I've come to learn that each of the language skills comes with a different level and they are not necessarily related unless you make a point of practising it.
To give a personal example: I studied really hard for a while and managed to go through the entire Minna no nihongo series (1 & 2, roughly equivalent to Genki 1 & 2). That made me really good at Minna no nihongo type exercises and comfortable with N5 style questions.
Then I realized I couldn't read. I thought the problem was kanji so I memorised about 1000 kanji in ~3 months.
Still couldn't read, though I recognized a lot of kanji.
I moved to reading practice, at first simplified Japanese (there are some reading textbooks like Tanoshiku Yomou), then gradually more difficult texts (I went through the Japanese grade systems and started with stuff aimed at really young children, slowly moving towards junior high) and when I felt good about myself moved to news.
At which point I wanted to move to watching news and bam! surprise, although I could follow along the same story comfortable if it was in writing, I couldn't make out anything if I saw it on TV.
So, back to square 1, listening practice, I first used some JLPT 聴解　practice audio, then moved to children's stories and gradually worked my way up to the news (I still have some trouble with it, but I'm slowly making progress).
This summer I've started with writing, and I'm down to my 9th entry on lang-8. It's still uber basic Japanese, but at least I'm making way less mistakes now. I plan to start incorporating more complex structures in the near future.
Once I'm somewhere at a comfortable intermediate level in my writing, I fully expect to start at level 0 with my speaking.
It was a shock at first to start so low each time, but now I'm quite used to it.
It would've probably been easier to work on those skills simultaneously, just the way I was taught English in school (we had about three hours a week of English lessons and they alternated between grammar, listening, reading, writing an speaking).
But with school and a full time job, it's really difficult to find the time to take up a language course or to design your own.
So, based solely on my very personal experience, I would say you might not be that burnt out. Maybe you just worked on one skill alone and expected that to translate into your reading ability. Which didn't really happen and this got you disappointed in yourself. But you really shouldn't be. Your reading will improve as you ..well..read more.
Again, only speaking from my experience, if there's something I could've done better, I shouldn't have spend 3 months on rote memorization of Kanji. I could've mixed that up with some reading, any reading, to make the process more efficient and less time consuming.
Good luck with your studies!

MelonBerry wrote:

but I'm just tired.
[...]
I know I should stop complaining and start learning, but I feel a bit a sad, a bit burnt out.

These are signs that you're not learning much from core 2k/6k or the DBJG. If you're not consciously aware of regular improvements in your Japanese, then you may still lack an overall picture of Japanese grammar to extract the most value from the Core sentences and ADoBJG (see http://www.supermemo.com/articles/20rules.htm).

Put Anki on hold and try this on for size: http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/index.html (this is just one of many sites with the same target audience in mind); you ought to know everything that there is to know about Japanese sentences, before jumping into individual grammar points and vocabulary. If you don't find its contents more informative and engaging than your flashcards, then I've got nothing. In fact, all learning ought to be engaging when it's effective, i.e. appropriate for your level. When it's not, that's what leads to burnout.

I think the Core sentences are best used after most/all of them can be understood, leaving new vocabulary as the only unknowns. It would at least mean there are no detrimental holes in your basic understanding. Hope this helps.

Last edited by Animosophy (2013 July 08, 12:26 am)

NO BREAKS! You can always stay in contact with the language. Maybe you should reward yourself with reading a simple Manga, playing a video game, or maybe watching Anime while paying attention to the talking.
I lately got bored with Kore2k6k so I moved to native materials a little. I'm playing FFX International Edition with all Japanese text and English voice acting, works greatly! What I found awesome about this is that I realized how much the kore deck was useful to my Japanese comprehension! So now I think it's great again. This also made learning Japanese more enjoyable.
I also bought a parallel Englsih-Japanese book, didn't start seriously with it yet, but I had a very good idea about the first few sentences without reading the English translation, which also boosted the image of Kore2k6k!
But in the end, I think you're your own doctor, because you're the one who gets bored or lose energy to things, so you ought to know what you need to change.

BTW, here is my status: Abot 1000 words in Kore, one third of TK's guide essential grammar, finished RTK lite, and almost no Anime or Drama watching.

Last edited by undead_saif (2013 July 08, 6:51 am)

undead_saif wrote:

NO BREAKS! You can always stay in contact with the language. Maybe you should reward yourself with reading a simple Manga, playing a video game, or maybe watching Anime while paying attention to the talking.
I lately got bored with Kore2k6k so I moved to native materials a little. I'm playing FFX International Edition with all Japanese text and English voice acting, works greatly! What I found awesome about this is that I realized how much the kore deck was useful to my Japanese comprehension! So now I think it's great again. This also made learning Japanese more enjoyable.
I also bought a parallel Englsih-Japanese book, didn't start seriously with it yet, but I had a very good idea about the first few sentences without reading the English translation, which also boosted the image of Kore2k6k!
But in the end, I think you're your own doctor, because you're the one who gets bored or lose energy to things, so you ought to know what you need to change.

BTW, here is my status: Abot 1000 words in Kore, one third of TK's guide essential grammar, finished RTK lite, and almost no Anime or Drama watching.

You got a vocab list for FFX International or are you just using the Japanese scripts online?

I don't know how you're doing Core 6k without an SRS.

Hello MelonBerry,

At your stage, I also took a break for around 10 days. It's like I was exhausted after I run a marathon of 20.000 km. I chill out during this time watching anime, downloading karaoke - as I love japanese music -. So I was seeking content due to the fact that I spent a boatload of time learning RTK and Tae Kim's grammar book.

During my long journey to the fluency, I became to copy a full page of an article or something where there is a great deal of Kanji in accordance with some advice from AJATT (All Japan All The Time). Then one that comes to mind is this. The best and lazy way to consistently improve the memorization of Kanji is throughout 'copying' and MCD. When writing became part of the natural rhythm of my life, my ability to recognize and write words came on in leaps and bounds.

Last edited by LimNG (2013 July 16, 9:03 pm)

ryuudou wrote:

I don't know how you're doing Core 6k without an SRS.

Another means of studying from Core 6K is in a L-R format. All 6000 sentences with audio can be reviewed with full comprehension (not memorizing) in anywhere between 5～10 hours.

There are probably a few others ways to study/review Core 6K without an SRS, but L-R is at least one other approach I am certain exists.

I will not sing the praises of positive influences that have goals, which I can suppose you know them. Setting short and long term goals will not spare yourself from burn-out. We fix more or less consciously aims such as becoming fluent, being able to read japanese or keeping a conversation. Needless to say that we clearly formulate own objectives : to do RTK within 90 days, learn 25 news sentences a day, finish the 'due to' flashcards.
Why the people who set out shorter plan (a deadline of 3 days even 1 day) are suffering from burn-out? The reason for the problem is to have fun while we are doing something in Japanese. I mean that in the end we have to feel enthusiasm, happier like after sex.
We can imagine the same thing with musician learner who is studying at a music conservatory. Get rid of the pleasure of playing an instrument, and I bet you that the student, with the simplest and most realistic objectives, will hardly reach the aims.
I advise you to reduce your homework to 20% of the time that you are dedicating to Japanese. Then the other 80% allocate them to chill out with Japanese stuff.