I started studying Japanese in December 2021. I started with Genki textbooks for the first month, but later I was introduced to AJATT and the idea of comprehensible input. Basically boils down to priming with vocabulary flash cards, spending a little time every day studying grammar, and spending the majority of allocated time (regardless of what learning phase you’re in) consuming media in the target language without aid from languages you’re already fluent in. Only exception is for looking up new words or reading explanations about grammar.
I use Anki to manage the scheduling of my flash cards. I’ve completed JP1K from Refold and have since been working on Core2.3k. It’s not a race, I do 5 new cards per day.. sometimes set it to 0 when I fall a few days behind on reviews. I’m gradually putting together my own personal deck of sentences I’ve mined from immersion, I have no limits set on new cards per day for this deck as I’m adding them the same day I intend to start reviewing them.
My primary form of immersion is anime with native Japanese audio and subtitles when I can find them on kitsunekko. I sometimes read manga and play Pocket Monsters on my Steam Deck.
Tae Kim’s grammar guide is my only grammar resource. I tried Cure Dolly for a few weeks, but ultimately decided I prefer written guides. I set a 1 hour/week goal for myself.
Mining is the longest stage of the process. This is where you immerse as usual, but look out for sentences that contain one or two words you’re unfamiliar with. These sentences are then turned into a flash card to be reviewed over the next few months/years. I aim for 5 new cards per day.
Anki with the Ankiconnect plugin, which allows external programs to create and edit Anki cards.
mpv with mpvacious to copy the current subtitle to my system clipboard and to add media (audio and screenshot) to the most recently created card.
And Yomitan which is a browser pop-up dictionary plugin. I use the Yomitan Search feature as it watches for and reads changes to clipboard contents, pastes it into the search bar, and allows you to look up individual words.
Admittedly my interest and motivation fluctuates month by month, with it, my consistency and ability to stay focused during immersion. I believe I can combat this by using a dedicated environment/location for study rather than using the same space my brain associates with entertainment. Writing up a weekly progress report for myself might be beneficial too.
More about the process here