What Japanese learning advice would you give to your past self?

Japanese
#1

I was just reflecting today that soetimes using a few basic words/grammar points effectively communicates much more than trying to use complicated ones, and it made me think of this topic. TBH, that’s not really the advice I think younger me needed, but it is definitely advice I think some beginners could benefit from!

However, if I were to go back in time, the advice I would give is less about the language and more about a fundamental paradigm shift:
Treat language learning not as study, but as a hobby!
Once I designated Japanese as a hobby for myself, it became much more fun to study, and I feel like I’ve done much more of it. Also it helped me move away from the idea of “making time for studying Japanese as well as having hobbies is hard” and towards just making time for learning Japanese AS my hobby. I still have other hobbies, but idk, for me this idea was just really important! It also helped remove a lot of the “ugh” feeling I tend to have around obligatory study. Basically I went from “I’m studying because I need to” to “I’m learning Japanese because I genuinely derive enjoyment from it” and that made a world of difference.

Anyway, what would you tell your past self?

#2

don’t bother with Heisig RTK 1

there is probably no better way wasting your time with no payoff

#3

Engage in speaking earlier – you will never just magically be able to output all your knowledge without practice.

Do WaniKani for one year, then move onto learning new kanji through context. I bought a lifetime after year 1 and rarely used it since.

Generally – being more lax in how you use SRS. These days I will rarely send things I’m relearning to v short intervals even if I’m failing them to avoid pileup.

#4

Start incorporating reading a lot earlier. I passed N4 before I started reading manga, and I regret not doing that earlier. Once I began reading regularly, I saw all of my skills improve much faster, and I had lots of new conversation topics with my Japanese friends about manga we both liked.

On the same note, try not to focus too much on the “level” of the manga and just choose what you are interested in and enjoy. I started with shoujo manga because it was easy to understand, but quickly lost interest in the storylines. But then I started 光が死んだ夏 - which some sources say are N2/N1 level (arguably) - and I loved it. Even though there was challenging vocabulary I blew through it because I was interested in the story, and it didn’t feel like studying. I say this with a grain of salt, as I’ve also chosen manga that were way too difficult and I didn’t enjoy reading it at all, but if you can find the sweet spot of interesting story and a challenge, I think that’s best. :books: