Learning Japanese…For The Third Time
I’m going into this hoping third time’s the charm because really how many times can I try before giving up fully?
I was 20 when I first attempted Japanese. There wasn’t much meaning behind it. It just made sense because I was deep in the trenches of Japanese pop culture and didn’t want to seem like I wasn’t serious about it (my love of Japanese pop culture, that is), which was such a weird motivating factor and kinda performative.
Because of that, it didn’t stick. I was serious about it for maybe two months before I lost interest. Looking back, I think my approach was all wrong. I was trying to following the “Japanese All The Time” model which was completely unsustainable for me. And also, why the fuck would I spend three-plus months just learning kanji?? Well, that was what was recommended, so that’s what I did, and I think it ultimately played a role in me failing that first attempt.
The second time, I was around 29.
By then, my love of Japanese music had grown exponentially, and I was tired of not being able to find translated interviews or videos of my favorite artists. I had also started seriously considering a trip to Japan so I could see those artists perform live.
This time, I purchased Genki, and rather than learning kanji in isolation, I learned it alongside vocabulary, which helped tremendously. I got through Genki 1 and 80% of Genki 2 before shifting my focus primarily to reading and listening comprehension.
It was very much a “slow and steady wins the race” approach. I would say I was about a mid level N3 (if that’s even a thing) after about two years. I’d even started working on my speaking skills which was by far my weakest area.
But life got in the way. More accurately, life bulldozed its way through, and I just wasn’t in a place mentally where learning Japanese could remain a priority.
It’s been four years since then. I’ve pretty much forgotten everything I learned, and my desire to go to Japan has dwindled somewhat since the passing of Atsushi Sakurai of Buck-Tick (my favorite band of all time). My love of Japanese music, however, is still very much intact.
Another thing that’s happened during those four years is my love for manga has returned in a way I didn’t think possible. After consistently forcing myself to watch and be interested in shonen since I was fifteen, I’ve finally accepted that I am just a shoujo, josei, BL, and GL type of girl. With the exception of a handful of series, I’ve never really liked shonen that much.
It’s been a great, and I’m still exploring and enjoying it.
And with that, I’ve decided I want to try again.
Yes, I still want to go to Japan someday, see my favorite artists perform, and comfortable make my way around. But I also remember loving to read in Japanese and I want that feeling back. On a practical level, learning Japanese could benefit my career as well.
So what’s the plan this time?
Honestly, my second attempt was pretty damn close to perfect, so I’ll probably follow that path again. I will change a few things, hough, such as starting immersion much earlier and pushing myself to practice speaking more often.
Most importantly, I want to have fun with it.
At the end of the day, learning Japanese is simply something I want to do. I enjoy the language. I like the way it sounds. I like writing the characters. I like reading in Japanese. That’t my main motivation.
I’ll be documenting the journey here because I think it’ll be fun to look back on someday. And if anyone else in the Japanese Learning Trenches someone how find these posts, I hope they bring a little comfort!
So Attempt #3.
Let’s hope this is the one.
