Conquered Kana, Grammar Flirting, and Planning Ahead

Got 'em. The kana are mine! Okay, the final list of extended katakana are still not flawless (batting about .666 average compared to .950 for the rest) but who cares? I'll be reviewing the whole kana once or twice daily for the next forseeable chunk of time - at least a month and probably three - so we're fine. First key: obtained. Not bad for 11 days of work. I've put maybe 15, 20 hours in so far (did a loonnngg stretch today, pausing only to read some more resources on learning methods and go to confession), and I'll shoot for 10-14 hours per week. 

Conquering the kana means I can now crack the grammar textbook, and I absolutely love Tae Kim's grammar so far - the presentation is clear, logical, and up front on the difficulties. I've only just got my feet wet, declaring that something is so/not so in the not-past and the past. I've learned that most of what declensions and conjugations give me in, say, Latin or Greek is accomplished by particles, e.g. は、を、or だ. Now I understand why all those tiny words are in manga/anime titles! I'm still only at the very beginning, but my vocabulary is slowly getting better, my kanji is creeping along, and I've finally made my first steps in actual grammar and sentence construction. Feels like progress and I'm pleased as punch.

Kanji itself still looms, and honestly I continue to waver about the "best" method to study it. The simplest option is to put it first, and grind out all the jouyou kanji plus RTK's and the N1's. That would take about six months at 14-20 hours per week, I bet. And in that time I would make no progress in grammar or listening comprehension. Alternatively, I chip away at it, aided by the small additions in Tae Kim as well, and gradually increase it as my grammar understanding flourishes. Clumsier with more overlap, but at least this way I can study everything at once - grammar, vocabulary, and kanji. 

I'll use a combination of Memrise and Anki for both kanji and Tae Kim, then. The Memrise TK course is voiced, so it will help my speaking practice a lot. Anki I already cannot praise enough. 

I will actually need a solid 6000 words before I'll be able to even half comfortably learn vocabulary via context. Even 95% comprehension means every 20 words on average will be unknown, making reading painfully slow at best, and 98% comprehension is preferred. 6000 words gets me to ~95%, what I would call the bare minimum for reading/listening without constant use of a dictionary. 

My study will be in the following sectors: 

1. Kana review (5-10 minutes a day)
2. Anki learning and review, for vocabulary and kanji (30-45 minutes per day)
3. Memrise learning and review for vocabulary and Tae Kim (30 minutes per day)
4. Grammar textbook study (20 minutes per day)

These time limits are rough estimates and subject to flux. I don't want to do too much and burn out, and I want to stay consistent and avoid wild fluctuations. My nature is extremely erratic, meaning I must ruthlessly force myself to be calm, regular, and disciplined. There's no other way. 

The positive side is that I really, really love this language and that is what drives me. Unlocking the kana door is just the first step and now I've moved into a larger world. 

Let's get to work. 夜敷く！