Recovering my old N3 knowledge—my yell into the void

[3ternally_bound]

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

[3ternally_bound]

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

[Gacee]

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!

[3ternally_bound]

Thank you my dear !!

[travv0]

Just don’t go 7 years without working on Japanese like I did and you’ll be golden. It comes back quickly if you knew it before at least!

[someoneyoudontknow]

Now now young man, wash that mouth out of yours!

Keep at it and you’ll be fine, who knows maybe something will switch and you’ll be almost back to your N3 self

[Vaugles]

One of the good things about languages is that you can always get back to your previous level - it’s just a case of how much input you can get!

Seems like you’re back on a good path! Good luck to you!

[gavstew]

Just wanted to jump on this to say good luck, and don’t be hard on yourself! Take it from someone who’s probably forgotten more language than he’s ever permanently learnt - even if that knowledge feels like it’s completely gone, it will definitely come back quicker than you expect with effort and immersion.

Also, it’s not a race! Having been at N3 level at 15 is genuinely incredible. For reference, I’m 25 and even though I’ve been studying Japanese (at varying levels of consistency) for about 7 years, I’m still only hovering around N3 level. Even if it does end up taking a while to get to where you were before, every piece of effort you make will add up to something (and you’ll still be going at a far better pace than most people ever manage lol).

[JandroSantiago]

Chipping in to repeat what others have said. Your brain hasn’t completely forgotten it all. It’s hazy, sure, but you’ll find that picking up the parts you’ve studied before will come quicker than when you first had to learn it.

It’s hard to be patient with yourself, but don’t be any harder on yourself than you would be on someone else in your position.

[pabbles268]

There’s a good chance you’ll blast back to like 75% of your former glory in a month or two.
Humans are good at getting back to where they’ve personally been, skills-wise

[Gabrielkarrer]

Aslong as you keep standing up you can keep going forward.

[Gabrielkarrer]