Grammar Patterns Grouped By JLPT Level

One of the most irritating aspects of Japanese grammar is simply how much there is, and how best to formulate a plan to tackle it in a logical order. I've struggled with this aspect on and off since I began my studies. I'd rely on books like 元気 (Genki) to sort of guide me with their grammar sections per chapter, only to realize there was tons of material the book didn't cover that was immensely useful.

I came across a site called renshuu that has a variety of interesting components to the site, but the only one that is of personal interest is their grammar library. It has a nice segmentation of all of the JLPT grammar points, so my idea is to start by focusing on every single one in the JLPT4 section and work my way through, filling in the holes as I go.

There are not only several "model sentences" picked out to help convey a given grammar usage pattern, but there are also usually several more written by the users of the site looking for peer review. The idea here is that for every single grammar pattern, you are to submit your own made up sentence using the pattern and optionally provide the translation beneath it. Users will then be able to add comments and critique it as needed.

Tip: For those who decide to check out the site, if you go to the "quizzes" area and then click on "settings", you can toggle the site display to be full kanji where applicable and pull it off of the default kana mode.

Here's a couple examples of my first two "made up" sentences to use two grammar patterns:

Grammar Pattern: てから
私たちは晩ご飯を食べてから映画を見た。
After eating dinner, we watched a movie.

Grammar Pattern: 前に
仕事へ運転する前に朝ご飯をつくる。
Before driving to work, I'm going to make breakfast.

Now since my sentences haven't received any peer review, they could very well not be perfect, but this should give you an idea. You see a pattern, you learn how to use it, you then read some model sentences and optionally other user sentences, and then you finally write your own and submit.