I’ve decided to return after neglecting any kind of formal study for far too long. This is a “please encourage me, O random people on the Internet” as all of my former study-buddies have moved on. The kanji review pile is massive. My manga are covered in dust. My textbooks have become all but forgotten clutter.
I do not have space for these things. I must remove them, but what a waste to not finish. So, my purpose is to complete all of the study materials I have such that I can get them off of my shelf. As of yet, there is no time frame for completion, although I suppose if I want to take a stab at the JLPT this winter that might be a reasonable goal to consider.
Take it slow and steady as you reintroduce yourself and eventually it’ll become second nature- and you’ll be growing endlessly. I think winter JLPT testing is a great and motivating goal, hope to hear your progress as you continue working towards it.
As random people on the internet, I decided to try to come up with random encouragement but I don’t think that “armadillos don’t need to be porcupines to learn embroidery” is going to be too effective. Fortunately, we’re not random, but a self-selecting group, so targeted encouragement it is!
So I think this is a pretty cool, tangible goal, but in terms of encouragement, it may be better if you can say something like “…and first, I want to finish this bit of material”, whether it be a single book, or the introductory chapters of several. Having a big goal to aim for is of course great (and one worthy of you!), but there should be the intermediate goals along the way that reinforce your feeling of progress to that big goal on the horizon.
That might be a good measuring stick to try for, with the understanding that unless that’s what is really important to you (and it seem like that’s your primary motivation), just think of it as a milestone. The important things are to find the learning process that works for you, and then as long as it is effective and you feel motivated towards some goal, these types of milestones will appear when the time is right!
Fortunately, this is a good place for motivation! Just being able to see the progress of people around us here and know that you’re not standing alone at the base of a mountain with a rope and a deadline, but on a trip that may take different amounts of times but there are footsteps and guides everywhere, is definitely something to take advantage of. You got this!
I neglected WK for 18 months because I had reached the land of a mountain of leeches at level 27. I could not progress and was getting increasingly discouraged. I just reset to level 1 and it feels so refreshing.
I did continue other study methods focusing on grammar and listening comprehension during that time, so didn’t step away entirely. But the amount of kanji I recognize as, I used to know that, is scary. Maybe second time is the charm.
After a loooong long break I’ve been back at it for the last month or so. Reviews were tough at first (no resets here) but it’s getting better and better and I remember more than I would have thought.
Soooo, not sure what to say but best of luck to both of us
Been there, done that. Highest I’ve gotten to is level 30-something. I don’t remember exactly. I’ve reset a few times, but this time I don’t feel inclined to reset my burned pile. I think I’ll just muscle through the reviews and see what I remember.
Nah, I just want to get it over and done with and say “look, I officially have a rank!” Lol.
Ciao Oceansea, welcome back!
I stopped worrying about my own progresses when I changed my mindset, from - studying Japanese for an end goal, to - studying Japanese to enjoy the journey, so this is the only encouragement I can give you.
May I just ask you why you started the first time? What was your motivation back then?
I saw that and was like, wait, that doesn’t seem to fit what I thought I said and then noticed that I somehow forgot the “doesn’t” seem to be your goal thing. Yeah, unless having that piece of paper is important to you, consider it a nice-to-have.
It literally started out as a joke between friends. I picked what I thought was the most random possible language to learn (Japanese) and everyone else (who had all chosen a “predictable” language) found my answer by far and away the most hilarious. And there was much laughter.
Apparently, everyone else thought I was actually serious —I wasn’t. And then, somehow, I decided to give it a go, just for the continued lolz. I figured I’d do it for a month and then that would be the end of it. But then… I really liked it. And so, out of everyone goofing around that day, I’m the only one who actually followed through and learned the language I (jokingly) said I would learn.
In other words, I have no idea what my original motivation was!
I started learning Japanese at the end of 2022, preparing for my solo trip to Japan.
After my 5 week trip in 2023, i kept studying as a distraction to my actual Business administration and accounting studies.
Even after completion my A-Levels and just working full-time, I thought it’be nice to continue a habit of lernen something.
At the end of last year and the beginning of this one, a lot happened in my life, but i kept at it.
At the start of 2025 i added Bunpro to my study materials. With Wanikani, Kaniwani, Duolingo and Bunpro I struggled with my motivation to do reviews let alone learn new Radicals, Kanji or Vocab.
Especially as of late I kept struggling with getting any reviews right and it got so bad I didn’t even want to open any of my apps.
But now I realize I accidentally fell into Duolingo’s pace which is way to fast for me! I can barley remember most knew words and I already forgot a lot of old ones (example: subway). I tried adding the Duolingo vocab to my Bunpro SRS System/Deck but with the continuous stream of new words from Duolingo trickling in, the mountain of reviews I couldn’t get right and remember got bigger and bigger.
I now realize this mistake and will us Duolingo only as a way of accountability to study a little bit every day, which means for me from now on to repeat one old lessen every day. No more new lessons till I feel comfortable!
Just being able to see the progress of people around us here and know that you’re not standing alone at the base of a mountain with a rope and a deadline, but on a trip that may take different amounts of times but there are footsteps and guides everywhere, is definitely something to take advantage of. You got this!
