Been studying on and off for years, but as I can see is the case with a few others, once I started getting 2 hours of my life back every day by working from home and not having to commute, I was finally able to find a decent amount of time to put towards my studies. By being able to put more time towards it, I’ve been studying more diligently than I ever have before and this has been my longest run so far without a hiatus.
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As for many others, this year has actually slowed me down. Constant anxiety, moving in the middle of the whole situation, online semesters that turned out to be much more stressful than in-person classes, being quarantined with my SO who tested positive (I didn’t, but it’s quite likely I had it, too), and now everyone being worried about my mid-80s MIL who caught COVID in her retirement home… and it really didn’t help that my parents and a (former!) friend turned into full-out mask-protesting conspiracy theorists. I neglected WK completely, and when I tried to study, I could barely retain anything, so I ended up resetting to level 3 and basically starting over again.
But the one positive thing that came out of this all is that I started studying on Discord with my brother, who is a complete beginner, and then three other friends joined us. We’re currently working our way through the kana and might start Genki I next year. Even one friend who used to make fun of everything Japan-related found the language much more interesting than expected. He has already started making flashcards for the more useful practice items (I create a presentation with words written in hiragana every time and have people try to figure them out 
). My motivation is finally coming back, ‘teaching’ my friends has shown me that I still remember more than I thought I would, and now all I need is some more time and energy.
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yep. always wanted to learn but always felt like it was too great a task for me with the amount of free time i had. that definitely changed this year lol. i began studying in june. I love it. one of the best decisions i’ve ever made. it’s been difficult finding people to have vocal conversations with but i’m sure i’ll find some more people to do that with soon. i read a few textbooks and have been doing wk everyday. currently attending a third year japanese class on zoom.
this year has brought many difficult challenges, but it was still a very awesome year from me. i’ve learned from past trauma to live in the present and enjoy every moment even the tough ones. sitting around waiting for hardship to pass just results in lots of guilt and regret for wasted time. the human experience is too precious.
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I’ve wanted to study Japanese for years. I’ve been three times (including my honeymoon) and was very frustrated at feeling completely illiterate. I had intended to go this upcoming March for the opening of Allegiance in Tokyo (a friend of mine wrote the show, and I was involved with producing it) so learning a bit of Japanese before going and seeing a musical in Japanese seemed like a good idea.
Now I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go (I doubt I’ll get vaccinated by then) but at least now I don’t feel totally illiterate when I see Japanese. I still feel mostly illiterate, because I haven’t learned much grammar yet, and there’s plenty more kanji to learn… but it feels great to be able to get some meaning out of what used to feel like a wall of gibberish.
What I had planned to do in April when I started was just learn katakana and hiragana and content myself by being able to read those… but I discovered Wanikani at the end of July and am much happier now that I’m actually learning kanji. And I don’t think it would’ve happened without having a lot more free time until theaters open back up again.
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Working out was my main hobby for the last two or so years, and when lockdowns started here back in March I had nothing to do. So, in finding something to do I pondered studying Japanese. At the time, I had zero money for textbooks and the like so I just hopped on Duolingo. At that time, I enjoyed it a ton, but quickly realized “Good lord, I have learned absolutely nothing from this. What the hell’s て form??? How the hell do I read this kanji?!” So I stopped.
From there, I researched how to study Kanji, found this app. Same with grammar, found Bunpro and started using that. A while after that, (maybe too long) I got the Genki books, read those, and here I am now like 9-10 months later.
Also started reading, watching Japanese youtube channels, that sort of thing.
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Yeah. I needed something to do since working from home makes days feel extremely empty.
Normally I have extreme difficulties motivating myself to learn something or do something productive in my free time. I’ve been wanting to learn Haskell and work on some hobby programming projects in my free time and I keep telling myself that the next time I go on vacation I’ll start, but then never do.
So I was pleasantly surprised with myself when I started learning Japanese in early March and then joined WaniKani in April and I’ve been able to do reviews every day, for 270 days now.
It’s motivating to see yourself make progress. I’m sure I could keep this up even if Covid disappeared. But I really think it helped get me started, and that’s the hard part.
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Thanks to all for sharing their different perspectives and motivations - I can relate to a lot of them! For me I think the lockdown and covid19 has definitely been a factor in starting learning - although I’ve been working (from home) throughout the year so not really had a huge amount of extra energy. I think especially as the winter drew in I needed some kind of distraction from work and all the various covid stresses and learning Japanese has given me something that (while definitely not being easy in itself) lets me distract myself and focus on something else. Pimsleur/Nihongo con Teppei etc have also been positive in getting me out for walks even when the weather is depressing as I can concentrate more easily on audio stuff while walking. I’m glad that I found it! 
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I decided to start because I was told that I have a trip to Japan with my name on it (plane tickets to and from are a gift).
I’ve always wanted to visit Japan but I have been scared since the language barrier is massive. I feel like I will be far less intimidated to visit if I can actually understand the language. This will also hopefully be a huge help in moving around Japan as I do plan to visit Numazu and I don’t think it’ll be near as English friendly as say… Tokyo or Akihabara.
I also see it as hitting two birds with one stone. Being a huge LoveLive! fan for a long time now, I’ve always wanted to be able to read fan art comics, announcements, song lyrics, listen to the drama CDs, and maybe even play the JP version of SIFAS (mind you I am probably too invested in my worldwide account lol).
So basically the moment I was gifted plane tickets to Japan, I knew what I had to do. I’m hoping I can learn. I will keep going and struggling until the very end.
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I started actively learning Japanese in lockdown. Three years ago I learned hiragana and did some Duolingo but didn’t get very far. Then, this year, COVID happened and I started Duolingo again for fun. (Yes, I know, but hey, it was a start.)
After learning more about the language it started to really fascinate me and I was like I want to master this language. So I kept learning.
In September I found WaniKani! I was only going to do the free levels but when I got to the end of Level 3 I didn’t want to stop. Since then, I’ve found so many more resources through this community (thank you all so much 
).
I’m still a long way away from mastering Japanese but I’m determined to keep learning. I know I’ve made a lot of progress already and I don’t want to lose that. And I love learning the language! Besides, I might be going to Japan next year (if it’s not cancelled lol) and that’s an opportunity I need to make the most of. Fingers crossed! 
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Yes.
I don’t precisely remember what the specific trigger was for starting to learn Japanese, but come August (August the first, coincidentally, which makes when I start conveniently easy to recall), I began learning Japanese in full swing.
While I don’t recall the specific impetus for me starting, I do know that the thought of learning Japanese with respect to its notoriety in difficulty in English as well as learning about a culture completely different to my own (Canadian checking in) was extraordinarily appealing.
Nowadays I find learning Japanese to be orders of magnitude more interesting that even playing video games! Of course, it is important to acknowledge that motivation is a fickle, pernicious mistress that you should not rely on, but barring that, being able to make dialogue with my friends over in the East is quite rewarding, and I look forward to travelling to Japan in the (hopefully) near future.
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Yes! Started using DuoLingo and Pimsleur in March. I’ve always wanted to be multi-lingual, and since visiting Japan in 2019 (well, I should say since being exposed to Japanese culture via video games and cartoons when I was a child) it’s always been in the back of my mind to learn Japanese and try to more fully appreciate the culture. Cheers!
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Not really. In the last couple of days I’ve been reflecting on this past year. My goal for 2020 was to become a software engineer and pass the JLPTN2. I didn’t really have the time to study Japanese when I was going through my coding bootcamp as I would have liked. My program went remote in March and I lost my part-time job in April. So I focused on building up on my programming skills and am glad I was able to accomplish one goal this year which was to become a software engineer.
For 2021, I’m going to focus on the JLPTN2 and if possible reach Level 60. I’ve been a member of WaniKani since it was in its beta stage, so I think it’s time.
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Yep, COVID took a lot of my usual activities away. And I’m a big believer in making something out of bad situations regardless. So, since I like watching a lot of Japanese media, I thought I’d start trying to pick it up. Found Tofugu then Wanikani, and it was off I went.
Organization of the site and the general good reviews definitely pulled me in. Like the game mechanics of it too. Been one of the few positives I’ve gotten out of this whole mess of a year.
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I’d say it totally destroyed my motivation to formally study Japanese (in the traditional sense). However, as the isolation really set in, I got a lot more chatty with the people I encountered, wanting some real human interaction. As such, my speaking and listening have improved.
Lately, encouraged by my improved conversational skills, I’ve begun studying grammar again.
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COVID-19 stopped me from going to Japan for my honeymoon so as a big f@$% you to the universe, I decided to learn Japanese until we’re all ready to go to Japan!
P.S. Mainly true, with some elements of exaggeration
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I took my first night class when I was 12 so the pandemic had nothing to do with me beginning to learn Japanese.
But I wasn’t as dedicated as I’d like to have been so I’ve been stuck at “grasp of basic grammar knowledge” for a while.
At the beginning of the year we had a new colleague start at my department and she took lessons in a very small group (two people). When I found out that we got along quite well I asked her whether it would be possible for me to join. So I’ve been part of this small group since February. And then the lockdown came and I got even more motivated to keep up with the other two during lessons and not get left behind. With my hobbies of board games and going to the movies gone, there was more than enough time now.
Wanikani has made me the one with the best kanji knowledge (even at level 15) and listening to podcasts every day improved my listening comprehension noticeably. I hope I can continue to make lemonade out of these bitter lemons that are 2020.
As trombonekun91 said, without anyone in my closer family and friends circle impacted by Covid-19, I can count myself lucky. Everything else is just a bonus.
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Well, I started over 10 years ago, but quit completly. Corona resparked my interest. My communication skills are lacking now compared to back then, because I’m self-studying now, but my reading comprehension is a lot better. In many ways thanks to Wanikani and I’m not even halfway through yet.
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2020 as a year has nothing to do with Covid. Just because 2020 is over, it doesn’t mean that Covid will automatically go away
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What? Which crazy conspiracy theories have you been listening to?
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Definitely! I had came across Tofugo when looking to learn Japanese near the end of 2019, and I had started using WaniKani just as the whole lockdown began over here. Doing the lessons give me a sort of routine to me now.
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