How much you understand and how much you don't...

With my current chance to live among many Japanese people in a hostel I'm daily confronted with Japanese - in terms of listening to conversations and speaking a bit myself.

On the one side I notice already how much I understand, even if it's just a bit or sometimes even whole sentences. However the lack of knowing the context or certain vocabulary or grammar rules makes it difficult on the other side.

First you have the relief seeing your progress getting more and more understanding and being able to have easy conversations yourself or even shocking some Japanese people by being able to talk to them in their native language.

The latter is certainly funny and I tell things like: '自分で勉強します。(I'm studying myself). It's definitely nice to be praised for your effort learning Japanese - personally I'm satisfied on the one hand - just comparing myself to last year - but I want more.

I noticed my ability to read manga or even some Facebook comments, news articles with furigana and similar stuff got faster. 

The biggest issue stopping me from reading faster is the lack of Kanji and certain vocabulary. But luckily I could see some improvement in that regard.

Through these daily conversations - also on FB messenger - I can increase my Japanese skills gradually which is really motivating.

But still, it's a long way ahead which I'm willing to follow.