Has anybody else had to deal with physical limits on learning?

I've heard many people listen to enormous amounts of Japanese a day - Maybe around 10 hours or so every day. However, I have a great deal of sensitivity to noise, and can only listen to maybe 2 hours a day until the stimulation becomes too much and I need to turn it off. Has anyone else experienced this and do they have any suggestions on how to deal with it?

There's absolutely nothing to worry about in my opinion. It's very simple, just do what you can do. Understanding your limitations is a very important part of learning and reduces the stress of not reaching overly high goals. I never listen to Japanese music, watch Japanese TV etc. I just do a bit of RTK each day until I feel like a change and sometimes read a little bit. All of this goes in pretty well because my mind is relaxed whilst I do it. Do what you can do with pleasure and relaxation is vital I think.

Is what you are listening to interesting? Are you having fun?

Do it for some time until you get used. As soon at it becomes an habit, it will work.

It is like waking up early. Waking up early during the first week is hard.
During the second week is harder.
At the third week it gets easier and, finally,
at the 4th week you notice you had always been a "morning person".

When I was in law school, there was a common rumor that you couldn't absorb more than 4 hours' worth of new material in a day, but I think that rumor was spread by the faculty to discourage cramming before exams. (Our grades were based solely on 1 final exam per class that was cumulative, so there was a lot of exam cramming pressure for some people each semester.)

What you have almost sounds like a form of migraine. Might want to see a doctor about that, because some migraines are treatable to a certain degree.

rich_f Wrote:When I was in law school, there was a common rumor that you couldn't absorb more than 4 hours' worth of new material in a day, but I think that rumor was spread by the faculty to discourage cramming before exams. (Our grades were based solely on 1 final exam per class that was cumulative, so there was a lot of exam cramming pressure for some people each semester.)

What you have almost sounds like a form of migraine. Might want to see a doctor about that, because some migraines are treatable to a certain degree.

I woudn't discredit that notion. As a pianist I've heard that practice more than 3 hours a day is not very efficient. It has something to do with diminishing return. That is not to say practicing longer won't help, just that it's less efficient.

study early in the morning... do something else for awhile... then study again at night...

Baby steps my friend, baby steps. I already started doing "ドラマ a day", and I feel like raising it two (after following it for about 3 days), because I got hooked on a lot of them. Sadly, my internet is not quick enough to handle that.

But seriously, if you're not enjoying it, stop before it causes more damage and demotivates you.

Don't think of listening/watching Japanese as studying. Think of it as a pleasure, then you're likely to do it more.

Now, if you're pausing, rewinding, taking notes, reciting, etc. then you're studying. Otherwise, you're just enjoying stuff in Japanese.

As for having to turn off after 2 hours, is the same true for your native language?

Nukemarine Wrote:As for having to turn off after 2 hours, is the same true for your native language?

Pretty much yea.

I avoid noise as much as I can, much to the dismay of my friends when I say I can't eat at a restaurant because it is overstimulating. Same goes for music - if it's to loud it drives me up the wall. I can watch anime or play video games all day if I want, but since music usually implies doing something else at the same time, it just drives me crazy.

I can listen to music all day. Literally. I'm currently in my universities computer lab, listening to j-pop. I only have 1.2 hours of j-music, but I've listened to it over and over again. I guess that's the point of immersion, only do it if it's good for you. Although I'm definitely going to import some more CDs soon.

I know what you mean, usually, when I listen to music for a couple of hours straight, it gets really annoying, and I can't stand it (especially if its on headphones) I'd say, listen as much as you feel comfortable, and make good use of it. Since your listening time is limited, don't just let it be background noise, make an anime or movie your actively watching, or music you are really into. Don't let it be a chore. While your not listening, focus on strengthening your reading or writing.

I have dyslexia. One of the listed symptoms is having 'off' days. I have to plan work round the fact that a day before some work is handed in I might not be able to concentrate or work very well. On those days background noise is like a bee buzzing about, it stops me working. Other times I can handle multiple things at once. I think that everyone is different. Though it is interesting to compare your rate of work to others I don't think its worth getting upset about the rate you work at. Everyone is different.
On a local college course the teacher rushed through the text like getting to the end of the book was the most important thing. I tried to get her to slow down, as we all thought it too fast but she wouldn't. So I quit. I was sad. Cos in Hampshire (UK) there are basically no courses about. I also don't work so its one of the few ways I get to socialize. So I was loosing quite a lot by quitting. But I was also not enjoying Japanese anymore. It had become an exercise in reading/rushing though grammar points. Even now a month later now its hard to get back into studying as there is quite a backlog of work now. I think part of that is I have this rate of work in the back of my mind like a standard I should be working at.

If music bugs you try podcasts, or online TV. I listen to the Fuji News station on http://www.livestation.com/ just about all the time including sleeping hours. If some form of Japanese is bugging you, switch to another.

If this doesn't work, why don't you try pushing your limits with it bit by bit everyday. Maybe you can overcome this.

Worst comes to worst, don't worry about it. Just work around your limitations and continue to have fun with the language. When it becomes too much about forcing yourself to do something then stop and rethink how you "studying".