Hi everybody,
Apologies if this is in the wrong section, I’m new to the forums.
Some background- I’m about to turn 28, and have been learning Japanese on and off since I was 14, but this learning stretch has lasted since June and is the furthest I’ve ever come! However, lately I’m struggling to stay motivated. I was doing a chunk (~50) of reviews yesterday and found myself struggling with some older ones and getting quite upset and frustrated. I’ve also not really been as committed to my other study as before, when I was doing about an hour a day.
My guiding goal before was the JLPT N5, but I missed the deadline to apply by a week as I was low on money. This really knocked me back, as it removed something to work towards, but I gave myself a week off from studies, picked myself up and kept going. I went to a Japanese language night in London but it was so busy and loud that I really struggled to hear anything anyone was saying and got sick of saying “one more time please!” over and over like a parrot.
A lot is changing in my life lately. I used to live in an anarchist eco squat and I’ve now moved back in with my parents ahead of moving to Wales in the new year to live on a smallholding. In the move I’ve misplaced my vocab book with months of handwritten hiragana vocab and grammar notes in it
I’m working weird shift times (14:00-22:00) with a commute of about 3 hours a day, so I’m tired a lot and can’t make noise when I get home from work cos of my parents.
My motivation in the first place? Arts, crafts, self-sufficiency, and the environment. I studied ceramics at university and would love to visit some potters out in Japan as well as other crafts people, small organic farms, and perhaps interview people about environmental topics in Japan for a youtube channel.
This can also make it hard to stay motivated as it feels like Japanese language programs cater for anime fans, businessmen and no on in between.
But at the moment I just feel despondent. I don’t have much money and my NihongoMaster is chipping away at what I do have to the point I think I should cancel it and just buy Genki instead.
Resources I’m using: Nihongo Master, WaniKani, Japanese for Busy People.
TLDR: I’m an arty hippy whose life is falling apart and I’m struggling to stay on track with my language learning.