So you want to learn Japanese (Part 3)

Many of the people that I talk to about learning Japanese are in the earliest steps of the process. Unfortunately, most of them have some interesting notions for what is required in order to learn Japanese, and clearing up some of those excuses misconceptions will help the people that really want to learn. This was originally going to be a single post, but it's turned into a series. This is the third post in the series, click here for the first post or here for the second post.

I want to learn Japanese, but I don't know where to start...

So you want to learn Japanese (Part 2)

Many of the people that I talk to about learning Japanese are in the earliest steps of the process. Unfortunately, most of them have some interesting notions for what is required in order to learn Japanese, and clearing up some of those excuses misconceptions will help the people that really want to learn. This was originally going to be a single post, but it's turned into a series. This is the second post in the series, click here for the first post.

I want to learn Japanese, but don't you need to be in Japan for immersion?

So you want to learn Japanese (Part 1)

Many of the people that I talk to about learning Japanese are in the earliest steps of the process. Unfortunately, most of them have some interesting notions for what is required in order to learn Japanese, and clearing up some of those excuses misconceptions will help the people that really want to learn. This was originally going to be a single post, but it's turned into a series. This is the first post in the series and covers the issue of...

I really want to learn Japanese, but I can't find a class to take!

Never be stumped by kanji again!

If you've ever come across a kanji that you couldn't read, but that you wanted to look up, then you've probably had that moment of “how the heck do I type the word into the dictionary to look it up when I can't look it up to see how to type it!” Yeah, that feeling sucks. Luckily, there are several ways to work around this problem that don't involve pulling out a print dictionary and spending ten minutes trying to find the kanji.

Use the Asterisk:

Why you should spend less time studying

“The too constant use of even good things is hurtful.”

-Publilius Syrus, Maxims.

In retrospect, I spent far too much time studying Japanese and not enough time immersing. It's a trend that I've noticed among many other individuals who are learning on their own. But what exactly does that mean? How can you spend too much time studying? Isn't studying a good thing?

Yes, studying is without a doubt an important part of learning another language, but you shouldn't focus all of your efforts on building Anki decks and hunting down vocabulary lists. By immersing in the language - chatting with friends, watching TV, or reading manga, etc - you can learn so much more than you would ever be able to through rote memorization.

How to make your dreams a reality

It's hard to find the time or energy to get the “extra” things done in life. We make it to work or class because we have to, but after that it's hard to get into the mindset to work on hobbies or develop the skills we want – such as learning Japanese. Lately I've been trying to find the time for the things that matter, and here's a list of the strategies I've used.

Decide what you want.

The first thing I first noticed when I started trying to "do more" is that I would list everything out that I could possibly want to do. It was a really long list, and with all that stuff to do where was I supposed to start? What did I want to do the most? There's no way I could ever get it all done. That's when I realized that I didn't really want most of it.

I was writing down every little thing that I thought I wanted, but the majority of it wasn't important. Did I really need to organize my socks? Heck no. So to counteract my habit of writing down every little thing that I thought I wanted to do, I made a limit of about three things per day. I honestly don't have the energy to do more than that, so it helps me to find what I really want and get it done.

Hint: Learning Japanese should be on that list every day!

Find the time of day that you get things done.

Most of us like to sleep until something forces us to wake up. Usually it's school or work that finally gets us up and out of the bed, then we rush off to face the day. By the time that duty is over, the day is done and it's time to relax. Who wants to start studying after a long day of work? So we put it off until tomorrow, and then an entire week goes by without any contact with Japanese. A great strategy that I've used in the past, and that I'm embracing anew lately, is waking up early to do the things I really care about.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to wake up at five in the morning every day to learn Japanese, but what you should do is experiment with studying at various times of the day. We all have a time of day that we really get things done – our period of peak efficiency. For me, I found that my most efficient time of day was right after waking up, which meant that I was wasting the best hours of my day going through a mindless pre-departure routine and commuting! How did I fix this? By waking up 2-4 hours earlier than usual to do my real work.

Your peak time of day may be very different from mine. As a good example, one of my roommates does his best work in the middle of the night. So when he has a project deadline approaching, he'll go to bed at four in the afternoon and wake up at midnight, then work on his project all night until he has to leave in the morning. He's found his peak time and he adjusts his schedule to fit around it.

So to sum it up:

• Find the time of day that you feel energized and motivated
• Schedule yourself around that time so that you can get things done

Put yourself in position to succeed.

The concept of momentum is quite useful in getting yourself motivated. We often set lofty goals and focus on achieving them as if they were a single, massive chunk. Just as with making a list with too many things to do, you'll be overwhelmed with finding a starting place to ever do anything. So don't make huge goals or focus on making a lot of progress each day – aim smaller.

For an example, instead of setting the goal to learn 50 new kanji every day, set the goal to be sitting at your desk with your kanji study tools and just start learning new kanji. Once you get started, you'll find it easier to keep going. You might even achieve that goal of 50 new kanji on the way, or perhaps go beyond that, but that's just a byproduct of achieving your real goal – to show up and START learning every day.

The same idea applies to many other choices we make each day. If you come home and plop down on the couch in front of your TV, odds are that you'll turn it on and start watching it. Or if you get on your computer with no real goal in mind, you're destined to end up on reddit or refreshing Facebook for hours. Try to think about what you're promoting. If you instead pulled out your Japanese study tools and then sat down at the computer and opened Anki, then you're more likely to start on your reps. Put yourself in a position to do what matters.

Make an appointment with yourself.

We make appointments and schedules for getting to work/school and for getting those assignments done, but what about for hobbies or personal interests? Do we ever set aside a specific time to enjoy those things? Probably not. Instead we say that those things can wait until “later,” which usually translates to approximately “never.” So how do we overcome this tendency to put off what really matters? By deciding exactly when it's going to be done.

Get a planner or a calendar and write down when you will start. For example, you could say that at 5:00 in the afternoon you'll start studying Japanese each day. You can be flexible on finding a stopping point, but make sure that you know exactly when you're going to make the time for learning Japanese, jogging, playing an instrument, or whatever else you may have on your list. Pin that vague “later” down and make your dreams a reality.

Stop making excuses.

This is by far the most difficult step. All of our lives we've trained ourselves to be masters at making excuses for why we can't do the things we want. We're too scared to try and fail, so instead we settle for whatever is safe. We run away from trying new things because we've built up this lie that we should never feel the slightest discomfort, that discomfort is bad. Your mind will try to convince you to avoid the unknown, to not take the risk, but by settling to only be comfortable with your current position, you'll never be able to do the things you dream about.

Learning a language is all about dealing with the discomfort of the unfamiliar. When you look at Japanese text and see kanji and kana that you don't know, you feel uncomfortable. The idea of learning such a different writing system causes discomfort, which leads many people to shy away and give up. But do you know what happens when you face that discomfort and start learning despite it? It goes away.

A good example is James Heisig's method for learning kanji. By the end of the first lesson, the kanji change from foreign squiggles to symbols with meaning. After a week of studying with the book you'll probably find that kanji aren't nearly as scary as they were before.

I know that it's hard to stop making excuses, so try this. If you really want something, whether it be to learn Japanese, start going to the gym, or read a novel every week, then let yourself make all of the excuses you can possibly think of. Write them down if you want – all the reasons you shouldn't do it. Then do it anyways. Schedule out starting points through the week and stick to them. If at the end of your first week you haven't felt those excuses melt away, then reconsider if this is something you want. If you really do want it, then you'll keep going. 

Six Reasons to Upgrade to Anki 2

So I finally made the jump over to Anki 2.0, and it was a surprisingly easy transition. They've given us a new interface and some fancy deck options that make creating cards, doing reps, and learning much easier. So here are some reasons for why you should make the switch too...

6. Deck Size and Saving Optimized

Anki decks are now compiled into a single “collection” of cards. This means that all of the cards in all of your decks are stored in a single file, but are separated into different categories. Decks can also be placed as a subset of a larger subject, so you can make individual grammar, sentence, and vocabulary decks that will all fall into a larger Japanese deck. This allows you to focus your studying on any one deck or study the entire Japanese deck type at once.

Anki now also saves your decks automatically every five minutes or after certain tasks. This means less risk of losing the cards that you've been reviewing or adding. Along with this, deck sizes have been reduced to allow for faster loading.

5. Learn New Cards Faster

In the new version of Anki, new cards are shown at least twice before they become review cards. This means that when you first see a card and pass it, you will see it again in about ten minutes to check that you really know it. Once you've passed it a second time, it will become a review card and show up at later and later intervals. Whenever you fail a card, it becomes a “new” card again, so you'll see it a couple times before it goes back into the stack.

Do you have a target yet?

Hello everyone, today I'm sharing an image about goal setting. It really speaks for itself, so take a look and consider how you're approaching learning Japanese.

Challenge Yourself

If you want to learn Japanese, and I mean really learn it, then you have to work at it every day. There's no such thing as a rest day for Japanese, do it every day or don't do it at all.

“What's going on? What happened to that nice, friendly Tigoris who told me to be kind to myself and take it easy? I don't like this new guy, he's MEAN!”

I'll admit that it sounds harsh, but it's the truth. In order to make progress anywhere in life - be it learning Japanese, getting a college degree, or losing weight - you have to put in the effort and challenge yourself. That doesn't mean putting yourself into Living Japanese boot camp, but it does mean giving up two of those most treasured past-times: making excuses and settling.

Tools for Learning Japanese

Here is a list of useful tools that will make your Japanese learning much easier. Some of these tools have been mentioned in other posts, so there will be links to those posts in the entries here. If you have other tools that you'd like to share, please feel free to comment at the bottom of the page!

Vocabulary: Simplified

In working on the first Living Japanese Reading Pack (I swear, I will post a preview soon!), I've come to realize a few things about how I've always approached learning vocabulary. The way that I memorized vocabulary certainly worked, but now I find myself wanting something better - something easier. This post is all about that new way, but first...

Why reading before bed could save you from burnout

For me, reading was the key to learning Japanese. A good story would grip me and keep me coming back, even though the actual process of reading would quickly tire me. As a college student attending courses full-time and working a part-time job, it was often difficult to find the time to read. For some reason I thought that I'd magically find reading time if I just kept working, but it never happened. The I realized the truth...

How to Learn the Kanji

One of the greatest hurdles in learning Japanese is finding a way to learn the kanji. If you've already made some attempts at learning kanji, then you're probably familiar with the I'll-write-it-down-a-few-hundred-times-and-bang-my-head-against-the-desk-until-I-remember-it method. Yeah, surprisingly, a mild concussion doesn't really help with learning the kanji. But luckily for all of us, there is a book that does help. That book is...

Learning Japanese by Living Japanese: An Overview

So you want to learn Japanese, do you? Well, you're in the right place. Living Japanese is a learning method that allows individuals to learn by filling their lives with so much Japanese that mastery becomes inevitable. Immersion is the name of the game, and we play to win. (That wasn't corny at all.)

1. Immersion

5 Reasons to Make Your Own Sentence Deck

The internet is full of sentence decks available for download, so it's easy to just grab a few instead of making your own. While these decks are certainly valuable and can be used to supplement your own efforts to great effect, the benefits of creating your own deck are nothing to sneeze at. Here are five reasons why you should make your own sentence deck.

1. You learn the material faster.

How to read Japanese: The Secret Revealed (Part One)

You've been learning Japanese and now you're ready to start reading Japanese, but there are some things that you should know. Reading involves a lot more than just understanding the language used to present a story or information.

Reading isn't just about the language.

How to remain motivated in learning Japanese

Why are you learning Japanese?

If you're learning Japanese, then you have some kind of reason for doing so. Maybe you have some friends that know the language, or you found an untranslated book that sounds interesting, or perhaps you want to make your resumé look better. Whatever your reasons are, they've motivated you to take the first step in learning Japanese, so that's great. Unfortunately, not all reasons for learning can keep that motivation going for a long period of time.

Is that kind of immersion really possible?

The other side of immersion talks about cutting off from your native language so that you can make room for your new language. Understandably, some people wonder if this kind of immersion is truly possible, or if it's really something that is worth the effort. The main issues are...

The Other Side of Immersion

Immersion is the heart of this self-teaching method. You keep in contact with Japanese as much as possible, learn what you need to in order to understand, and then use tools like Anki to help retain what you've learned. It's all about constantly seeking to fill all of the gaps in your life with Japanese. However, there is another side to creating immersion that is equally important - distancing yourself from your native language.

Are you on the right path in learning Japanese?

I know why you're here. You're worried that you're not going to make it. That you're going to fail at learning Japanese and all of your effort will be wasted. You don't know what to do and there's nobody to guide you. And it's not that you don't care enough to find what to do, you care a LOT. You care so much that these doubts keep you up at night. Perhaps you find yourself thinking, “Maybe I should start over. Do I need to research other methods? Am I doing any of this right?” And guess what.