Does anybody use renshuu as their exclusive resource to learn Japanese with success? I'm working on getting a private tutor through my work, but regardless of whether this works or not I will continue renshuu.
Based on discussions on discord, a lot of people use renshuu exclusively or almost exclusively, but that's not to say they don't supplement their learning with language-focused activities, whether that's music, movies/TV, reading free, online materials, etc.
Now-a-days, I use renshuu as my primary source for learning new vocab, kanji, grammar. I also use it for listening practice.
I make a point of supplementing with reading materials from various sources (for sanity, motivation, and reinforcing concepts).
But my learning path prior to this was:
- drilled hiragana and katakana until I learned them
- watched free video lessons on you tube (mostly Japanese From Zero, with some Cure Dolly sprinkled in), while using an old set of not so great, out of print textbooks
The video lessons and textbooks were super useful when I was starting out. They took me through the JLPT N5 and N4 stages.
But now that I have that foundation, I don't feel like I need structured lessons from textbooks or videos anymore. Adding on new vocab, kanji, or grammar points becomes pretty routine.
I can't wait to get to the point in my Japanese to where I can read books. I'm an avid reader. I feel once you can read, the learning becomes autonomous.
I don't think I have a primary source for learning Japanese but I will say that I am on renshuu everyday. I use renshuu to look up terms from books I am reading or possibly grammar that I heard on TV. I like that I can add the dictionary words directly into their own study schedule so I have one titled "Found while reading."
As for your reading I would start at your level. I found it was hard to find books at my level that I was interested in so I started out reading the Magic tree house books in Japanese. I read them in English when I was younger. What is nice about them is there is very little kanji and the grammar is really basic. I think here in Japan they are mainly read by 2nd and 3rd graders. I will admit there was a lot of vocabulary that you most likely won't find on the JLPT but if you are working with kids they might be saying those words.
There is a variety of picture books here, for free, graded by level. The intent of them is not to understand every word, but to use the pictures, and the parts you understand to get the gist of what is going on. Kind of like how small children learn.
