Ok, I've been a point for a while now where I can read at least shounen manga(All I read mostly) fairly easily, can read light novels with a couple of unknown words every page but mostly adjectives, can understand anime enough to know what is happening, not 100% by any means.

But every little while, maybe for a week or more at a time it seems like my brain just shuts off to Japanese. I'll hear something and it just blows by me, but was watching the same show with much more understanding before. I'll try reading and grammar that I've read before will just baffle me. And lets not forget, me forgetting simple words.

It's not like I'm back at hearing babble, but it's not where it was or so it feels.
This feelings over now and I'm back to normal I guess.

This ever happen to anyone else?

This happened to me 1 year into learning Japanese. There were days I could easily understand/read and get what's coming my way but at the same time, my brain just let things slip. Not sure what it was exactly but the more used to Japanese I became, the less it showed up. Now almost 3 years into Japanese, my brain is comfortable with it. I can read and understand really well. Sure words come and go that I forget/can't read but then again, it's all natural.

Could be from being tired, being stressed, not concentrating, having something new going on in your life, etc.

I've played guitar for like ten years and have gone through something like it a million times. Sometimes your playing just isn't good, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time, and the reason is sometimes a mystery.

I've learned Japanese for almost 6 years, but I don't feel it quite so much with Japanse, though something like it occasionally happens.

Its not happening st the moment but i certainly wish it would stop. Its quite demotivating. Ill be happy when it just stops, the feeling stops me from getting anywhere in any other language.

I just started japanese so I'm no expert, but what if you start listening to lots of japanese talk radio and podcasts in your free time etc. Then you'll be more immersed in Japanese and your brain will be forced not to reject it. You may already be doing this.

Im pretty immersed. On a day with nothing planned I'm bound to watch 20 episodes of an anime. On a regular day at least 6 usually more though

Ive tried podcasts before, but I always end up daydreaming.
They'll be like
"なんで？！うそだろう！かもって？！"
Then in my mind I'll be like
かもって？ツナデ...ナルト...うずまき...渦巻き...ワンピース...ルフィ...頭わりぃ...腹減った
I can focus for maybe like 5 minutes and then it's over, but something with visual I'll be engrossed most of the episode.

That's a lot of anime :O and this is coming from someone who has watched a lot himself!

I guess just keep going!!! I bet I'll have this problem XD. Im already forgetting kanji I used to know really well. I once even forgot 月！！.

To be fair I have no responsibilities at the moment.
I'm starting to think my brain is just lazy and wants to take a nap, but I keep making it work lol.

I decided not to go to Japan with university and I suffered horrendously with Japanese grammar in my final year. My brain just couldn't hack it. I studied as many resources as possible and eventually got through it... One of my lecturers was very supportive but it was hell on earth. I went days without sleep. Mine was an extreme situation as I had spent 0 days in Japan whilst some of my peers had spent three years there.

My advice would be to view it from the "if I can get through this I can get through anything" perspective. It really is character-building.

It was an awful experience but I can honestly say it shaped who I am. My advice would be to read as many grammar books as possible.

[s0apgun]

Seems like its stressing you out. Take a break?

Maybe these will help:
http://japaneselevelup.com/2012/04/10/ra...evel-down/
http://japaneselevelup.com/2011/03/02/fe...-progress/

Japanese Level Up Wrote:1. The language portion of your mind gets tired. You aren’t getting worse, your mind is compensating by taking a break. Once you get past this break, your language mind is rested and ready to go to the next level.

That sounds like me. I do learn other languages, so I occasionally take a break with them. But Japanese is main, and the rest are side action.

4. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. This means that the more Japanese you learn, the more you understand the vast depth of Japanese there is left for you to learn, which puts your original mindset of your progress into a different perspective.

This one is me - when I first started learning I didn't realize it but I was comparing how much I knew to knowing nothing about Japanese and feeling pretty good about it...then I don't know when, but at some point, I started comparing what I knew to the whole of the Japanese language and started feeling pretty crappy about it for a while...

That aside, I have always felt like I have "good" Japanese days and "bad" Japanese days. The "bad" days can be frustrating, but I guess having been going long enough with the language to know that they will pass makes it easier to go through. Sometimes the bad days are obviously caused things others have already mentioned like lack of sleep, stress, or not enough food (I have a fast metabolism and don't function well without eating regularly).

einahpets Wrote:That aside, I have always felt like I have "good" Japanese days and "bad" Japanese days. The "bad" days can be frustrating, but I guess having been going long enough with the language to know that they will pass makes it easier to go through. Sometimes the bad days are obviously caused things others have already mentioned like lack of sleep, stress, or not enough food (I have a fast metabolism and don't function well without eating regularly).

This.

To the OP: if you tune out of a podcast, then maybe it isn't interesting in the first place. Look at the podcast thread, and find some that relate to your interests. If I listen to anything boring, I will tune it out unless I *have* to listen to it... that goes for Japanese as well as English.

blackbrich Wrote:かもって？ツナデ...ナルト...うずまき...渦巻き...ワンピース...ルフィ...頭わりぃ...腹減った
I can focus for maybe like 5 minutes and then it's over, but something with visual I'll be engrossed most of the episode.

I'm also immersed, but I just don't spoken Japanese. It seems like my brain blocks any input. If I hear a word, e.g. ふくしゅう then I have to find the right kanji in my "library" (my brain/memory), in order to understand. This finding process is still really slow, although I constantly listen to Japanese (podcasts, movies).... it's depressing. I have days I understand more, I have days I feel like I don't know any Japanese lol