I know, everybody says it's not good to buy a Japanese learning book, not finishing it and buying another book, to just stick with the book and finish it. Somehow people just keep buying books more and more and I am one of those people. Okay I did finish 2 books in a series, well actually I didn't finish the last couple chapters of the second book cus I saw the next book in the series with a new dashing colored cover and instantly bought that one, I know, pathetic huh. And that's just one series, then you browse your local bookstore and it goes like "oooh this book helps me with my 単語 including great exercises, KACHING, bought", "ahhh, here's that book I've been looking for, practise listening, KACHING, bought", "wow, this one has a better layout than my current one and is colored, I think it will be useful, KACHING, bought" and it goes on and on and before you know it, you've got a whole pile of books that don't even fit the bookshelf. And you always say to yourself, ok this time I AM going to finish it, erhm yea right. What is wrong with those people?! ...and me! Any of you guys also had similar situations?

*okay, the fact that Chinese Japanese learning books are so cheap also played a factor. A brand new book for under a couple of dollars including CD anyone?

I don't have any problem dropping a book that isn't teaching me. In fact, almost all textbooks seem to have been a waste of my time. Learning some basic vocab and then starting to read easy real books has worked a -lot- better for me.

If you learnt ~400-600 words from your textbook, I don't think it's too much to ask to start playing with real sources.

Whatever makes you happy. If you enjoy reading them, then I don't see the problem. If you're just buying them, putting them in a pile and ignoring them, then yeah, you should cut down. (I went through a short phase like that. It's bad for the wallet, and you can wind up buying books that do essentially the same thing over and over again.)

Over time, I've just about stopped buying grammar books, though, and I've been mostly buying books in Japanese on the things that interest me. So now the manga, LNs, keigo books, calligraphy books, mahjong books, etc., now far outnumber the grammar books. I love me some books.

Looking at my own collection, which I have amassed over a number of years, I have a question: Do those little Kodansha grammar books go off in corners and breed or something? Ok, now I'm scared. Time to get rid of some of those, before they stage a revolt.

lol, yeah. I have probably over 50 books on learning Japanese (恥). I guess I can't go to a bookstore without being like "Ooh, I haven't seen this one before. Looks good."

Although a number of them are readers that I've read, and references that I use from time to time.

What I tend to do (which is not so good) is when I like a book I'll buy some more in the series. For example: "Hey, this Kanzen Master 3kyuu grammar book was a great help." So I order the KM 2kyuu grammar & vocab book thinking it will do the same for me, but I find that they're too hard to work through until you're at a more advanced level, so add 2 more books catching dust.

wccrawford Wrote:I don't have any problem dropping a book that isn't teaching me. In fact, almost all textbooks seem to have been a waste of my time. Learning some basic vocab and then starting to read easy real books has worked a -lot- better for me.

Yea I guess so, though often it doesn't even come to the 'this book isn't teaching me', just the newness of new books is the trigger, for me at least.

Squintox Wrote:If you learnt ~400-600 words from your textbook, I don't think it's too much to ask to start playing with real sources.

Guess so, but those don't have the 'japanese learner' in mind so everything' gets thrown at you and it's too difficult again. So then I try like a really (or in my mind) 'easy looking' kiddie book and then I'm swamped by kiddie-slang which can be confusing sometimes! But I guess that's the only way to really learn it huh.

And those new books...! They pop up in bookstores like cabbage!

Sometime you just have to dive in and take the hits. I started with relatively easy manga to read, and just went from there. Furigana will make it faster to look stuff up, and if all else fails, the pictures will give you context clues. (Not always, though.) Novels are a whole different world, though. Approaches vary on that. Then there's Real Japanese TeeVee... (some of which has to have been produced by people on drugs.)

I still use my "Japanese learner" materials, I just mix in a healthy amount of Stuff Real Japanese People Read/Watch/Listen to to keep the "Here is a pen. This pen is shiny. I like shiny pens," kind of sentences from poisoning the well, as it were.

Water is good for you, but if you drink 8 gallons in one sitting, even it will kill you.

rich_f Wrote:I just mix in a healthy amount of Stuff Real Japanese People Read/Watch/Listen to to keep the "Here is a pen. This pen is shiny. I like shiny pens," kind of sentences from poisoning the well, as it were.

Water is good for you, but if you drink 8 gallons in one sitting, even it will kill you.

Posted before, I think, but worth repeating:

As for the water, yes, 8 gallons will kill you. Happened to an American woman in a water drinking contest not long ago. I believe one's cells literally explode as water and sodium try to find a balance. SPLAT!

As for the book topic, I only have about 4 books, none of which I have finished. A couple months ago Bodhisamaya mentioned he was doing that "Particles" book, and I thought, ooh, I should pick that one up... only to discover a couple of days later that I already owned it. 恥ずかしい。

yukkuri_kame Wrote:Posted before, I think, but worth repeating:

That was hilarious!

yukkuri_kame Wrote:As for the book topic, I only have about 4 books, none of which I have finished. A couple months ago Bodhisamaya mentioned he was doing that "Particles" book, and I thought, ooh, I should pick that one up... only to discover a couple of days later that I already owned it. 恥ずかしい。

lol!


Could it also maybe be because of the fact that there are sometimes too many learning sources available? And then there are countless websites all claiming to be the best source for learning, and then we have podcasts and countless NDS games, flash cards apps etc., one doesn't know where to look anymore or focus on anymore cus we get blinded by the X-less number of learning options. And before you know it a year has passed and you're still finding yourself learning stuff you should've known long time ago...

I think routine (and hard work ofcourse) is key, but to stick with it seems sometimes even more difficult than learning actual Japanese :o

That also happened to me. Whenever I see someone talking good stuff about certain book I feel the urge to buy it. I have the 2 Genkis, RTK, Kodansha's essencial kanji dictionary and some other crappy ones.

That also happens with videogames. Even though I have no time to play I continue to buy videogames. I have like 35 videogames (DS, PSP and GBA) to play! I only play them like 30 minutes per week, 2 hours tops.

Well, I'm a high school graduate and hopefully I'l be going to college (late september), to an East Asian studies course (japanese minor and chinese major) and I plan to finish both genkis and RTK before september. I know that while I'm in college I'll buy tons of japanese and chinese learning books. I'm already thinking of buying AIAIJ after finishing both genkis.

Well, just remember, books won't do you any good if they stay closed. You can't learn anything from them, even if you sleep on top of them. The knowledge won't just seep into your brain from them. You have to open them and read them to make them work.

rich_f Wrote:Well, just remember, books won't do you any good if they stay closed. You can't learn anything from them, even if you sleep on top of them. The knowledge won't just seep into your brain from them. You have to open them and read them to make them work.

I know, I do use them, but I find myself frequently using one and than using the other, and then another which I haven't used in a month. It's like you want strawberry but also chocolate! And with the number of books one has accumulated, believe me, there is not even enough time to open each one of them even if you don't take sleep anymore.
Everytime I enter a bookstore it's like a bookgasm! (ok some people get even more joy in buying the book than actually using it, but that's another thing hehe)

rich_f Wrote:Well, just remember, books won't do you any good if they stay closed. You can't learn anything from them, even if you sleep on top of them. The knowledge won't just seep into your brain from them. You have to open them and read them to make them work.

I've actually had a lot of progress by sleeping with books.

Oops, thats from falling asleep while studying.

rich_f Wrote:Over time, I've just about stopped buying grammar books, though, and I've been mostly buying books in Japanese on the things that interest me. So now the manga, LNs, keigo books, calligraphy books, mahjong books, etc., now far outnumber the grammar books. I love me some books.

I agree. Although I get novels from the library, books that I've purchased include:

クレジットカード・サバイバル戦争 (Credit Card Survival War) ISBN 4478240760. This is a field in which I worked for many years, including in Japan.

A two volume set, リー・クアンユー回顧録 (Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew) ISBN 4532163625 and 4532163633. I've lived and worked for about half my life in Singapore, so for me this is very topical.

Musashi makes a very good point. I always carry a book about Japanese around with me, but my study is completely unfocused, so I am probably learning next to nothing. I try to persuade myself that, one day, all the useless and disparate little bits of information will come together and I will wake up on morning realising that I am fluent in Japanese.

I wake up very disappointed most mornings, determined that that day will be different. I am similarly determined the next day, and the day after that...

It's pathetic, really...

sushidushi Wrote:I wake up very disappointed most mornings, determined that that day will be different. I am similarly determined the next day, and the day after that...

It's pathetic, really...

Lately I've been having those a LOT, and that summer heat isn't helping either! It's like, ok today I am gonna study these and those items and at the end of the day none has been finished. It's like, you want it SO MUCH to get better that WANTING it becomes the focus then actually focusing on learning. I have eveything at my disposal to become fluent, books, dictionaries, reading books, audio, games you name it, yet I find it somehow hard to really sit down and focus on really getting material crammed into my head. Kinda bizzare huh.