Reaching out to the community cause I was curious if anyone else felt the same way I am feeling as of right now with Japanese.
Also interested in how you got over this obstacle. Really feeling stuck right now.
So, I have been in Japan since January learning at a language school. I am currently in a slower passed N2 class (though I don’t really consider my skill to be that high yet in anything but reading and understanding).
I know this might sound silly but recently, with a lot of my study, I’ve been so annoyed with Japanese. Whether it’s from different words that mean the exact same thing to grammar also meaning the exact same thing but because context is different we use a different grammar point.
For some reason it just makes me angry. I really don’t want to be angry. I know deep down I like learning all of it and the small nuances but lately it just gets under my skin so easily.
To a point where Im not curious about why I got something wrong or I’m not excited to get things wrong anymore. I am mostly getting angry and annoyed about why I don’t know something or if I got some question wrong. Basically makes me lose hope or give up. Could be because I’m a perfectionist or hate getting things wrong but I’ve never had it to a point like this.
Just not sure what is wrong.
I don’t want to give up at all!
I really don’t know what’s changed. I plan on getting n2 no matter what but I would really like to improve this mental point.
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated my fellow learners. Thanks for being an awesome community.
I’ve started my japanese language journey 16 days ago and i’m self studying. Hiragana was fun to learn but then i had to learn Kanji… I am a perfectionist too and i lost all motivation for 2 days. I took a 2 days break and then started learning again, but i slowed down a bit and here i am with 56 Kanji and 150 vocab words learned in just 5 days(that’s a lot to me). I suggest you to take a small break and try to just slow down a bit. You should enjoy learning japanese and not be too stressed about it. What really motivated me again after 2 days was the japanese culture, i watched an anime and listened to japanese anime songs i like and that reminded me of why i started learning japanese in the first place.
Sounds like it might be burnout. I’m sure some people who’ve been learning for longer can offer some better advice, but are you doing anything with the language you find enjoyable and fulfilling, or just cramming studying? Using the language to read manga you like, watch anime/dramas, or go outside and speak to someone (you live in Japan!) might help to balance out what you’re dealing with in studying mode.
Thanks so much Shinobi. I appreciate your reply. I think maybe I should take a step back from the worksheets and or grammar lessons and try to enjoy the language naturally for a bit. Whatever it may be. Reading, movies, culture. I think it will help clear my mind. Thank you.
I want to say I related to this hardcore when I was studying the language more for tests and when the language use was about passing exams and in a more academic environment. When I felt like my ‘worthiness’ or so on was tied to understanding it, and it felt like whoever had ‘designed’ the language had deliberately included ‘tricks’ or other bullshit to trip me up and keep me from efficiently learning.
This may not help your situation specifically, but eventually I shifted to a different outlook on Japanese: one where I got joy out of variations, where differences in usages became shades of nuance or texture. The difference to me was partially that I left the academic environment and began to use and experience the language largely for fun and my own amusement.
Another part that helped this was a) comparisons with a language I already knew (English is, after all, a language that has a dozen synonyms for everything and is comprised of a bastardised form of several dozen other language at least) and b) coming to terms with the fact that languages evolve in ways completely unforeseen and are mostly not directed/structured creations with a centralised governing philosophy (esperanto and other conlangs excepted)
I don’t do enough of the fun part that’s for sure. I totally agree. I barely play any games or watch anime, movies, hanging out for that matter. I actually enjoy doing that stuff.
Not that I don’t enjoy studying but I agree I’m probably burnt out and need a break.
Agree with what’s already been said. Find something you really enjoy doing in Japanese - read manga/books; listen to and/or learn songs; watch movies/anime; learn to cook; crochet, do yoga etc via YouTube videos in Japanese; find a Japanese language partner - but it’s got to be fun! Too much regimented study kills your love of the subject. If all else fails, take a break and return to Japanese study when you feel ready to.
This explanation struck a chord with me. Literally exactly how I feel.
I appreciate the detail. I guess I need to start involving more fun or interesting methods of learning Japanese to my routine rather than always worry about why this and why that in a JLPT book or classroom.
I really want to find my joy again for this or for any language learning matter. Thank you again for your response Jintor. Really helps
thank you