I friend of mine went on holiday wearing a t-shirt that said オランダ人だから、英語は話せません。or something along those lines. Not sure if it was the same shirt, but I think it also said 日本語を勉強中. Not saying you should wear such a shirt everyday, but it might help with such assumptions.
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Maybe you should get a “Japanese hubby” instead (if you don’t already have one)
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I’m the opposite of you since I’m learning because I want to although I have no need for it.
But you must have hobbies anyway. Some japanese people will have the same hobbies. This means you can still get immersion with your own - non specifically japanese - hobbies.
Maybe you could find a japanese thing you like? I love crafts and there are so many youtube craft channels from japan. They are very good with subs as well. I can’t wait to get to the level where I can read them.
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I would love to be a part of the parents group, so I shall up my vocab game.
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Great suggestion, but I am out of that phase though…haha.
Truth is I chose my husband, but he had chosen Japan already by then. So, it came to me as a package though I didn’t necessarily ask for it.
I hope my husband doesn’t find this as I forced him to do WaniKani a couple of months ago.
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Great idea… Your friend honestly had a smart solution. But I would like to get it embroidered on my bag or something, instead of just one shirt. Coz honestly, 勉強中 is likely to stay for quite some time.
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Sticky notes! as in you see Japanese every where in your house? Do you also keep changing the content?
I labelled my whole kitchen. Stove, refrigerator, etc.
Not sure if it’s wffective but it was fun.
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Sticky notes are usually not that effective since you easily blend them out or just have a very passive intake that doesn’t really form a lasting connection. Saying the word out loud (or actively thinking it) while to use the object is much more helpful.
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I checked out the thread but it’s already archived so I can’t add to it. Good for me to look through too, though!
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Eventually, with anything like this, inspiration and motivation are going to run out, at least for a little bit. It’s at those points that you need to know for certain that learning Japanese is, in fact, something you really want to do, and let discipline take over. Make a study plan and stick to it, even when it’s not fun. Unless you’re very lucky and you have endless motivation, that’s absolutely a necessary step.
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I feel your pain on this. I also live in the countryside and since I can do the basic tasks, such as grocery shopping, with minimal Japanese it does sometimes seem hard to remember that it’s important. I get my reminder when the old couple that runs the sushi restaurant I really like try to talk with me and I realize just how poor my Japanese is and my motivation picks up. I wish I had some advice on maintaining motivation, but you aren’t alone.
That is good info, adds another restaurant that’s accessible to me.
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Yes, discipline is a virtue. Irrespective of my speed or accuracy, I just try to do a bit of WK every single day. It has helped me tremendously for kanji. But, when it comes to grammar and reading practice, my study plans need to be modified every week owing to some new challenges every time I make a plan. 
I hope to use the suggestions given to me by using youtube videos, reading children’s’ storybooks etc so that it won’t seem like a chore. And any little progress is still progress.
Thank you for the resources. The family reading time with kids seems like some practice. I am reading for kids ages 2 and 4. So no Kanji there, but I get learn a word or two (new vocab) and my hiragana reading pace seems to be getting better. So, while it is not enough, it is something that I could squeeze in.
We read からすのパンやさん and ねずみくんのチョッキ multiple times during the last week
For your kid’s age group, they might like something like these books of songs. Or the alphabet ! Having the audio is helpful as is giving them the chance to make selections.
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I agree that SRS is a great method and thanks to it, my Kanji study is progressing. I have given up studying kanji multiple times before encountering WK
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