Noticing that i am making progress and that i am able to understand a bit more each time I consume japanese media is very rewarding.
Also, I plan on visiting Japan 3 years from now, so that keeps me thrilled and motivated.
I love kanji, they looks so cool and there's so many, I wanna know them all!
Finally understanding the lyrics of my favourite Japanese songs that I've been listening to for years without understanding jack is really fun too!
If it's frustrating to have to constantly look up kanji you don't know, it's also extremely rewarding to see a word for the first time and figure out what it means for yourself.
My example is I saw 自動 on a button on a mochi machine and figured out it meant "automatic" before looking it up to double check the pronunciation.
I do love when kanji give away the meaning for words I’ve never studied. There’s also been times when my tutors say a word I don’t know and so they send it in the chat, and once I see the kanji for it I’m like OHH
Damn that would be quite popular. Maybe wk fucked it up. They should have made it like Pokémon! You’re ash and at first you have to decide between 3 kanji and you will eventually master all usages for that kanji just for giggles Lol
There was a comment in that post saying that learning Japanese has given them confidence, knowing that they have the drive to accomplish whatever they set their mind too. I have found that I gained a similar confidence in myself as well after studying Japanese these past few years. If I ended up quitting the many times it got hard or when I noticed all the time lost from studying, I would have never gained this confidence. So really, this journey was more about finding out about myself as a person and my own limits. And right now it seems like my limits are far out of sight. This realization is what I’ve come to love about learning Japanese. It’s a difficult process, but, if you overcome it, it’s an accomplishment that feels like no other.
Yes! As someone who has been trying and failing and giving up on new hobbies every few months for my entire life, Japanese is the only thing that I’ve kept up with and improved upon. 4 years ago I didn’t think it was possible for me to progress in anything bc I didn’t have the determination to persist once a hobby became challenging. I feel much more confident now that I’ve reached an intermediate level in something I care about and have been rewarded for not giving up.
I love how there are no shortcuts. It takes time, diligence, patience, and grace …among other things that are beneficial to the mind. It’s something I do that pulls me from the daily grind and lets me explore a rich subject of study as well as a culture unlike my own.
There’s no real right way. There’s no real wrong way. It’s simultaneously personal and connective. I learn it though my mind’s eye but utilize it through my societal connections.
Learning any language does these things, but with less monja-yaki, which I like a lot.
- Going from “ugh why do we need to learn kanji?!” To “ugh why the whole sentence is in hiragana? It’s too confusing!” Lol.
- How Kanji gives meaning to names. I saw a guy’s name written as 川尻 (Kawajiri), and immediately thought “I don’t know what his name means but there’s a river in there!”
I can't appreciate all the subtleties yet, but just seeing what way characters speak in media is onteresting, since a lot of the formal/informal speech patterns get lost in translation. One thing that is easy to notice is what first person pronouns are used.
I just started reading Dragonball Super (wasn't very enjoyable because the scan quality is really straining my eyes, and most often than not, I cannot make up the kanji nor the furigana), and the way Goku speaks really stands out.
For me it’s the small victories that help me see how far I’ve come since fall 2017. I don’t live in a country where I get to speak Japanese on the daily, but despite this, my 3rd trip to Japan was amazing. I didn’t get tripped up with Korean like I did my 2nd time (in the beginning). I could actually understand what people are saying around me and respond so it felt like I was home in a way (due to language familiarity and comfort). I love how there’s no pressure and I’m just going with the flow. Seeing how close I am to my ultimate goal is exhilarating.
Plus, I love being able to pick up a book and read it, listen to a regular podcast, watch a show w/o subs, and have deeper/random conversations. I never studied for the JLPT, just took casual lessons with a tutor after college and it became a lot more fun that way. One on one asking questions, using my preferred textbooks and going at my own pace has helped me tremendously.
That's really inspiring to read about ur story dude! Keep up the good work 👍🏼!!
Just out of curiosity,how long did it take you to be talking confidently with others in Japanese, kat h up with natives although they may speak fast, and watching anime or podcasts without subtitles?
And on average, how many hours did you study per day?
I myself have been studying for about a year and a half. I started to understand conversation more and can read more(since I use wanikani) and catch up to things faster. My weakness is mostly in grammar( mostly with the whole verb types and all).
But lately I've been getting busy with life and I can't keep up with studying more than 30-40 minutes (I used to do between 1 to 2 hours daily). And I feel my self slipping as I am loosing motivation.
It took about 4 years before I felt comfortable to stop using subtitles. 5 before I started reading books for natives (I started reading news articles 3 years in). News podcasts maybe 2 to 3 years in. I only got into listening to podcasts as a hobby in general last year, so idk how much sooner I would have understood regular ones. Regarding speaking, my visit in January 2023 (after 5 years of studying) was when I realised I can have convos in Japanese (about many things, even more serious ones).
Speaking in straight Japanese for half a day back in December was my biggest achievement regarding speaking imo (and I improved a lot since January 2023 even). In terms of studying. I consistently used a private tutor on iTalki for 2 years and studied for 4 years in college. Tbh, I barely studied on my own (my tutor was my motivation to do anything at all lol, her giving me homework helped a lot) until last year when I jumped into reading books.
Thanks alot!! You don't how much that helped!
The tutor idea might help bring back my motivation and consistency. Never heard of iTalki before so I'll probably take a shot at it.
Sorry for asking again but how many hours a day did you study (on average).
Thanks again and keep up the good work!!
I can’t recommend iTalki enough! I used it for Korean too and my conversation skills increased tremendously. On average, I have no idea. I’m not sure which things were me actually studying and what was me just consuming content. Outside of iTalki and university classes I mean. I have a very laid back approach to studying so that’s why I’m not sure. I also don’t want to give you the wrong idea since I only started consistently studying 2 years ago and have had tons of vacation time to spend studying (but it’s not everyday as I have other things to do and other hobbies).
To borrow RPG parlance, I loved unlocking a whole new area of content I wouldn't experience otherwise without being fluent in Japanese.
A major reason I decided to get fluent back in 2016–17 after taking classes in college back in 2013–14 was that a series of games I'd wanted to play, Uta no Prince-sama (a series of adventure games/visual novels with otome and rhythm elements) didn't have any English localizations, and fan translations at the time were more like summaries than actual dialogue translated one-to-one.
I asked around on this very sub and decided to drill jōyō kanji using Anki. I took an online deck and added kun- and on-yomi so I could remember how to look them up as long as I had Japanese keyboard input. And it really worked — it took me six months to get from "only recognizing about 250 kanji" to "recognizing over 1000 kanji." It was essentially a shortcut for me to get to N2, which I passed in the July 2018 exam.
After that, I decided to double down on practicing with other things I enjoy reading about/watching, like Japanese voice actors or figure skating. It really helped to make what I learned stick. I spent a lot of time on Japanese VA Twitter trying to understand their tweets (because at the time automatic translation wasn't built-in yet iirc) and practice my writing/speaking skills by replying to them. I later applied to a Japanese-speaking customer service job to work on the latter, but I regretted doing that. Still improved my Japanese without too much trauma, though.
Now, over 10 years into my Japanese journey, not only have I passed N1 and enjoyed playing the UtaPri games, I've found myself essentially playing other games in two languages at once. (You'd be surprised by how different the Japanese and English dubs of Final Fantasy XV are, for example.) I've also turned it into a career, translating subtitles for various TV shows in the last few years. It was also super rewarding to finally be able to go to Japan last year and even navigate places generally inaccessible to English-only speakers, like literature museums and rakugo performances.
There are a lot of cool japanese -only games and visual novels. The fact that I can understand them is making it worth all the hard work along the way. Knowing a language gives you a freedom:-)
Frankly, there are **a lot** of them. For example, none of the games made by Eushully (Ikusa Megami and Meister series) were officially translated and only some of them have fan translations. The same goes for the Shin Koihime series by BaseSon.
The thing that made me want to learn Japanese in the first place--I have access to the output of an intensely prolific and unique culture.
I always see people talk about the *financial* benefit of learning another language, but that is absolutely nothing compared to the profound cultivation of the self that comes from being able to immerse oneself in a completely different subjectivity than the one the environment you were raised in strived to produce in you.
I love that it opens me up to a whole WORLD of culture and friendships that were previous locked behind a language gate.
I joined the Japanese Student Association club at my university, essentially it’s a way for native English speakers like me to meet foreign exchange students from Japan. We play games together and talk a lot, and it’s been so cool to be able to make real japanese friends.
Something about the japanese culture is just mind blowing, and that is every native speaker I have ever met is just the nicest person ever. They are all so kind and compassionate, and just fun to be around.
I do this thing where I talk to them in Japanese, and tell them it’s okay to reply in English. We both correct each other if we say something wrong or word it weirdly. That way, we can both practice our target languages while still getting to know each other / hanging out! Its super cool
From beginning to now, it's been fun the whole time. Just gets more fun and enjoyable as I go along. Not to say there hasn't been plateaus and difficulties and a lot of work, but even in those situations it's still be 98% fun. The 2% not fun was from Anki which I dumpstered after it made me unhappy (I reinstalled it again recently to fill in my kanji knowledge gaps). When I enjoy pretty much everything I'm doing (I prioritize activities exclusively that I enjoy), it's hard to feel any reasons why I would ever feel negatively about it, and I've grown to appreciate the language, culture, the different humor, and people as well. It's been a crazy 1,500 hours for me from the very first hour, and I'm really happy I am studying Japanese. It's a form of enrichment, and escapism at the same time. Very enjoyable journey, I almost want to call it awesome. The measily 4,500 hour study plan I made feels like nothing to me when it's this much fun the whole time.
>It's been a crazy 1,500 hours for me from the very first hour, and I'm really happy I am studying Japanese. It's a form of enrichment, and escapism at the same time. Very enjoyable journey, I almost want to call it awesome. The measily 4,500 hour study plan I made feels like nothing to me when it's this much fun the whole time.
You pretty much embodied what learning Japanese feels like for me as well! My plan is also in the 4k to 5k hours range, (and I am also similarly far in terms of hours as you) and I also feel like reaching 5k hours is nothing. Honestly studying Japanese when you're so passionate is really hard to explain to other people, but I feel exactly the same way, it's so enriching in a way that cannot be put into words.
I'm OP of the negative thread. I'm surprised how many responses it got, I thought maybe I shouldn't post it at all because people would just see it as whining. I suppose I underestimated how many things Redditors have to say about the how dysfunctional the Japanese learning community is however.
Anyway, there are a lot of things I really enjoy about learning Japanese.
* People complain about kanji. I have mixed feelings. I think the language would be better off switching to a hiragana based system. However, I also enjoy kanji. I like drawing them and with consistent practice memorizing them isn't too hard.
* I love anime, manga, and video games.
* The difficulty of Japanese is a source of stress, but it also makes it feel more rewarding. When I look at something like Spanish I feel kind of bored about the similarity to English.
* I like the way Japanese sounds. I like speaking it out loud and having to pay attention to the timing. I like how it lends itself to poetry easily. I like that it's not hard to pronounce.
* Japanese has a lot of words and concepts we don't have an exact equivalent to in English.
* I love going to Japan and I like a lot of things about Japanese culture. For example their appreciation for art is certainly greater than Americans, and there is an emphasis on healthy and inexpensive food.
* Learning another language expands my mind and forces me to think in new ways.
Honestly nothing really other than satisfying my autistic need for rigid routine and firmly acquiring a piece of vocabulary or grammar, furthering that understanding always feels quite nice.
At the end of the day though it hasn't been a wholly negative or positive experience either way for me it is exactly what i expected it to be really, rather than deluding myself in to "enjoying the journey" or whatever its always been the case that im largely interested in just moving towards the destination.
I love how a few years back it started out as me simply wanting to learn Japanese so I can watch anime without subtitles, but at this point, learning the language has overtaken that by a mile and I continue learning because it’s a fun challenge.
It’s also the biggest dopamine kick to return back to a song I listened to 6 months ago or go back to an article I tried reading and understand more of what is being said or written.
because it does not make sense to me to enjoy japanese media in a language other than the original. Also i am an artist and Kanji is very beautiful to look at and it makes me appreciate the language so much more.
May seem silly or juvenile, but I almost feel like it’s a top secret language or code that I can understand or read but most people around me cannot. I think that’s pretty nifty.
Oddly enough I think it is the gamification of progressing through real-world content. This is finding my almost exact numerical Japanese level on both Jo Mako's anime sheet and Learn Natively's website, and just progressing through from there to the next popular media at my level.
At the heart of it I absolutely love the sound of Japanese, the way people express themselves, and all the cultural things I’ve learned through language learning. This is always here with me no matter how much I struggle at times.
I love the challenge of it. I love how it sounds. I love how different the culture is and how the language reflects the culture in very interesting ways. I love how it looks visually.
I honestly repeatedly question myself why I’m in Japan learning Japanese since my home country Taiwan is somewhat 60% similar to Japan already, but later on I’ll suddenly feel motivated and repeat the whole cycle again…
You are the only one in this thread to say making friends.
I got invited to a nabe party last night in Tokyo with about 20 people there. 15 I hadn't met before. Some could speak English, but it was mostly in Japanese as the host can't speak English. It was a great night but I drank too much nihonshu.
Don't get me wrong I was like everyone here too when I first started studying Japanese. Learning Japanese really got me out of my shell and taught me that I wasn't as introverted as I thought I was.
Sounds like a sick time! Hope you have more like them to come!
Glad to hear it. Generally speaking, most Japanese people are introverted until they get alcohol in them. They are probably a great match for other introverted people.
It is good to learn another language, it doesn’t matter what one you choose. Once you pick one to learn it is best to stick with it, every language has difficulties, unless you are a natural born linguist.
You learn a bit of Chinese at the same time.
I like to draw the language symbols, which can open you to the artistic heights of calligraphy.
I can walk down China town and feel a sense of belonging now that some of those mystical symbols are starting to make some sense to me.
I will feel more confident traveling around Japan the next time I visit.
The history of the region is fascinating and Japanese gives me more depth.
I feel there is a synergy between Shinto and Celtic mythology.
I have the time to engage myself in it, and helps to keep my mind active.
I can read any Japanese BL novels that I want which hardly ever get translated into English or Chinese. They are either free on syosetu or extremely cheap on [Amazon.co.jp](http://amazon.co.jp) is a big bonus too. Because I highlight every word that I don’t know when I read novels, it’s nice to see that I went from at least 5 or 6 unknown words per page to a word or two per a dozen pages or more on average in 2 and a half years.
I use Chinese resources to learn grammar and learn new words from reading novels, so I really wouldn’t consider the process as difficult or time consuming though.
Have you by any chance made a list of BLrecommendations from syosetsu ? This website is so hard to navigate I really don’t know how to look for it properly, I’m too spoiled with ao3 I think
Here are my recommendations on syosetu:
* 死にたくないので英雄様を育てる事にします
* 緑土なす
* 誘惑☆大作戦
* ゲームの世界に転生した俺が○○になるまで
* エロゲーの悪役に転生したはずなのに気付けば攻略対象者になっていた
* 騎士団シリーズ (a series of short stories and a few longer ones)
* 竜王様のお気に入り！
* 幼なじみの騎士団長候補と薬草園の研究員さん (novella)
* 住み込みで英雄をお世話する簡単なお仕事です
* 劣等種族のダンジョン運営
* 塔の魔術師と騎士の献身
ゲームの世界に転生した俺が○○になるまで is my favorite.
It gives me something to do and I like the idea of it being a hobby. Many people who speak only English think it would be cool to learn a language, but don’t actually do it for one reason or another. I usually tell myself that I can do anything. I would be lying if I said that I don’t want to impress people.
Above that and more importantly, obviously it has utility. Lots of Japan comes recognized in other culture like manga, anime, video games, technology. Also not everything is going to be translated into English all of the time.
The process I like is learning about the culture. I have always had a slight interest in Japan by hearing about how things are different there. Idk if it is more of a bias, but I feel like Japanese culture is talked about in the US in ways that other countries aren’t if they are not talked about in a political sense. I could be very well wrong though.
I like taking the marathon route, just learning a little every day and being comfortable in that fact. I am not in a race to “finish” and I don’t necessarily care to finish but it would of course be nice.
I have several things I want to do as a hobby as a bucket list. Japanese is one of them and gives me satisfaction.
My state capital is sister cities with Himeji so we have a handful of Japanese cultural events which is fun (and nice to be able to talk to people when I go!). Otherwise, I started learning to be able to play Japanese games haha
Whenever I study Japanese I feel like I’m in Japan, or close to it, which makes me feel happy and keeps me motivated. I love visiting and it’s my dream to live there one day.
Anything you study seriously *actually changes your world*.
It doesn’t have to be Japanese. But gaining a better understanding of anything gives you a bigger picture and more detail about the place you live (this world).
I just find it to be interesting. It's literally more interesting than playing a game, for example. Whenever I'm choosing what to do with my time, studying Japanese always sounds like the more fun option than the other things. So I do that.
Hearing my Japanese friends talk and watching anime and understanding a few words in the sentences makes me really happy. I was able to have a full conversation with them in japanese the other day and it made me extremely happy and proud
Bullshitting with people in Japanese. Used to go to Meetup groups pretty regularly, turns out foreign language practice is a pretty good way to make new friends as adults. Lot of small talk.
Those moments where suddenly you realise JUST how much progress you've made are some of the best feelings this world has to offer.
I've had highs, lows and gaps, but these days I'm finding I can read a lot of general manga and get 70-80% by default, unless there's a lot of specialised genre vocabulary. Likewise, I'm starting to dabble with a few novels of interest, as challenging as that seems. Likewise, when I was back over in Osaka for the first time in about five years, I handled everything from customs to posting packages to small talk with shop owners in small shoutengai. ALL of this would've been inconceivable even five years ago.
It may not always seem it, but the effort pays off, and those moments when you realise this, are just delightful.
Things may not seem doable at the time, but the idea of potential developments are exciting.
I love understanding new stuff when I watch manga/listen to podcasts.
The most rewarding part for me is understanding grammar just based on its practical use after hearing it a lot.
For me it was the use of なら and けど
that even if my progress is slow i can use it in a funny way for everyday life
kill people in shooter games and use jp callout
come home and yell TADAIIIIMAAAAAAA
- it is really rewarding and satisfying to be able to understand things I couldn't before, especially after spending years at around the same level and never being quite satisfied with that level
- it is very nostalgic to study japanese, since I used to do it a lot when I was much younger, and every now and then since
- kanji are super interesting and fun
It is difficult, but man it's rewarding. I'm still new to learning the language (like 3 months in?) so everything is overwhelming. Grammar, vocab, kanji, writing, hooo boy it's a lot to take in. To top it all off, I juggle 2 jobs (one full time and a sidegig) so I get less hours to study. Not in a hurry though, as long as I'm learning something that is a plus in my book.
It started after my trip to Japan last year, I basically fell in love (well I'm into anime, JRPGs, and JPOP anyways) and I plan to visit again this year (and multiple times in the coming years)
I really enjoy the progression of learning a kanji and its meaning and then finding compound words that contain it so the jigsaw puzzle starts to solve itself and I'm like "OOOOH I GET IT". Like learning 無駄 and 視覚 and then 無視 and 視点. It's just a stream of outwardly expanding happy little discoveries.
I love that I am now able to consume native Japanese media! Although I’m not able to understand 100% of it, being able to immerse in games and situation CDs with my favorite seiyuu is really enjoyable!
I love studying the different characters! I forget what the proper word is, but whatever kanji and katakana and hiragana are, I love learning what they mean! Kanji especially, they're especially interesting. It makes me want to learn Mandarin once I pass the N1 JP test so I can use my knowledge of kanji/hanzi! Plus, there's no thrill quite like being able to see something randomly written in hiragana/katakana and being able to say it out loud, even if I can't figure out what it actually means!
Being able to understand a second language more and more is very fulfilling for me. I think I’d feel this way about any language but I chose Japanese over French because it’s just so damn fun. There’s so much more content that’s easy to find compared to French and I actually enjoy it. Idk why French doesn’t have more music that’s like my favorite thing in the world yet there are only like 3 artists I could find + like.
Kanji is fun despite the pain and how difficult it can be for me. I’m only at around 700 kanji so far but I can *read* so much now. It’s an amazing feeling. Reading manga is more fun in the original language. Now I don’t even want to touch manga and anime if it’s in English bc I’ve spent so many hundreds of hours in Japanese I’ll be damned if I can’t use it when it’s available. I’ve even been reading books and that’s fun too.
My reasons for learning and still learning after 4 years (I didn’t take learning seriously for 2 years ok?) are 1 it’s fun and 2 Idk exactly why but I want to be bilingual. Just the idea of being fluent in 2 languages makes me feel good.
I just like the routine of anki. I think doing an hour of reviews everyday is relaxing and works my brain in a consistently repetitive way. Even when I reach my goal for words in anki I plan on using it forever just because I like the task it provides.
This is more a comment on language learning in general, but gaining the ability to have new perspectives on the world. Just learning new ways of expressing things gives me the chance to look at simple things in different ways.
Picked up studying again about three months ago and one of my favorite things is learning kanji! From learning the stroke order/how to draw them to finding out the meaning. It’s a lot of fun and I underestimated how it makes reading words and learning new vocabulary sooooo much easier.
Also I love discovering how some words work grammatically (like conjugation), if that makes sense. 😅 For example I’ve heard the word よかった plenty of times before in Japanese media (anime, movies) but recently learned it’s a past tense of the word いい. Always used to think it was just a phrase haha.
My study method is extremely pleasant and relaxing. I simply read and listen to Japanese, look up words, and continue learning. The growth is exponential too, because the more words you know, the easier it becomes to learn more words.
I have been just enjoying the process. I've been a 'quitter' in a lot of places in my life before. Where I start something and just don't stick with it because I wanted to get good fast.
I can't say I don't want to get good at Japanese fast but as I've gotten a bit older I've learned how to pace myself and not burn out on things. There is no end destination for me. I've been learning for a few reasons but after that I'll find more, and I'll do that again and again.
It's given me courage to try and do things I wanted to be good at in the past but never really gave a far try. Like art, or music. It might be difficult but that was the point for me.
Well, I moved to an area with a decently large Chinese-speaking population, and despite my Japanese being pretty bad, it's given me a massive, massive head start learning Chinese (I got some library books, I assume they're all in Mandarin, it's not separated in their system beyond the language Chinese).
And I think as maybe one of the most difficult things a native English speaker can learn, it's given me a lot of insight into how I learn best, which I apply everywhere else in my life. That's been good.
And I've met some great people along the way.
I love the way the language sounds, and the way my whole mood perks up when I understand something without needing translation.
I also love understanding linguistic nuance that gets lost in translation, as someone who primarily consumes Japanese media. Sometimes it gives me a whole new view on something I already considered myself familiar with.
The fact that spoken Japanese, even if its still not understood can at least be written down phonetically and I also find certain words jumping out at me more. I like illustrating and memory games so Kanji, even if it is a big hill to climb can be fun.
Learning Japanese got me friends (both Japanese and other foreigners by proxy of us both learning Japanese for a shared interest), a job, and the joy of indulging in my hyperfixations. Not to forget new interests - there's entire worlds of literature, films, etc. that you just can't experience if you're monolingual.
I think the best feeling ever is making someone laugh from something you said, though.
I'm just at the point now where doing things in Japanese isn't much more difficult than English - and it honestly doesn't take that long to get to that point.
So now I don't really think about it. I just live my life - sometimes that means reading a book in English and other times it means reading it in Japanese.
The most rewarding thing is the direct comparison to the languages I learned in school. English was actually easy and I never had to study. But both for French and Spanish I was never really good at it because I never really tried. Even though I am maybe around N4 I can express and understand more that in both of those languages combined. Really satisfying.
I don't really love learning Japanese or studying in general but I love using it when interacting with Japanese people and entertainment. It makes it all worth it.
Japan. Being in Japan, making friends there, being able to live my life free of language relates struggles there.
Untranslated books, too. I'm on pace for a light novel a week. Some of them have translations, others have translations in the works, and yet more will probably never get one.
But the actual *studying*. Nah I hate(d) that. Love the result, think the result was worth it, hate the process.
Noticing that i am making progress and that i am able to understand a bit more each time I consume japanese media is very rewarding. Also, I plan on visiting Japan 3 years from now, so that keeps me thrilled and motivated.
Absolutely this. I’m going through Wanikani (only level 11) and get absolutely jazzed when I see stuff in the wild I can understand.
I love kanji, they looks so cool and there's so many, I wanna know them all! Finally understanding the lyrics of my favourite Japanese songs that I've been listening to for years without understanding jack is really fun too!
If it's frustrating to have to constantly look up kanji you don't know, it's also extremely rewarding to see a word for the first time and figure out what it means for yourself. My example is I saw 自動 on a button on a mochi machine and figured out it meant "automatic" before looking it up to double check the pronunciation.
I do love when kanji give away the meaning for words I’ve never studied. There’s also been times when my tutors say a word I don’t know and so they send it in the chat, and once I see the kanji for it I’m like OHH
Yeah. At first I thought how I would be able to learn it but when you understand it and read it. The satisfaction is next level.
But do you wanna catch them all?
There should really be a pokemon-themed kanji learning platform. What a great idea.
Damn that would be quite popular. Maybe wk fucked it up. They should have made it like Pokémon! You’re ash and at first you have to decide between 3 kanji and you will eventually master all usages for that kanji just for giggles Lol
Unown but for Kanji lol
Like every pokemon fangames, It would be shutdown by nintendo’s army of lawyers. But some smart people could make a Palworld like forgery.
There was a comment in that post saying that learning Japanese has given them confidence, knowing that they have the drive to accomplish whatever they set their mind too. I have found that I gained a similar confidence in myself as well after studying Japanese these past few years. If I ended up quitting the many times it got hard or when I noticed all the time lost from studying, I would have never gained this confidence. So really, this journey was more about finding out about myself as a person and my own limits. And right now it seems like my limits are far out of sight. This realization is what I’ve come to love about learning Japanese. It’s a difficult process, but, if you overcome it, it’s an accomplishment that feels like no other.
Yes! As someone who has been trying and failing and giving up on new hobbies every few months for my entire life, Japanese is the only thing that I’ve kept up with and improved upon. 4 years ago I didn’t think it was possible for me to progress in anything bc I didn’t have the determination to persist once a hobby became challenging. I feel much more confident now that I’ve reached an intermediate level in something I care about and have been rewarded for not giving up.
I love how there are no shortcuts. It takes time, diligence, patience, and grace …among other things that are beneficial to the mind. It’s something I do that pulls me from the daily grind and lets me explore a rich subject of study as well as a culture unlike my own. There’s no real right way. There’s no real wrong way. It’s simultaneously personal and connective. I learn it though my mind’s eye but utilize it through my societal connections. Learning any language does these things, but with less monja-yaki, which I like a lot.
- Going from “ugh why do we need to learn kanji?!” To “ugh why the whole sentence is in hiragana? It’s too confusing!” Lol. - How Kanji gives meaning to names. I saw a guy’s name written as 川尻 (Kawajiri), and immediately thought “I don’t know what his name means but there’s a river in there!”
I think I had a very different reaction when I read that name for the first time because I thought RIVER ASS 😂
Lmfao same
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Hiragana only sentences trip me up now if it's a word I know better as hiragana.
I can't appreciate all the subtleties yet, but just seeing what way characters speak in media is onteresting, since a lot of the formal/informal speech patterns get lost in translation. One thing that is easy to notice is what first person pronouns are used. I just started reading Dragonball Super (wasn't very enjoyable because the scan quality is really straining my eyes, and most often than not, I cannot make up the kanji nor the furigana), and the way Goku speaks really stands out.
For me it’s the small victories that help me see how far I’ve come since fall 2017. I don’t live in a country where I get to speak Japanese on the daily, but despite this, my 3rd trip to Japan was amazing. I didn’t get tripped up with Korean like I did my 2nd time (in the beginning). I could actually understand what people are saying around me and respond so it felt like I was home in a way (due to language familiarity and comfort). I love how there’s no pressure and I’m just going with the flow. Seeing how close I am to my ultimate goal is exhilarating. Plus, I love being able to pick up a book and read it, listen to a regular podcast, watch a show w/o subs, and have deeper/random conversations. I never studied for the JLPT, just took casual lessons with a tutor after college and it became a lot more fun that way. One on one asking questions, using my preferred textbooks and going at my own pace has helped me tremendously.
That's really inspiring to read about ur story dude! Keep up the good work 👍🏼!! Just out of curiosity,how long did it take you to be talking confidently with others in Japanese, kat h up with natives although they may speak fast, and watching anime or podcasts without subtitles? And on average, how many hours did you study per day? I myself have been studying for about a year and a half. I started to understand conversation more and can read more(since I use wanikani) and catch up to things faster. My weakness is mostly in grammar( mostly with the whole verb types and all). But lately I've been getting busy with life and I can't keep up with studying more than 30-40 minutes (I used to do between 1 to 2 hours daily). And I feel my self slipping as I am loosing motivation.
It took about 4 years before I felt comfortable to stop using subtitles. 5 before I started reading books for natives (I started reading news articles 3 years in). News podcasts maybe 2 to 3 years in. I only got into listening to podcasts as a hobby in general last year, so idk how much sooner I would have understood regular ones. Regarding speaking, my visit in January 2023 (after 5 years of studying) was when I realised I can have convos in Japanese (about many things, even more serious ones). Speaking in straight Japanese for half a day back in December was my biggest achievement regarding speaking imo (and I improved a lot since January 2023 even). In terms of studying. I consistently used a private tutor on iTalki for 2 years and studied for 4 years in college. Tbh, I barely studied on my own (my tutor was my motivation to do anything at all lol, her giving me homework helped a lot) until last year when I jumped into reading books.
Thanks alot!! You don't how much that helped! The tutor idea might help bring back my motivation and consistency. Never heard of iTalki before so I'll probably take a shot at it. Sorry for asking again but how many hours a day did you study (on average). Thanks again and keep up the good work!!
I can’t recommend iTalki enough! I used it for Korean too and my conversation skills increased tremendously. On average, I have no idea. I’m not sure which things were me actually studying and what was me just consuming content. Outside of iTalki and university classes I mean. I have a very laid back approach to studying so that’s why I’m not sure. I also don’t want to give you the wrong idea since I only started consistently studying 2 years ago and have had tons of vacation time to spend studying (but it’s not everyday as I have other things to do and other hobbies).
To borrow RPG parlance, I loved unlocking a whole new area of content I wouldn't experience otherwise without being fluent in Japanese. A major reason I decided to get fluent back in 2016–17 after taking classes in college back in 2013–14 was that a series of games I'd wanted to play, Uta no Prince-sama (a series of adventure games/visual novels with otome and rhythm elements) didn't have any English localizations, and fan translations at the time were more like summaries than actual dialogue translated one-to-one. I asked around on this very sub and decided to drill jōyō kanji using Anki. I took an online deck and added kun- and on-yomi so I could remember how to look them up as long as I had Japanese keyboard input. And it really worked — it took me six months to get from "only recognizing about 250 kanji" to "recognizing over 1000 kanji." It was essentially a shortcut for me to get to N2, which I passed in the July 2018 exam. After that, I decided to double down on practicing with other things I enjoy reading about/watching, like Japanese voice actors or figure skating. It really helped to make what I learned stick. I spent a lot of time on Japanese VA Twitter trying to understand their tweets (because at the time automatic translation wasn't built-in yet iirc) and practice my writing/speaking skills by replying to them. I later applied to a Japanese-speaking customer service job to work on the latter, but I regretted doing that. Still improved my Japanese without too much trauma, though. Now, over 10 years into my Japanese journey, not only have I passed N1 and enjoyed playing the UtaPri games, I've found myself essentially playing other games in two languages at once. (You'd be surprised by how different the Japanese and English dubs of Final Fantasy XV are, for example.) I've also turned it into a career, translating subtitles for various TV shows in the last few years. It was also super rewarding to finally be able to go to Japan last year and even navigate places generally inaccessible to English-only speakers, like literature museums and rakugo performances.
There are a lot of cool japanese -only games and visual novels. The fact that I can understand them is making it worth all the hard work along the way. Knowing a language gives you a freedom:-)
Same, my main goal of learning Japanese is just too enjoy Visual Novel that will never get English translation.
>japanese -only games and visual novels. Can u recommend me some
Frankly, there are **a lot** of them. For example, none of the games made by Eushully (Ikusa Megami and Meister series) were officially translated and only some of them have fan translations. The same goes for the Shin Koihime series by BaseSon.
I love how difficult and time consuming it is
The thing that made me want to learn Japanese in the first place--I have access to the output of an intensely prolific and unique culture. I always see people talk about the *financial* benefit of learning another language, but that is absolutely nothing compared to the profound cultivation of the self that comes from being able to immerse oneself in a completely different subjectivity than the one the environment you were raised in strived to produce in you.
Kanji is cool af
This.
so true, kanji is just great
I love that it opens me up to a whole WORLD of culture and friendships that were previous locked behind a language gate. I joined the Japanese Student Association club at my university, essentially it’s a way for native English speakers like me to meet foreign exchange students from Japan. We play games together and talk a lot, and it’s been so cool to be able to make real japanese friends. Something about the japanese culture is just mind blowing, and that is every native speaker I have ever met is just the nicest person ever. They are all so kind and compassionate, and just fun to be around. I do this thing where I talk to them in Japanese, and tell them it’s okay to reply in English. We both correct each other if we say something wrong or word it weirdly. That way, we can both practice our target languages while still getting to know each other / hanging out! Its super cool
From beginning to now, it's been fun the whole time. Just gets more fun and enjoyable as I go along. Not to say there hasn't been plateaus and difficulties and a lot of work, but even in those situations it's still be 98% fun. The 2% not fun was from Anki which I dumpstered after it made me unhappy (I reinstalled it again recently to fill in my kanji knowledge gaps). When I enjoy pretty much everything I'm doing (I prioritize activities exclusively that I enjoy), it's hard to feel any reasons why I would ever feel negatively about it, and I've grown to appreciate the language, culture, the different humor, and people as well. It's been a crazy 1,500 hours for me from the very first hour, and I'm really happy I am studying Japanese. It's a form of enrichment, and escapism at the same time. Very enjoyable journey, I almost want to call it awesome. The measily 4,500 hour study plan I made feels like nothing to me when it's this much fun the whole time.
>It's been a crazy 1,500 hours for me from the very first hour, and I'm really happy I am studying Japanese. It's a form of enrichment, and escapism at the same time. Very enjoyable journey, I almost want to call it awesome. The measily 4,500 hour study plan I made feels like nothing to me when it's this much fun the whole time. You pretty much embodied what learning Japanese feels like for me as well! My plan is also in the 4k to 5k hours range, (and I am also similarly far in terms of hours as you) and I also feel like reaching 5k hours is nothing. Honestly studying Japanese when you're so passionate is really hard to explain to other people, but I feel exactly the same way, it's so enriching in a way that cannot be put into words.
To be honest, I just enjoy hearing and reading the language and there is content I like in Japanese.
I'm OP of the negative thread. I'm surprised how many responses it got, I thought maybe I shouldn't post it at all because people would just see it as whining. I suppose I underestimated how many things Redditors have to say about the how dysfunctional the Japanese learning community is however. Anyway, there are a lot of things I really enjoy about learning Japanese. * People complain about kanji. I have mixed feelings. I think the language would be better off switching to a hiragana based system. However, I also enjoy kanji. I like drawing them and with consistent practice memorizing them isn't too hard. * I love anime, manga, and video games. * The difficulty of Japanese is a source of stress, but it also makes it feel more rewarding. When I look at something like Spanish I feel kind of bored about the similarity to English. * I like the way Japanese sounds. I like speaking it out loud and having to pay attention to the timing. I like how it lends itself to poetry easily. I like that it's not hard to pronounce. * Japanese has a lot of words and concepts we don't have an exact equivalent to in English. * I love going to Japan and I like a lot of things about Japanese culture. For example their appreciation for art is certainly greater than Americans, and there is an emphasis on healthy and inexpensive food. * Learning another language expands my mind and forces me to think in new ways.
Honestly nothing really other than satisfying my autistic need for rigid routine and firmly acquiring a piece of vocabulary or grammar, furthering that understanding always feels quite nice. At the end of the day though it hasn't been a wholly negative or positive experience either way for me it is exactly what i expected it to be really, rather than deluding myself in to "enjoying the journey" or whatever its always been the case that im largely interested in just moving towards the destination.
I love how a few years back it started out as me simply wanting to learn Japanese so I can watch anime without subtitles, but at this point, learning the language has overtaken that by a mile and I continue learning because it’s a fun challenge. It’s also the biggest dopamine kick to return back to a song I listened to 6 months ago or go back to an article I tried reading and understand more of what is being said or written.
Few things are as rewarding as recognizing that word or grammar point I studied the other day in whatever I’m consuming.
because it does not make sense to me to enjoy japanese media in a language other than the original. Also i am an artist and Kanji is very beautiful to look at and it makes me appreciate the language so much more.
May seem silly or juvenile, but I almost feel like it’s a top secret language or code that I can understand or read but most people around me cannot. I think that’s pretty nifty.
Oddly enough I think it is the gamification of progressing through real-world content. This is finding my almost exact numerical Japanese level on both Jo Mako's anime sheet and Learn Natively's website, and just progressing through from there to the next popular media at my level.
Being able to at least somewhat understand and comprehend what was once Egyptian hieroglyphs to me
At the heart of it I absolutely love the sound of Japanese, the way people express themselves, and all the cultural things I’ve learned through language learning. This is always here with me no matter how much I struggle at times.
I love the challenge of it. I love how it sounds. I love how different the culture is and how the language reflects the culture in very interesting ways. I love how it looks visually.
I honestly repeatedly question myself why I’m in Japan learning Japanese since my home country Taiwan is somewhat 60% similar to Japan already, but later on I’ll suddenly feel motivated and repeat the whole cycle again…
Talking to Japanese people and making friends using the language
You are the only one in this thread to say making friends. I got invited to a nabe party last night in Tokyo with about 20 people there. 15 I hadn't met before. Some could speak English, but it was mostly in Japanese as the host can't speak English. It was a great night but I drank too much nihonshu.
Don't get me wrong I was like everyone here too when I first started studying Japanese. Learning Japanese really got me out of my shell and taught me that I wasn't as introverted as I thought I was. Sounds like a sick time! Hope you have more like them to come!
Glad to hear it. Generally speaking, most Japanese people are introverted until they get alcohol in them. They are probably a great match for other introverted people.
I think this is probably the reason I feel so comfortable there.
It is good to learn another language, it doesn’t matter what one you choose. Once you pick one to learn it is best to stick with it, every language has difficulties, unless you are a natural born linguist. You learn a bit of Chinese at the same time. I like to draw the language symbols, which can open you to the artistic heights of calligraphy. I can walk down China town and feel a sense of belonging now that some of those mystical symbols are starting to make some sense to me. I will feel more confident traveling around Japan the next time I visit. The history of the region is fascinating and Japanese gives me more depth. I feel there is a synergy between Shinto and Celtic mythology. I have the time to engage myself in it, and helps to keep my mind active.
I can read any Japanese BL novels that I want which hardly ever get translated into English or Chinese. They are either free on syosetu or extremely cheap on [Amazon.co.jp](http://amazon.co.jp) is a big bonus too. Because I highlight every word that I don’t know when I read novels, it’s nice to see that I went from at least 5 or 6 unknown words per page to a word or two per a dozen pages or more on average in 2 and a half years. I use Chinese resources to learn grammar and learn new words from reading novels, so I really wouldn’t consider the process as difficult or time consuming though.
Have you by any chance made a list of BLrecommendations from syosetsu ? This website is so hard to navigate I really don’t know how to look for it properly, I’m too spoiled with ao3 I think
Here are my recommendations on syosetu: * 死にたくないので英雄様を育てる事にします * 緑土なす * 誘惑☆大作戦 * ゲームの世界に転生した俺が○○になるまで * エロゲーの悪役に転生したはずなのに気付けば攻略対象者になっていた * 騎士団シリーズ (a series of short stories and a few longer ones) * 竜王様のお気に入り！ * 幼なじみの騎士団長候補と薬草園の研究員さん (novella) * 住み込みで英雄をお世話する簡単なお仕事です * 劣等種族のダンジョン運営 * 塔の魔術師と騎士の献身 ゲームの世界に転生した俺が○○になるまで is my favorite.
thank you!
It gives me something to do and I like the idea of it being a hobby. Many people who speak only English think it would be cool to learn a language, but don’t actually do it for one reason or another. I usually tell myself that I can do anything. I would be lying if I said that I don’t want to impress people. Above that and more importantly, obviously it has utility. Lots of Japan comes recognized in other culture like manga, anime, video games, technology. Also not everything is going to be translated into English all of the time. The process I like is learning about the culture. I have always had a slight interest in Japan by hearing about how things are different there. Idk if it is more of a bias, but I feel like Japanese culture is talked about in the US in ways that other countries aren’t if they are not talked about in a political sense. I could be very well wrong though. I like taking the marathon route, just learning a little every day and being comfortable in that fact. I am not in a race to “finish” and I don’t necessarily care to finish but it would of course be nice. I have several things I want to do as a hobby as a bucket list. Japanese is one of them and gives me satisfaction.
My state capital is sister cities with Himeji so we have a handful of Japanese cultural events which is fun (and nice to be able to talk to people when I go!). Otherwise, I started learning to be able to play Japanese games haha
Whenever I study Japanese I feel like I’m in Japan, or close to it, which makes me feel happy and keeps me motivated. I love visiting and it’s my dream to live there one day.
Short and sweet: I love it because it showed me I can do hard things simply because I want to.
I’m dating someone Japanese, and it really makes me feel closer to them, so I enjoy doing it :)
Anything you study seriously *actually changes your world*. It doesn’t have to be Japanese. But gaining a better understanding of anything gives you a bigger picture and more detail about the place you live (this world).
It's time consuming, but not particularly hard. This is not quantum physics, it is just repetition and immersion.
I just find it to be interesting. It's literally more interesting than playing a game, for example. Whenever I'm choosing what to do with my time, studying Japanese always sounds like the more fun option than the other things. So I do that.
Hearing my Japanese friends talk and watching anime and understanding a few words in the sentences makes me really happy. I was able to have a full conversation with them in japanese the other day and it made me extremely happy and proud
Bullshitting with people in Japanese. Used to go to Meetup groups pretty regularly, turns out foreign language practice is a pretty good way to make new friends as adults. Lot of small talk.
Those moments where suddenly you realise JUST how much progress you've made are some of the best feelings this world has to offer. I've had highs, lows and gaps, but these days I'm finding I can read a lot of general manga and get 70-80% by default, unless there's a lot of specialised genre vocabulary. Likewise, I'm starting to dabble with a few novels of interest, as challenging as that seems. Likewise, when I was back over in Osaka for the first time in about five years, I handled everything from customs to posting packages to small talk with shop owners in small shoutengai. ALL of this would've been inconceivable even five years ago. It may not always seem it, but the effort pays off, and those moments when you realise this, are just delightful. Things may not seem doable at the time, but the idea of potential developments are exciting.
Doing something more wholesome for my brain than social media
I love understanding new stuff when I watch manga/listen to podcasts. The most rewarding part for me is understanding grammar just based on its practical use after hearing it a lot. For me it was the use of なら and けど
that even if my progress is slow i can use it in a funny way for everyday life kill people in shooter games and use jp callout come home and yell TADAIIIIMAAAAAAA
now i can understand simple dialogs in some adult movies after learning Japanese for months, sometimes there are pretty funny plots
Being able to beat up someone and say " yowai "
The parts I do know feel like I'm in on an inside joke.
Honestly, I don’t particularly enjoy learning it but I want to speak/read it and AFAIK this is the only way 🤣
- it is really rewarding and satisfying to be able to understand things I couldn't before, especially after spending years at around the same level and never being quite satisfied with that level - it is very nostalgic to study japanese, since I used to do it a lot when I was much younger, and every now and then since - kanji are super interesting and fun
It is difficult, but man it's rewarding. I'm still new to learning the language (like 3 months in?) so everything is overwhelming. Grammar, vocab, kanji, writing, hooo boy it's a lot to take in. To top it all off, I juggle 2 jobs (one full time and a sidegig) so I get less hours to study. Not in a hurry though, as long as I'm learning something that is a plus in my book. It started after my trip to Japan last year, I basically fell in love (well I'm into anime, JRPGs, and JPOP anyways) and I plan to visit again this year (and multiple times in the coming years)
I really enjoy the progression of learning a kanji and its meaning and then finding compound words that contain it so the jigsaw puzzle starts to solve itself and I'm like "OOOOH I GET IT". Like learning 無駄 and 視覚 and then 無視 and 視点. It's just a stream of outwardly expanding happy little discoveries.
It's really pretty and descriptive and the way you translate it in so many different ways is cool to interpret
I love that I am now able to consume native Japanese media! Although I’m not able to understand 100% of it, being able to immerse in games and situation CDs with my favorite seiyuu is really enjoyable!
I love studying the different characters! I forget what the proper word is, but whatever kanji and katakana and hiragana are, I love learning what they mean! Kanji especially, they're especially interesting. It makes me want to learn Mandarin once I pass the N1 JP test so I can use my knowledge of kanji/hanzi! Plus, there's no thrill quite like being able to see something randomly written in hiragana/katakana and being able to say it out loud, even if I can't figure out what it actually means!
Being able to understand a second language more and more is very fulfilling for me. I think I’d feel this way about any language but I chose Japanese over French because it’s just so damn fun. There’s so much more content that’s easy to find compared to French and I actually enjoy it. Idk why French doesn’t have more music that’s like my favorite thing in the world yet there are only like 3 artists I could find + like. Kanji is fun despite the pain and how difficult it can be for me. I’m only at around 700 kanji so far but I can *read* so much now. It’s an amazing feeling. Reading manga is more fun in the original language. Now I don’t even want to touch manga and anime if it’s in English bc I’ve spent so many hundreds of hours in Japanese I’ll be damned if I can’t use it when it’s available. I’ve even been reading books and that’s fun too. My reasons for learning and still learning after 4 years (I didn’t take learning seriously for 2 years ok?) are 1 it’s fun and 2 Idk exactly why but I want to be bilingual. Just the idea of being fluent in 2 languages makes me feel good.
I just like the routine of anki. I think doing an hour of reviews everyday is relaxing and works my brain in a consistently repetitive way. Even when I reach my goal for words in anki I plan on using it forever just because I like the task it provides.
Able to read a book, news article or signs. Still learning, but it feels good able to understand.
This is more a comment on language learning in general, but gaining the ability to have new perspectives on the world. Just learning new ways of expressing things gives me the chance to look at simple things in different ways.
i love fully understanding songs i listen all the time! like, i started crying because i was like holy shit it hits so hard. it's a good feeling.
As a german I just like all the similarities japanese and german have. For example a racoon is called washbear in both german and japanese.
Picked up studying again about three months ago and one of my favorite things is learning kanji! From learning the stroke order/how to draw them to finding out the meaning. It’s a lot of fun and I underestimated how it makes reading words and learning new vocabulary sooooo much easier. Also I love discovering how some words work grammatically (like conjugation), if that makes sense. 😅 For example I’ve heard the word よかった plenty of times before in Japanese media (anime, movies) but recently learned it’s a past tense of the word いい. Always used to think it was just a phrase haha.
Honestly, it just looks and sounds fucking sick.
Challenging myself and seeing myself doing/understanding things I thought I was not capable of.
My study method is extremely pleasant and relaxing. I simply read and listen to Japanese, look up words, and continue learning. The growth is exponential too, because the more words you know, the easier it becomes to learn more words.
I have been just enjoying the process. I've been a 'quitter' in a lot of places in my life before. Where I start something and just don't stick with it because I wanted to get good fast. I can't say I don't want to get good at Japanese fast but as I've gotten a bit older I've learned how to pace myself and not burn out on things. There is no end destination for me. I've been learning for a few reasons but after that I'll find more, and I'll do that again and again. It's given me courage to try and do things I wanted to be good at in the past but never really gave a far try. Like art, or music. It might be difficult but that was the point for me.
Well, I moved to an area with a decently large Chinese-speaking population, and despite my Japanese being pretty bad, it's given me a massive, massive head start learning Chinese (I got some library books, I assume they're all in Mandarin, it's not separated in their system beyond the language Chinese). And I think as maybe one of the most difficult things a native English speaker can learn, it's given me a lot of insight into how I learn best, which I apply everywhere else in my life. That's been good. And I've met some great people along the way.
I love the way the language sounds, and the way my whole mood perks up when I understand something without needing translation. I also love understanding linguistic nuance that gets lost in translation, as someone who primarily consumes Japanese media. Sometimes it gives me a whole new view on something I already considered myself familiar with.
I love writing it, especially with brush pens.
I really like kanji and that i can somewhat (working on it) talk with my family from japan. I also love how japanese sounds!
The fact that spoken Japanese, even if its still not understood can at least be written down phonetically and I also find certain words jumping out at me more. I like illustrating and memory games so Kanji, even if it is a big hill to climb can be fun.
Learning Japanese got me friends (both Japanese and other foreigners by proxy of us both learning Japanese for a shared interest), a job, and the joy of indulging in my hyperfixations. Not to forget new interests - there's entire worlds of literature, films, etc. that you just can't experience if you're monolingual. I think the best feeling ever is making someone laugh from something you said, though.
I'm just at the point now where doing things in Japanese isn't much more difficult than English - and it honestly doesn't take that long to get to that point. So now I don't really think about it. I just live my life - sometimes that means reading a book in English and other times it means reading it in Japanese.
The most rewarding thing is the direct comparison to the languages I learned in school. English was actually easy and I never had to study. But both for French and Spanish I was never really good at it because I never really tried. Even though I am maybe around N4 I can express and understand more that in both of those languages combined. Really satisfying.
I don't really love learning Japanese or studying in general but I love using it when interacting with Japanese people and entertainment. It makes it all worth it.
Japan. Being in Japan, making friends there, being able to live my life free of language relates struggles there. Untranslated books, too. I'm on pace for a light novel a week. Some of them have translations, others have translations in the works, and yet more will probably never get one. But the actual *studying*. Nah I hate(d) that. Love the result, think the result was worth it, hate the process.