Thank you for your update! This was really interesting for me because we seem to be around the same amount of comprehension (I’m currently making my way through level 34 videos) with a similar number of study hours, but with very different approaches.
I’ve been studying Japanese for about 9 months now. I did a lot of rewatching CIJ videos and grinding Anki flashcards up to the 6 month mark. After I finished my beginner vocab deck, I quit Anki in favor of more immersion through CIJ videos and reading with Yomitan (so much more fun).
I probably have a little over 600ish hours of active studying (close to you, but I haven’t tracked it all). This is about 165 hours of CIJ, 100 hours of reading, 220 hours of Anki, and what I would guess is about 100 or more hours of untracked grammar guides, pitch accent study, and YouTube content.
It’s fascinating to see that with a similar number of hours, we are working at about the same CIJ level, despite studying through different mediums. This truly makes me believe that there is no one best method, and it really is just about the hours you put in. I find that super cool!
A couple other comments on things you mentioned:
- I’d definitely keep up with the kotu.io test daily. I started about a week into learning Japanese, and it’s crazy seeing how easy the test is for me now, when I could barely get 50% at the start.
- I started Nihongo Con Teppei last month. It’s pretty tough for me but manageable. You mentioned you tried a random episode (I did the same thing multiple times). I’d recommend going back to Episode 1. Someone on Reddit mentioned the beginning episodes are easier, which definitely feels true.
Thanks for sharing!