Anyone here learning Japanese?

[Oheao]

I want to get back into learning Japanese, but I've been slacking completely on that regard. I'm curious to see if anyone else here is also on the Japanese learning train and if so, which tactics you use to keep motivated.

 

[EvilChameleon]

So near the end of the Summer Olympics I decided on a whim to learn how to pronounce Hiragana. I was quite good at recognizing all the syllables.
Then at the end of the lesson it was like "oh by the way, there are two other ways to write Japanese" and I noped out of there so fast.

 

[NarohDethan]

It’s been a while but 勉強しましょう

 

[randomengine]

I took 2 years of Japanese in college, culminating in a 10-minute skit entirely in Japanese without cue card reference.

Many years later, I have lost most of it.

 

[Mendinso]

Still learning, but it's a process.

Problem is when I run into a mental barrier, it's hard to keep motivated, because I feel like I "must 100% understand this", when in reality, you don't need to do that.

 

[Dino Ventura]

Learned for more than two years to go back there but stopped because it became too much work for a hobby. Forgot a lot.

 

[Future Boy Nemo]

Memorized hiragana and katakana on a whim a few weeks ago, but various things have been eating up my time recently so I haven't gone any deeper than that. In December I'm hoping to have time to start working on grammar and expanding my vocabulary beyond the four or five hundred words I've picked up from anime.

 

[balgajo]

I'm focusing only on reading japanese. I can read hiragana and katakana fluidly and I'm slowly improving my kanji repertory reading manga. When I see some new word I look for the kanji radicals on Jisho. Google Translate ocr is also fine but looking for radicals helps me to memorize better.

These days I realized that I improved on the grammar. Still there's a lot of stuff to learn.

Goal number 1 is to play Terranigma JP version one day.
Goal number 2 is to go to Japan without relying on my English.

 

[Heron]

I tried learning on my own for 18 months before going to Japan in late 2019.

I just couldn't figure out the grammar. I think I didn't actively practice "creating" it enough - too much reading, not enough reproducing.

When I got down on the ground, my vocab was fine, I had enough Kanji to get around reading shop signs and menus etc (about 400 most common kanji) but I just couldn't conjugate verbs well enough to have proper conversations, or to discern which of multiple homophones the person speaking meant (every two syllable word in Japanese could mean like 17 different things lol). And that sucked. It was enough to impress the people I was with, though, lol, and I did have some lovely experiences where people indulged my shite attempts.

Haven't done much in the 2 years since, I should get back on it I guess.

Also, if you haven't been, go. One of the best places I've ever visited. I'm not into anime or manga or some kind of Japanese culture worshpper at all - I went purely for a sporting event with friends. But by the time I left (17 day trip) I was all in on Japan. The people, the landscape, the history... it all blew me away. Also... further you get from Tokyo the better it is.

 

[lightning16]

I'm in the early stages of learning right now. Always had an interest and finally decided to start back in August. Learning hiragana and katakana was fun and easier than I was expecting, but then I started learning some kanji and I was like "oh, so this is why it's hard."

After learning hiragana and katakana I started learning some basic kanji but felt like it was difficult to learn without more context from the language, so I bought the first Genki textbook and I'm making my way through that right now. Very early in the process but I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can get.

As for keeping motivated, it wasn't an issue at first, but I'll admit over the past 2-3 weeks I've had issues keeping up with it. I tested positive for covid during that time and, while I felt perfectly fine physically, a lot of my motivation to do things plummeted. I'm trying to get back into a rhythm and at least looking through the textbook a bit as often as possible.

 

[Dunban]

I've studied a few times over the years, but never focused on it. I still haven't even been to Japan yet, but I do hope to visit someday.

I do feel like it is a difficult language to learn, especially if you're not using one of the recommended ways to learn kanji (like Remember the Kanji or Wanikani). Grammar is also quite difficult the more formal you get. I think even people who are proficient don't necessarily know Keigo. But I still revisit my studies every now and then, learning just a bit more every time.

 

[AliceAbstract]

Studied it for years, passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test at N1, now I use it in my professional life. In fairness, I started learning in middle school, right before the supposed cut-off age for learning a new language.

My advice to everyone who finds it hard to keep going/easy to lose what they've learned is to put it to use doing something you like. It's seriously hard to retain the language if you're just doing exercises and rote memorization from books (especially if you don't live with/near anyone who speaks it regularly). That stuff bores your mind and doesn't form strong mental connections for your brain.

If you like anime or games or dorama, watch or play those in raw Japanese. Or hunt through Japanese Twitter for a thread on a subject that interests you. Or watch unsubbed Japanese streams/news shows/documentaries. When you see the language used in a context that's fun and you happen to recognize a word you already knew, things will start snapping together in your mind and it'll be harder to forget.

 

[Alent]

I'm only very casually learning. And i'm only really learning how to read--creating is a whole extra difficult task. It's a fun language and rewarding when you can read unexpected things out in the wild. もっと勉強しなければ！

 

[Gengar]

I started about 1.5 years ago but had some down periods, so not all of that time had consistent studying. I'm slowly but surely learning and retaining kanji; right now I can read some things on NHK Easy, for example. I recognize different tenses in grammar when I read but need to get better at conjugating on the fly.

Honestly, I'm not too concerned about kanji because I know that will come in time (with consistent practice). For me, I think speaking and forming complex sentences on my own will be the hardest thing.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I keep meaning to start but I'm lazy and haven't gotten round to it.
I'm also worried that my motivation for learning (occasional Japanese exclusive games and being able to watch/read Japanese media without the need for subs or translation) isn't strong enough to keep me going once I reach a first proper hurdle in learning the language.

 

[xsquiddox]

I truly want to get into it but got so many things to do first like getting my drivers license finally haha. Altho when i did the most important stuff ill start on it finally. Like now i only know like 4 or 5 words + me having adhd might make things hard but ill give it a legit good try.

 

[Oheao]

I feel like I just need to get a good routine going, as it stands now I don't have anything close enough to being consistent/viable for retaining information.