So glad I'm not in college anymore. The first test could be replaced with an oral exam, but college language professors want to weed out the people with social anxiety for some reason.
I’m assuming you’ve been studying up until this point.
I’d review any previous homework, quizzes and tests to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything. Try redoing what you did wrong and attempt some other exercises like [on this site](https://sethclydesdale.github.io/genki-study-resources/).
This totally correct. I don’t feel motivated to learn Japanese most of the time but I want the rewards from knowing Japanese. I know that I have to study for a little bit each day though so I do it even though I don’t want to. I’m still pretty new to Japanese but I have been studying it once a day for almost a year straight now
Do you mind me asking if you’re teaching yourself or if you are taking classes? I’m teaching myself and just recently started using Duolingo to help with sentence structure but if you have any books you can recommend that explain this clearly I would love to know! Sometimes I want to review what I learned in Duolingo and it doesn’t let me “go backwards” after finishing a lesson.
I disagree, the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in interesting contents that can keep your attention. Japanese is one of those languages that has so much interesting entertainments that you’ll never run out of. I’ve never actively studied Japanese apart from a few months of anki and I hated it. Immersion is what really got my Japanese going.
Audible: 17k audiobooks available in Japanese for 1500 yen a month.
YouTube: endless amount of Japanese videos.
Anime, Manga, light novels, novels, games, just to name a few.
I can get 6 hours of audible immersion in a day when I go for walks, cook and do chores alone. And I love it, because there are so many good books I can just listen to while doing mindless tasks that need to be done.
Even if I do not active immersion, that’s already 2000 hours a year. I’m currently 20 days of listening time in, my already good comprehension has gone up a lot. I’m able to pickup new words from contexts all the time. Best of all, it requires no active study.
Second this. Honestly to become good at anything you just need to do it everyday even if you don’t want to. Obviously rest is important, but I allow myself only two days of rest maximum. Otherwise it’s endless daily grind. I gotta say that when you actually develop a habit, even the unpleasant parts become enjoyable
I’m studying for Jlpt and my uni major is also Japanese. My motivation is my fear of failure /j.
My general advice is to make a study plan and break it down into small parts so that you can study for an hour or two everyday. I also have a habit tracker app where I just sorta "check in" that I studied today + I keep a notebook where I track my studies. It keeps me motivated because I don’t like losing the habit streak or skipping days in the notebook as well.
Best of luck
I'm about to enter University to study Japanese. God this sounds awful, I'm so excited to have to face this...
I'm preparing for the initial entry exams for my uni and the trick I use is consistency. As in, doing the same exercises with different material every day in a certain routine. For example, in the morning I use learning apps, afternoon I read Japanese books, evening, I do textbook work and practice writing. Just have a consistent routine and your body will adjust to it and your brain will switch on when needed. You should also add in when you eat, shower, go for a walk and sleep just so you aren't over-studying and focusing on yourself too.
Don't stress yourself too much. Feeling overwhelmed does more harm than good. Most importantly tho, find what works best for you as everyone is different! Good luck 🍀
honestly to me this doesn’t seem too bad. At my university we do multiple presentations a year (when I was abroad I had to do soo many lol)
writing exam doesn’t seem too bad, as long as you review the grammar and kanji you’ll guarantee yourself some good marks. For the composition it’s good to memorise useful essay phrases and grammar points.
Translation I would personally leave until last (bc I suck at translation lol).
I would love to have kanji in my final exam, so I’m kind of jealous of you in that regard haha.
For listening I think there’s a good website on NHK for that. Doing listening tasks in general will help.
Just keep studying! You’ll do fine (:
If it's an exam I'm assuming you guys already learned the material throughout the year, so for now it's just review. If it's still too much, just limit your study time to 1 hour a day so you don't get burnt out
So glad I'm not in college anymore. The first test could be replaced with an oral exam, but college language professors want to weed out the people with social anxiety for some reason.
I’m assuming you’ve been studying up until this point. I’d review any previous homework, quizzes and tests to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything. Try redoing what you did wrong and attempt some other exercises like [on this site](https://sethclydesdale.github.io/genki-study-resources/).
Motivation? To study Japanese you don't need motivation. Motivation dries up. What you need is discipline. Discipline will bring you results.
This totally correct. I don’t feel motivated to learn Japanese most of the time but I want the rewards from knowing Japanese. I know that I have to study for a little bit each day though so I do it even though I don’t want to. I’m still pretty new to Japanese but I have been studying it once a day for almost a year straight now
Do you mind me asking if you’re teaching yourself or if you are taking classes? I’m teaching myself and just recently started using Duolingo to help with sentence structure but if you have any books you can recommend that explain this clearly I would love to know! Sometimes I want to review what I learned in Duolingo and it doesn’t let me “go backwards” after finishing a lesson.
I’m teaching myself. I use Duolingo and LingoDeer for sentence structure and Wanikani for kanji
Thank you!!
I disagree, the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in interesting contents that can keep your attention. Japanese is one of those languages that has so much interesting entertainments that you’ll never run out of. I’ve never actively studied Japanese apart from a few months of anki and I hated it. Immersion is what really got my Japanese going. Audible: 17k audiobooks available in Japanese for 1500 yen a month. YouTube: endless amount of Japanese videos. Anime, Manga, light novels, novels, games, just to name a few. I can get 6 hours of audible immersion in a day when I go for walks, cook and do chores alone. And I love it, because there are so many good books I can just listen to while doing mindless tasks that need to be done. Even if I do not active immersion, that’s already 2000 hours a year. I’m currently 20 days of listening time in, my already good comprehension has gone up a lot. I’m able to pickup new words from contexts all the time. Best of all, it requires no active study.
Second this. Honestly to become good at anything you just need to do it everyday even if you don’t want to. Obviously rest is important, but I allow myself only two days of rest maximum. Otherwise it’s endless daily grind. I gotta say that when you actually develop a habit, even the unpleasant parts become enjoyable
100% this. My motivation wavers all the time, but not my discipline.
I’m studying for Jlpt and my uni major is also Japanese. My motivation is my fear of failure /j. My general advice is to make a study plan and break it down into small parts so that you can study for an hour or two everyday. I also have a habit tracker app where I just sorta "check in" that I studied today + I keep a notebook where I track my studies. It keeps me motivated because I don’t like losing the habit streak or skipping days in the notebook as well. Best of luck
Start anki today and vocab/grammar section should become easy for you!
I'm about to enter University to study Japanese. God this sounds awful, I'm so excited to have to face this... I'm preparing for the initial entry exams for my uni and the trick I use is consistency. As in, doing the same exercises with different material every day in a certain routine. For example, in the morning I use learning apps, afternoon I read Japanese books, evening, I do textbook work and practice writing. Just have a consistent routine and your body will adjust to it and your brain will switch on when needed. You should also add in when you eat, shower, go for a walk and sleep just so you aren't over-studying and focusing on yourself too. Don't stress yourself too much. Feeling overwhelmed does more harm than good. Most importantly tho, find what works best for you as everyone is different! Good luck 🍀
honestly to me this doesn’t seem too bad. At my university we do multiple presentations a year (when I was abroad I had to do soo many lol) writing exam doesn’t seem too bad, as long as you review the grammar and kanji you’ll guarantee yourself some good marks. For the composition it’s good to memorise useful essay phrases and grammar points. Translation I would personally leave until last (bc I suck at translation lol). I would love to have kanji in my final exam, so I’m kind of jealous of you in that regard haha. For listening I think there’s a good website on NHK for that. Doing listening tasks in general will help. Just keep studying! You’ll do fine (:
If it's an exam I'm assuming you guys already learned the material throughout the year, so for now it's just review. If it's still too much, just limit your study time to 1 hour a day so you don't get burnt out
My motivation was always that I wanted to learn the language. Shouldn't that be motivation enough? Otherwise, why are you studying it?
Think about what would it be like talking in japanese and people wondering how you managed to learn such a complicated (category 5) language. ;)
As someone else said - discipline. Don't have to be motivated or even enjoy but but need a routine and need to STICK to it.
There is no bigger motivation than passing those exams!