I’ve been learning Japanese on my own for about 13 months. I started with the syllabaries out of curiosity and interest in Japanese culture. Then I decided to learn some kanji, and from there I began to take it more seriously, dedicating between 1 and 2 hours a day. I chose the Wanikani + Bunpro combo, and at this point I’ve burned about 1,400 items, nearly 300 kanji (Level 15), and I’m about two months away from completing the N4 level in Bunpro (Grammar). I’ve already gone past 2,000 vocabulary words, although many of them I still haven’t fully memorized.
At this point, two months ago, I decided to get a tutor. I invested some money and had one one-hour class per week. It wasn’t much, I know, but I wanted to try the experience, and unfortunately, it didn’t go very well. So I stopped taking classes with that teacher and decided to change my approach: applying to the Official School of Languages in my city.
To enter the school, I could enroll in the first level. For context, the school follows the European system, with A1 as the lowest level, then A2, B1, B2, C1, and finally C2 as the highest.
After studying for a year, I decided to take the placement test to see which level I could start at (in my case, I was wondering if I could start at A2 or if I’d have to begin at the very bottom, A1).
My expectation was that the test would measure grammar, vocabulary, kanji recognition, writing, listening, and speaking. A complete exam with varied exercises.
However, when I got there, the teacher announced that the test would only consist of writing a short essay and giving a brief monologue on a given topic. No exercises, no listening, nothing else to assess our knowledge.
In short, my test was a disaster. Over this past year, I chose not to learn handwriting in hiragana, katakana, or kanji, since many learners of Japanese mention that the chances of actually needing to handwrite as a hobby learner are extremely low. A bad approach? Maybe. But my goal has always been to understand Japanese in written and spoken form, and to be able to hold conversations and chat with Japanese people in person, by email or instant messaging. In my plan, handwriting wasn’t a priority, since I took Japanese as a hobby and not as a job requirement, for example.
My writing test was awful. Speaking? Even worse, since it’s always been my weakest skill. I got nervous, barely managed to say one coherent sentence, then said something meaningless, and after that… I collapsed, decided to drop the test, and left feeling very embarrassed.
I still haven’t received the results (I’ll get them today or tomorrow), but most likely the teachers will place me in the lowest level, given my performance.
At this point, I’m considering three approaches.
- Enroll in the Official School of Languages, even at the lowest level. I know I lack fluency and need to improve my speaking. Advantages: the school is cheap, less than $200 for a whole year of classes. Disadvantages: I’ll probably get bored at many points, and I have zero interest in handwriting with pen and paper, since I see no use for it in my daily life (I don’t plan to move to Japan, work in Japan… it’s just a hobby for me). Another drawback is that the school is a bit far and requires in-person attendance. On the other hand, attending class with others brings experiences, community, and a group feeling.
- Skip the school and instead find a private tutor who focuses on my personal goals (especially speaking, since my progress with kanji, vocabulary, and grammar hasn’t been bad). Disadvantages: the cost would be $100–200 a month, $1,200–2,400 a year, compared to the mere $200 for the school. I could do it from home, but I’d miss out on meeting people, community, etc.
- Quit Japanese altogether and end it here. Right now I feel like I’ve “wasted” a year, since I haven’t even managed to learn the most basic level. My methodology failed, or I wasn’t able to cover all areas equally (this exam was the first time I ever wrote Japanese on paper, not to mention the speaking fiasco). Maybe it’s time to switch hobbies and invest my limited free time in something more “worthwhile”.
After more than a year, I’m probably at my lowest point of motivation. This test felt like a cold shower of reality, and at the same time, I feel it was unfair, since I couldn’t show all my knowledge.
The excitement I had each month, noticing progress, has largely vanished. After learning 300 kanji, 2,000 vocabulary words, multiple verb forms, keigo… to then enroll in the same class as someone who knows nothing about the language feels like a crushing defeat and an unappealing prospect.
I’m here looking for advice and at the same time personal experiences to help me decide what to do next.
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the rant. Honestly, I don’t have anyone else to turn to about this problem.
by SAYVS
31 comments
I think this [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/s/Xbc2XsQWEK) addresses your issue tbh. Seems to me it is a motivation issue and you need to define that thing that keeps the water “boiling” for you. A lot of things people recommend here for immersion don’t do it for me. You have to define your own motivation.
You were tested on two skills, both of which you hasn’t practiced at all. There could be a reason they test you on those as they know it will be people’s weakest who are beginners, and they might expect people to struggle and do poorly.
So you did badly on two skills you hadn’t worked on, it doesn’t negate the things you have worked on. Don’t be disheartened because you think you failed, just focus on realising that wasn’t the path for you. Continue on your own path of self study and if you want to get better at speaking, use online tutors to help you practice in a low stress environment. Get as much input as you can and try to write/type summarising what you just experienced. Even if it’s only one word answers like 美しい or something.
Don’t give up because of a bad experience, life is full of them. You have had more good experiences with the language than bad if you stuck with it for a year before that exam, don’t quit over a few hours.
Sunk cost fallacy is a thing, if learning Japanese isn’t a goal for you then move on.
If it is a goal but your sulking because you did poorly on a test then not many people are gonna have sympathy for you.
Otherwise as an N4 you performed at about the expected level, and not learning writing is a sensible thing to cut in a self learning environment. I’m not really sure what the problem is.
Doing a bunch of handwriting at the school might not be as useless as it sounds–burning those strokes into your arm will make you better at reading them too, even if it would be possible to get by without.
In any case though, I don’t think those are your only three options–even if you don’t enroll in the school or get a tutor (both of which are fine ideas in themselves), it’s not like your only other recourse would be to quit altogether. Like you said, it’s a hobby–it’s supposed to be fun! You could just do something that engages with the language but in a way that you’re personally interested in, and where the only stakes are that you want to do it–read a book or play a game in Japanese, watch videos about whatever you like in Japanese, and so on. It might not be as “efficient” as a school or a tutor in terms of the hours-to-stuff-learnt ratio (though sometimes it is, depending), but again, it’s a hobby and it needn’t be efficient if it’s fun, and you’ll still learn stuff anyway.
To be honest, while I understand this can feel like a huge commitment, learning a language takes a long, long time. To be at ease with English, it took me **years**. And I was able to read/write way before I could even listen.
But for whatever reason, reddit and online communities all discuss “how fast can you learn japanese”, “what is the most optimal”, etc etc.
It took me years of learning English because I was never putting much stress into it. But I never stopped nonetheless trying to search things in English, sometimes playing a game in it, … And with time things paid off.
Right now, I’m at my ~21 months of learning Japanese, and while I only add ˜7 word per day, I’m at around ~4500 words known, I start to feel patterns of sentences becoming more natural, and while still **very far** from fluency, it’s just great being able to watch japanese streamer, write a few words, read a few sentences, and keep going.
Big problem I think in language learning communities is how little people realize how learning a language is probably one of the most time consuming hobby it can be.
An estimate from the US Foreign Language Training is that it takes 2200 class hours to learn Japanese. It is roughly 6 years with 1h per day. It’s in the most difficult language category an english speaker could learn.
So my takeaway and advise is : Don’t give up, but lower expectation, and don’t treat it as a challenge to brute force. Learn it at your own pace, and enjoy the tiny interactions you can already have.
Tell me if I’m wrong but, it seems like a big grind for you. Learning a lot of vocabs and kanjis, it almost seems like it’s quantity over quality.
I’m not here to tell you what to do but I think you need a stronger base. That could happen by going over guides or textbooks with a curriculum. Reevaluting why you’re learning japanese, immersing yourself in mangas, animes, games, news and even videos/podcasts. I also understand you want to skip the writing, but I find writing in japanese extremely enjoyable and useful to consolidate learnings. It’s a beautiful language, and it’s satisfying to produce something.
Do you even have fun learning or is it just for the satisfaction of grinding that knowledge? Also, it’s okay to be frustrated sometimes. This language is really hard, and it takes many, many years to be good at it. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
My dude, I’ve been (or am) in a similar situation. I’ve been learning for almost 3 years now, mainly doing Wanikani, Bunpro and mining vocab through visual novels. I applied for N2 in December, but my output is like N5-N4.
What motivates you to learn? The reason I haven’t quit is because I enjoy the content I’m learning with. Make learning Japanese a fun process, not a chore you hate.
My tips for you:
* Write anyway [Anki deck link](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/759825185) , it will solidify your kanji skills and… even if you don’t need to write… it’s a cool party trick! The cards aren’t boring at all. I do 10 a day.
* Find content you like and immerse (anime, visual novels, TV news).
* Go slower on the Bunpro and Wanikani reviews.
* Do these points for one more year until you get basics for conversation down. By basics I mean… being able to learn Japanese “in Japanese”. Understanding what the dictionary and teacher’s explanations etc.. Then try the tutor. Right now it might be a waste of money.
What you need is to consume japanese content, combined with a desire to understand it, which results in a motivation cycle. Read content you find interesting (manga, light novels, visual novels, news, etc) and do the same thing with listening (anime, YouTube, news, visual novels, etc). Do note that, for someone without motivation, exposure leads to motivation, not the other way around. Give this process some time and, if you are interested in the content, I’m sure your motivation will come back!
It seems that you studied material for a different test- if someone studied the history of a certain sport, and when tested had to play said sport, would you be shocked when they didn’t do well?
Reading, writing, listening, and speaking, while all based from the same material, are different skills. While they help and reinforce one another, someone who only reads or listens to Japanese will probably do okay at best when they finally need to write out kanji or speak in full sentences. The skills you developed were not the skills you had examined, so you don’t need to be so hard on yourself.
What do you want out of learning Japanese? Even if you’re not planning to use it at home or in the workplace, even if it’s just for fun, defining what you want will probably be the best guide for what you should do next. You say it’s a hobby, but it seems like you also want to take it more seriously than that, which is why doing poorly on the test has affected you so much.
If the rush of learning isn’t there, there’s no shame in quitting. Otherwise, brush it off, pick up those flashcards, and actually find a test that will examine the work you’ve been doing and not skills you haven’t developed at all.
Good luck.
Yeha you definitely need some guidance. Skipping writing is a bad decision. Muscle memory and visual memory are important for language learning. Just start a class from zero. So you can strengthen your weak foundation.
Do you do anything other than SRS? And is self study not an option?
that is wild, i started learning by writing and reading hiragana first and can write and read it almost no problem within a month of learning.. how did you avoid writing for so long?
I’ve had a somewhat similar experience to you – I signed up for the state school, got caught off guard by the output-based entrance exam (I wouldn’t have been able to write a single character if it hadn’t been for a nearby kana poster on the wall), got placed at a lower level than I “should” have been at based on my input skills, and then because of a lack of teachers I had to enroll in an even lower level. In fact, the name you wrote for the school sounds like a direct translation of EOI so we might even be from the same country. But I digress.
I stayed one year in that school, first in 3A2 and then in 1B1 when we finally got a teacher. In both classes I was already familiar with most of the material taught and my level was clearly above that of my classmates. Despite this, I got along well with everyone and the teacher was great, so the classes were always fun and they only felt a little bit like a waste of time. Even in the 3A2 class, I learned new things and filled in gaps that I didn’t realize I had, and, since I was still doing things in Japanese outside of class, it was _amazing_ to have a native teacher that could clear up the doubts I got when playing videogames and stuff. Being in the class also made me aware of opportunities like language exchanges and calligraphy classes that I otherwise would’ve never attended.
All in all, I would _not_ say that the time I spent there was a waste, even if probably would’ve been more productive if I had been in a higher level. I only decided to not enroll again because I feel like my own self-learning, even with my laziness, makes me progress faster. Also, the classes are long as heck and I don’t have that kind of time anymore.
If you do end up deciding to enroll in the classes, your experience could be similar to mine, or it could be difference. I just want to say that it might not be as bad or boring as you expect it to be, even if you do get assigned to a low level class. But also, if you _are_ in the same country as me, there’s a second entrance exam around the end of September/beginning of October (or at least those were the dates in my school, it might be different in yours); see if you can retake the exam then. You’d have to sign up during the second wave instead of the first one, but Japanese isn’t a very popular language, and the higher the level the emptier the classes get, so it might be worth the risk.
Also, other people already mentioned it, but life isn’t all black or white or grey. Those three aren’t your only options. There’s online tutors on iTalki that are much cheaper than 200€ a month, and it’s more than possible to learn Japanese without teachers anyway (I’m doing it!), though it depends on the person, of course. Also also, it’s _fine_ to quit Japanese, it’s not a failure or something you should be ashamed of, but would you _really_ be happy quitting because you did poorly on an exam you weren’t prepared for? Really really really? Give it some thought.
go with a tutor that actually lives in japan that can also teach you cultural things. Check out preply or italki.
I’m only 126 days in but last week I considered signing up for the N5 exam. My first thought was that it would motivate me to study. But… I’m already studying every day because it’s fun. And studying specifically for the JLPT N5 exam would not be fun – I would probably need to drill more vocab and STOP my focus on writing, while for the last month I’ve been doing a lot of practice kanji writing because I enjoy learning kanji, and writing.
Tutor not fun? Expensive? Don’t do it.
Class not fun? Waste of time? Don’t do it.
That being said, I think taking a class, especially if it’s that cheap, could be fun! You’re right about community, and you’d be practicing different skills. But if it’s your hobby, if you don’t like it… Stop going! (After giving it a fair shot.)
Just keep studying Japanese in a way that’s fun for you! It can be as much as a hobby as playing video games – and like how many people don’t want to play competitive video games or become an eSports champion, you don’t have to take classes, have a tutor, or become fluent quickly to still have learning Japanese be worthwhile.
[Hey i just finished n4 Bunpro last week and experienced a similar curve ball.](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1n3nb5t/comment/nbf81ju/?context=3)
My issue was that immersion was/is not leading to output of even very simple things even though i have seen them in the wild and know the grammar. This caused me to falter as i was questioning my initial plan of waiting another year until around n3-n2 to start outputting.
What i have learned is that output is not something that just sprouts into existence, even if the knowledge is there. i.e. can an artist paint if they know 100% of the correct brush stroke order but have never done it. For some people it works not everyone.
My recommendation would be to do what i have been doing for a couple weeks and see if you can **re-test** at the end of the month to see if your placed in something higher.
At the moment i keep up with Bunpro but add no new grammar points. I instead use my grammar study time to go through the grammar list on bunpro for everything i have studied and journal sentences for them. Most of time i go through the example sentences on the bottom of each point and exchange my own verbs/tenses/nouns/adjectives etc to try and write something original. I then get it double checked for correctness. I do about 10-15 points a day and then the following day try to write a sentence from memory for each point.
Sounds simple but the grammar points i have burned on bunpro have clicked into place rapidly, by the end of the month im positive you could write a short story. My plan for the future is to include at least some(10-15 mins) of cobbled together writing practice daily moving forward.
YIKES! That placement test would be downright discouraging. Sry you had that. But DON’T quit.
Yep, been there a few times. Been studying daily for 2 yrs, but still a beginner. I decided if I learned how to write kana (especially kanji), it would ONLY be by accident as I seldom even write in English for that matter. Most people just type anyway. Ya, I’ll be half illiterate. But my goal is to simply be able to communicate, not draft dissertations.
Having something to look forward to has always kept me motivated. Genki and podcasts only motivate me but so much. However, I had 4 different 1-1 tutors between italki and preply at different times. 2 of which I especially looked forward to our sessions. Now I just have one and she is super motivating. While it over $1200/yr (2x/wk), I figure ppl spend that on Starbucks every yr and have nothing to show for it except high blood pressure at end of the yr. Whereas at least learning Japanese is measurable.
Motivation: book a future trip to Japan(or at least book a mental trip), visit an authentic Japanese restaurant, lessons with 1-1 tutors. I found not having anyone to practice with left me unmotivated. But with my tutor, I strive to impress her with my progress each subsequent lesson.
So much bad advice from some people here that call out that you **must** practice writing??
The problem is **not** about failing the written exam. The problem is that you don’t have a goal in terms of what exactly you want to be able to do. You want to be able to do everything with this little amount of time.
Why are you thinking about paying [1000 dollars a year or else ….] You have completely lost the plot… You try to do 10 things, which is already too much, from tutors, to classes, to apps, to everything.
Sit down for a bit, relax and actually think what you want to achieve. What do you want to use it for? Focus on that.
It doesn’t matter what your teacher thinks is bad, or that your test is bad, or that you did not do handwriting, and all the 10 other things you did not do.
Get a grip on yourself bro. You are doing this as a **hobby**, this is not your job and you have only been doing it for 13 months! And on top of that, you do 1 to 2 hours a day, which is the bare minimum. So now it effectively means it is way less than 13 months.
You have set completely unreasonable expectations for yourself. I don’t think there are many people out there here that can be good at speaking, writing, listening, reading, vocab, grammar with 1.5 hour a day in 13 months. **Literally impossible.**
So please. Get a grip on yourself. You have not wasted anything, but you did lose one thing. It is supposed to be fun and a hobby, and that is something you have lost by setting these unreasonable expectations.
I don’t know if anyone has suggested this to you before, but I’ve been taking Japanese for years, and after years of taking private in-person lessons using a textbook my motivation was flagging. Things that have helped me are the ones that are forcing me out of my comfort zone. I started taking Japanese online with a teacher who doesn’t speak much English, so I’m forced to speak Japanese and formulate my questions in Japanese. I have “bad Japanese days” where I can’t seem to put two sensible words together, but I have lots of “good Japanese days” where I can make myself understood in the broken Japanese I speak, and those days are invigorating. I also have three conversation partners in Japan who I torture with my terrible Japanese, and they are always patient and helpful, and these conversations are a lot of fun and very encouraging. And since I enjoy the friendships I’ve made, I don’t think I’ll ever give up trying to learn the language.
It may be time to take a break, or maybe a new challenge would help give you a fresh motivation. Hope you find whatever you need either way. がんばってね。
Writing helps you remember everything faster and produce it. If writing is not your goal and you don’t want to learn it, a language school won’t do, as most schools use textbooks and give written homework.
Not being able to speak at your level is normal and in general if you haven’t practiced speaking-you won’t be good at it. It’s exactly the same as you not learning how to write and not being able to do it.
Tbh I don’t think you have a problem, if you’re able to understand the material you self studied so far-you have no problem at all, you can simply continue studying the same way you studied so far. You can check your understanding by taking mock JLPT tests and maybe some JLPT listening on youtube (although if you haven’t practiced listening you won’t be insta good at it ).
My advice would be to learn how to write and do lots of exercises-it really helps with retention and deeper understanding. If you’re really, truly against it-private tutor, although native Japanese tutors are a hit or miss in my experience or just continue studying the way you’ve done it so far.
🐻 in mind the language is consistent of four skills: writing proficiency, speaking, listening and reading. If you haven’t trained all of them, don’t expect to be good at them. There are many fluent people whose language skills vary and one is stronger than the other, that’s completely normal, it depends partially on your personality, goals and training.
Edit.Some spelling mistakes
just keep doing what you were doing.
i don’t understand why you care about school suddenly after a year? is writing something you want to be able to do? then yh practice it, if not then skip it. same with speaking. many people just want to consume media and they’re fine without those skills.
language is based on knowledge and different skills. if you don’t practice a skill you won’t be good at it even if you have the knowledge.
I just really don’t understand where your change if heart is coming from.
You were tested on something you did not study nor practice. Obviously you were not going to do well. I don’t practice writing at all but I can watch pretty much any Japanese TV show and get the gist of what’s going on. If you tested me on writing Japanese I would fail as well. I don’t think it’s that complicated.
I have basically no reason to learn how to write Japanese by hand for the same reason why most kids these days don’t need to learn how to do long division by hand nor do they need to memorize a bunch of random facts from history. The ROI on learning those skills is barely worth it considering modern tools.
mate my honest advice for you is join matt vs japans skool community, watch the video course and after a month of applying it decide if youll quit japanese or carry on.
I think in one of the replies you said you do barely any input at all and thats wrong. Input is how you become actually good at a language and how we all became fluent in our native language. We didnt do grammar study for our native language lmao.
I have noticed 1 issue with your view
> 3 Quit Japanese altogether and end it here. Right now I feel like I’ve “wasted” a year, since I haven’t even managed to learn the most basic level. My methodology failed, or I wasn’t able to cover all areas equally (this exam was the first time I ever wrote Japanese on paper, not to mention the speaking fiasco). Maybe it’s time to switch hobbies and invest my limited free time in something more “worthwhile”.
my issue is that THAT is not how language learning work, the true thing is that while your language abilities will decline a bit when you stop using a language that is not such a big problem as you think it is, to take my own experience with Spanish, I learned to understand Spanish to watch [La Casa De Papel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_Heist) aka Money Heist (and other Spanish shows) in its native Spanish I spent about 4 years studying Spanish I watched Money Heist in Spanish + Spanish subs with English subs as backup subs, in the middle of the pandemic I became tired of consistently studying Spanish so I decided to stop with Spanish Memrise/Anki, about late 2024 I decided to watch something in Spanish so I watched a show and I struggled a lot with the language, I became annoyed and depressed but I decided to delete the progress on Memrise and start a new, what I learned was that I still remembered a lot of the content so what previously took me a year I did in a month, now I am still working on Spanish but I also study Japanese as the main language with Spanish as the secondary language I spend maybe 20 minutes a day compared to 60 minutes to 120 minutes (depending on the intensity of the language learning session 120 min = chill session 60 min tough session)
so my advice is to stop Japanese and then restart it after a while, with my Spanish I personally waited around 2 years which was far too long of an duration in my opinion, but I would recommend you to take a break with language learning, I can recommend 2 days as a starter duration and then if you do not have any excitement then take a longer break, personally I would guess that 1 week should be enough to “reset” the brain structure a little so you feel more endorphins when you do your Japanese lessons/sessions, but you will need an alarm for the time you will return to Japanese since it becomes really tempting to delay it even more which is counterproductive for obvious reasons
One of the biggest challenges with learning Japanese is that you will spend a relatively long time at zero. Its structures are so vastly different than English that it requires a fundamental mental rewire in order to get your brain to (1) anticipate information in the right order and (2) produce the right words in the right order. With Japanese you need a very strong **why** to overcome the feeling that you’re going to be a beginner forever. Since you asked for personal experience, here’s the Snyder cut of my very long (and ongoing) story in the hopes that it helps pick you up from wanting to quit, since I have felt how you feel before and could have used a story like this too.
I moved to Japan during the pandemic for work and at that time I spoke literally *zero Japanese.* I had not previously had a strong interest in Japanese media and was functionally illiterate in all those otaku things (anime, manga, VNs, &c) that *usually* hook people into learning Japanese. However I needed to obviously learn Japanese in order to succeed at living in Japan as a foreigner, so I started attending private lessons with a Japanese teacher who could not speak English, and she basically taught me Japanese *in Japanese.* We would learn a grammar topic, do fill-in-the-blanks, do some shadowing, and by the end of the lesson I would have to try and create my own sentences using the grammar pattern we had just learned. I could more or less understand my teacher (speaking very simple Japanese to me) but it was really hard for me to create my own sentences. This was even true after almost a year. I couldn’t speak coherently to save my life. My writing skills were equally nonexistent. My vocab was also not that good because if I’m being honest, I was too busy working crazy Japanese work hours (9am-9pm or so). On the weekends, I was just lazy and tired (I have no other excuse). The only thing I was good at was phonetics, and that’s just because I discovered Dogen’s videos quite early on and did a lot of vocal placement practice before even uttering a single word at my lessons.
Anyway, one day I discovered this sub, watched a couple of MattVsJapan videos, watched the famous Stephen Krashen video, and came to the conclusion that I was spending *”too much time studying Japanese and not enough time acquiring it.”* I had been well and fully immersion-pilled. So that night, I queued up Japanese Netflix, found a drama that seemed interesting, and resolved to watch Ep. 1 that night while eating my dinner. Well, that was about when I had my *”I should just quit.”* moment.
I had been studying for almost a year up to then and felt like I was making good progress, but nothing prepared me for how hard watching a Japanese drama turned out to be. That 45 minute episode (which was supposed to be a casual watch with dinner) turned into a 2h lookup-hell and mining exercise by the end of which I could still barely understand what people were saying. I was left feeling so exhausted and disheartened that I seriously considered just not going to my lesson the next day, and quitting learning the language altogether. If even after almost a year I was still “in the tutorial round,” *just how long was this going to take, anyway?*
Thankfully I didn’t quit—although I definitely didn’t try to immerse again for *awhile* after that humbling experience. In the end, I realized that the biggest thing holding me back was no longer really grammar, but *words.* I just didn’t know enough of them. From that day on I kind of went on a bit of an Anki binge. After I moved back to Canada I took a couple of months off between jobs, and speedran an entire N3 vocab deck in just 1 month. After that, feeling confident, I tried that same drama again and to my surprise, I understood *a lot more* of it and the experience didn’t make me want to quit this time; *it made me want to push on*. Now I have Japanese friends I talk to regularly in Japanese and have even started reading LNs. It’s been a couple of years and I now know around 7k words mature, studying for N2, and although native content is still hard for me, it’s no longer “make-me-wanna-quit-hard,” but more like “challenge-accepted-hard.” All those grammar patterns I learned from my teacher back in Japan have only been reinforced over time, and all the shadowing exercises we did helped prepare me to use them myself in output (once I had enough vocab that I could actually say something). None of those lessons was a waste of time in the end. My new challenge now is to escape the long intermediate plateau—if you think being a beginner feels like forever, wait till you’re an intermediate lol.
Anyway the reason I tell this long story is that even though you feel like you were wasting your time, you weren’t really. That knowledge *is still in there.* It’s just that with Japanese, the transition from beginner to intermediate takes *a lot longer* than anyone expects it to. If you want something to quickly get your confidence up, then maybe do what I did and go on a bit of an Anki binge. Nothing will make you feel more competent more quickly than just knowing way more words, plus the stats on Anki give you this dopaminergic *”arrow goes up and to the right”* feeling. If you’re considering lessons, I strongly consider getting a teacher who *doesn’t speak English*. A good teacher will find a way to get their point across, and you will get valuable listening training all the while. Also, learning Japanese *in Japanese* helps to reinforce your brain to “think about Japanese in Japanese” if that makes sense, rather than constantly comparing Japanese grammar to English grammar (since it will have never been explained to you in English). If you don’t live in Japan this might be hard, but perhaps you can find one on iTalki?
Anyway sorry for the super long ramble, but hope this personal anecdote helps you to keep your eye on the horizon. Being a beginner sucks, there is no doubt, but if you keep your eye on the prize and keep remembering your “why,” *you will reach the next stage eventually.* Good luck!!
Sorry , wall of text:
So I’ve been learning Japanese via the Kumon method, nearly 2 years now and still at N4 Level as I am taking it slow. A lot of days I feel like I did not learn much and that the progress is so slow but I still stuck with it because every level I pass , my motivation comes back. And with daily worksheets, I can never say NO to writing, reading or listening even on days I feel unmotivated. Initially I have no clear goal with the language.
Just like you, this is a hobby but the past few weeks I decided to double down on reading as ultimately I want to understand Japanese media and I can feel my reading speed and comprehension has improved daily little by little. I used to be able to read for a mere 2 minutes before having a headache, now I can do 30 in one sitting but sometimes 3 times in a day.. Not much, yes, but also not bad for me. And I can only improve from here onwards. My point is, if you really love the language, go back to the “Why?” and focus more on that and understand that this will take years and keep expectations low. Stick to a routine and trust the process. Good luck.
I’ve been studying seriously for about 5 years and I wouldn’t say my progress is much higher than yours. Depending on how diligent you are with studying grammar you might have me completely beat there.
I definitely know the feeling of putting in a lot of time and not having a lot to show for it. What I cling to is my love of Japanese. I love learning the language. So even if I don’t have much to show for it, I don’t consider my time wasted. Because I truly love the process. Sure I get bored here and there, but I also get excited when I learn a new phrase or recognize Japanese in a random place I didn’t expect to see it.
It took me 2 and a half years to reach N3 while studying Japanese IN Japan and going out of my way to not associate with other English speakers.
Japanese is my second language but I would wager that for the vast majority of my classmates in language school, it was their 3rd or 4th.
The biggest issue with Japanese is that if you’re not using it every day, you’re not going to retain it. I had to go back to the States for a couple years and even though I found work at a Japanese company where I could my Japanese consistently, I have still found that while my conversation level is still N3, maybe N2, my reading and writing have dropped. You HAVE to use it in your every day life to make any progress.
Number 1 dude. The best way to learn is from zero, in the classroom. That way everything you’ve learned until now will also come to use
As well and you don’t have to worry about how or what and when to study, cause you get it all at the lessons, then you can just compensate and study extra stuff you find interesting.
Self study of languages (I find) only works once you’ve already built a sturdy foundation to stand on.
I took lessons once a week after work for FIVE years as a hobby, started from zero. Sometimes it was so much fun sometimes it sucked, just how it is and you just gotta power through. but eventually I saved up enough money to go and study IN Japan for half a year and that changed my life. Cut to today and I’m pretty much fluent, go there once a year or every other year.
You can say whatever you want about your method, but you did not waste your time. The process of learning a skill is not like a game where you have a clear line of “progress” to follow… if you ask my advice, I would recommend you to get in the academy, even if you begin from zero. Rather than being a set back, it could be a change in perspective that might help you to get to a beter level overal… and you already know how the test is, you can try and ask if you can do it again. That way you can prepare a bit before a second attempt.
So you studied for a year and did poorly on a test, that’s a 100% normal.
Now, I need to say,
I’ll never understand this part of the Japanese learning world where not learning how to write is that popular and accepted.
Like, if it was someone wanting to learn English but was like “the alphabet? Writing? Nah I’ll pass” absolutely everyone would be like what the hell are you saying?
I can’t imagine how embarrassing it would be for me to be in a situation where I’m forced to explain that, forget Kanji, I can’t even write hiragana/katakana properly to the Japanese I’m talking fluently to lmao
I know I sound mean but man it’s so weird to me.
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