I rarely feel inspired or motivated by other people online. In a way, I've become dazed, and perhaps too cynical, to hear other people's advice on whatever activity or learning experience. "I'm not smart or ambitious enough" or "I don't have the time or patience", I tend to think about such writeups/videos/etc. But something about your videos struck a cord with me. Maybe because of how earnest yet reasonable you spoke about your experience with japanese learning but ever since I discovered your backlog of videos about japanese learning last year in December, It finally gave me the push to pursue one of my lifelong dreams of trying to learn this language that permeates my daily life with the media that I consume. While I don't think I'm as dedicated as you are (or I'll ever be), I have been studying japanese for at least 30 mins a day. Doing Anki everyday, per your recommendation, and practicing my comprehension by reading and/or watching things in japanese (mostly manga and youtube videos) when I feel motivated and have time to spare. To be frank, I started this journey with the pervasive thought that I would give up at any day as soon as I got bored, but I didn't. I never got bored of learning japanese. It's not that I was always willing and motivated to do my daily Anki reps but I still did them. Noticing myself being able to understand this language little by little has become my driving force to continue this endeavor. I never thought I would carry on after starting last year but hearing your thoughts and experience on learning this language has given me perspective and made me start worrying less about not figuring everything out right away. It's a slow process so I'll stay patient and try to enjoy it. Anyway, apologies for this long wall of text. I just want to express how grateful I am for discovering your videos. I wish you all the best and I'll keep striving with learning this language for as long as I can. I'm nowhere near close to fluency but It's been surprisingly fun to learn and see progress even for how miniscule it is at times.
The way you described your relationship with learning the language is very realistic, and similar to how it was for me during the first hundreds of days, where I didn't do much other than just Anki reviews from the premade deck. Having to do daily Anki reviews indeed isn't the most adrenaline pumping thrilling activity - its mundane to the extent that calling it a chore is far from an exaggeration, yet the results it slowly yields makes it bearable enough to keep going, as long as one's expectations are in check. Eventually, you'll reach a point where consuming the amount of content you can enjoy in the language has widened, after which it will become less of a chore, and more of a journey.
@@Livakivi That's very reassuring to hear. I always think to myself, almost in a scolding way, if I could be doing more at this stage. If what I'm doing right now is enough. If I, for example, should start sentence mining or if I continue using premade cards for now. I always think of the risk of burning myself out and getting overwhelmed with how much I have/need to study so I restrain myself to keep my motivation and expectations in check. I hope I'll reach the point, like you said, where it becomes less of a chore and I'm able to better immerse myself with the language. But I'm patient and I know that I just have to keep going. Besides, I see proof of my studies already even if it's not always consistent. It is quite the feeling to be able to understand a random page from a manga or a random tweet or random dialogue in a youtube video, etc. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my comment and I wish you the best of luck with your future content.
Just realize at that pace, it will take you 12 years to reach the level Livakivi is at...and maybe longer since retention will slide more if you're only half as dedicated.
I just wanted to point out that Japanese language learning isn't linear, so the comment about you taking 12 years makes no actual sense unless you then do every other step he did but in half the minutes lol. Realistically, eventually you'll feel comfortable enough to start doing more things. For me, I just branched into playing games in this, the beginning of my third year of learning Japanese. I'm starting with pretty simple games: I beat all of the new content in Animal crossing in a few months, then moved to Pokemon and Yokai Watch. I am playing short games made by single developers, and I plan to start playing VNs when I know closer to 4-5k words (I'm at 3.1k, which...I really hoped would be enough but isn't, but it's okay, there is still plenty to do.) Things I did before N3 included reading tons of kids books, mostly folktales, and some of those graded readers back when I was in n5. I also am taking a break of learning new grammar about 1/4 of the way through N2, because I realised how rare the N2 grammar is in what I'm reading, the thing I should focus on is the vocabular words. I will get back to dedicated grammar study after I can read more accurately. But when I started, it was mostly grammar from lessons, and then vocab from my Japanese friends (I never used a premade list. It's also probably why, despite knowing 3k words, I know a lot of conversational stuff but not as much stuff as would be in video games. I'm okay with this, since I'm learning for my friends, but it's been notable that the games I do best in are very conversational games rather than the most commonly suggested games for beginners, like the game I understand the best isn't one anyone I know has ever heard of.) I do spend about 240 minutes studying a day, though, not including immersion or convos with friends. I'm trying to lower than amount but the lowest I seem to get is about 180. I don't think I'm going to be significantly better than this guy when I hit six years, though. Everyone's journey is different, and the effort it takes to do even a small amount of studying at the beginning becomes more trivial as you go on. I used to get headaches just reading a few sentences, and now I can go for closer to 30 minutes with difficult (or a few hours with material at my level) and I've heard it'll only get better from here. Excuse me for the long post, I just dislike people using these 'if you do that, you'll take too long' as if your journey isn't going to drastically change over time. As long as you keep at it, you'll get better. I'm the worst person I know at memorising any information at all, and when I started Japanese, it was a challenge because it's something I've tried before and I didn't think I could do it, but I've done so many things in my life that I thought I couldn't do, that I wanted to try. Two (and a bit) years later, I'm still going, and I frickin' played an entire game in Japanese already! I talk to my friends regularly, and I made NEW Japanese friends because of this as well! It's amazing. Totally worth the struggle, imo. Godspeed.
I'll reach 10K anki vocab in january and 合格'd N2. Your periodic updates are so motivating to me, and were so especially after I restarted after having quit a while. Just about 2.5 years in now total. Nobody in the immersion-sphere is as relatable and consistently motivating as you are. Good luck on the road to 30K and great to see the journey in Japan treated you so well (feels like last month you mentioned leaving for Japan!)
I'm currently trying to come back from a slump in motivation and consistency, with a pretty large amount of overdue reviews. Do you have any tips or things you learned when you restarted studying? Or did you just go from the start of the deck? By the way, congratulations on your progress.
@@Retog Idk whether or not you're serious but we have a lot of empirical evidence that anki is a highly efficient method to get a lot of vocabulary, knowledge of kanji and grammar rules ingrained into your mind, and that it's a great tool for learning Japanese, especially during the initial stages before you unlock the ability to immerse in native content.
@@Hoppitot It's ok maybe, because I didn't understand some parts he said though I'm Japanese. I barely understood what he said by reading the subtitle lol.
I began learning Japanese 2 years ago, using your techniques and tips to get my start. I haven't skipped a single day since. These videos have changed my life! Thanks Livakivi!
LET'S GOOO LIVA IS BACK Also after many times of starting and failing, ive finally been able to get to the N5 level a couple months ago, and now the N4 level recently, I've really appreciated this channel (hence why I'm a patron) and I'm very grateful for the years of fantastic content
I've been learning Spanish using Anki, Duolingo and Lute for the past three years, and I'm finally going to Mexico for the first time since I was a child to see family next year. You're definitely one of my biggest inspirations for me, especially in the aspects of showing that true language learning isn't finding a quick gimmick to be "fluent" in x amount of time, rather finding a process where you can consistently work towards your goals and enjoy your journey. I really loved your interaction with the shop owner near the end, I hope he can continue running the shop for a bit longer.
Awesome. I've followed you for six years - since your journey started. I wish I had started with you, and although I haven't been as disciplined and as hardcore as you, I've managed to learn a fair bit - albeit A LOT slower. I'm hoping to have more time once I finish my master's degree and then maybe live a few years in Japan while doing an intensive course there. You're an inspiration! You are proof that "1%" better every day amounts to a lot in the long run.
Livakivi , I am so grateful I found your channel. I've always wanted to learn Japanese but it was kind of scary to try because... You know, kanji and all that stuff. However, your videos were a huge motivation for me. I started learning japanese in February 2024 every single day like you. My vocab consists of roughly 4500 words thanks to the 2k/6k core deck and my mining deck in anki. I had only 3 questions wrong when I tried jlptn N3 test online. Of course I am not fluent by any means, there's still a huge gap between me and a fluent speaker. However, I won't give up like you did not give up. Thank you so much for this kind of video. Thank you
@@academai11 hahaha now anki is driving me crazy 😖. Too much time spent on Anki instead of immersion. I would not recommend learning more than 10 new cards per day though. It's better just to immerse yourself in the language. You will come across some words so frequently that will stick in your head unconsciously and I believe that is how language acquisition works.
@@javiervsenglish823i just started my first week i know hiragana and just began the core 2k/ 6k, how would you recommend immersing at my stage when you have little to no knowledge of anything? Am i just supposed to listen and understand based on context or what?
@@nxrj5632 being honest, I would recommend to immerse yourself in content you enjoy. In the first months you will not understand a lot and that is ok. Even though I've been studying for almost a year, I still find myself confused while watching anime or reading posts on the internet. I would suggest rewatching your favorite anime, movies or series in japanese so you won't get bored and lost in the plot because you've already seen them before. That's my opinion and I hope it helps you 8)
I envy your stubbornness to learn, I really do not have the same ability to just decide to sit down and get it done. But you still inspire me a lot and I am learning, albeit at a slower pace. I honestly truly appreciate your videos a lot and this channel have become one of my favourites, it always puts me in a good mood when I see a livakivi upload! Thank you for making something real and honest, the effort you put in to your work is very showing
Finished the 6k premade deck recently and have been resting from the new words coming in everyday for a bit. Honestly, it was really satisfying learning in a way where you are pretty much guaranteed to improve, day by day. I somewhat dread going out there and doing immersions though, that sounds so taxing in terms of time. I'll start it up, sometime, I hope! Also, you, especially as someone who is also from one of the Baltic states, are such an inspiration - I'm forever glad I found your channel all that time ago. Good luck in the future and have a great remaining couple months in Japan!
@Hoppitot For my 2k6k deck? 235 new words left, ive varied between 10 and 6 new words a day depending on how much i had time for, and using livas card template i made 26 new cards myself, which i got to pick up the pace on doing soon enough.
This has been my favorite youtube series ever. Every video has been a joy to watch and they have been educational. I feel like the series has shown a realistic pathway to japanese fluency while still having work, other hobbies etc. This has also worked as a catalyst for me in learning japanese. Thus far just 2 months of learning but it has been fulfilling thus far. Anyway, big thanks from Finland
Congratulations! I just hit 100 days of learning japanese, and you were a big part of the reason I took the dive and finally start learning. I am happy for your successes and find it inspiring to my own journey
Having a holiday in Japan right now. Started ajatting 2022 and it's so great actually being able to understand things. Watching you since the beginning, always excited when a new video drops.
You are my biggest inspiration, man. I started learning a year and a half ago and while I'm slower than most (I am in school, married with kids, full time job, etc) I've managed to reach a 2nd grade reading level in Japanese! I'm inching my way through N4 and I have you to thank for that.
As always you continue to inspire and bring insights to my Japanese journey. Finally After watching your channel for 3 years I have actually started learning Japanese seriously. I'm close to reaching the 6 month mark, with about 1200H of Japanese. Recently it hasn't really been feeling like a journey though, I have a list of things I want to consume with incrementally higher difficulty, and for the foreseeable future I just read for 8 hours a day, leaving any insights or discovery behind for the simple goal of getting better. But you've reminded me that life is more than that. Sure this time is being spent to provide my future self with new possibilities, but providing my current self with a meaningful and enriching experience instead of falling into a cycle of blind practice is something I should think about. I also look forward to your future videos. Your videos usually have a comfortable spot on my "Best videos" and "Impactful Videos" Playlists. Your League, Draw-a-box, Gym and obviously Japanese updates have always been inspiring to me and I look forward to seeing what else you can come up with. Enjoy the rest of your Japan trip, but when you get home I expect great things
nice, you were the one who truly made me step up my japanese learning. i got my 700 day Duolingo streak today and been using anki with the core 2k/6k deck, i will strive to continue strong.
One of my favorite youtubers, it is crazy because I was just rewatching your videos and I just finished a video of yours about 2 months of studying Japanese for 5 hours a day and I check you channel to watch a other video of yours... you finally posted, keep up the great work
oh my god its litterally my second year aniversarry of me learning japanese tomorrow ちなみにリアルチャットのとのろはほぼ全部理解出来ました！来年もどんな題材でもリバさんの動画を長さに関係なくお楽しみにしています。帰国前の時間を楽しんでください！
man I love these, long time subscriber and seeing your progress makes me happy man. You always keep my motivation up and boost it even a bit with your videos, I think they serve a great purpose among us japanese learners. Thank you for everything bro
YOOOO THE GOAT HERE. Livakivi thank you so much, you are my biggest inspiration for keeping my consistence in learning japanese. It has been 2 months since i started and i'm already halfway through my 6k/Deck (yes i'm a psycho.), though my grammar still sucks xd. I'm still not able to understand the content I personally like, but i'm not frustrated at all, because i know that this will be a long journey and everything will get in a place by time. Again thank you!
These videos are fun because I started studying the day you released your 3 year update, so you giving updates is also reminding me of how long it has been for me, I am now doing an Internship doing market research for a language school in Nagoya and I'm finally starting to get comfortable expressing myself and having fun watching things without English subtitles, N1 is the goal at the end of 2025, cheers
You motivate me to stay consistent. I started learning in January with RTK and then Core 2.3k a few months later, and I missed doing Anki this summer but I promised myself that’d be the last time I skip a day unless it’s for an emergency reason or for a vacation such as going to Japan next year. I hope that I’ll be able to have some conversations when I’m there. My main motivation is to be able to form human connections that I never would have otherwise been able to create. I want to talk to people from all walks of life in Japanese and feel connected to them. I can’t wait to get to that point and experience that feeling. Thanks again for all that you do!
you are one of the reasons I reached 10K+ on anki few months ago and still mining and immersing to this day, I am also moving to Japan after tomorrow and it is a indeed mix of feelings and emotions of excitement, nervousness, and happiness at the same time
Local man struggles with Russian Duolingo course, ends up speaking to a persimmon tree at night in fluent Japanese 6 years later. Congrats on your progress, Liva! You're the reason I'm 3k anki cards deep into Japanese and going strong. I hope my learning journey will be as eventful as yours. Enjoy the rest of your stay and only worry about feeding us more content when you're free to do so.
Wow what an incredibly insightful video on what's beyond fluency. This seriously lit a fire under my arse, as I've been very complacent with my Japanese for the past year or so. Thank you for this banger!
Been following since first video it's been such a fun ride to see this. Also since half a year ago I've finally been consistent every day on my studying 😼
Haven't missed a day since I found you on Feb 1st 2023. 5360 words and counting. I hope I get to meet you one day so I can say thanks. Looking forward to the year 7 update
Your videos really did give me the necessary kick in the butt to be a little more consistent with my anki. Managed to add 4000 new cards to my self made anki deck since summer last year and I'm finally seeing the results as I crossed the general 6000 cards mark. Soon I'll be ready to take on something else than just listening to the News and Japanese Learning Podcasts for immersion.
So nice to see another video liv. I have been studying japanese for 3 years now 2.5 to 3 hours a day. I have mined close to 16000 anki cards. I will forever be grateful to you, thankyou for showing me the method i use daily to mine cards with migaku. It's been an incredible journey. I am also surprised to learn that you are younger than me, i'm 27 and started learning at 24. I just assumed from your very mature way of speaking and problem solving skills i've seen in your videos that you were older than me. It means you started when you were 19. Honestly hearing that i feel a bit melancholic. I always feel that i started too late to ever become completely fluent, but regardless i will continue. I wish you all the best, and again Thankyou very much
With many overlapping interests and a very enjoyable writing and editing style your channel has become one of my favourite to watch. Personally I am over 4 years in learning Japanese, though not with your consistency which I admire. The way you explain your struggles with sometimes not understanding the meaning of sentences, even if you have tens of thousands of words memorised and can all the words in the sentence is very comforting. A lot of youtubers who have learnt Japanese often present themselves as fluent or close to with little talk about their current struggles. If they do it because they have just become fluent in a pretty short timespan, or because they just want to present themselves to be better, it affects my mentality. Not because I am jealous, but rather because it sometimes makes me question if my methods is a good method, or if I am just spending a lot of time with something inefficient, but hearing you talk a bit about the places you are still lacking makes me confident again that there is not something catastrophically wrong with what I am doing. Your videos have been a great motivator, so I thank you for making them! I find one of the biggest struggles with self-study is knowing what to do and finding good methods to learn. Your videos have been a great resource for me to find information and methods that I can apply to my own life. (Especially your macos video, I was looking at macs before you uploaded it because I needed something powerful and portable for a big trip and have had pretty bad experiences with windows laptops, and then you uploaded your video on macs which helped me ease into the experience a lot smoother when I got my own laptop a few months later)
Livakivi, thanks to you, and your videos I am learning Japanese for half a year now, and I will be writing my N5 this December. You where the first channel that I came across when I was trying to search for Japanese studying resources. Since then I am studying Japanese every day for an hour/maybe two. I never thought that I could be capable of learning "such a difficult language", but seeing your progress and determination truly inspired me. To be frank I always wanted to learn Japanese, because I have always been an otaku freak for a decade now, but I was always thinking that I'm not good enough for such a difficult task and I lacked the confidence, which in the end u gave me. Thank you so much
Thanks for the video! It was so inspiring for me as a beginner, I only reached my first 300 cards on Anki, and I was so surprised by how many words I could understand in your night walk. It was my first immersion. Thank you for such beautiful video!
I’ve been learning Japanese for almost a year and a half, 2 hours every day, and your progress videos have really been the driving force behind my consistency. They make the journey feel so much more achievable 🏆🙏❤️
Thank you for this update. I watched every one about 3 times :D They really give me courage to continue with japanese. I can't bring myself to concentrate on japanese for a long time, so you rekindled my fire rn
It has been 5 years since I started following your journey. I’ve started and stopped learning Japanese countless times and didn’t manage to get anywhere. I really envy your determination mr Liva! Thank you for sharing this beautiful trip!
I can't either, this languague is so ridiculously frustrating that motivation only gets you through so much, I dread having to open Anki it really is draining
Still going strong since the pandemic. I managed to visit Tokyo and Yokohama this year and made some new friends as well. I always enjoy these updates. it gives me an idea of what I can expect in the future. Also your output is freaking insane lmao I feel like a proud parent it’s weird xD
Thanks for uploading progress videos! Recently reached 0,5 years of everyday Japanese learning, which my not be that impressive but I'm still proud of myself. Whenever I see videos like these, it gives a huge bust to my motivation to continue my journey and to study even harder💪
thank you liva, for yet another yearly motivation boost. Sitting at 8,500 cards atm and in a months time ill have reached 2 years of not having missed a single day, taking the n3 in december, thank you for making me start learning this language, liva 🙏
I started watching you since college, it's good to see how much time passed. I don't but I have a feeling like I watching how my old friend become adult, how we both changed since school. You are really inspiring
dude your are fav estonia youtuber i know . I think the videos taught me something that nobody else does when it comes to learning any language- have fun/trust in the process.i don't usually rewatch anything but your vides on any other topic are so good that i can't help to rewatch without any speed eg video in which you talked about what if you started early , inspiration for playing go, do art for nothing. finesse of your videos are VIBE and just feel good
super excited for the renovation videos to return. as for editing the more philosophical videos, i think relevant footage is not very important and sometimes can feel a little cheesy. My advice would be, record as much b-roll as you can around japan. whether that be pretty sunsets or the cool trees or lights and power lines etc. and just put those in the background of those kinds of videos.
Your progress is outstanding, it's awesome to see how you improved over the years, things like these bring me tons of motivation to continue on my english journey and enhance my skills, I'm even thinking about learning another languages in the future, thank you for everything!
Checking in again, maybe you recognize my profile picture I've been following you since the duolingo video even though I never used duolingo. For myself I'm taking N3 this year with my learning material being similar to your sentence mining but almost solely anime. I'd love if you made more of the philosophical / life questioning videos. Some of your stuff like in the motivation video, about not sharing with others ETC still resonates with me now as although I had similar thoughts its really nice to see someone go into those topics so deeply. Good luck on road to 100k subs!
6 years with daily consistency is amazing. Your channel is amazing, because it's really inspiring. Even when I already reached the Japanese fluency I wanted, I still enjoy your channel, simply for your insane consistency and your spirit to 進め. Great job and as the saying goes "I mastered Japanese. Now, I can finally start learning!"
I'm so excited to see you having made so much progress! I genuinely find your journey inspiring and encouraging. The essay you talked about, "Sun and Steel" is the kind of thing I hope to one day be able to read, but I'm still dawdling my way through a short Kirby novel. What you said about the English translation losing some meaning is the whole reason I am learning Japanese in the first place: I don't want to miss out on the nuance and personality present in the original work. I've got a lot of interest in playing games in their original Japanese, as well. You're a hell of a guy, learning and sharing it with the rest of us. Thank you for the video! It's always informative and gives me a little boost of motivation to continue studying. "Jinja" is Shrine in English, by the way. I got that word from watching people play horror games here on youtube. Enjoy your last few months in Japan and live in the moment. Time is a precious resource we often forget to manage properly for our own fulfillment. Good luck in figuring out what to prioritize! I'm looking forward to seeing what ideas make it off the drawing board and into a video later on. Congratulations on all the progress! It's something to be proud of.
Your videos are very inspiring and are the single most helpful guide for learning japanese I've found yet on youtube. I haven't brought myself to set up my Anki yet (mostly because of school), but I've been following your journey for about a year, and I plan on using your videos to set up my Anki and other learning tools too. I also love the wholesome bits and life wisdom in your videos! Those bits make each of your videos genuinely enjoyable and helpful for the whole video length. Best of wishes on your Japanese journeys!
livakivi thank you, you inspired me to learn japanese and i just reached 1 year of learning two days ago. I immersed for 730 hours in total or exactly 2 hours every single and that doesnt include grammar study/anki. i never missed a day and thats because your videos stressed how important it is to stay consistent.
On the output section I only have one small piece of advice (I don't know if you're aware of it): you mix 丁寧語 and ため口, for instance you end your sentences with です but kinda forget the ます endings if the sentence ends with a verb
i didnt realize we were the same age, that section on 4 years passing in a blink of an eye and how it has changed your perception really touched me on how I have been feeling recently as well
Very similar experience myself with German. I made a massive 17k deck and then stopped because it was getting tedious, but now I have resumed because Anki is just so effective, particularly at the advanced level when you don't see the C1/2 words frequently enough through immersion alone to really memorize them naturally. I also, like you, am still amazed by how many new (to me) words I encounter, especially when reading and even more so when reading older books. If I read something from Herman Hesse or Ernst Jünger, I'll encountering multiple new words a page; in contrast, I can listen to an hr long podcast on the war in the Ukraine or the US Elections and encounter nothing new. Literature really is a different animal. Overall, learning German has really made me appreciate the astonishingly vast vocabulary of native speakers. Just never struck me before. I've seen estimates that go past 40k, even up to 80k. Really hit home for me when I learned the word freckle (Sommersprosse) after years of german learning from the german sub of the Apothecary Diaries, a word that any 10 year old english speaker would know, yet to me was entirely new. Always have found your vids inspiring and I hope to travel to Germany/Austria in the next year to hone my output, like you have done in Japan. Cheers to another year on this journey m8 and I look forward to next years iteration.
I've pretty much realized the reason I stopped studying so many times because I wasn't using the language for the reasons I would want to learn about in my native language or stuff I already do in my native language like researching topics. I love learning but a lot of times it was hard for me to figure out japanese words that will let me research in the language but at this point because I've been spending time with dictionaries (because I love linguistics and history) I can finally look up the things I want and it's so much fun
I commented on your 4 years of learning Japanese video that I was confident I would come back to tell you I finished the core2k/6k. It's so close now and while I'm not sure I'll be able to pick up the pace the way you did, learning Japanese and being able to come here and share my progress with everyone is the only thing that's keeping me going now. 本当に、ありがとうございます。
Can't believe it's already almost 1 year since your 5 years update. Your channel has been a game changer in my japanese learning. I'm currently at 11 608 cards in my anki deck (6k deck cards included), and I have a 29 cards/day average on the last 31 days. I'm gonna keep pushing, we will make it brothers 💪
@ArshSidhu-c9n until now, I was only reading. Since this week-end, I've started to rewatch the anime "Just Because" with japanese subtitles I think I am in a sweetspot where I can enjoy content, understand a lot, yet find a good amount of new vocabulary. On this anime I began, I think I had to search for like 20 words per episode, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't understand globally what was being said. I wanted to save new words to anki
@@BLITZ2019 thnxxx for the reply . so that means i need to atleast go for 20k words if i am only interseted on yt , movies and anime and not in novels or reading right
@@ArshSidhu-c9n 20k is the objective I'm striving toward, but it depends on your current level I think. If you're a beginner, I believe learning the kanas and the basics of the language is a good start. After that, you need enough vocabulary to be able to enjoy content. The core 6k deck is really good for that in my opinion For example, when I wasn't working with anki and I had like a few hundreds words of vocabulary, I still tried to play Pokemon Shield in japanese. It took me somethink like 19 hours to get to the first gym, and I gave up because it was overwhelming at that time. Doing your anki reviews for a while might not be the funniest thing to do, but it's effective to enable you to do immersion
the point of where I would say I am fluent in a language is when I know enough to be able to ask what a word mean and understand a simple explanation without using a translator, I remember back when I got to that point in english, I text a LOT and do voice chats and play games like vrchat so I always have the posibility to ask someone about simple things, as soon as I discovered that I knew enough english to just ask what words mean and understand, I never touched a translator since I hope to get to that point one day with japanese as I am not a text book person or someone who likes to look in dictionaries, even if u have a verry low understanding of a language, if u have a friend that knows how what u know, they can explain anything to a level low enough that u understand, its not easy to find friends like that but when u act young, people dont mind explaining very simple concepts and it can help a LOT when learning a language, especially that its not a textbook explanation, its usually an explanation from someone who use it in the language which is much more acurate than what a dictionary would give (especially that with many languages, words are rarely used in their dictionary language most of the time) I am trying to learn japanese at least to a more or less N5 level so I know just enough to be able to progress without putting all my time into actively studying even now in english and even in french and dutch (my native languages) I learn new words every days while going through my daily life irl and online and I will never stop learning
Thank you for inspiring me with this video. I had my doubts and these unshaky feelings of learning japanese. Now im determined more than ever to learn this language because of your amazing progress and works. I'm forever gratefull, thank you🎉
how is the progress going ? also i may switch to linux btw (since microsoft will end windows 10 on october 10 2025 (no joke), i still need to be convinced to switch tho)
@@chrisalex82I have manjaro (arch based btw) dual booted on my laptop, it is so good i swear i feel like everything is much smoother than windows and i feel much more productive
Learning Japanese with your help got me through a hard time recently. It turned into a hobby that i very much enjoy. Sure there is this anxiety of never being good enough, even you got so much more to learn, how can somebody at the start ever see their goal? The question is, don't bother with a certain goal, take it day by day and enjoy the process.
While I'm excited at the (possible) prospect of you perhaps returning to the soviet era store, I'll miss the chill walks through japanese landscapes in the middle of nowhere.
I'm 200 days in, and though i had issues with consistency, especially with anki. I'm at a comfortable spot. I'm still not able to understand a lot, but I've begun to swap my applications to japanese and engage in japanese social media as often as i can. My input is going great, but my output is really not getting the gains I believe I could be getting. I feel like that's probably because of my lack of an outlet for that output. But so far, it's enjoyable, I don't hate it at all. Immersing myself no longer feels foreign. The catalyst for all this is your channel. I saw your first linux video and clicked and came across something more interesting. I picked up the language and I'm glad I did. I haven't found any japanese youtubers that are quite to my taste just yet, but that should come along eventually. All in all, im having a good time, and i look forward to keeping learning. Your videos are great
Perfect timing, I burned myself out with Japanese studying 8h a day for 7 months in prep of taking a working holiday to Japan, I stopped studying when I got there and it has been over a year since I got back, I am now relearning at a slower pace and my whole journey started 2 years ago with your videos.
Day 83 (2024年10月28日) over here. I have been consistently putting in 2+ hours a day into Busuu Japanese lessons (half an hour) and Anki for kanji (associating keywords with each of the Jōyō kanji), 2k/6k vocab, and the jlab beginner anime deck (1.5+ hours total). I've also made five dozen custom cards, quite a few of which have multiple words on each. My immersion is not consistent, but the jlab anime deck helps me get in valuable n+1 listening practice every day. Your Japanese journey is a huge inspiration to me for being super consistent and dedicated, Livakivi. Also, the Japanese learning content is super addicting and gratifying, just like every day of picking up 20+ new vocabulary words into my Anki circulation (I limit my daily 「暗記」 time to 2 hours). Alright, I'm gonna enjoy the video now!
This is inspiring to see- especially compared to the other language UA-camrs who claim to learn a language to fluency in "x-amount of months". Learning a language- especially one so far from one's native language, can sometimes be a life long process. I've been learning Finnish for about 2 and a half years. Living here and using the language helps a lot. But I realize I have an incredibly long way to go before I reach any semblance of true fluency- especially when it comes to output. But if you can speak Japanese at this level after 6 years, it makes me look forward to where I'll be with my Finnish in another 3 years!
I'm approaching 10,000 Anki cards myself, and I originally planned on stopping there, but the more I watch your videos, the more I think I'm just gonna be doing this forever 😅
@@ArshSidhu-c9n Certain anime, like easier ones like pokemon, cardcaptor sakura, yu gi oh, etc. I can watch and understand pretty easily, but almost everything else I need JP subs to be able to understand well. I've started focusing more on listening lately, with podcasts, audiobooks, and youtube, and while I'm still far from fluent, I've noticed a big improvement in my listening already. The main thing that helps is just consistency, even if it's just 30 min of listening a day. It may not seem like a lot, but before long you'll begin to notice improvements.
@@cow1959 I started in April 2021. I haven't been super consistent in that time, and I took a couple of prolonged breaks, but now I'm at a point where I can be more consistent and plan on taking the N1 at the end of next year.
I rarely feel inspired or motivated by other people online. In a way, I've become dazed, and perhaps too cynical, to hear other people's advice on whatever activity or learning experience. "I'm not smart or ambitious enough" or "I don't have the time or patience", I tend to think about such writeups/videos/etc.
But something about your videos struck a cord with me. Maybe because of how earnest yet reasonable you spoke about your experience with japanese learning but ever since I discovered your backlog of videos about japanese learning last year in December, It finally gave me the push to pursue one of my lifelong dreams of trying to learn this language that permeates my daily life with the media that I consume. While I don't think I'm as dedicated as you are (or I'll ever be), I have been studying japanese for at least 30 mins a day. Doing Anki everyday, per your recommendation, and practicing my comprehension by reading and/or watching things in japanese (mostly manga and youtube videos) when I feel motivated and have time to spare.
To be frank, I started this journey with the pervasive thought that I would give up at any day as soon as I got bored, but I didn't. I never got bored of learning japanese. It's not that I was always willing and motivated to do my daily Anki reps but I still did them. Noticing myself being able to understand this language little by little has become my driving force to continue this endeavor. I never thought I would carry on after starting last year but hearing your thoughts and experience on learning this language has given me perspective and made me start worrying less about not figuring everything out right away. It's a slow process so I'll stay patient and try to enjoy it.
Anyway, apologies for this long wall of text. I just want to express how grateful I am for discovering your videos. I wish you all the best and I'll keep striving with learning this language for as long as I can. I'm nowhere near close to fluency but It's been surprisingly fun to learn and see progress even for how miniscule it is at times.
The way you described your relationship with learning the language is very realistic, and similar to how it was for me during the first hundreds of days, where I didn't do much other than just Anki reviews from the premade deck.
Having to do daily Anki reviews indeed isn't the most adrenaline pumping thrilling activity - its mundane to the extent that calling it a chore is far from an exaggeration, yet the results it slowly yields makes it bearable enough to keep going, as long as one's expectations are in check.
Eventually, you'll reach a point where consuming the amount of content you can enjoy in the language has widened, after which it will become less of a chore, and more of a journey.
@@Livakivi That's very reassuring to hear. I always think to myself, almost in a scolding way, if I could be doing more at this stage. If what I'm doing right now is enough. If I, for example, should start sentence mining or if I continue using premade cards for now. I always think of the risk of burning myself out and getting overwhelmed with how much I have/need to study so I restrain myself to keep my motivation and expectations in check.
I hope I'll reach the point, like you said, where it becomes less of a chore and I'm able to better immerse myself with the language. But I'm patient and I know that I just have to keep going. Besides, I see proof of my studies already even if it's not always consistent. It is quite the feeling to be able to understand a random page from a manga or a random tweet or random dialogue in a youtube video, etc.
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my comment and I wish you the best of luck with your future content.
@op Same here. Been learning since March and I can already enjoy some easy japanese content. Not easy, but so worth it!
Just realize at that pace, it will take you 12 years to reach the level Livakivi is at...and maybe longer since retention will slide more if you're only half as dedicated.
I just wanted to point out that Japanese language learning isn't linear, so the comment about you taking 12 years makes no actual sense unless you then do every other step he did but in half the minutes lol.
Realistically, eventually you'll feel comfortable enough to start doing more things.
For me, I just branched into playing games in this, the beginning of my third year of learning Japanese. I'm starting with pretty simple games: I beat all of the new content in Animal crossing in a few months, then moved to Pokemon and Yokai Watch. I am playing short games made by single developers, and I plan to start playing VNs when I know closer to 4-5k words (I'm at 3.1k, which...I really hoped would be enough but isn't, but it's okay, there is still plenty to do.)
Things I did before N3 included reading tons of kids books, mostly folktales, and some of those graded readers back when I was in n5. I also am taking a break of learning new grammar about 1/4 of the way through N2, because I realised how rare the N2 grammar is in what I'm reading, the thing I should focus on is the vocabular words. I will get back to dedicated grammar study after I can read more accurately.
But when I started, it was mostly grammar from lessons, and then vocab from my Japanese friends (I never used a premade list. It's also probably why, despite knowing 3k words, I know a lot of conversational stuff but not as much stuff as would be in video games. I'm okay with this, since I'm learning for my friends, but it's been notable that the games I do best in are very conversational games rather than the most commonly suggested games for beginners, like the game I understand the best isn't one anyone I know has ever heard of.)
I do spend about 240 minutes studying a day, though, not including immersion or convos with friends. I'm trying to lower than amount but the lowest I seem to get is about 180. I don't think I'm going to be significantly better than this guy when I hit six years, though.
Everyone's journey is different, and the effort it takes to do even a small amount of studying at the beginning becomes more trivial as you go on. I used to get headaches just reading a few sentences, and now I can go for closer to 30 minutes with difficult (or a few hours with material at my level) and I've heard it'll only get better from here.
Excuse me for the long post, I just dislike people using these 'if you do that, you'll take too long' as if your journey isn't going to drastically change over time. As long as you keep at it, you'll get better. I'm the worst person I know at memorising any information at all, and when I started Japanese, it was a challenge because it's something I've tried before and I didn't think I could do it, but I've done so many things in my life that I thought I couldn't do, that I wanted to try. Two (and a bit) years later, I'm still going, and I frickin' played an entire game in Japanese already! I talk to my friends regularly, and I made NEW Japanese friends because of this as well! It's amazing. Totally worth the struggle, imo.
Godspeed.
I'll reach 10K anki vocab in january and 合格'd N2. Your periodic updates are so motivating to me, and were so especially after I restarted after having quit a while. Just about 2.5 years in now total. Nobody in the immersion-sphere is as relatable and consistently motivating as you are. Good luck on the road to 30K and great to see the journey in Japan treated you so well (feels like last month you mentioned leaving for Japan!)
I'm currently trying to come back from a slump in motivation and consistency, with a pretty large amount of overdue reviews. Do you have any tips or things you learned when you restarted studying? Or did you just go from the start of the deck? By the way, congratulations on your progress.
Just drop anki, it’s a waste of time and very harmful for your learning
@@Retog Idk whether or not you're serious but we have a lot of empirical evidence that anki is a highly efficient method to get a lot of vocabulary, knowledge of kanji and grammar rules ingrained into your mind, and that it's a great tool for learning Japanese, especially during the initial stages before you unlock the ability to immerse in native content.
@@Retog there are 0 people who've reached a high level in japanese without srs unless they live in japan
@@Retog That's not my experience at all. What's your proposed alternative?
The conversation with the old man in the bakery was quite wholesome
yea if you read the subtitles maybe but I feel like I just entered doom difficulity trying to understand him haha
@@Hoppitot It's ok maybe, because I didn't understand some parts he said though I'm Japanese. I barely understood what he said by reading the subtitle lol.
I began learning Japanese 2 years ago, using your techniques and tips to get my start. I haven't skipped a single day since. These videos have changed my life! Thanks Livakivi!
Omg my friend has the same pfp as you, flcl mention!
LET'S GOOO LIVA IS BACK
Also after many times of starting and failing, ive finally been able to get to the N5 level a couple months ago, and now the N4 level recently, I've really appreciated this channel (hence why I'm a patron) and I'm very grateful for the years of fantastic content
it felt like a month since your 5 year of larning japanese vid ngl (time realy flys lol )
Seriously though, I can't believe it's been six years already
I've been learning Spanish using Anki, Duolingo and Lute for the past three years, and I'm finally going to Mexico for the first time since I was a child to see family next year. You're definitely one of my biggest inspirations for me, especially in the aspects of showing that true language learning isn't finding a quick gimmick to be "fluent" in x amount of time, rather finding a process where you can consistently work towards your goals and enjoy your journey. I really loved your interaction with the shop owner near the end, I hope he can continue running the shop for a bit longer.
このシリーズを毎回興味深く拝見させてもらっている者です。
いつも素晴らしい動画ばかりで、英語を学ぶモチベーションにさせていただいています。
ほとんどネイティブレベルの日本語で驚きましたが、一つだけ気づいたのが、「〜んですから」という接続語についてです。
このような言い方はあまり日本人はしないのですが、日本語学習者がそう言っているのを時々耳にします。
因果関係を述べる際の接続詞は「〜なので」「〜ですので」の方が一般的です！
編集お疲れ様でした！残りの滞在期間を楽しんでください！
Awesome. I've followed you for six years - since your journey started. I wish I had started with you, and although I haven't been as disciplined and as hardcore as you, I've managed to learn a fair bit - albeit A LOT slower. I'm hoping to have more time once I finish my master's degree and then maybe live a few years in Japan while doing an intensive course there.
You're an inspiration! You are proof that "1%" better every day amounts to a lot in the long run.
Livakivi , I am so grateful I found your channel. I've always wanted to learn Japanese but it was kind of scary to try because... You know, kanji and all that stuff. However, your videos were a huge motivation for me. I started learning japanese in February 2024 every single day like you. My vocab consists of roughly 4500 words thanks to the 2k/6k core deck and my mining deck in anki. I had only 3 questions wrong when I tried jlptn N3 test online. Of course I am not fluent by any means, there's still a huge gap between me and a fluent speaker. However, I won't give up like you did not give up. Thank you so much for this kind of video. Thank you
4.5 since February? You a menace 😂
@@academai11 hahaha now anki is driving me crazy 😖. Too much time spent on Anki instead of immersion. I would not recommend learning more than 10 new cards per day though. It's better just to immerse yourself in the language. You will come across some words so frequently that will stick in your head unconsciously and I believe that is how language acquisition works.
@@javiervsenglish823i just started my first week i know hiragana and just began the core 2k/ 6k, how would you recommend immersing at my stage when you have little to no knowledge of anything? Am i just supposed to listen and understand based on context or what?
@@nxrj5632 being honest, I would recommend to immerse yourself in content you enjoy. In the first months you will not understand a lot and that is ok. Even though I've been studying for almost a year, I still find myself confused while watching anime or reading posts on the internet. I would suggest rewatching your favorite anime, movies or series in japanese so you won't get bored and lost in the plot because you've already seen them before. That's my opinion and I hope it helps you 8)
I envy your stubbornness to learn, I really do not have the same ability to just decide to sit down and get it done. But you still inspire me a lot and I am learning, albeit at a slower pace. I honestly truly appreciate your videos a lot and this channel have become one of my favourites, it always puts me in a good mood when I see a livakivi upload! Thank you for making something real and honest, the effort you put in to your work is very showing
I think this type of stubbornness is called “conviction,” if I’m not wrong.
Finished the 6k premade deck recently and have been resting from the new words coming in everyday for a bit. Honestly, it was really satisfying learning in a way where you are pretty much guaranteed to improve, day by day. I somewhat dread going out there and doing immersions though, that sounds so taxing in terms of time. I'll start it up, sometime, I hope! Also, you, especially as someone who is also from one of the Baltic states, are such an inspiration - I'm forever glad I found your channel all that time ago. Good luck in the future and have a great remaining couple months in Japan!
That's awesome! Congratulations!
Been on anki for just over 500 days (511) since I watched your earlier videos, excited for a new upload
Thats sick, I'm almost at 500 days too. How many words do you have?
@Hoppitot For my 2k6k deck? 235 new words left, ive varied between 10 and 6 new words a day depending on how much i had time for, and using livas card template i made 26 new cards myself, which i got to pick up the pace on doing soon enough.
im at 491 atm learning russian although i think today might be my last as i have considered starting a new language tomorrow/january 1st 2025
This has been my favorite youtube series ever. Every video has been a joy to watch and they have been educational. I feel like the series has shown a realistic pathway to japanese fluency while still having work, other hobbies etc. This has also worked as a catalyst for me in learning japanese. Thus far just 2 months of learning but it has been fulfilling thus far. Anyway, big thanks from Finland
Congratulations! I just hit 100 days of learning japanese, and you were a big part of the reason I took the dive and finally start learning. I am happy for your successes and find it inspiring to my own journey
Having a holiday in Japan right now. Started ajatting 2022 and it's so great actually being able to understand things.
Watching you since the beginning, always excited when a new video drops.
You are my biggest inspiration, man. I started learning a year and a half ago and while I'm slower than most (I am in school, married with kids, full time job, etc) I've managed to reach a 2nd grade reading level in Japanese! I'm inching my way through N4 and I have you to thank for that.
As always you continue to inspire and bring insights to my Japanese journey. Finally After watching your channel for 3 years I have actually started learning Japanese seriously. I'm close to reaching the 6 month mark, with about 1200H of Japanese. Recently it hasn't really been feeling like a journey though, I have a list of things I want to consume with incrementally higher difficulty, and for the foreseeable future I just read for 8 hours a day, leaving any insights or discovery behind for the simple goal of getting better. But you've reminded me that life is more than that. Sure this time is being spent to provide my future self with new possibilities, but providing my current self with a meaningful and enriching experience instead of falling into a cycle of blind practice is something I should think about.
I also look forward to your future videos. Your videos usually have a comfortable spot on my "Best videos" and "Impactful Videos" Playlists. Your League, Draw-a-box, Gym and obviously Japanese updates have always been inspiring to me and I look forward to seeing what else you can come up with. Enjoy the rest of your Japan trip, but when you get home I expect great things
been following you from the start, great progress as always
nice, you were the one who truly made me step up my japanese learning. i got my 700 day Duolingo streak today and been using anki with the core 2k/6k deck, i will strive to continue strong.
One of my favorite youtubers, it is crazy because I was just rewatching your videos and I just finished a video of yours about 2 months of studying Japanese for 5 hours a day and I check you channel to watch a other video of yours... you finally posted, keep up the great work
oh my god its litterally my second year aniversarry of me learning japanese tomorrow
ちなみにリアルチャットのとのろはほぼ全部理解出来ました！来年もどんな題材でもリバさんの動画を長さに関係なくお楽しみにしています。帰国前の時間を楽しんでください！
Nice work man :)
HOLY MOLY, NOT IN MY LIFE WOULD I THINK SEEING ANOTHER LIVA VIDEO, WE ARE SO BACK GANG!!!
man I love these, long time subscriber and seeing your progress makes me happy man. You always keep my motivation up and boost it even a bit with your videos, I think they serve a great purpose among us japanese learners. Thank you for everything bro
YOOOO THE GOAT HERE. Livakivi thank you so much, you are my biggest inspiration for keeping my consistence in learning japanese. It has been 2 months since i started and i'm already halfway through my 6k/Deck (yes i'm a psycho.), though my grammar still sucks xd. I'm still not able to understand the content I personally like, but i'm not frustrated at all, because i know that this will be a long journey and everything will get in a place by time. Again thank you!
These videos are fun because I started studying the day you released your 3 year update, so you giving updates is also reminding me of how long it has been for me, I am now doing an Internship doing market research for a language school in Nagoya and I'm finally starting to get comfortable expressing myself and having fun watching things without English subtitles, N1 is the goal at the end of 2025, cheers
Awesome video as always. I really hope we get a 7 year update as well, I'll be curious to hear what you'll have to say about reading.
You motivate me to stay consistent. I started learning in January with RTK and then Core 2.3k a few months later, and I missed doing Anki this summer but I promised myself that’d be the last time I skip a day unless it’s for an emergency reason or for a vacation such as going to Japan next year. I hope that I’ll be able to have some conversations when I’m there. My main motivation is to be able to form human connections that I never would have otherwise been able to create. I want to talk to people from all walks of life in Japanese and feel connected to them. I can’t wait to get to that point and experience that feeling. Thanks again for all that you do!
I've been on the journey for over 2 years and I can't wait to get to your level, thanks for all the continued encouragement! baller vid
you are one of the reasons I reached 10K+ on anki few months ago and still mining and immersing to this day, I am also moving to Japan after tomorrow and it is a indeed mix of feelings and emotions of excitement, nervousness, and happiness at the same time
Your diligence and consistency is inspiring
I get a very unique feeling of joy and anticipation whenever I see a new Livakivi upload. Actually such a great channel.
the second half of the video was super chill and i loved it. it sounded really good as well ❤
28:21 it's cool to see that as you keep speaking, your pronunciation improves! Cool to see in real time.
The old baker talking was so endearing I loved it
Local man struggles with Russian Duolingo course, ends up speaking to a persimmon tree at night in fluent Japanese 6 years later.
Congrats on your progress, Liva! You're the reason I'm 3k anki cards deep into Japanese and going strong. I hope my learning journey will be as eventful as yours.
Enjoy the rest of your stay and only worry about feeding us more content when you're free to do so.
Wow what an incredibly insightful video on what's beyond fluency. This seriously lit a fire under my arse, as I've been very complacent with my Japanese for the past year or so. Thank you for this banger!
Been following since first video it's been such a fun ride to see this.
Also since half a year ago I've finally been consistent every day on my studying 😼
Haven't missed a day since I found you on Feb 1st 2023. 5360 words and counting. I hope I get to meet you one day so I can say thanks. Looking forward to the year 7 update
i love the introspective parts of your videos
Your videos really did give me the necessary kick in the butt to be a little more consistent with my anki. Managed to add 4000 new cards to my self made anki deck since summer last year and I'm finally seeing the results as I crossed the general 6000 cards mark. Soon I'll be ready to take on something else than just listening to the News and Japanese Learning Podcasts for immersion.
So nice to see another video liv. I have been studying japanese for 3 years now 2.5 to 3 hours a day. I have mined close to 16000 anki cards. I will forever be grateful to you, thankyou for showing me the method i use daily to mine cards with migaku. It's been an incredible journey. I am also surprised to learn that you are younger than me, i'm 27 and started learning at 24. I just assumed from your very mature way of speaking and problem solving skills i've seen in your videos that you were older than me. It means you started when you were 19. Honestly hearing that i feel a bit melancholic. I always feel that i started too late to ever become completely fluent, but regardless i will continue. I wish you all the best, and again
Thankyou very much
With many overlapping interests and a very enjoyable writing and editing style your channel has become one of my favourite to watch. Personally I am over 4 years in learning Japanese, though not with your consistency which I admire. The way you explain your struggles with sometimes not understanding the meaning of sentences, even if you have tens of thousands of words memorised and can all the words in the sentence is very comforting. A lot of youtubers who have learnt Japanese often present themselves as fluent or close to with little talk about their current struggles. If they do it because they have just become fluent in a pretty short timespan, or because they just want to present themselves to be better, it affects my mentality. Not because I am jealous, but rather because it sometimes makes me question if my methods is a good method, or if I am just spending a lot of time with something inefficient, but hearing you talk a bit about the places you are still lacking makes me confident again that there is not something catastrophically wrong with what I am doing.
Your videos have been a great motivator, so I thank you for making them! I find one of the biggest struggles with self-study is knowing what to do and finding good methods to learn. Your videos have been a great resource for me to find information and methods that I can apply to my own life. (Especially your macos video, I was looking at macs before you uploaded it because I needed something powerful and portable for a big trip and have had pretty bad experiences with windows laptops, and then you uploaded your video on macs which helped me ease into the experience a lot smoother when I got my own laptop a few months later)
LET'S GOOOOOO!! I've been waiting 6 months for you to make this video. Thanks for making the absolute best learning videos on here.
Livakivi, thanks to you, and your videos I am learning Japanese for half a year now, and I will be writing my N5 this December. You where the first channel that I came across when I was trying to search for Japanese studying resources. Since then I am studying Japanese every day for an hour/maybe two. I never thought that I could be capable of learning "such a difficult language", but seeing your progress and determination truly inspired me. To be frank I always wanted to learn Japanese, because I have always been an otaku freak for a decade now, but I was always thinking that I'm not good enough for such a difficult task and I lacked the confidence, which in the end u gave me. Thank you so much
i loved the discreetly filmed interaction you had at the bakery))
Thanks for the video! It was so inspiring for me as a beginner, I only reached my first 300 cards on Anki, and I was so surprised by how many words I could understand in your night walk. It was my first immersion. Thank you for such beautiful video!
I’ve been learning Japanese for almost a year and a half, 2 hours every day, and your progress videos have really been the driving force behind my consistency. They make the journey feel so much more achievable 🏆🙏❤️
Thank you for this update. I watched every one about 3 times :D They really give me courage to continue with japanese. I can't bring myself to concentrate on japanese for a long time, so you rekindled my fire rn
Gonna rewatch your other vids then come back to this. I'm 1.5 years in and need some more motivation material!
Okay, I rewatched them all again and this one too. You are very inspirational and also far too humble. I aspire to be as good as you are one day.
Your videos have been highly motivational for me and help remind me that im on track and that I shouldnt get impatient
Your dedication is on a whole another level!
I just wanna understand anime and talk casually with Japanese people...
Livakivi has my favorite editing on UA-cam
That Anki log 👌👌👌 Cool video, nice to see the overview. And your output sounds native to me
It has been 5 years since I started following your journey. I’ve started and stopped learning Japanese countless times and didn’t manage to get anywhere.
I really envy your determination mr Liva! Thank you for sharing this beautiful trip!
I cannot stay consistent
This sounds like a concerned call for help
Also, neither can I
@@Fej. it is, help
I can't either, this languague is so ridiculously frustrating that motivation only gets you through so much, I dread having to open Anki it really is draining
@@TheAlexgoodlife yeah for sure, I just can't seem to enjoy the process of learning
Same here brother.
Still going strong since the pandemic. I managed to visit Tokyo and Yokohama this year and made some new friends as well. I always enjoy these updates. it gives me an idea of what I can expect in the future.
Also your output is freaking insane lmao I feel like a proud parent it’s weird xD
I was looking forward to this video for at least a month, and it didnt dissapoint!
Thanks for uploading progress videos! Recently reached 0,5 years of everyday Japanese learning, which my not be that impressive but I'm still proud of myself. Whenever I see videos like these, it gives a huge bust to my motivation to continue my journey and to study even harder💪
YEEEEEEEEEES. (gonna keep watching the video, but) IM SO PROUD OF U BRO!!!! BEEN HERE FOR YEARS EVEN IF I CHANGE MY USERNAME N SHID
Having embarked on my own language learning journey in 2020 it’s wild to see how fast time passes. Can’t believe it’ll be 5 years soon
Omg this is what I’ve been waiting for lets go boys new Livakivi video 😭
Can I just say, the skipping through the cards to the music around 8:24 was a very satisfying choice for your edit :D
thank you liva, for yet another yearly motivation boost. Sitting at 8,500 cards atm and in a months time ill have reached 2 years of not having missed a single day, taking the n3 in december, thank you for making me start learning this language, liva 🙏
I started watching you since college, it's good to see how much time passed. I don't but I have a feeling like I watching how my old friend become adult, how we both changed since school. You are really inspiring
I've started learning Japanese because of you. Thank you.
dude your are fav estonia youtuber i know . I think the videos taught me something that nobody else does when it comes to learning any language- have fun/trust in the process.i don't usually rewatch anything but your vides on any other topic are so good that i can't help to rewatch without any speed eg video in which you talked about what if you started early , inspiration for playing go, do art for nothing.
finesse of your videos are VIBE and just feel good
日本人です。
私は大学で日本文学を専攻していましたが、それでも三島由紀夫の随筆はかなり難解で、結局のところどれだけ精読してもするすると意味が頭から溢れていき、あまり全貌を掴むことができませんでした。
しかし、大学を卒業して数年後、社会の波に揉まれ、心身ともに疲れ切った私は、安酒を傾けながらぼんやりとその本を手に取りました。すると、大学生の時には理解できなかった言葉の意味、そして三島由紀夫の意思みたいなものが驚くほどすんなりと入ってきました。
それはもしかしたら、その本が書かれた時代背景とそのボロボロの狭いアパートが近かったことが助けになったのかもしれません。あるいはそれにお酒が入ったことで、日本語の漢字が持っているぼんやりとした抽象性が浮き出てきて、頭ではなく感覚で理解できたのかもしれません。
いずれにせよ、私はそういった経験から、彼の文学は、難解かつ曖昧な文章の海を潜ることに価値があると思っています。そのぼんやりとした薄暗い森をただ突き進んでいるうち、一瞬の光が指すことがあります。日本語では、その感覚を「ひらめき」と呼びます。
三島由紀夫の原文に挑戦なさったということで、敢えて、少し難しい文章を書いてみました。笑
40:15 「逃げ出してきちゃったんですよ」です
興味深いコメントを書いていただいたのと、40:15の字幕を直してくれてありがとうございます！
確かに普通な日本語のコメントより難しい本を読んでるっていう感じがしました。笑
AHHHHH SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP FOR THIS CONTENT I WAS GETTING IMPATIENT
super excited for the renovation videos to return. as for editing the more philosophical videos, i think relevant footage is not very important and sometimes can feel a little cheesy. My advice would be, record as much b-roll as you can around japan. whether that be pretty sunsets or the cool trees or lights and power lines etc. and just put those in the background of those kinds of videos.
Your progress is outstanding, it's awesome to see how you improved over the years, things like these bring me tons of motivation to continue on my english journey and enhance my skills, I'm even thinking about learning another languages in the future, thank you for everything!
Checking in again, maybe you recognize my profile picture
I've been following you since the duolingo video even though I never used duolingo.
For myself I'm taking N3 this year with my learning material being similar to your sentence mining but almost solely anime.
I'd love if you made more of the philosophical / life questioning videos. Some of your stuff like in the motivation video, about not sharing with others ETC still resonates with me now as although I had similar thoughts its really nice to see someone go into those topics so deeply.
Good luck on road to 100k subs!
6 years with daily consistency is amazing.
Your channel is amazing, because it's really inspiring. Even when I already reached the Japanese fluency I wanted, I still enjoy your channel, simply for your insane consistency and your spirit to 進め.
Great job and as the saying goes "I mastered Japanese. Now, I can finally start learning!"
I'm so excited to see you having made so much progress! I genuinely find your journey inspiring and encouraging.
The essay you talked about, "Sun and Steel" is the kind of thing I hope to one day be able to read, but I'm still dawdling my way through a short Kirby novel. What you said about the English translation losing some meaning is the whole reason I am learning Japanese in the first place: I don't want to miss out on the nuance and personality present in the original work. I've got a lot of interest in playing games in their original Japanese, as well.
You're a hell of a guy, learning and sharing it with the rest of us. Thank you for the video! It's always informative and gives me a little boost of motivation to continue studying. "Jinja" is Shrine in English, by the way. I got that word from watching people play horror games here on youtube.
Enjoy your last few months in Japan and live in the moment. Time is a precious resource we often forget to manage properly for our own fulfillment. Good luck in figuring out what to prioritize! I'm looking forward to seeing what ideas make it off the drawing board and into a video later on. Congratulations on all the progress! It's something to be proud of.
Your videos are very inspiring and are the single most helpful guide for learning japanese I've found yet on youtube. I haven't brought myself to set up my Anki yet (mostly because of school), but I've been following your journey for about a year, and I plan on using your videos to set up my Anki and other learning tools too. I also love the wholesome bits and life wisdom in your videos! Those bits make each of your videos genuinely enjoyable and helpful for the whole video length. Best of wishes on your Japanese journeys!
LIVAKIVI JAPANESE UPDATE LETS GOOOOOOO
livakivi thank you, you inspired me to learn japanese and i just reached 1 year of learning two days ago. I immersed for 730 hours in total or exactly 2 hours every single and that doesnt include grammar study/anki. i never missed a day and thats because your videos stressed how important it is to stay consistent.
On the output section I only have one small piece of advice (I don't know if you're aware of it): you mix 丁寧語 and ため口, for instance you end your sentences with です but kinda forget the ます endings if the sentence ends with a verb
i didnt realize we were the same age, that section on 4 years passing in a blink of an eye and how it has changed your perception really touched me on how I have been feeling recently as well
Very similar experience myself with German. I made a massive 17k deck and then stopped because it was getting tedious, but now I have resumed because Anki is just so effective, particularly at the advanced level when you don't see the C1/2 words frequently enough through immersion alone to really memorize them naturally. I also, like you, am still amazed by how many new (to me) words I encounter, especially when reading and even more so when reading older books. If I read something from Herman Hesse or Ernst Jünger, I'll encountering multiple new words a page; in contrast, I can listen to an hr long podcast on the war in the Ukraine or the US Elections and encounter nothing new. Literature really is a different animal. Overall, learning German has really made me appreciate the astonishingly vast vocabulary of native speakers. Just never struck me before. I've seen estimates that go past 40k, even up to 80k. Really hit home for me when I learned the word freckle (Sommersprosse) after years of german learning from the german sub of the Apothecary Diaries, a word that any 10 year old english speaker would know, yet to me was entirely new.
Always have found your vids inspiring and I hope to travel to Germany/Austria in the next year to hone my output, like you have done in Japan. Cheers to another year on this journey m8 and I look forward to next years iteration.
I've pretty much realized the reason I stopped studying so many times because I wasn't using the language for the reasons I would want to learn about in my native language or stuff I already do in my native language like researching topics. I love learning but a lot of times it was hard for me to figure out japanese words that will let me research in the language but at this point because I've been spending time with dictionaries (because I love linguistics and history) I can finally look up the things I want and it's so much fun
I commented on your 4 years of learning Japanese video that I was confident I would come back to tell you I finished the core2k/6k. It's so close now and while I'm not sure I'll be able to pick up the pace the way you did, learning Japanese and being able to come here and share my progress with everyone is the only thing that's keeping me going now. 本当に、ありがとうございます。
Can't believe it's already almost 1 year since your 5 years update.
Your channel has been a game changer in my japanese learning. I'm currently at 11 608 cards in my anki deck (6k deck cards included), and I have a 29 cards/day average on the last 31 days. I'm gonna keep pushing, we will make it brothers 💪
how much can you understand in media or you just read
@ArshSidhu-c9n until now, I was only reading. Since this week-end, I've started to rewatch the anime "Just Because" with japanese subtitles
I think I am in a sweetspot where I can enjoy content, understand a lot, yet find a good amount of new vocabulary. On this anime I began, I think I had to search for like 20 words per episode, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't understand globally what was being said. I wanted to save new words to anki
@@BLITZ2019 thnxxx for the reply . so that means i need to atleast go for 20k words if i am only interseted on yt , movies and anime and not in novels or reading right
@@ArshSidhu-c9n 20k is the objective I'm striving toward, but it depends on your current level I think.
If you're a beginner, I believe learning the kanas and the basics of the language is a good start.
After that, you need enough vocabulary to be able to enjoy content. The core 6k deck is really good for that in my opinion
For example, when I wasn't working with anki and I had like a few hundreds words of vocabulary, I still tried to play Pokemon Shield in japanese. It took me somethink like 19 hours to get to the first gym, and I gave up because it was overwhelming at that time.
Doing your anki reviews for a while might not be the funniest thing to do, but it's effective to enable you to do immersion
the point of where I would say I am fluent in a language is when I know enough to be able to ask what a word mean and understand a simple explanation without using a translator, I remember back when I got to that point in english, I text a LOT and do voice chats and play games like vrchat so I always have the posibility to ask someone about simple things, as soon as I discovered that I knew enough english to just ask what words mean and understand, I never touched a translator since
I hope to get to that point one day with japanese as I am not a text book person or someone who likes to look in dictionaries, even if u have a verry low understanding of a language, if u have a friend that knows how what u know, they can explain anything to a level low enough that u understand, its not easy to find friends like that but when u act young, people dont mind explaining very simple concepts and it can help a LOT when learning a language, especially that its not a textbook explanation, its usually an explanation from someone who use it in the language which is much more acurate than what a dictionary would give (especially that with many languages, words are rarely used in their dictionary language most of the time)
I am trying to learn japanese at least to a more or less N5 level so I know just enough to be able to progress without putting all my time into actively studying
even now in english and even in french and dutch (my native languages) I learn new words every days while going through my daily life irl and online and I will never stop learning
I was just thinking "hmmm, I'm gonna watch some Livi today. I check my phone, and who wouldve thought, 1 minute ago! 😮
Thank you for inspiring me with this video. I had my doubts and these unshaky feelings of learning japanese. Now im determined more than ever to learn this language because of your amazing progress and works. I'm forever gratefull, thank you🎉
to be honest I had started learning a long time ago too but I started seriously after watching your duolingo video.
I use Arch btw (with hyprland btw)
how is the progress going ?
also i may switch to linux btw (since microsoft will end windows 10 on october 10 2025 (no joke), i still need to be convinced to switch tho)
@@chrisalex82I have manjaro (arch based btw) dual booted on my laptop, it is so good i swear i feel like everything is much smoother than windows and i feel much more productive
Same. He definitely gave me an incentive to improve my methodology for the acquisition process.
Learning Japanese with your help got me through a hard time recently. It turned into a hobby that i very much enjoy. Sure there is this anxiety of never being good enough, even you got so much more to learn, how can somebody at the start ever see their goal? The question is, don't bother with a certain goal, take it day by day and enjoy the process.
While I'm excited at the (possible) prospect of you perhaps returning to the soviet era store, I'll miss the chill walks through japanese landscapes in the middle of nowhere.
I'm 200 days in, and though i had issues with consistency, especially with anki. I'm at a comfortable spot. I'm still not able to understand a lot, but I've begun to swap my applications to japanese and engage in japanese social media as often as i can.
My input is going great, but my output is really not getting the gains I believe I could be getting. I feel like that's probably because of my lack of an outlet for that output.
But so far, it's enjoyable, I don't hate it at all. Immersing myself no longer feels foreign. The catalyst for all this is your channel. I saw your first linux video and clicked and came across something more interesting. I picked up the language and I'm glad I did.
I haven't found any japanese youtubers that are quite to my taste just yet, but that should come along eventually.
All in all, im having a good time, and i look forward to keeping learning.
Your videos are great
Perfect timing, I burned myself out with Japanese studying 8h a day for 7 months in prep of taking a working holiday to Japan, I stopped studying when I got there and it has been over a year since I got back, I am now relearning at a slower pace and my whole journey started 2 years ago with your videos.
Congrats my king
Day 83 (2024年10月28日) over here. I have been consistently putting in 2+ hours a day into Busuu Japanese lessons (half an hour) and Anki for kanji (associating keywords with each of the Jōyō kanji), 2k/6k vocab, and the jlab beginner anime deck (1.5+ hours total). I've also made five dozen custom cards, quite a few of which have multiple words on each. My immersion is not consistent, but the jlab anime deck helps me get in valuable n+1 listening practice every day. Your Japanese journey is a huge inspiration to me for being super consistent and dedicated, Livakivi. Also, the Japanese learning content is super addicting and gratifying, just like every day of picking up 20+ new vocabulary words into my Anki circulation (I limit my daily 「暗記」 time to 2 hours).
Alright, I'm gonna enjoy the video now!
Your videos are a great inspiration for me in starting ro learn Mandarin after years of learning German.
This is inspiring to see- especially compared to the other language UA-camrs who claim to learn a language to fluency in "x-amount of months". Learning a language- especially one so far from one's native language, can sometimes be a life long process.
I've been learning Finnish for about 2 and a half years. Living here and using the language helps a lot. But I realize I have an incredibly long way to go before I reach any semblance of true fluency- especially when it comes to output. But if you can speak Japanese at this level after 6 years, it makes me look forward to where I'll be with my Finnish in another 3 years!
Well done on the video and your progress!
I'm approaching 10,000 Anki cards myself, and I originally planned on stopping there, but the more I watch your videos, the more I think I'm just gonna be doing this forever 😅
are you able to watch stuff
@@ArshSidhu-c9n Certain anime, like easier ones like pokemon, cardcaptor sakura, yu gi oh, etc. I can watch and understand pretty easily, but almost everything else I need JP subs to be able to understand well. I've started focusing more on listening lately, with podcasts, audiobooks, and youtube, and while I'm still far from fluent, I've noticed a big improvement in my listening already. The main thing that helps is just consistency, even if it's just 30 min of listening a day. It may not seem like a lot, but before long you'll begin to notice improvements.
how long did it take you
@@cow1959 I started in April 2021. I haven't been super consistent in that time, and I took a couple of prolonged breaks, but now I'm at a point where I can be more consistent and plan on taking the N1 at the end of next year.
@@kirbyrox2 if you can understand with jp sub that is pretty good, i am hoping to learn 20k and focusing more listing , i dont like reading .
Great video as always, thanks!
LIVA IS BACK
The king has returned
this man is embodiment of consistency