I have been studying Japanese for about 2 years now. Up until recently, it was so frustrating because I felt like I couldn't understand anything and my work was going towards nothing. Around 6 months ago, I started to feel my progress paying off and now I can understand short sentences and a word in most lines of dialogue. It is really rewarding.
Everytime I get suicidal thoughts, I think about how I already spent 2 years in the language and I probably have another 4-5 to go before I am at advanced fluency. Having that to look forward to and not wanting to throw away 2 years of heard work has really kept suicidal ideations out of my head. I am looking forward to a life where I can speak Japanese and fully immerse in their art and literature. I am looking forward to making Japanese art one day, whether it be film, writing or animation. I dont really have anything that makes me happy besides the rewarding nature of Japanese and its been keeping me alive. I think for other people dealing with suicidal ideation, picking up a 7+ year language can be very beneficial. You can feels yourself progressing and moving forward. You don't wanna give up your progress and you feel yourself getting closer to your goal. I know its dorky and lame to be a white dude saying "Japanese is my purpose," but I really feel that way. Nothing else is really keeping me going.
by stalinsgirth3
3 comments
I’m not in that kind of difficulty to start with, but it makes sense to me. Certainly learning Japanese, helping others learn Japanese, reading in Japanese, translating Japanese to English, etc, can all be very fulfilling and give a sense of purpose.
If you want a part of Japanese that will keep you going forever because you’ll never be perfect at it, start practicing your brush calligraphy (書道・shodō).
Well, not that you can ever be perfect at any aspect of a language. Everyone makes mistakes, even in their native language. But, calligraphy practice is, I think, very calming and meditative. It provides something to concentrate on to center yourself and in doing so, helps to get you out of any negative thought spirals.
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Learning Japanese Calligraphy
Shodō 書道 / learning 草書体
– https://kanji.jitenon.jp/ has ‘standard’* 行書体 and 草書体 examples for each character.
– https://moji.tekkai.com/ has a variety of examples in various fonts and handwriting styles, but not a full set for each character. Still there are often 草書体 examples, sometimes from different styles.
– http://codh.rois.ac.jp/char-shape/search/ has examples taken from actual historic writing, covering a variety of forms.
* ‘standard’ is a bit of misnomer as there are no hard rules for cursive, but there are more common and less common forms in modern brush writing, and the jitenon examples are the more common forms.
Generally speaking, the only people who can read cursive Japanese have studied brush writing. A brush pen and youtube videos on 書道 are a cheap way to get started, but traditionally of course you would get a fude, ink block, and study under a teacher in person, and you can still do that if you get serious.
– Brush Pen https://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Fude-Brush-Medium-XFL2L/dp/B000THNGVO
– Brush Pen Refills https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089AJOW8
Typically you would study 教科書体 first (if you were Japanese, then in school, as the name suggests) and/or 楷書体 which is the historical ‘regular’ character, but not very different from schoolroom 教科書体. It helps to have a good foundation in brushwork basics and understanding of the strokes in the character before learning the other forms.
行書体 is often translated as ‘semi-cursive’ and many of the characters are easily recognizable with a little practice.
草書体 meaning ‘swift script’ but due to shifts in the meaning of 草, often called ‘grass script’. This is the fully cursive script, and has many highly stylized characters that you simply have to have specifically studied. This is often done by hand copying classical texts so that you can see how the characters flow one into the next.
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Hey mate, glad it’s working out for you.
Are you physically active? Working out helps me keep a clear mind and also lose those kind of thoughts, sometimes just walking a few kilometers helps, might be something you could try to see if it helps you too?
Not with Japanese in particular, but knowledge makes life worth it for me sometimes. Why would I give up on life where there are so many cool stuff to learn and to be in this world?
I’m so happy is keeping you happy AND alive. Do you have Japanese or people learning Japanese friends? That’s another great aspect of getting into stuff: The friends you make.
Hoping nothing but the best for you.