Recovering my old N3 knowledge—my yell into the void

Japanese
#1

so it’s really just a long rant/diary/complaint to help maybe encourage others (and myself too) when stuck in the hole i was in.

but let me introduce myself.

I’m Alex, and I’ve been studying Japanese since I was 13. I went to Japan for my 15th birthday for about a month, and I had realized i was actually, and surprisingly, conversational. I had decided to take the JLPT N3—and I passed.

It’s clearly something to be proud of, and I was! Though, I had taken Though, I had taken my foot off the gas right after that.

To be honest, I got depressed. I lost all my motivation. I kept up with my regular school studies because I had to, but Japanese? I just let it rot. I thought the knowledge would stay with me, glued inside my brain. I was so fucking wrong.

I’m 16 now, and the reality check hit me like a truck. I’m struggling to even form a basic Japanese sentence. All that confidence I had in Tokyo? Gone. I feel like I’m looking at a language I used to own, and now I’m just a tourist in my own brain. It’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing, and I’m mad at myself for letting it slide.

However—I’m back on the bandwagon now that I’m in my junior year of high school. I’m going to post here daily with what I’ve re-learned, where I failed, and how I’m climbing back up. It’s going to be a rant, a diary, and a complaint box, as well as forcing myself to write a sentence with each grammar point I re-learn.

  • Alex <3
4 Likes
#2

Day 1

Well, it’s been a bit more than day 1 since I’ve been using Bunpro for the
last week—but first entry regardless!

I’ll have to make up for it by using MULTIPLE Grammar points 🫡

lfg

Particles I’ve reviewed the past week:
は、が、を、に, へ, で、

山田さんは先生です。

アメリカに住んでいます。

新世界へ行く!

(gods Im such a nerd xd)

家で文法を勉強します。

私が食べます。

車で行く。

(I know I wrote で particle twice , but thats because it has 2 meanings — by means of/way, and at/in )

My vocab lately has been extremely elementary in Bunpro rn (greetings, etc—shit I still remember) so I won’t be using any, YET.

VERBS.

I hate conjugating. Everything sucks. I hate it so so so so much—

Okay Heres my conjugating.

る and う VERBS.

  • 食べる (Plain/Dictionary form)
  • 食べます (Polite Present)
  • 食べました (Polite Past)
  • 食べません (Polite Negative)
  • 食べた (Casual Past)
  • 食べない (Casual Negative)
  • 飲む (Plain/Dictionary form)
  • 飲みます (Polite Present)
  • 飲みました (Polite Past)
  • 飲みません (Polite Negative)
  • 飲んだ (Casual Past)
  • 飲まない (Casual Negative)

AND THERE WE ARE. I WANT TO CRY.

また明日,
- Alex <3

1 Like
#3

Congrats for getting back into it! Don’t be too hard on yourself for letting it drop for a year - I, and many others, have experienced a lot of false starts in our language learning journeys.

I started studying Japanese on and off at 19 and only now at 25 am I approaching an N3 level. Everyone has their own journeys and the work you put in is never wasted. Even if you eventually give up Japanese entirely, you will have gained invaluable experience in numerous life skills that you will keep with you forever.

Best of luck with your studies!