Burning out happens, but it is a good time to get going again. Recently, a commenter left a comment about how they are learning and some of the problems. Here is the comment:
Comment by: Kirlanda
Hi, I actually just stumbled on to your site. Because I’m not in any type of college course for japanese(my college doesn’t offer it) I’ve been trying to self teach my self japanese for the past 2 years to no avail. I didn’t and still don’t know where I should focus. And I’m burning out. Can’t remember what I learn, and still can’t express myself in japanese besides basic greetings. However, I’ve managed to learn a lot of the kana. All of the books that i’m using use kana and kanji. But I also have a program on my computer called Human Japanese, which is really good. And I recently(like a month ago) discovered a site called www.smartfm.com that tailors lessons to how fast you learn and how often you study. AND its completely free! The thing thats kicking my butt at the moment is kanji. Though I recognize written words faster than spoken words, when its written in kanji, I’m screwed. I’ve only began learning about kun yomi and om yomi readings, not to mention stroke order. I cant figure out a japanese dictionary for the life of me. Which is bad, because I try to at least read articles in japanese and I can’t figure out how to look up those words. Do you have any tips for the person who has no official schooling in the japanese language? And possibly some words of motivation?(I feel like I’m running out, but I don’t want to give up. I do want to become fluent in japanese.)
I was going to comment back and answer, but instead I think it would be better suited as a post since it is a common problem. I want to directly address what is above, but also the ideas carry over easily to a conceptual level.
Kirlanda, I think your biggest problem here as to why you are getting burned out is you only have 1 goal. To learn Japanese. You are getting burned out because you aren’t making progress that you can tell. I know how that goes. I have been learning to program of 5 years and most of the time I feel like I am spinning my wheels.
It is time to re-asses your goals I think and make some minor goals. Your goals should be ever changing goals. Make lots of goals to get you closer to your main goal, but never give up. At this point I wouldn’t even take a break because you seem to feel like you are in a place where you just want to stop for a while. You need to re-asses why you are learning Japanese. If the reasons have changed then good you now know.
Next you need to come up with a game plan. You should remember now why you are learning Japanese. Now write down what it will take to get there. Is it learn kanji? just speaking? is it Translation? each of these can lead you to a different approach to get to your final goal quicker. If all you want to do is speak well then forget the vocab, grammar, kanji, kana and pick up Rosetta Stone and hit it hard and in a few months you will be speaking some Japanese.
Be sure to make minor goals by assessing what is lacking in your current knowledge. For me grammar is fairly easy and kanji isn’t to bad right now, but vocab is my Achilles heal, so I spend most of my time on that for now. Try to do the same.
On my way to learning Vocab better I had to learn kana a lot better so I forced it into my head and learned the kana in about 2 weeks. It was possible because I set it as my next immediate goal. Sometimes, that is how you need to approach learning is one little thing after another because the big goal is too daunting.
If I had to give you some advice kirlanda on how to proceed these are the steps
- Learn Kana (don’t bother with much of anything else until it is learned)
- Read all of the All Japanese All the Time Site While doing the next steps
- Get on Smart.fm and hit the Core 2000 vocab hard
- Buy Remembering the Kanji and start learning the meanings of the top 2046 Kanji
- Don’t bother with readings of Kanji, yet.
- Start Using ReadtheKanji.com to start learning the readings
By the time you get to that point you should be more motivated and have some serious progress going. At that point it is time to start defining new goals. Which I am sure you can do. And just remember one of my favorite quote:
Consistent action over a long period of time leads to extraordinary results.
Not sure who said that, but is one of my favorite sayings and is so very true.
Have fun learning and keep coming back and letting me know how you are doing.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you pretty much nailed it with his only goal being "learn Japanese." That's way too broad a goal and usually makes you think you need to take a structured, textbook-style approach to learning. Memorizing vocabulary lists and the like. You end up doing things you don't really enjoy just to cram it into your head. Why *are* you learning Japanese? It must be to understand or better appreciate something in particular. Well, why not just cut out all the extra stuff and go straight for what you want?
For myself, early on, I wanted to talk with and understand my Japanese friends (when they spoke Japanese). So what did I do? I didn't memorize canned phrases or anything. I just went for it and hung out with them and made conversation. Of course it wasn't complicated discussion, but I was able to use my limited vocabulary to get across my ideas. In the course of doing so, they were able to teach me all kinds of really useful, basic Japanese that really pumped up my confidence. Now I can more or less converse on anything. Now to get fluent in reading (so glad I did Remembering the Kanji now!).
I guess the most important thing is to find really, truly, honestly engaging things in Japanese and immerse yourself in it. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as it's in Japanese. Like you mentioned, AllJapaneseAllTheTime is a great method that takes this type of learning to heart. I highly recommend that site too.
I think in one paragraph you summed up my whole post just better.
That is cool. I wish I had some Japanese friends I could just tag along with. I think i know 3 Japanese people here locally all through Japanese club or class. it is fun though to try to converse with them when I can understand what they are saying. Is kind of alike a trial by fire experience. I usually gain a lot from it.