Comment Guidelines
Please keep comments respectful. Any comments that Yatta-Tachi determines contains slander, derogatory remarks, hate speech, or illegal links will be removed.
Leave A Comment
All Comments: 13
Comment Guidelines
Please keep comments respectful. Any comments that Yatta-Tachi determines contains slander, derogatory remarks, hate speech, or illegal links will be removed.
All Comments: 13
Personally I am relearning the language after having three years back in high school using the adventures in Japanese books all three years. I took both beginner Japanese courses at my local community college passed them with flying colors. I was using WaniKani until a few months ago when my subscription ended with about 150 or so items to burn.
What I lack is speaking skills, remembering vocabulary how to use particles etc is simple for me. Even though I speak English natively I don’t talk that much in English. I do practice writing in Japanese almost everyday. I’ve used Genki both 1 & 2, human Japanese (intermediate), Living Language Japanese, a bunch of other books for verbs, grammar and one book on how to speak Japanese. I also use different online resources like JapanesePod101, Japanese With Yuta (he does beginner lessons), Japanese Ammo with Misa, Japanese with Hanako (she does weekly lessons on Saturdays live on YouTube), I use jisho.org as my dictionary online. As for mobile apps, i-Sokki, imawa?, HelloTalk, HiNative, and a few others that I can’t remember right now. I use iTalki as well.
You started in high school? Was it a language taught at your school, or did you just learn it on your own? I tried to study it on my own in high school, but…well, too much going on for me to make much headway. For WaniKani, are you saying you had 150 more items to burn and you’d be totally finished? That’s awesome! I’d be interested in your experiences with iTalki, since you said speaking was one of your weaknesses.
Have you taken the JLPT? I’m curious as to what level you’d place your Japanese skills (upper-intermediate, advanced, etc.).
I’m currently using Human Japanese to practice on my own, and although failure isn’t necessarily an obstacle of mine, I still find it hard to get motivated sometimes.
For the most part I don’t have too much difficulty with remembering most of what I learn. I think that’s because I try to expose myself to the language as much as possible (even if that mostly consists of listening to Japanese music and watching anime with English subtitles…). Listening to the characters speak and picking up on words that I know has made a huge impact on my listening and understanding skills.
Nonetheless, I am FAR from being a master of Japanese and I will continue to work hard to achieve my goal.
Ah, Human Japanese! I remember looking into that some time ago, but I had already learned quite a bit by that point, so I didn’t end up using it. How is it as a learning tool?
I think I do too much “passive” listening when it comes to anime and music. Do you use a more active approach? Listening continues to be my biggest weakness…
Good luck with your studies!
I LOVE Human Japanese as a learning tool, though I do think that it’s not for everyone. The app is basically a textbook with reviews and quizes at the end of the chapters. One aspect I really love about it, though, is that it explains seemingly complex and scary grammar by comparing to our own in English. Because of that, I feel that I am able to relate and remember more of what I learn about the language.
Although it is extremely easy to read and gives lots of insight into Japanese grammar and culture, I wouldn’t recommend this for someone who doesn’t learn well by just reading. Sure, there are readings by native speakers throughout, but the majority of the app is text. That will evidently not appeal to all.
As far as my listening skills go, I am the same as you. I am WAY too “passive”, and tend to justify my excessive anime watching with my ambition to learn Japanese…
Nonetheless, I do believe that I’m doing better by doing it than not. I also enjoy watching Japanese YouTubers and vloggers that help me to improve.
Thank you, and good luck to you as well!
I made the mistake of taking in in University….even in the beginner course the native speaking teachers assumed too much and moved WAY too fast. I was good with listening comprehension and speaking. But the writing…my heavens (on the upside, my regular handwriting looks like hieroglyphics anyway….).
I’m curious, though: have you tried the program by Rosetta Stone?
Haha, everyone talks too fast for me (unless they can tell I have know idea what they just said). I never ended up using Rosetta Stone. It’s an expensive program, and unlike other languages in their catalogue, it only has 3 levels rather than 5. My mom wanted to buy it for me, but at that point I was already working my way through intermediate-level material, so it seemed like a waste of money on her part.
What methods have you used? Are you still studying Japanese?
You can do it! Believe in me! Believe in me who believes in you! xD
On a serious note, this makes me notice that i’ve just been super lazy compared to what this article shows me i should atleast be doing to study japanese. Guess it’s time to try harder
Haha, I’ll do my best to believe! 😀
It’s not always about how much you do; I tried doing a lot of different things to learn the language, but I still had plenty of trouble. Learning to push past difficulties is hard. I lose motivation quite easily, especially when it seems like I’m not able to remember things correctly (grammar, vocabulary, etc.). If you are looking to add something to your study routine, though, I’d definitely recommend Lang-8; you write whatever you want in the language you’re studying, and native speakers correct it for you. You can also correct other people’s writing, as well.
I believe in you, too! Ganbatte!
Great article.
Can 100% relate to the failing part.
I’m studying Japanese on my own using Wanikani and Human Japanese.
I also have the Genki books but they seem to intimidating to use.
After Human Japanese I do plan to go through Genki as it is recommended everywhere 🙂
Thank you very much! I’m glad I’m not alone in the failing department. What would you say your troubles have been with your studies?
Awesome, another Wanikani user! What level are you? Before I took the JLPT, I went onto a forum post about study partners and did Genki exercises with someone over Skype. Maybe you can see if anyone else on there wants to study together? I think it helps with the intimidation if you have someone to talk to about anything you don’t understand (and you better retain the things you explain to others). https://www.wanikani.com/chat/campfire/9080
What would you say your language goals are with Japanese? I’ve been thinking about becoming a translator, so I end up putting a lot of pressure on myself sometimes. (Well, maybe most of the time…)
The most troubles I’m having are with remembering everything. During study I usually understand how to use it and apply it. But when I need to recall something from a couple of lessons ago I can’t and need to look it up again to make it all come back, which is demotivating. And with Wanikani reviews it’s as if I can only focus on the one’s I got wrong (again and again and again …).
But I don’t know what I would do with Wanikani. It’s great and I’m now level 12 so I still have a long way to go. What level are you?
Joining a study group or something like that has crossed my mind but I think its “safer” to go at it alone for now. I don’t want to hold others back if I’m going to slow or fall behind if others are faster. (And then there is the fact that I’m not that sociable which is also a reason which holds me back from studying together with others). But after I have learned the absolute basics of Japanese grammar I might consider checking for a study group.
My goals are not that awesome as yours, being a translator you could work for Crunchyroll and see the anime before anyone else sees it ^_^. I have set my goal to being able to read Japanese .e.g Manga, Games or Japanese subtitled Anime. Being able to watch Anime without subtitles is a dream but not for now. I might set it as a stretch goal once I can read Japanese (sort of decent enough). I’m also studying it to learn more about Japan in general. And lastly show myself that I can do it despite the fact that languages is my weakest skill. (Math is by far way easier, fewer things you need to memorize for example).
I know that feeling; I also forget past grammar points after a while of not using them. What I’ve done in the past (and should really start doing again) is keep a running list of grammar points I’ve learned. I have a Lang-8 account, and there was a time when I wanted to write entries every week and practice both new and old grammar (yet another thing I should get back into). As for the Wanikani reviews, I COMPLETELY understand. If I don’t get at least 90% right (or if I get just one wrong), I just shake my head and think, “Cindy…”
I’m level 30 right now, but I’m soooo far behind on reviews. (As of now, I’m at 797…) I’m not the most sociable person, either, but I really wanted to practice both speaking and listening. We would aim for 1 chapter a week, so maybe when you’re ready, you can see if both you and your partner can work out some kind of schedule like that? You could also do more than 1 day a week; maybe a day for going over the material and another for practice.
Haha, your goals are perfectly fine! I don’t think I always wanted to be a translator. I really got into Japanese culture because of the music, so I just wanted to be able to understand what people were singing about without looking up translated lyrics. Still not quite there yet, but someday…
Join our Patreon
With your support, you help keep the lights on & give back to our team!
Check out our Patreon!