I've been using Notion to keep track of my study progress this month. I've had Notion for the past year or so, but I haven't used it much since I prefer to use my digital notebook or write on paper. However, I found a template that has totally revolutionized my study habits and helped me be more productive than I ever have before. I'm using this template that I found in this YT video below.
This video is focused on learning Korean, but I think you can use her methods (and the template!) for any language.
For those who haven't seen the video, I'll briefly summarize the idea behind the template. It's supposed to play off the idea of a cafe, where you order a drink and then get a receipt. In this theme, the 'drink sizes' are various amounts of time you can allocate to studying, and when you click the size of the 'drink' you get ideas on how to use your time.
I haven't been using the size recommendations much since my day is structured around a textbook and workbook I'm using, but this template has been instrumental in keeping a detailed record of my 'orders' each day.
My 'Cafe' Style Notion Log
For reference, the 'IA' refers to the book An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, which is the textbook I used during my time at Waseda University.
I've decided to do the entire book over again to make sure I understand all the concepts, and then will move onto a book such as Tobira. Each chapter has anywhere from 10 to 15 different grammar points, 3 conversations, 2 reading sections and 1 or 2 listening sections. I like to write the grammar points down in my notebook!
Click to enlarge my notes :)
After completing each chapter I do the corresponding exercises in the workbook.
Due to this, I spend around 1.5 hours on average each day studying Japanese. On days where I'm tired, I look over my notes and just do around 15 minutes of Anki. Since there is no known answer key for the Integrated Approach textbook (that I've been able to find) I rely on my friends for all exercise corrections, and I am very grateful!
Drama: In House Marriage Honey (社内マリッジハニー)
I also have been watching a drama called 'In House Marriage Honey' (社内マリッジハニー) and I watch each episode in 3 steps.
1. Watch the episode straight through with French subtitles.
2. Watch the entire episode again, with Japanese and English subtitles.
3. Take any unknown terms and put them into an Anki deck.
It takes a bit of time, but I've found a lot of new vocab this way and it's been a great way to keep up my French while focusing on Japanese.
My New Anki Deck
I started making Anki cards on January 6th, allow me to show you my card layout!
You can find the link to the template I used here! I tweaked the colors a little bit and found a royalty free image online for the background to give it this 'neon cyberspace' vibe.
This template was made by the creators of Benkyogo, a resource blog about learning Japanese. You can check out their full post about this Anki deck and learning vocabulary here.
Overall, I'm really happy with my progress and will try to continue my current pace even with the new semester rapidly approaching. Though I probably won't be able to pull 2+ hour days anymore, if I can manage 30 minutes a day everyday, I think I'll be able to breeze through this textbook before the summer comes.
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