reading with mor...

This volume was tough. I had a lot of trouble understanding all these explanations. I think I got the most important parts, but I probably still missed some details. Because of the complexity of this series, I decided to take notes about characters and important information. Sometimes I don’t clearly understand who did what and why, so I write down what I do understand and move on. If I later come across additional information that brings more clarity, I go back and correct my earlier notes. At times I felt a bit down because some scenes were hard to follow, but my notes showed me that I actually understood a good part of it. This volume was challenging but I'm so glad that I kept reading! Chapter 7 and the following chapters felt especially rewarding. The final action scenes were really cool and the foreshadowing made me very curious about the next volume. I also loved the emotional scenes.    

I wanted to read the novel version of this Detective Conan movie for a long time, because it's one of my absolute favorites! Some things may not be very realistic, but I loved this movie (and the novel) for the action and excitement until the very end. Oh, and because Kaito Kid is also involved, of course. :D As always, the book has full furigana and is written in a easy to understand writing style. The aviation related vocab was a bit difficult at first, but I was able to understand these scenes quite well.  This is one of the strengths of this book series, in my opinion: Even if there are rather rare words, the sentences themselves are usually not very complicated. (Not like in other books, where I look up several words and still don't really understand the sentence) Plus, the same words come up more often than in other books I know, because the author uses a rather limited vocabulary to tell the story. For example, instead of using 5 different words to express similar things...

I always track the books I've read in Japanese with bookmeter. This is the summary of 2025:   I've read some cool novels and manga last year, like 遊☆戯☆王GX, 変な家２ or 心霊探偵八雲 for example. I also experimented with different reading approaches. For the most part, I looked up every unknown word because I wanted to expand my vocabulary so badly. I just was so unsatisfied because even after all these efforts I still come across so many unknown words. XD In the end, I'm still not satisfied with my vocabulary but I realized that I need to relax and just keep going.

(I finished this novel in 2025) I already read 変な家 (1) so I wanted to read 変な家２, too.  First, the author presents a number of "short stories" about strange houses. Each case was quite interesting by itself. However, one story was very hard to stomach for me ( trigger warning : this one story contains very disturbing experiences of a child). I had to pause reading for a while because of this. After sharing lots of information about these houses and their inhabitants, the author connects the dots. It was fascinating to see how all these houses and people were connected to each other. This revelation phase felt a bit forced, but it was interesting nevertheless. Often things were different than they seemed at first. The end was sad and tragic.  変な家２ is easier to read than most novels. In some scenes you will come across difficult vocabulary, but overall the author uses an rather uncomplicated writing style.    

(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.      

Whenever I see a post where someone passed N2 or N1 and shared their experiences, it's very interesting to me how they reached their level. Of course, not every experience post is equally useful. Some are quite vague, but others describe pretty clearly what the learner did, what worked well and what didn't. Detailed experience posts can provide valuable insights. That's why I like reading them. Maybe I can learn something from them? Unfortunately, I often see lots of skepticism, accusations or defensiveness under such posts. Don't get me wrong, healthy skepticism is important. But instantly dismissing someone who shares detailed data and answers questions in a friendly tone is counterproductive in my opinion. It shifts the focus from learning to doubting and discrediting others. When someone reaches a goal faster or more efficiently than we have, it can make us feel uncomfortable and inferior. I understand that, that’s human. But does attacking the OP helps anyo...

 (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).