Interesting. Thanks. I am sorry, though, that you seem not to enjoy what you are studying. It’s sometimes difficult to change gears when you have already invested so much in something. Hope you’ll find something that you will enjoy or at least tolerate for your job.
I’m in a job related to computer science, maybe this makes me philosopher in turn 
…
For this:
Joking aside, I’ve been in Japanese Classes since my parents put me in an immersion course in first grade, but I’ve also never been past a middling proficiency. Ideally I would like to get a job in Japan someday, so that’s another reason as well.
Japanese is in my heart.
How can I not come back to my heart everyday?
Thanks for your post, op.
I’ve got undergrad degrees in both computer science and philosophy.
You’d be surprised at just how useful having a philosophy background is. If nothing else, it greatly hones your analytical skills and equips you to think more deeply about topics than most other folk do (at least, in my experience), and I’m aware of several people that have philosophy backgrounds who successfully turned that into working in the computer science realm.
That said, I’m not sure what you can do with just a straight philosophy degree. Whatever it winds up being, I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to work a bit harder than someone with a more “specialized” degree, as philosophy seems to be perceived as fairly generic and useless (a stance I disagree with, in case that wasn’t clear).
Ooo. I’ve read that online in cheap knockoff fan translation form. Never thought of trying to pick up the original version. Wonder how available it still is in shops in Japan…
Just to be quite clear, Journey of Shuna pre-dates Studio Ghibli by about two years. Miyazaki wanted to be a manga writer more than he wanted to be an animator - he only converted Nausicaä into an anime under extreme protest.
Despite pre-dating all of them, it’s also got several elements of Laputa and Mononoke Hime mixed in there too. If I recall correctly - it’s been a while.
I didn’t know! How interesting. Well, I’m glad that he created the anime! And I am glad that he did not succeed in his personal dream. I believe that his anime are so much richer since they combine story, picture, and sound! A Manga does not have all these dimensions. And he combines them all masterfully.
If you want to see how masterful he can be, read the Nausicaä manga. 
I recently got into the JET programme so will be moving to Japan in August. I’ve always been interested in Japanese but that fact really gave me the push to start learning it properly and motivates me to practice every day. I’d like to have some degree of language proficiency when I move there so I can at least get by
My arbitrary goal of finishing in time for the 2020 Olympics (even though I originally intended to finish well before that), and the fact that I paid for a 1 year membership so every extra month will cost me 
Another reason would probably be that I know consistency is key, but I’ve always been terrible at it. Whether it’s cramming a semesters worth of material the day before an exam or working out hard for 3 days then skipping weeks of exercise, I just can’t seem to stick to a schedule. So I hope that if I can stick to WK’s SRS method, I’ll start applying the same consistency to other things in my life.
Do you think someone who didn’t like the movie that much compared to others by Miyazaki would still appreciate the manga? If I understand correctly, the Manga came first, yes?
As for my motivation… Before coming to Japan, the fact that I would be coming to Japan really pushed me to keep studying. After I came to Japan, applying to the ljpt for December last year.
Since then, while I started WK in December, my grammar studies have very much… Stagnated.
The satisfaction of an easy study method keeps me coming even when I’m struggling to find motivation for other things that would probably help me progress further, faster.
Also, reading with the book clubs and watching news in Japanese. The amount of times that I come across words or kanji that I have just learned is staggering.
Asking for a friend? 
But yes - the movie covers maybe the first quarter of the manga, with the ending changed up to close up loose threads. The manga is somewhat better. It was started before the movie, but it was still being written - wasn’t completely finished until about a decade later.
I don’t know what it is, but literally EVERY level so far, after going over vocab, I end up seeing said vocab in use in the next couple days. For example, I’ve been getting into the habit of watching shows in Japanese with Japanese subs, and I just recently learned 追い掛ける:
This is happening so much to me that it’s crazy. Every level it feels like I’m able to rely less and less on having to look stuff up, though sometimes I just make the best out of what I know and try to guess what’s going on due to context, most conversations I can understand or at least understand the joke that’s going on (like with this girl’s father that runs a dojo, he just says a bunch of random crap over and over again).
The show is called 今日から俺は！！ if anyone is interested. Really over the top and tries too hard at some points to be funny, and then other points has me cracking up.
activate windows joke yeah yeah heard it a million times
Of course. 
Thank you, I’ll be sure to pass it along!
This.
Been fascinated by stories and novels written by Japanese authors and want to experience the text in their original language. Also, I honestly just never find the lessons and reviews boring. Even if I mess up, I don’t really feel pressure; just try again until I get them down.
Quite a few, but one of the biggest ones is that @Whologist ちゃん is going top speed and I need to catch up >:o
Routine.
Motivation is an illusion. It will come and go.
Build a rod for your own back, routine.
That’s called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. It happens to me as well, and probably to everyone in one form or another. It’s like some part of your brain is asleep and only wakes up when you learn that particular word or expression.
A real catalyst to me was seeing data on how much time I was spending on my phone/computer.
I figured I could use that energy into something else. And then it hit me that I had always wanted to learn japanese but was disencouraged by the idea that it was too hard and time consuming. So I guess I come back everyday because:
1-I really really want to
2-It’s actually fun
3-Pure angry energy
That was a cool read. Thanks for sharing!
What I run on 99% of the time 
