I'm having a problem which I have with EVERYTHING I do. It's been a problem for a couple of years now and I don't know why, maybe I'm just lazy. I take up a new hobby like drawing for example. I really enjoy it at the start, one week later, I'm bored! I completly stop and move on to a new hobby and usually come back to it months down the line. Unfortunately this is the same for japanese, I really, really want to learn it but I've been repeating the same cycle for ages, learning for a few days and then getting bored and coming back months later when I've forgetten 80% of what I learned. I started again a month ago which lasted about 2 weeks, then I just stopped again.

Fast forward another two weeks and here I am, wanting to learn again! How can I stop myself from giving up so fast? One day I'm like, "Hell yeah I can do this, I can learn japanese! Then the next day I think "Why did I want to learn this? Meh, I'll do something else." I seem to give up every new thing I do!

Thanks.

This is kind of the AJATT take on things but frequency is the key. Start off first thing in the morning if possible, and once you stop, start again as soon as you can. Even if you only do 1 minute, or just load up some Japanese music in the background, or something. Another thing I've been doing is timeboxing, specifically a variant called decremental timeboxing. Set a timer and do it for 10 minutes. After that, do 9, then 8, then 7... etc. Anyone can do it for 10 minutes (if not, modify it, do 3, and then 10, 9, 8, ...). 10 minutes doesn't sound like much, but 10 + 9 + 8 + ... + 1 = 55 minutes which is enough to do, e.g. 100 RTK reviews. This way you reduce the barrier to getting started. Just keep starting over.

I've got similar problems, so I might not be the best person to take advice from...

However, this is the main reason I took Japanese classes in University. People say they're not effective/efficient/etc... But they keep you on a schedule, and you have to do your homework.

But you're not taking classes -- so I would suggest either setting daily goals for yourself, or just doing a little bit each day. It doesn't matter if it's a lot or a little, but the first day you don't do anything "because it's just kinda 'meh'" then you've already lost. If you have scheduled days off on Sunday or whatever, no problem. But the most important thing is to keep going. Even if it's just learning 5 words a day, trying to read something, or anything. Just don't stop because that's when you will stop.

Unfortunatly drivers99 and Asriel, I've already tried everything mentioned I try to do something, anything everyday. But I just go from loving it one day. To totally giving up the next.

If you don't have any motivation, you need to get it. Learning a language takes a lot of determination and you won't get motivation if you lack a reason. Why do you want to learn Japanese? Unless you love linguistics and language learning, "It sounds cool" won't cut it.

I have a picture of a Japanese girl on my ceiling, so whenever I wake up I'm motivated to hop out of bed and study Japanese. Now that's a lie, but I think Tobberoth is providing the most essential advice. Listen to him.

Tobberoth said it...

If that's the case, then it's probably not motivation you're lacking, but interest and passion. That, or a large amount of stubborn stick-to-it-iveness. Perhaps you should sit down and think why you want to learn Japanese. Come up with as many reasons as you can. Something you can look back on when you lose interest and realize "Ah yes, THIS is why I want to continue" and bring your motivation level back up.

I had a few different reasons for learning Japanese. However, the reasons I continue learning Japanese are much, much greater and more important to me than those I had when I started.

Great replies, thanks a lot people. I'm gonna sit down and write why I'm learning japanese so that I can review it whenever I feel like giving up!

I suffer pretty much from the same thing and have for a very long time so I know where you're coming from but interestingly enough Japanese is the only thing that is HASN'T happened to me with. I guess that's how I know i'm doing the right thing

Ganbare!

It sounds like you're too comfortable. Try to use the internet and dictionary less.

mezbup Wrote:I suffer pretty much from the same thing and have for a very long time so I know where you're coming from but interestingly enough Japanese is the only thing that is HASN'T happened to me with. I guess that's how I know i'm doing the right thing

Ganbare!

Pretty much the same thing here. What began as a curiosity on a whim one day has turned into a significant part of my daily life. I CAN'T really stop now.

Getting into RTK was one of the first things that cemented my interest, I think. Demystifying one of the most notoriously difficult parts of the language and seeing success doing so really got me into the right mindset. Now I have half a billion (give or take) things keeping me motivated.

Just gotta get that snowball going (and not in the Clerks sense).

Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

Its rough for me too. I am a good 5 or 6 months into studying and still feel much the same as when I started. All the stuff I want to read is still way too hard. Once I get to a point where I can read native material without looking up every other word, it should be a lot more motivating.

I am something like 3k sentences, 3k vocab.

ta12121 Wrote:Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

I hope I can get to that stage, haha.

sikieiki Wrote:Its rough for me too. I am a good 5 or 6 months into studying and still feel much the same as when I started. All the stuff I want to read is still way too hard. Once I get to a point where I can read native material without looking up every other word, it should be a lot more motivating.

I am something like 3k sentences, 3k vocab.

Wow, 3k sentences seems like a long way away. Could you give me some examples of what you can do semi-comfortably in japanese? Could you read a kids book or watch anime etc?

Arckus Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

I hope I can get to that stage, haha.

sikieiki Wrote:Its rough for me too. I am a good 5 or 6 months into studying and still feel much the same as when I started. All the stuff I want to read is still way too hard. Once I get to a point where I can read native material without looking up every other word, it should be a lot more motivating.

I am something like 3k sentences, 3k vocab.

Wow, 3k sentences seems like a long way away. Could you give me some examples of what you can do semi-comfortably in japanese? Could you read a kids book or watch anime etc?

I cant really do anything semi-comfortably yet. Even kids stories are usually crammed with compounds I havent seen. Watching a show or anime, I can probably understand fully 10% of what is spoken - the simpler stuff. About 20% more I understand a handful of words but the unknown compounds or the grammar makes it impossible to decipher.

ta12121 Wrote:Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

I'm basically the same way except you're rather high level and I'm still too beginner to do much of anything. I do my reviews everyday, but with how busy my schedule's been recently and trying to fit other hobbies in, I've added next to nothing in terms of new material throughout the last month.

However, even though I'm not adding new stuff very often right now, I really can't imagine a day where I'm not doing SOMETHING in Japanese. I still listen to Japanese only music all day, I play Japanese games only for the most part almost everyday, and I see Japanese everyday (on the Internet right now, not so much books).

I don't think I'll ever lose the motivation to keep learning, even though I don't make very much progress compared to most of the amazing folks on this forum, but I agree with ta12121. I can't really imagine a day without Japanese anyway. It's basically the majority of my everyday life without me even trying to make it so.

On-topic and to the OP: Tobberoth's advice is about as clear and concise as you can get. If you don't have some "real" lasting reasons (and hopefully some passion/interest) to study, then you aren't going to stick with it.

Offshore Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

I'm basically the same way except you're rather high level and I'm still too beginner to do much of anything. I do my reviews everyday, but with how busy my schedule's been recently and trying to fit other hobbies in, I've added next to nothing in terms of new material throughout the last month.

However, even though I'm not adding new stuff very often right now, I really can't imagine a day where I'm not doing SOMETHING in Japanese. I still listen to Japanese only music all day, I play Japanese games only for the most part almost everyday, and I see Japanese everyday (on the Internet right now, not so much books).

I don't think I'll ever lose the motivation to keep learning, even though I don't make very much progress compared to most of the amazing folks on this forum, but I agree with ta12121. I can't really imagine a day without Japanese anyway. It's basically the majority of my everyday life without me even trying to make it so.

On-topic and to the OP: Tobberoth's advice is about as clear and concise as you can get. If you don't have some "real" lasting reasons (and hopefully some passion/interest) to study, then you aren't going to stick with it.

Pretty much the same as me, do it daily, always doing it daily(stuff in japanese). But for the motivation thing, not sure. I kinda forgot, it's just that japanese has become a part of what i do. In the beginning it wasn't really solid, it felt like work. But now the srsing,writing,reading,immersing is all second nature. That's an achievement right there, even if your not improving in japanese to the level you want to(all in good time).

ta12121 Wrote:

Offshore Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Hmm I agree, you need to find motivation. Personally for me it's strange, i've gotten so used to immersing/reading/srs/writing japanese daily. If I didn't do it daily, it would just seem odd to me. Not sure what my motivation is, even though I spend all this time on it.
It's basically became a part of me and who I am now.

I'm basically the same way except you're rather high level and I'm still too beginner to do much of anything. I do my reviews everyday, but with how busy my schedule's been recently and trying to fit other hobbies in, I've added next to nothing in terms of new material throughout the last month.

However, even though I'm not adding new stuff very often right now, I really can't imagine a day where I'm not doing SOMETHING in Japanese. I still listen to Japanese only music all day, I play Japanese games only for the most part almost everyday, and I see Japanese everyday (on the Internet right now, not so much books).

I don't think I'll ever lose the motivation to keep learning, even though I don't make very much progress compared to most of the amazing folks on this forum, but I agree with ta12121. I can't really imagine a day without Japanese anyway. It's basically the majority of my everyday life without me even trying to make it so.

On-topic and to the OP: Tobberoth's advice is about as clear and concise as you can get. If you don't have some "real" lasting reasons (and hopefully some passion/interest) to study, then you aren't going to stick with it.

Pretty much the same as me, do it daily, always doing it daily(stuff in japanese). But for the motivation thing, not sure. I kinda forgot, it's just that japanese has become a part of what i do. In the beginning it wasn't really solid, it felt like work. But now the srsing,writing,reading,immersing is all second nature. That's an achievement right there, even if your not improving in japanese to the level you want to(all in good time).

I don't know how you do it ta12121! You're an inspiration, keep up the good work

Arckus Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:

Offshore Wrote:I'm basically the same way except you're rather high level and I'm still too beginner to do much of anything. I do my reviews everyday, but with how busy my schedule's been recently and trying to fit other hobbies in, I've added next to nothing in terms of new material throughout the last month.

However, even though I'm not adding new stuff very often right now, I really can't imagine a day where I'm not doing SOMETHING in Japanese. I still listen to Japanese only music all day, I play Japanese games only for the most part almost everyday, and I see Japanese everyday (on the Internet right now, not so much books).

I don't think I'll ever lose the motivation to keep learning, even though I don't make very much progress compared to most of the amazing folks on this forum, but I agree with ta12121. I can't really imagine a day without Japanese anyway. It's basically the majority of my everyday life without me even trying to make it so.



On-topic and to the OP: Tobberoth's advice is about as clear and concise as you can get. If you don't have some "real" lasting reasons (and hopefully some passion/interest) to study, then you aren't going to stick with it.

Pretty much the same as me, do it daily, always doing it daily(stuff in japanese). But for the motivation thing, not sure. I kinda forgot, it's just that japanese has become a part of what i do. In the beginning it wasn't really solid, it felt like work. But now the srsing,writing,reading,immersing is all second nature. That's an achievement right there, even if your not improving in japanese to the level you want to(all in good time).

I don't know how you do it ta12121! You're an inspiration, keep up the good work

Not sure as well lol. Seriously I don't know, I could say I have a strong passion to learn but it just doesn't feel like that. I agree with khatz when he says make it fun, if it's fun it get's done. Obviously everyone fun is different, but me advancing more into japanese and more. It makes me realize though japanese may be a "huge giant" to tackle down, it can be done. It's not as hard as it's made out to be. But what makes people different from another is doing it daily. Everyone does get busy or something pops up in life that separates us from japanese stuff. But it can be done, do what you can, but just do it in japanese.
Even though I've made good progress, I still feel there is still a lot go to get down.
I was reading online, someone in college has a active vocab of 40,000-,50,000. Basically a college student around the age of 20-21. I'm 21 now, so it kinda makes me feel a bit down, as my active vocab in japanese is no where near those numbers. But it just means I gotta build up my skills. I think having a vocab of 20,000-30,000 is enough to became fluent in japanese in terms of speaking. So just gotta aim for that and build upon it.

ta12121 Wrote:Not sure as well lol. Seriously I don't know, I could say I have a strong passion to learn but it just doesn't feel like that. I agree with khatz when he says make it fun, if it's fun it get's done. Obviously everyone fun is different, but me advancing more into japanese and more. It makes me realize though japanese may be a "huge giant" to tackle down, it can be done. It's not as hard as it's made out to be. But what makes people different from another is doing it daily. Everyone does get busy or something pops up in life that separates us from japanese stuff. But it can be done, do what you can, but just do it in japanese.
Even though I've made good progress, I still feel there is still a lot go to get down.
I was reading online, someone in college has a active vocab of 40,000-,50,000. Basically a college student around the age of 20-21. I'm 21 now, so it kinda makes me feel a bit down, as my active vocab in japanese is no where near those numbers. But it just means I gotta build up my skills. I think having a vocab of 20,000-30,000 is enough to became fluent in japanese in terms of speaking. So just gotta aim for that and build upon it.

Haha, but how do you make it fun? I was thinking about this earlier. Sure I don't hate doing Anki reviews and I'm sure I wont hate sentence mining while watching films etc later, but I wouldn't call it fun either! I am finding RTK extremely boring though, everytime I get 20 minutes into it i want to give up and go do something fun

Another thing, 40,000-50,000 active vocab? That sounds like a crazy high number to me, I wonder if this is true for english too? I obviously don't have a good way to guess at my vocab but I can't ever imagine it being that high.

Arckus Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Not sure as well lol. Seriously I don't know, I could say I have a strong passion to learn but it just doesn't feel like that. I agree with khatz when he says make it fun, if it's fun it get's done. Obviously everyone fun is different, but me advancing more into japanese and more. It makes me realize though japanese may be a "huge giant" to tackle down, it can be done. It's not as hard as it's made out to be. But what makes people different from another is doing it daily. Everyone does get busy or something pops up in life that separates us from japanese stuff. But it can be done, do what you can, but just do it in japanese.
Even though I've made good progress, I still feel there is still a lot go to get down.
I was reading online, someone in college has a active vocab of 40,000-,50,000. Basically a college student around the age of 20-21. I'm 21 now, so it kinda makes me feel a bit down, as my active vocab in japanese is no where near those numbers. But it just means I gotta build up my skills. I think having a vocab of 20,000-30,000 is enough to became fluent in japanese in terms of speaking. So just gotta aim for that and build upon it.

Haha, but how do you make it fun? I was thinking about this earlier. Sure I don't hate doing Anki reviews and I'm sure I wont hate sentence mining while watching films etc later, but I wouldn't call it fun either! I am finding RTK extremely boring though, everytime I get 20 minutes into it i want to give up and go do something fun

Another thing, 40,000-50,000 active vocab? That sounds like a crazy high number to me, I wonder if this is true for english too? I obviously don't have a good way to guess at my vocab but I can't ever imagine it being that high.

actually for vocab, I wouldn't be able to count how many words I know, it's quite impossible(english). Or it is possible but I believe it's just that the more you get used to using different words/contexts effectively without any need of pausing,etc during speech. Like it has a flow. Then fluency can be achieved in speaking i think.

Like if you listed how many words you know in english like write them down. You'd notice that, it takes time for you to remember some words. But it's definitely still in your memory. I think it's just that we are so used to context that it enables us to understand/use it with ease when speaking.

RTK-reviews aren't bad, b/c the number is small nowadays for me. But what I do for me is split it into 5-10 fragments of reviews. So my production deck I do first, get the writing out of the way first, then sentence deck(I haven't added much and my reviews are getting so small nowadays,it was high before but it went down considerably, since I was only adding 5 sentences(but having monolingual looks ups, which has 3-4 words being explained)>i.e. got it from news.
How is it fun? I mix it in with anime stuff/reading/immersing. I basically do fragments, then watch stuff enjoyable stuff as a mini-reward. And then go on from there till my reviews/reps are done.

Arckus Wrote:Haha, but how do you make it fun? I was thinking about this earlier. Sure I don't hate doing Anki reviews and I'm sure I wont hate sentence mining while watching films etc later, but I wouldn't call it fun either! I am finding RTK extremely boring though, everytime I get 20 minutes into it i want to give up and go do something fun

So, if you are learning Japanese for fun, why are you doing things that you find extremely boring? I've never finished RTK because I, too, found it to be too much of a chore. I stopped SRSing because I found it to be so dreadfully boring. These things sucked the life out of somethng I used to love, learning languages, so I got rid of them. I only do things that I enjoy and find fun in Japanese and my level is still improving everyday. Nobody is forcing you to study Japanese, right? It is a hobby so, if something is boring to you, then don't do it. There are many way to learn a language and maybe the things others suggest just aren't for you?

thistime Wrote:

Arckus Wrote:Haha, but how do you make it fun? I was thinking about this earlier. Sure I don't hate doing Anki reviews and I'm sure I wont hate sentence mining while watching films etc later, but I wouldn't call it fun either! I am finding RTK extremely boring though, everytime I get 20 minutes into it i want to give up and go do something fun

So, if you are learning Japanese for fun, why are you doing things that you find extremely boring? I've never finished RTK because I, too, found it to be too much of a chore. I stopped SRSing because I found it to be so dreadfully boring. These things sucked the life out of somethng I used to love, learning languages, so I got rid of them. I only do things that I enjoy and find fun in Japanese and my level is still improving everyday. Nobody is forcing you to study Japanese, right? It is a hobby so, if something is boring to you, then don't do it. There are many way to learn a language and maybe the things others suggest just aren't for you?

True, make it enjoyable and you can proceed to new levels easily. The srs usage isn't needed to learn languages, you can learn it without it. But in the long-run it can help you retain info forever basically. That's the plus.

I have some experience with this as well. I become apathetic while taking on large backups of cards in anki. Its a mental thing, I think its going to take a long time to do, and that just ends up slowing me down. If thats your problem, some advice I have is to try to make it into a competition. Anki reviews shouldn't require lots of time, so just timebox and then try to fire off as many cards as you can in the time limit. Just concentrate on finishing that timebox (and it sometimes helps to tell yourself that you will take a break afterwards, although I rarely follow through with that plan). Pretty much, unless you actually LIKE to review in anki, the faster you finish, the better.

If your problem is more on the side of motivation to press on to new material, Id say the best advice is: if you dont feel like doing it, dont. I think AJATT got it wrong in this regard. The point is not to force this language learning stuff down your throat 24/7, you should be looking to the "immersion" side of things merely to stimulate your interest. Watch an anime with subs. Listen to some japanese music you like. Find something interesting online to read and DONT add anything to anki. The point is to find something to relax with during your "downtime" when you arent adding cards. It doesnt have to be related to japanese either, but I think you will find if you are still being exposed to the language in your downtime, you will have a lot more motivation. And on the days where you do feel like going for it, you should have a readymade goal at hand you can go for. Personally, I like picking up some premade vocab decks and then just adding hundreds of new cards at a time.