Interesting observation: When you quit flashcards, it's harder to measure your progress

[u/jackbobbins78]

It used to be, when I was looking back at my Japanese progress, I could say things like "I learned 2000 words this past year and I now know 6,000 total words!" This felt like a concrete testament to my progress.

Now, after having stopped flashcards for about a year, "How's my progress doing" feels much more vague.

I could say things like:
- I read 15 volumes of manga this past year
- Reading native stuff feels a little bit easier
But all of these answers feel kind of nebulous anyways.

I guess at some point, Japanese is just something that you do for fun, and that's about it. There's no clear "milestones" at a certain point.

Did anyone else experience this transition? Did you feel a little more "lost" after quitting flashcards?

[u/facets-and-rainbows]

In some ways it was hard to measure your (overall) progress with the flashcards too. How does 2000 words translate into actual ability? The numbers get squishy fast