The next study days

From here on out, your path is clear:

Step 1: Log into NativShark.

Step 2: Press the “Study Now” button.

On your journey, you’ll reach a few significant markers. When you reach them will depend on how fast you progress through the system, but let’s talk about what they are and how to approach them here.

Here's the video version of this part:

First things first

You might come across some things that you feel like you’ll never be able to remember.

The most important action you can take about this is not worrying about it.

There will come a day where you don’t even remember that you remembered something, and then it will show up and you’ll be able to understand it with no problem and you’re going to feel amazing.

These are the joys of studying.

Just keep showing up, do what you can, and then show up the next day.

We introduce some words in the travel section (the first 18 Units) that might be a little bit harder, so don’t worry about having them down perfectly, or being able to produce them without any thinking. Especially names of stations and such.

That will simply happen with time and consistency.

You got this.

If you ever feel lost or hopeless, know that you aren’t on the study journey alone. Join the NativShark community and please ask us for advice and share your victories with us as well!

Units 19, 20, and 21 (Learning the kanji)

In Units 19 and 20, we’ll get a lesson explaining the kanji. Kanji flashcards will start coming into our Units and reviews when we hit Unit 21.

The lessons will explain the details, but here’s some of the most important things to remember as far as mindset goes:

You do not need to memorize kanji perfectly, especially the kanji flashcards and the English equivalent found on them.

If you have a general idea of the meaning, you’re perfect.

If you don’t, then you’re still going to be okay.

Seeing them once in your flashcards and hitting the smiley face will help majorly in having a stress-free study experience.

Kanji flashcards are in the system to make you feel slightly more comfortable around kanji.

If you can recognize the kanji in a word, but you can’t recognize it by itself on a kanji flashcard, then you have majorly succeeded.

Our NativShark team members who have passed the JLPT N1 years ago are also the same, because knowing most kanji in isolation with an English word is a generally unhelpful skill.

Kanji are just building blocks for words and ideas. You’ll learn these words and ideas in the rest of the NativShark system.

Do I need to write kanji?

No.

You do not need to be able to write them from memory (or even at all, for 99.99% of learners), and writing them can often lead to frustration because it offers us very little return on our effort.

And oh boy is writing them a lot of effort.

But what if I want to?

If writing is something you are indeed interested in (cuz it looks fun or such), then I would suggest starting a journal and only writing kanji that are relevant to your life.

It’s much more relaxing and you’re practicing the language in context. You're also training your production abilities while doing so.

If you’re new to Japanese, starting out with a short sentence a day can help make it manageable.

But if you write them 20 times each while going through kanji flashcards every day, you’re probably going to hate studying within a week or two. It might only take 2 days. or 2 minutes

The main point here though is that writing is completely optional. If you think you have to do it otherwise you'll never learn Japanese, then you may be happy to learn that that is not the case in the slightest

Always remember: take it easy going through the system and you will learn them in context.

Just show up, go through your reviews and your Unit, and go easy on yourself. Especially with kanji flashcards.

Learning Japanese is a marathon. Not a sprint. Show up and you’re succeeding.

Unit 22 (Vocabulary flashcards)

Starting in Unit 22, we’ll be seeing vocab flashcards in our Units.

Early vocab flashcards sadly don’t have context on them. But once we get into Phase Two and beyond, every single vocab flashcard has a situation in which the sentence is said right at the top when they are introduced.

While we don’t have the situation on the early cards, the translation and literal of the sentence will be very helpful in getting us the idea of our vocab shown here.

Keep an eye out for any notes shown in the i at the top right corner (labeled 1) which you can click on for more information, and our formality marker (labeled 2) in the top left.

Also note how there is an undo button (labeled 3) at the bottom, and an archive button (labeled 4) as well if you feel comfortable and don’t want to see this word in your reviews.

Milestone 6 (~Unit 90)

This marker will vary per person, but if you haven't begun using native materials by this point, you should start!

What are native materials?

Native materials are any piece of media designed for a native speaker of the language. They include TV shows, anime, movies, books, manga, games, podcasts, streams, and much, much more.

Native materials are essential for solidifying our Japanese knowledge. They also help us specialize in the things that we're learning Japanese for.

No matter what your goal is, the best way to reach it is to use the foundation you've built with NativShark. Go out and study with the things that interest you.

So if you're studying so you can watch anime, go watch anime!
Studying for games? Go play games!
Trying to talk to friends? Go talk to friends (or find a speaking partner)!

From this Milestone on, you'll constantly be building a comprehensive foundation with NativShark, but now it's your turn to use it and enjoy it ^^

Of course, this doesn't mean that you'll instantly understand everything you see.

In fact, it's going to be a lot of effort, and a lot of mistakes. But mistakes aren't failures, they're just part of the learning process. Don't let them get you down, and take as many small victories as you can.

You'll also be learning a lot of words along the way. This is part of the reason that sticking to a certain material you started can become easier with time, as vocabulary is often used over and over.

Try to find something that works for your level, but sometimes sticking with something is what you need the most. Be sure to search for that balance when studying with native materials!

And keep a dictionary close by. Jisho.org is nice. If you're on a phone or tablet, feel free to choose whichever dictionary app that pops up in a search for "Japanese dictionary". They often use the same dictionary sources, so it's really just whatever design you like more.

Just keep trying and keep showing up. It'll get easier and easier ^^

I've heard of something called "graded readers" and that seems easier to do than native materials. Should I do that?

It depends, but we recommend that most students go straight for native materials.

Graded readers are books or materials designed for learners of the language. A native speaker wouldn't have much of a reason to use these because they aren't learners of the language, and things are simplified to try to help a learner understand it.

While having simpler material to study with can feel nice at times, it isn't necessarily representative of Japanese in the real world.

As a result, learners sometimes get stuck in a "learning resource hole" because that's the only type of exposure they get to Japanese. This means that whenever they go out into the real world and start using their Japanese, they can feel very lost.

On top of that, graded readers probably aren't why you're learning Japanese in the first place. Since you're already using a comprehensive resource like NativShark, the more time you spend doing the things you're learning Japanese for, the better.

Native materials will not be easy, but the quickest path to gaining the ability to do what you want to do in a language is to do that exact thing.

Spending extra time with a learning resource that may be similar to a children's book or beginner's textbook will not help in watching anime or reading novels as much as if you just watched anime or read novels.

Again, when doing native materials, always remember that you're learning a language. It's a long journey, and you'll forget plenty of things along the way. Or maybe you swear you know some word but completely don't understand it in a new context you stumble upon.

Every time you look it up and see it again, or learn a new way to use it, you're increasing the total amount of Japanese you can understand for next time. All you need to keep doing at that point is keep going, and you'll reach your goals in time.

Something that has helped me (Ty) along my journey is remembering this quote by Stephen McCranie:

"The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

When thinking about learning Japanese, I like to warp it a bit into:

The master has forgotten more than the beginner has ever learned.

Keep showing up. Keep learning, forgetting, and remembering.

And just keep swimming^^

We have a guide about learning with native materials that you might find helpful when you pick up your first native material!

Milestone 10

You've reached the end of Phase One!!

Congratulations and a big お疲つかれ様さまです to you!! This is no small feat ^^

You have now learned more than about 2 and a half years of Japanese as taught in university, and have a strong foundation for your Japanese, both textbook and everyday natural Japanese.

On top of that, your ears are very well-prepped to pick up how Japanese sounds in real life.

I hope you're as excited about this as I am^^

In about 10 or 15 Units from now, all vocab cards will have a situation in which the example sentence is said, which will really help with knowing when and where you can use any given word.

Also, native materials should be feeling a bit easier for you at this point, though they still may require a good amount of effort. Keep doing the things that you want to in the language, and remember that it'll take time, and all you need to do is keep taking steps toward that goal.

On top of that, around here is where many learners find that they are able to pass the JLPT N4! If you're interested in that, feel free to give it a shot. Do note that if you want a JLPT certification for work or life in Japan purposes, N2 and N1 are the ones to aim for. Those will become attainable in the coming Milestones.

See here for a full guide on passing the JLPT with NativShark, starting with What is the JLPT and why is the failure rate so high?

Milestone 25

Once you reach here, you'll have completed Phase Two.

Another big お疲つかれ様さまです to you!!

Again, this is no small feat. Reaching this far takes a lot of dedication, and you've done a great job. I'm sure you're feeling the advancements in your ability a lot here as well^^

We have another exciting achievement coming up in just one more Milestone as well!

Milestone 26-32

Around here is when you might consider taking the JLPT N2 if you've been following the guide up to this point.

Part 3 of the JLPT guide talks about certain strategies for passing the JLPT. Good luck!

Milestone 41-49

Around these Milestones are when you might consider taking the JLPT N1 if you've been following the guides.

Again, part 3 of the JLPT guide talks about certain strategies for passing the JLPT. Good luck!

How to subscribe

Once you run out of free trial, you’ll have to subscribe to continue your studies.

Here’s some information on the different subscriptions and what you can do with them.