I picked up learning Japanese a year ago with Duolingo with very unfocused study. I learned and memorized hiragana and katakana, and sat on my laurels for quite a bit after that, due to being intimidated by kanji. I think I stuck with it for about a month before putting it down.
In the past month, I discovered Anki and began drilling it every day – I've felt my comprehension, speaking, writing, and listening level up almost overnight. I started trying to speak Japanese with other people on things like VRchat with limited success.
I made a friend this way and felt my skills level up a bit again, and I got the idea to try a mock JLPT N5 test. From my time in subreddits, I've seen how the N5 has been memed on over the years as being the level anyone can achieve, the absolute bare minimum level that even the dumbest, ape-like Neanderthals can at least pass, the "people spend 10 years at N5" level…
I did end up passing, but with over half the answers wrong. I did the best on listening, and the worst on particle/grammar knowledge. My friend congratulated me when I showed him, but I couldn't help but feel like a loser for getting so many answers wrong after studying so hard.
I'm going to continue studying and trying my best. But I wonder, has anyone felt the way I do now when they started?
by NewLabTrick