Where’s the second update post? It’s here.

Ever since the last update, I’ve been a lot more productive on the JLPT front. I think this happened for two main reasons: 1) the date for signing up has finally been announced. That said, it’s a month later than expected and Parkinson’s law states that time will get filled up, regardless of what my intentions are for it and 2) I became more aware of where I was in the grand scheme of things by doing the previous update.

How have you gone on your JLPT goals so far?

• In terms of Shin Kanzen Master, I’m getting more done…it’s not where I’d like to be at this stage and I’m still not consistently doing 2 pages a day (in the reading book, I’m getting more than 2 pages per day done, due to the length of the texts, while the grammar book is structured so sometimes you read 2 pages then have 2 pages of questions and occasionally, there’s 2 pages of revision questions) but I know if I set myself too much (or alternatively, get mad at myself so much I overload myself with work), then I just get frustrated and give up. I’m about halfway through both books at this stage and I’m getting a better picture of progress by correcting as I go.
• I did spot a Japanese translation thing I could join, but the details are on my old uni account, which I can no longer access due to it being restricted and possibly even deleted in due time. Besides, the reason I continually keep an eye out for opportunities to translate things is to eventually build up a body of work I can show to prospective employers which doesn’t have the same moral ramifications as fan translation…which I think I’ve pretty much figured out at this point. (See the Portfolio page for how I got around that.)
• Speaking of which, I’ve signed a contract to do some paid translation work which is relevant to this blog. I’m not going to say more about what I’m doing until I actually do the work and get paid for it, though.
• A lot of my listening practice is the unconscious kind from podcasts and anime, so closer to the exam date, I’ll have to specifically work on the conscious kind.

How are you studying?

• I’ve been making more time for Anki now that I’m back on the seasonal anime treadmill again. (I used to watch anime/other TV shows/videos and/or listen to podcasts while running through the cards.) I’ve made a grammar deck to go through any patterns I suck at (i.e. get 50% or less of the questions right for a specific section) in Shin Kanzen Master – I had a grammar tag years ago for my Japanese tests, but promoting that tag to a deck means it gets my full attention.
• I’ve ruthlessly been cutting distractions from my life as well – at one point (I think it was around the time of the 2nd update post), I realised Reddit was starting to take over my life, so I cut it. Likewise, I realised at one point I was paying for my Shonen Jump subscription and barely using it, despite it being the cheapest subscription I had and trying to sell my physical manga volumes due to their almost-duplication with said subscription. My time is instead filled up with my TBR pile and hunting for new TBR material.
• I quickly read through the grammar dictionary at one point and…it’s really basic stuff. Probably too basic for the level I’m going at, but worthwhile if I want to brush up on the basics.

What do you still need to cover?

• using the news on demand service for the Japanese news – since the last update, I’ve neglected to use it in favour of listening to the Spy x Family podcast…oops. *sweatdrops*
• finishing those sheets (mentioned in the 1st update post)
• finishing off the books I’m reading
• I’ve moved my Fairy Ranmaru translations to the Spellbook. They’ve been languishing on my to-do list (for over 2 years, at the time I write this post!) because some of them are the length of an entire novel…

…Also if you want to know, I’ve since given up on “being everything”. A book I read said “you can’t ‘double brand'”, so I’ll just stick to being a translator 100% and keep the Spellbook and my eBay selling as side hustles. For one thing, now I’ve signed the contract I mentioned earlier (which essentially moves my career goals several notches forwards), the JLPT is now a backup plan and additional trust-garnering method for prospective employers, while I’m de-emphasising working on my blog for copywriting/editing purposes (I’ve applied for some jobs in line with that and none of them have ever worked out, meaning I’m probably sending prospective employers mixed signals).

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