This isn’t really a trick but all I can say is, even if you are feeling discouraged, do not give up.
Sometimes I feel like I am getting no where with learning Japanese. There are always so many things, some of them basic, that I still cannot understand and I feel like everyone else is going faster than me. Sometimes it helps to know you aren’t alone but if you just keep plugging away, you will get there.
There will always be those ahead of you and those behind you. Even if you can only study something for five minutes a day, you are doing Something to continue your learning. You may not get to your goal as fast as you want or as fast as others but at least you aren’t giving up and throwing in the towel.
Little by little you will realize that you can understand more and more. At times it will be like an “ah ha” moment where you can’t believe you just understood that or read that.
As Shia LeBouf said, “If you are tired of starting over, stop giving up!” We can get there!!
Like you I am also learning Japanese. There are so many times I want to give up; I have given up countless times over the years.
It is so important to keep going.
My friend George once said to me: "A year from now, you’ll have wished you started today."
He is so right. The feeling of pride I know I’ll feel in one years time is what keeps me going!
I’m learning Japanese too and I have the same feeling, I’ve been studying for maybe a year by now (very little at a time though) and I barely know all the basics. however; even with little steps I keep going forward, hopefully I’ll reach my ambitions someday!
I always recommend using several study methods and combine them into something you can stick with and like.
For example, I use: Memrise, Human Japanese, and Remembering the Kanji.
I am always telling people about the Human Japanese program and I encourage everyone to try it out. I was struggling at first when I started because I didn’t like lugging books around and just using a book just didn’t sit with me. I tried (wasted money) on several books that I didn’t use, then I found the godsend of HJ (Link)
I have a course on here with the vocab from HJ too. Link
We all have to take baby steps and we’ll reach our goals as long as we don’t quit.
When Human Japanese was first introduced to the Google Play Store I bought it immediately.
I was deeply enamoured with the author’s writing style.
Now, I much prefer YesJapan (Japanese From Zero) as opposed to Human Japanese; I have found having a series of books, YouTube video series and a website has helped me with my language learning quite considerably.
I know it’s not a learning website, but I do highly recommend anyone using Interpals to find language partners.
I have met a couple of the nicest Japanese lads ever; we send each other parcels in the post. They’re an absolute delight to know.
I never really got serious over the years until last year and I feel like now I’m really moving forward. In case it’s any use, this is what I’m doing:
I learn every word with kanji included, using Memrise. I found out that far from making me go slower, I’m learning quicker because you’ve got half the work done when a similar compound word comes up, and it’s useful to memorize pronunciations if you have a photographic memory. Also, you can learn so much about the culture when you start to notice what kanji is used for what, etc. I don’t bother learning how to write the words though because it’s of no use to me (I only want to know how to listen, speak, read and type) and that does slow me a lot.
Every time I wonder how something is used, I’ll look it up.
I take a lot of breaks to watch anime with subtitles, but when I do that, I pay attention to try to undercover as many words and structures as I can, and read the subtitles to see what meaning they convey. I’m starting to discover just how much is lost in translation! I don’t stop to write them down or anything because otherwise it would make learning annoying and I’d quit. Many people advise against using manga/anime to study Japanese because it doesn’t sound like in real life, but as long as you take care to learn what is correct and what is manga language, I find that seeing how I progress in my understanding motivates me to learn more!
I should do something to make my spoken Japanese better, though. Anyway, がんばって！！We’ll get there
I’ve only been learning Japanese for two weeks so far, using this site for two days. So far I know the entire Hiragana, just starting on Katakana and some phrases.
I originally started with my brother learning hiragana in an interactive game, we both finished about a week later and could recognize each hiragana, and a week later could write them from memory.
My brother stopped learning japanese after he finished with hiragana, I was really tempted to also quit but I kept on going because I wasn’t going to let his decision influence my learning.
What keeps me going each day and preventing me from quitting is everytime I can read and fully understand a sentence! Even if it’s only a three or four word sentence, I just get that “ah ha” moment and the euphoria is an awesome feeling. I’ll have a smile on my face for a whole half hour because it feels so great being able to recognize something totally foreign that millions of other people can’t.
That is what keeps me going also, recognizing things, reading things, and understanding while watching anime. It is very motivating, even thought learning can be slower sometimes. Sometimes when I learning my kanji with Remembering the Kanji, I get frustrated because there are just so many, but man I perk right up when I realize that I recognized a few when I was attempting to read a paragraph.
It’s like a superpower, we can do, even a little bit, what a lot of people can’t and that is just cool.
People just laugh at me for learning Japanese, but I’m the one that is laughing because those ‘squiggle lines’ as they say, DO mean something and I feel elated to know what they mean.
Hi Tusiana, sorry to hear you’ve come across an inappropriate word.
I see you’re learning Spanish 1, can you kindly let us know which word you found unsuitable?
We can then address it asap.
Thanks, Lien
So sorry for the trouble! I think this may be caused by a bug we’re trying to get fixed right now. This bug is presenting deleted items as multiple choice options, highly annoying! @BeaTrisy can you have a look and confirm whether this issue is related to that same bug? Thanks
Thanks Ravyre! I am aso going to try that Interpals site. thanks again!! and when I really can’t take it anymore I just take a concentration pill and I am all fine!
I like you comment! thanks True, never give up. EVERYBODY can learn a new language. We just need to keep the motivation and discipline.
In case you guys wants to learn french, I created a youtube channel as I love sharing my native language. Make sure that i will always answer to your question
Hope to see you there:grinning:
When I was driving past a local restaurant and could read the name in Kanji without any thought I had the same feeling.
True, never give up. EVERYBODY can learn a new language. We just need to keep the motivation and discipline.