Hitting the plateau/burnout. Any advice?

Japanese
#1

Hello everyone,

I have been studying Japanese for about 1 year and a half, doing about 2/3 hours of study every day but recently I feel like I have struggling more than before, not necessarily losing interest, just finding it harder to do my routine everyday, which currently looks like:

I am using jbdb.io to learn all the words for Komi Can’t Communicate. I have about 100 reviews per day. I usually try to read about 20 mins in the evening, but I finished Vol. 4 and I haven’t continued, I feel like I was just reading it, but not understanding anything (I am sure you all can relate to that one).

I have used Renshuu to learn the majority of my Japanese. I have done every Kanji section up to N2 and Words, Grammar and Sentences to N3. I am currently working my way though the N2 words deck. I am making my way through the N3 deck on here, but most of the grammar points I have encountered before on Renshuu, so I am at least somewhat familiar with them.

Lastly I have a few Anki decks, I use the Jlab’s Beginner Course deck, but modified the cards so they only play the audio, and I have to guess what the character is saying. If I get it wrong, I fail the card. I have completed the Tango N5/4/3 decks, just review them every so often. I use Wanikani and am on level 24 and I am watching Love Live, with both Japanese & English subtitles and I read NHK News Easy if I am bored at work.

The only thing I am missing is speaking practice and I know my listening skills are the worst. I have tried to get into listening practice with podcasts, but didn’t get very far.

I feel like after a year and a half’s worth of study I should be able to show something for it, but I feel like I am just not getting any further. I can’t remember words, reading Komi Can’t Communicate has been a struggle recently, and I find it harder to motivate myself to do my reviews everyday (apart from Wanikani which I genuinely love).

Any advice, anything I could change, improve, add or remove? I am very open to suggestions.

Thank You!

3 Likes
#2

Honestly just take a break. The brain needs some time to consolidate things. Set your account to vacation mode and take a vacation. Still interact with Japanese, but don’t do it in a stressful way like trying to understand or learn everything. Like listen to some songs or watch an anime without subtitles and just appreciate those moments where you are able to understand things. Once your mind is in a better place you can slowly start to add new things for your brain to wrestle with. If the thought of going cold turkey scares you then maybe try taking a break from all, but one of your study routines. Honestly, every time I’ve come back from an extended break, I’ve found myself remembering almost all of the things I learned prior to the break except for those few really new things. I also found that I was able to absorb so much more when coming back fresh. I’m sure others might have some different advice, but this has always worked for me.

13 Likes
#3

I agree with drunkgome. You don’t even have to stop completely. Personally, when I’m going through a time like this I’ll still do my anki and bunpro reviews. (since anki doesn’t have vacation mode it’ll stress me out for reviews to pile up) I’ll slow down on the number of new vocab/grammar added or stop adding altogether for a while.

If you’re having trouble remembering things (don’t worry I’m pretty sure it happens to all of us) try just slowing down for a while and letting yourself absorb those concepts more. It’s okay to struggle. If this is a hobby for you, then remind yourself that you’ve got nowhere to be and no one to impress. As long as you’re doing something with japanese, even if you feel like it’s not the most efficient way to learn, you’re probably still learning something.

6 Likes
#4

@drunkgome @michellespeering Thank you for the advice, to be honest you are both right, I just keep adding more and more on without really digesting anything. Thankfully I have some time off over Easter so I will maybe stop adding new terms and just spend a week reviewing things.

2 Likes
#5

This is probably the one thing that would actually revitalise your Japanese learning. Unfortunately I am someone who doesn’t understand why people would learn any language (not just Japanese) and proceed to not to do output - but I’m probably looking at this in a 1-dimensional approach.

Aside from that I’d also just recommend taking a break. Right now it seems like you’re in auto-pilot, so really how much studying are you doing?

Around the N2 mark most just bin-off Anki and the like and just consume purely native content unless they’re studying for the N2/N1 exams purposefully.

However I would honestly say having gotten to the N2 point and not done really any speaking practice is kinda odd. Try downloading some language exchange apps and get doing some output with native speakers - not only will it be great for your memorisation, comprehension and construction, but you’ll also make some friends too (madness!)

1 Like
#6

Thank you, you make an excellent point. I only started learning to consume Japanese content, and as I learn more, my consumption of the content has gone down, I only read a bit everyday, and might watch 2 episodes of something, but that’s it!

In terms of speaking, I did have 2 speaking lessons before I went on holiday to Japan last year, and they were absolutely cringe-inducing, but I did manage to speak to people while I was there. Six months later I will have improved, so I should look into it again.

1 Like
#7

It’s like you’re an elite athlete; most of the stuff you’re doing is the gym-work, the prep. You’re doing very little of the sport that you want to improve at. Doing all the training but not playing the matches. Switch more emphasis to using Japanese than doing the boring but necessary stuff.

6 Likes
#8

I totally understand your feeling of cringe/embarrassment (and potentially nervousness/anxiety?) about speaking. But I have to say, one of the biggest things that separates successful language learners from the rest is the ability to ignore the fear/embarrassment and just speak. There is literally no reward like the ability to carry out a conversation with someone in the language you’re learning. And I say that even as someone who a) dislikes 99% of people and b) has got to the stage where I can read and generally understand simpler novels e.g. by Murakami.

I don’t know if this helps but, this is what I thought about when I was feeling super awkward and struggling when first practicing speaking… If your first language is English then you probably have lots of experience of speaking with someone who speaks your language at a low level and perhaps has weird pronunciation but is still using it to communicate, right? In those interactions, do you ever think badly of them? No way! Do you ever think that person is stupid/lame/etc? No way!!! Do you think about whether their grammar was correct? No way! And in the same way, literally no one cares about the mistakes in your language, at all.

So there is really nothing to be worried about, apart from whether or not you are grabbing all those opportunities to practice speaking. Just jump in!

3 Likes
#9

I’ll speak here as a peer and not as a mentor, I’m not qualified to be that.

Everything I’ve ever seen has said that you are probably going to have to sink at least three years into Japanese before you really get it all. Obviously that’s a generalization but at my pace and understanding I think there is some truth to it.

Also, as I learned on the JLPT a few months ago, time with the material is something you can’t reproduce without giving yourself said time. A year and a half might seem like a long time but I’ve come to not see it that way.

Maybe take it easy for a bit, just try to consolidate your knowledge while you get a breather from learning new content. I’ve done it for a few times. Well, I took more comprehensive, “breaks” than that but we’re all on our own journey. If you have the discipline to go for this long without stopping then I’m sure just sticking to what you know until you feel up to learning new things will feel like a huge relief.

Like others have said, language exchange apps and communicating with native speakers might be a fun way to use your knowledge regularly while developing a new aspect of your understanding.

Also, Love Lab is pretty good. Great choice.

1 Like
#10

Hi! I just wanted to share a bit of my experience since I’ve been studying Japanese for around the same amount of time as you, though with a slightly different approach. From what you’ve said, it looks like you’re on a solid path with Anki, WaniKani, and BunPro!

Like someone mentioned above, adding more output could really help take things a bit further. For me, practicing speaking has been the biggest motivator in my learning journey. My main goal wasn’t understanding anime or manga, but being able to connect with Japanese people and, hopefully, live in Japan one day. Around my 6th month of studying, I started doing italki lessons 2–3 times a week, which made a big difference in building confidence.
Later on, I began reaching out to native speakers through HelloTalk, especially by joining voice rooms. It takes a bit of patience, but you do come across some amazing people. Another thing that helped was meeting Japanese travelers in my city (I’m in Portugal) and inviting them for a coffee or a little tour. I’ve done this a few times, and each time it led to genuine friendships.
I’m sad to hear that you didn’t have the best experience with those classes. I can really recommend taking classes with Moshimoshi Yuusuke and Sayuri Saying (they are both on YouTube), and their classes are always so much fun. I’ve got the chance to meet them in person in Japan this year. <3
When I visited Japan this March for the first time, I ended up meeting friends all over the country—staying in their homes, having unforgettable experiences, and even almost joining a Buddhist cult (long story!).

Wishing you the best on your journey! Keep it up!

3 Likes
#11

Was it the 顕正会 old ladies with the pictures of Mount Fuji? They almost got me on my first trip to Japan lol. Luckily it was my last day and I had to insist that I had to go to the airport. Had it been any other day I might have followed them out of curiosity. Now that I live here I’ve seen them about occasionally. Two of them once followed me home in a white van with tinted windows and got out to talk to me. :older_woman: :mount_fuji:

4 Likes
#12

It was! The cult that found me was called 冨士 大石寺 顕正会, and I was walking literally inside their HQ garden in Saitama. I spent some time talking with an old lady, and she invited me to enter the building. When I saw the room with a big picture of a guy in a suit hanging on the wall, I knew I might be in a cult lol. To completely summarize the outcome, I sat in seiza position in a tatami room with a bunch of people, sang a freaking long sutra while my feet hurt so much and then I left without giving any money or whatsoever. I was a bit scared the whole time with fear of being scammed, but in the end, I didn’t pay a single penny or had to register for anything. The old lady even gave me Buddhist beads and a book with sutras.

5 Likes
#13

I’m at the plataeu myself. Been studying 3 years non stop and only around n3, breaching into n2 level. (I really don’t get how people are n2 after a year, personally and I may be cutting myself a bit short on my own estimate, but if I’m asked, that’s the level I say I am.) It feels like I only learn one or two new things a day, and it is beyond frustrating when I study every day at least a few hours.

As others say, take a break. I’m about to quit deliberately studying myself, focus on talking and reading and actually having fun with Japanese and not just SRS 土地 for the 18th time on a new site. Maybe that would be a good idea if you’re already around N2 as well.

1 Like
#14

If you’re from Hong Kong, China or Korea reaching N2 within a year is not that big of a deal :laughing: For us westerners is quite a hassle to get there though

#15

That’s the extreme minority, plus not Korean, they use hangul, so outside of some overlap grammar, they’re basically on the same footing. Even then N2 is often around a year and a half for them, if the internet is to be believed.

#16

What do you mean by extreme minority? I bet half of the japanese learners are Chinese by the way. This according to my experience with group classes. Also pretty much most japanese language schools in Japan has like 2 westerners in a class full of chinese and vietnamese.

Korean and Japanese not only feature similar grammar. Although korean use hangul as a writing system, a lot of the words are very similar. I met a Korean dude who said that his experience learning japanese was like “learning a funny korean dialect”:joy: