The use of immersion

I didn’t know where else to post this but I just wanted to get get it out there.

I was going through my anki deck and a sentence came up saying 上司は [一緒に酒飲みましょうよ] 言った (not sure if I reproduced it perfectly) meaning, “My boss said, let’s go drink together” or somewhere close to that meaning. After reading this my brain instinctively constructed a reply of いいえ、お酒は飲んでいません. In English ≈ “I can’t, I don’t drink alcohol.”

Now this is probably due to the fact that I’ve passively been using Duolingo for a while that it’s just practically soaked in as muscle memory. However, this is only one particular instance. There have been many a time where my brain automatically thinks up Japanese responses to things, albeit with fairly basic/simple responses. Even then, it’s gotten to the point of being naturally ingrained and thus also helps with comprehension too where, when you listen to Japanese, you actually understand the Japanese itself rather than converting it to English first a.k.a Acquisition.

Now, this happened with my not practicing as much as I should have and not immersing myself as much as I should have (I stopped seriously studying Japanese and kept it on the back burner a few months after starting). But, and I can’t stress this enough, if I had been more engaged with Japanese and immersion etc. I am confident that I would’ve been confident in my comprehension and (less confident but still pretty self-assured) in my level of speech and grammar.

Sorry for blabbing on, just felt like getting my thoughts down on a page where I can share opinions with others about this. Thanks for reading :pray::blush:

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This is good in my opinion. Thinking in a second (or third, or fourth etc.) language without resorting to traduction is a sign that you are gaining a grasp of the language.

French is my native language but when I use English I actually think in English. No need to say I am fluent in both French and English. My Japanese is not (yet) to that level but I am working to get there.

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I think you are definitely correct about that. Textbooks and online learning is great of course but the consumption of Japanese media as well, even if you dont understand it, can really help boost your comprehension. The more you immerse yourself in that media the quicker your brain can make sense of what first sounds like mindless babble. Personally I get kind of burned out with immersion at times, and get to where I just want to listen/watch something I can actually understand so I probably dont do it as much as it should

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Yeah I get what you mean, your brain’s already working pretty hard, even if it means subconsciously, whenever you insert yourself into a foreign territory. I guess you you say it overclocks itself which is great to be able to soak up information but if you keep your brain in that state for too long it might just feel a tad overwhelmed. Obviously, there are differences between individuals. I, for example, can sometimes listen to Japanese all day no problem (although this is rare) but on other days, having too much Japanese input, especially with headphones in, can make me physically feel nauseous.

And also, my memory’s horrendous :joy: Here’s what the actual sentence was:

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