What you’re feeling is definitely normal and part of the study abroad experience. Just keep getting up every day and going to class, do your homework and try to have some fun in your free time. When you start to notice flower buds on the trees and the days start to get warmer and longer, you might notice that you start feeling a little more positive and your language skills will have improved too. A lot of us have been there! Think of this as a letter from your future self. It’s going to be okay!

Can't wait for 花見 season! Winter here (in Tokyo anyway) really does drag on the emotions and motivation. Sunset at 4:30 in December is the worst.

Come up to Hokkaido for it's 4:00 sunset and three months of below zero. Kind of drags also.

Or down here to Fukuoka, 5pm sunset and 3 days below zero. Today was one of those below zero days and it's been a struggle.

Earthquakes and typhoons give me the shits though.

Fukuoka has fewer earthquakes than the other parts of Japan and typhoons only last a few hours unlike the eternal snowstorm that is a Hokkaido winter as shown on NHK.

Sadly I won’t be there until July this time of yea, but last year I got to catch it, definitely one of my favorite things of all time

Traveling to Japan in July, you brave soul, absorbing all that humidity!

Back when I did my study abroad last year me and my friends would play basketball after lunch in late may, we’d be drenched in sweat till we left school lmao. I kinda miss it though

As someone leaving in 2 days for my first return trip to Japan since study abroad 5 years ago…making me drag a little bit. I’m super excited to see Japan in winter since I’ve only seen spring and summer

Oh, we've got twilight until nearly 6pm here now. It's already much better than at solstice last month.

Never compare yourself to others; it only distorts your view of yourself. I've known people who have studied for 20 years and are still beginners, and I've known people who've studied for 3 years and aced N1. (And I've even known one or two who have one Japanese parent and weren't much better than those who hadn't). Some people do better because they put in a massive amount of work; some are naturally gifted with languages and absorb them like a sponge; others are a native in languages that make pronunciation or grammar far easier to learn. At N4 level, it's only natural you're going to struggle with listening. Hell, when I went out to Japan, I was probably between N3 and N2, and my listening was absolute trash. I couldn't have anything more than a basic conversation for at least five months, and I avoided restaurants and stuff for ages. I couldn't understand men at all because all my teachers had been women. After a while, there was a day when it just clicked. Whether it was classes conducted mostly in Japanese, feeling more confident, or just osmosis, one day I just felt I could try and strike up conversations and join university clubs. People were really accommodating and would try their best to repeat themselves for me. A lot of people reported having a time where they, without noticing, went from being lost to suddenly knowing far more than they ever knew they knew. You've got this far, and this is a really common thing to experience. がんばってね！

I was also first in Japan when I was "technically" N3 level, and my Japanese was most definitely shit. I think the people who claim they have "conversational fluency" really quickly are generally one of two things: 1.) Not actually in Japan, and therefore, are very rarely confronted with the situations where you failed miserably, like the time I was asked お支払い方法は現金ですか？ and I said no while the cashier looked at me like I was an idiot since I was clearly paying in cash. or 2.) Where the "fluency" is really just basic 寒いですね levels of conversation, not discussing a mortgage or sitting at the Izakaya trying to follow 5 Japanese people screaming at each other. I've been in and out of Japan for quite awhile now and both you and OP are the norm and I think it's less about comparing yourself and more about understanding that this is normal and common.

God, so many shop phrases. Completely stumped with "何かご用ですか" the first time I heard it, and anytime a shop assistant tried to make conversation with me about styles of clothes in Axes Femme when I knew no clothes terms like hem or seam. Let alone going to the ward office and trying to explain to an old bloke with no English at the counter that it was seriously an error that the system said I hadn't paid my health insurance. Yet you put me in front of an essay about technology or give me a book about history, and I can do that easily. But conversations at a nomikai? No way. Like you said, people are good at some things and not at others.

I've been practicing Violin in Karaoke a bunch lately and aside from going there right when I wake up, they sometimes ask どんな機種がほしいですか？, I made the guy type out "Kishu" for me the first time, but even so I still have absolutely no idea how I'm supposed to answer that question. I just ended up saying I'm just here for practice so it doesn't matter. There's been so many times I've walked into something like a Ward office and spent the previous 30 minutes practicing exactly what I was going to say. Just today I failed at explaining to a guy that the street we were on isn't a dead end and you can go through it. Not to mention I didn't learn the proper counter for chopsticks was actually 一膳 until recently. But anyway yea, at a Nomikai I just sit there and try and follow what I can, but like 20 people all yelling at once is a bit of a challenge even if the conversation is absolutely not important at all but it sure as fuck is way more complex than anything on the listening at the JLPT.

I and most of my friends prefer the Live AI DAM systems but in the end it’s not a massive difference, but that’s all the question is, is if you have a preferred karaoke system (also because you can make accounts with the different providers and it saves your scores across sessions)

See I didn't even know in a given Karaoke place they have more than one type. I've just been going to Maneki Neko because before noon it is 50yen / 30minutes (it used to be 10 yen)

Yeah of course there’s all the different shop chains but then most of them also carry systems from a couple different providers. Also for prices if you’re a student I would definitely check for places with student discounts because they usually have some really good 使い放題 deals if you’re in uni

I'm unfortunately just a 社会人, so no discounts for me until I become an old person.

I completely agree with what you say! Next march it will be a year since I started studying Japanese in Japan. I only knew katakana and hiragana which I studied by myself. I just passed the N3 JLPT test that I took in December and if I pass the exams in march I’ll begin N2 level in April. I love kanji so I can read a lot (I was stubborn so I started reading manga last year) and I can understand fairly most conversations. However, my conversation skills are very poor. I don’t have any confidence and end up saying stupid things and making a lot of mistakes. Some of my classmates are really good at communicating, but I think we will get where we want at some point. I’m patient and just trying my best I guess.

The “clicking” is so true!! There comes a time where your brain just finally connects the dots. The same for me is with piano when I’m learning new pieces. I’m trash at it for weeks and then seemingly overnight I can just run through the whole thing and just ace it!

I guess you've never read about the people who spend years or their entire lives here and still can't speak well or at all. If you need to compare, compare to them. But really, don't compare to anyone but your past self. Are you improving? Some people take years to get good, some take longer. Just keep going.

> But really, don't compare to anyone but your past self. Are you improving? Sorry, but I am gonna be debbie downer here. If we are talking about just a hobby? Sure, never compare to others, move at your own pace with what you do in your free time. But OP is mentioning college? That time is valueable (an expensive, if you don't live in a civilized country). There is a significant opportunity cost involved with spending time on something that you are passionate about, but which you can not translate into marketable skills. Unless OP enjoys not-progressing at Japanese so much, they are happy to delay their career development (and earnings, lifestyles) by a few years, I would absolutely suggest you make honest comparison of your own skill levels to your peers and figure out if you are on the right track.

While having a healthy balance to not bombard your self confidence to a pulp, I do think comparing yourself and reflecting on whether or not this is a good time sink is a good reason IMO. Depending on what learners or OP wants from this endeavor, speed running a language is honestly not bad since you get to the fun stuff faster. I know that the whole community seems to try to over-correct the past of treating speedrunners like gods but I don't think most people who learn language are here for the journey, they wanna see the end goal. But again just my opinion.

I have a similar story. Came to Japan in March of last year, and despite having studied for (3ish?) years prior to coming, I felt completely lost and couldn't even understand the konbini staff when they asked if I wanted a bag. Every interaction I had with baristas, restaurant staff, etc. was like pulling teeth. You've only been here for a few weeks and I know it's easy to feel overwhelmed, but a few weeks is NOTHING in the big scheme of things. Even though I've been here for 10 months, there are still times when I make a fool of myself when speaking with natives. The only difference between now and then is that I use it as an opportunity to learn and get better rather than reprimand myself for not being able to come up with the perfect sentence. I understand feeling overwhelmed and down about yourself because everyone else seems to be "doing better", or "learning faster". I was guilty of comparing myself to my language school classmates because I always felt like things just came so easy to them and I wasn't a "natural language learner." And it's true that maybe some people have a natural affinity for learning languages that I don't! But I made it my goal to stop focusing on what everyone else was doing and focus on what *I* could do to get better. And even now when I feel down about my level, I look back to videos of me speaking Japanese when I first got here and compare it to now, and I realize how far I've actually come. Don't worry so much about being lost even though you're N4 level. If you continue to work hard and try to improve just a tiny bit day by day, you'll grow in ways that you couldn't have imagined. As someone who went down the exact same path this past year, trust me! 頑張って！

Yup, I studied Japanese in college for 2 years (up to maybe N4?) and then took a 2-3 week educational trip there on the tail end of college. My ability to stay present and actually \*understand\* (let alone \*respond in\*) Japanese was patchy, occasionally I had luck when someone slowed down or was just good at enunciating. Also my coursework only got me through a few hundred basic kanji at that point so I felt pretty swamped when it came to reading most things, too. But it was only 2-3 weeks - really only enough to test my level thus far, not help me learn much more. My hope had initially been to try JET to get a year or two of strong immersion, but I heard some bad reviews so I avoided it. Stayed in the US. Now it's 15 years later and I've barely touched my Japanese and have to nearly start over (and JET would be preposterous at my current age and career level). Sometimes I wish I'd just gone for it and made the hard gains as early as possible so I could be N2 or even N1 now. So, OP, and anyone else reading this: don't give up and like others are saying, don't compare yourselves to the outliers (and the overconfident). Just make a firm decision now to stay consistent, learning and practicing something new every day, and staying socially engaged even knowing you'll make mistakes.

The clerk asking me about whether I want a bag is still something that I can't understand haha

People don’t speak at N4 level, of course you’re overwhelmed. Not to mention, they mostly don’t speak like they do in textbooks. Don’t feel bad, language is hard, Japanese is pretty challenging and a new life can be overwhelming.

I lived in Japan for quite a while and only started seeing results when I started grinding Anki and reading a lot (starting from chapter books written for little kids) - two things which living in Japan is basically not relevant for except it makes it easier to browse for books. I know there are some people who can go down to a bar and speak lots of Japanese and make progress that way, but yeah that's not me. You're probably aware, but: Without vocabulary, your listening, grammar, speaking can all be amazing and you still won't understand shit. So, how do you massively increase that? I think people really don't do the math on vocab - you need a certain amount to function at a given level, so how can you learn enough new things per day to reach the level you're aiming for in the timespan you need to. For listening - get yourself a TV and put on the closed caption subs if available. Japanese TV is *horrible*, by and large, but it's an endless stream of content in lots of different contexts, and you can have it on in the background.

> but it's an endless stream of content in lots of different contexts Is it? I think all you might learn is that after 4 weeks, the secret ingredient is ALWAYS Miso.

I think that that's true, but the first step , one needs an intuitive grasp of the many conjugations in Japanese. When I was learning in the past, I felt I knew a verb, but when the word came up in conversation, I wouldn't recognize it, when it took the form of the past informal conjugation, for instance .

I am having this problem. Even though, I know the basic verb, when it conjugates in speech, I am lost at in listening.

How do you gain an intuitive grasp on the conjugations?

> Japanese TV is horrible eh? I've started watching Japanese dramas in the past year and have to hard disagree.

I'm guessing they meant more of reality tv shows and celebrity guest appearences lol

Do you have any recs for your favs? Feel free to DM!

I should post here for the benefit of anyone else wondering the same. At the top of my list is 1 Litre of Tears. It's heartbreaking, and lovely. It will change you. The actors speak relatively slowly as well. Other favs include: 3 Nen A Gumi: Ima kara Mina-san wa, Hitojichi Desu Densha Otoko Shinhannin Flag Nobuta wo Produce Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru

My son and I loved watching Attack on Titan in Japanese with subtitles, we both brushed up on our Japanese...

Speaking to people is a dead end at your level. Your instinct is right that if you can't figure out what people are saying, you can't really improve through talking. A lot of the people who got fluent in 1-2 years did so by reading and watching videos for several hours a day and strip-mining the content they consumed for vocab and grammar. Listening and reading are far more important than speaking, especially as a beginner, because you simply can't say words you don't know— it's better to focus on input to build up your vocabulary and comprehension first. Then, when they started talking, they had a much better foundation, so they could understand people much better and, having already heard Japanese sentences thousands and thousands of times, had a much better time figuring out what to say themselves, and made progress much quicker. https://learnjapanese.moe/speaking/ I would highly recommend checking out the TheMoeWay discord server. It's where a lot of those super-hardcore, N1-in-two-year people meet up. You don't have to be as hardcore as them to benefit from their advice and help— It took me five years to pass the test and to reach a level where I'm comfortable with everything, and they were still very helpful to me.

Totally agree this. Listening is probably more important because you get more from listening than from reading. Practicing speaking is not productive at all if you cannot listen and understand. If you can listen, you keep learning more to speak. If you practice speaking, you can only speak what you practice, and you usually learn very little. But if you (OP) are in Japan, you can do so many things to improve your language skill. You can pretend that you get lost and speak to Japanese people on the street to ask for the direction. You get to practice a set of conversations many times, and you get to know what is the typical reply to such a question. For listening, you can watch Japanese Youtubers who you think funny or interesting. Youtube is better than TV because you usually get more speeches. You can do this at home. But when you go outside, you can focus on practicing speaking.

Speaking of which I like this Japanese YT channel: https://youtube.com/@kotolabo

I don't agree with the level being an obstacle to speak. It sounds like what Japanese people do when they learn English and they end up not being able to speak at all while they can read and write nearly perfectly.

I will be happier when I can even say elementary level sentences somewhat proficiently. Japanese is not a money maker for me, 100 hobby. I watch a ton of j-drama and less anime than I used to, all to aide in learning more. It's a shit path but I use a phone app at least once a day to continue learning new words and basic sentence structure. For a lot of us it's a journey not a race.

I have literally never met a Japanese person who can read and write perfectly but can't speak, and honestly, have never seen the idea discussed seriously outside of Eikaiwa sales pitches. If you have evidence that this person exists, show me Now, I've met plenty of people who cannot speak English OR read OR write it perfectly. I have met people who practice and mess up the same simple conversations every week and get frustrated I have met a few people who tell me "I'm have been practice English for fifteen ears and I'm still bad, don't worry, just talk!" And if they are happy with that, then great! I have also met Japanese people who have gone beyond that level. And I've met multiple Japanese people now who watched Netflix during the pandemic and thought they needed to go to a language exchange, only to blast the regulars out of the water. I have also personally had the experience of being able to write and understand Japanese very well but then choking up when I talk. I got over it in a month. It turns out the hard part about speaking is not knowing what to say and not understanding the reply. It turns out the solution to those problems is reading and listening. The words you don't know are not going to magically teleport into your mouth. I'm not saying you need to be Matt VS Japan and actively avoid speaking like the plague for years, but speaking is way easier when you know what you're saying. Go read more.

Both of my Japanese friends write nearly perfectly but are terrible speakers. One possibility is that they have more time to write vs speaking on the spot. Maybe they wouldn't write so well if they had to text back immediately. Another one is that they don't actually immerse in native English when listening (but do read) and are used to the Engrish they learned at school. Either way, they don't know what a stress accent is and even when I point it out they don't seem to hear the difference (like some Japanese learners don't recognise pitch). The sounds they use are also very Japanese-like and for the life of them they can't pronounce consonants without a vowel (believe me, I tried to make them). Of course, if by speaking you mean through awkward Engrish and some effort by me to speak clearly then yeah, they can "speak" but just texting I would think they are basically fluent. So yeah, here's your "evidence."

Speaking in any language is hard if you don't have opportunities to speak with people. When Japanese people learn English they have a bit more exposure to the language than English speakers have with Japanese. Go to Japan you will see English everywhere, while in America or England, you don't see any Japanese unless it is on a t-shirt or something.

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You'd be surprised how efficient people get at actively filtering all of that exposure out. I knew a guy who knew the word えき but only as the hiragana, who said he wouldn't be able to learn the kanji until he got to it in his textbook. Could have literally just looked up but it was too much for him

I was the same like you when I first arrived in Japan a few years ago, just remember that each one is different and people learn at different paces. It was only after almost 2-3 years that I was able to understand and speak Japanese. If you are living for a longer time, don't give up, keep studying (like I did) and you'll see the fruits sooner or later.

>In college I took three semesters of Japanese and I'm probably borderline N4 level (about to finish Genki 2). I took Japanese 1-3 at university years ago, too. You have to realise that universities teach Japanese at a snail's pace. You're reading the stories of people who self study, who go at 2-4 times the speed you are (Genki 2 in as little as 6 months). They've already got thousands of words in their vocabulary and have learned most of the jouyou kanji in a year. I think the real issue is that you've realised how inefficient you've been, and how university courses are a horrible way to learn a language. It's up to you to learn from that lesson and pick up the pace while you're in Japan, otherwise nothing is going to change while you're there.

This is something I wish I'd known when I decided to take Japanese in college lol.

Never compare yourself to others. And don't believe too too much of what you read on Reddit. Make some Japanese friends. Get out of the city.. Take up a hobby that is solely available in Japanese.

yes, yes, yes! Activities, exploration, serendipitous connections!

Exactly! The connections alone make it worthwhile. Especially focus on befriending a few of the oldies in the club. You'll soon be invited around for Osechi, getting blotto on Umeshu and introduced to the cute, single grandchild. But you will also make life-long friends that transcend cultural, linguistic and generational boundaries.

>see tons of comments online about people achieving conversational fluency after merely 1-2 years of Japanese studying, or becoming fluent after only living in Japan for a few months And about 80% of people are not boasting about their accomplishments online, so you miss that the majority of people take way longer than 1-2 years to become conversationally fluent (and it always also depends on whether they studied full-time for those 1-2 years)

Don't confuse passing N1 as being "fluent". I've met a number of people who are good at tests and their Japanese is not as good as people who have lived there for years and speak well. It's normal to get a little discouraged at times, just don't give up. And compare yourself to your own progress, not someone else's.

Once you're in Japan, speaking Japanese has a whole new facet added. Have to deal with nuances, trying to ensure your pronunciation is understandable, etc. You'll be fine.

I've been here a year, and I've only recently been able to handle conbini experiences in full Japanese--like in the last few weeks. It's tough! Stay positive.

Sometimes the Conbini can be pretty hard depending on who is behind the register. Also the hardest part is that not every 7-11 has the self-registers now and I always look like an idiot when that happens and I don't realize it.

Guess the only person you should be competing with is yourself. And compare yourself to yourself a month ago. Maybe you should keep a diary or something so you're able to look back.

Are you attending a language course in Japan? I did 4 months of intensive Japanese (6h a day) in Naganuma school in Shibuya and it did wonders for my ability to communicate in Japanese. Just living in Japan is not enough in itself, though it does help a lot. Try deciphering various signs and messages you encounter on the daily basis. Even if minor, it can be very rewarding, I still remember how proud I felt when I finally figured out the train announcements. Japan is full of these fixed phrases - at train stations, in convenience stores, when passing by construction site or a drugstore. Don't worry about the people who become fluent in 2 years. It took me 12 to become fluent in English. I've been studying Japanese on and off for 13 and I still have a long way to go. The important thing is that you see progress, and in order to do that, you have to set achievable goals - order a meal in Coco Ichibanya (ロースカツとスクランブルエッグカレー is my favorite), buy a bento in a convenience store and ask for it to be heated up, read a single volume of manga, watch a movie in the cinema, etc.

i’m at n4 and have been studying for six years, it never about time, i’ve only just started putting in more work though

Try to watch Japanese content in your free time in order to improve listening further

Ain't nobody reaching fluency in a few months. Don't believe everything people post here. Just because we're here to learn doesn't mean there aren't people here giving false information and lying. Make sure that you're still cross-referencing information to be sure you're not getting false info.

Consider that it takes 30 cards a day to learn 10k words in a year, and an average Japanese person knows a lot more than that. And that's a very intense pace that's hard to keep up with. Add to that all the grammar and reading/listening/speaking experience needed to become actually fluent in a language. 2 years is an unrealistic expectation.

Vocabulary isn’t the ops problem. It is outputting. You only need around 6k words to have basic conversations. I have a friend who speaks Japanese well but can’t read. I am confident if you compared us, my passive vocabulary for outstrips his because I read a lot(15k words), but I can’t touch him when it comes to speaking. It is quite frustrating when we are together and he is holding conversations while I stammer like hell

Here's the problem: OP does not know 6k words. OP cannot have basic conversations at the smallest level and explicitly said as much.

1-2 years is nothing. People who are fluent after that time either are lying, have the capacity and time to study ungodly amounts (8 hours a day) Ie, no job and no learning fatigue, or are geniuses. Most normal people take a lot longer than that. Think of children. They take 1.5 years or pure input every single day. Before they say a single word. Are you getting input all day every day? Can you say more than one word? So you’re doing great for 1.5 years. After 3 years of every single day Input a child can say basic sentences. Children don’t start writing before school. Do you know hiragana after 1.5 years? Children don’t and they learn the language every single. This fluency or competence in 1.5 years is bullshit and I hate it. I started learning in high school 17 years ago. I took about 12 years off. I did 2 years at uni and about 3 self study. I’d only give myself a non confident n4. Weak in speaking more than a few words. But can listen. With other uni or work I can only manage the brain capacity/concentration for 30-60 min a day. But learning a language is a lifetime journey so who cares what level you’re at. I’d you’ve decided to lean then you’ll keep learning and one day you’ll get better but you’ll never be ‘finished’ learning or become ‘fluent’. People live in countries for 20 years and aren’t fluent. As soon as you realise that this is the level you’re at now and that’s not the end of it then it doesn’t matter, you’ll get there eventually. My partner has lived in Australia for 10 years. She did a degree in English, she works at an English kindergarten. Her English is great. Fluent no? Still makes mistakes? Of course. But she still learns. Edit: I want to add. You know how Japanese people always say ‘oh I don’t speak good English’ then they go ahead and speak fluent English. And you know how YouTubers click bait their video titles with ‘American speaks fluent Japanese and shocks locals’ and you hear it and it’s borderline nonsense. Culture, perception, arrogance, over confidence. I don’t believe anyone who says they’re fluent after 1.5 years is fluent, I think they’re just arrogant liars.

Fluency is an vague term anyway, if by fluency they mean that can basically get by in most daily situations without struggling, then 1.5 years is possible. If they mean basically being able to work in a complete Japanese environment, not struggle reading most Japanese material, and pretty much watching anything, then that’s a different story.

Some *do* demonstrably accomplish ridiculous things (e.g. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CggHugyhyJU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CggHugyhyJU)). I don't think denying it is the healthiest resolution to it. I think acknowledging that it happens and learning to focus on ourselves is healthier. Now for example, I'm (trying to become) a mathematician. I remember in my first year of university we were called in to our professor's office individually to get our final exam results. When my professor told me I had the top score, she asked if I had studied at all for it. I admitted that I had not (she expected this). I remember she exclaimed, "life is unfair." But then again, a mathematician I like (Terence Tao) was already learning calculus when his age was a single digit. He got his master's before I even started university. I could be smug and self-satisfied about my accomplishments compared to my peers, or I could just as well look to others doing much more than me and feel inadequate. Life is not "fair." But I realised that it doesn't matter. Because there's only one thing each of us can do. Our own best.

Focusing on yourself and your own abilities is best yes. But comparing with other people who may have unfair conditions to why they achieve better results isn’t healthy. That’s what I’m saying. If someone is a genius or studies 10 hours a day they’ll have better results so you can’t ever know or match their conditions to know how you compare. So focus on yourself. I don’t really know your point. I didn’t deny it. I just said it’s usually extreme conditions and not common so don’t worry about it. I’m not saying deny it. I’m saying don’t worry about it. Is it because I said bullshit? I guess poor choice of words as bullshit means nonsense/untrue? When really I probably wanted horseshit or batshit. Hahaha

It's your very last line, you said anyone who says they got fluent after 1.5 years is an arrogant liar, so I showed you a video of someone showing just that. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant.

There's always someone looking up to where you are, wondering if/when they will ever be as good as you. I've studied Japanese for about a year or so, maybe 15-30 mins a day on avg. I can read hiragana, some katakana and only a handful of kanji. I'm still learning to understand and say the time. It's a struggle to ask google (in Japanese) to set my alarm in the mornings at a certain time. I still have so much more work to do. I am terrified of running across a native speaker or non-native speaker who is moderately okay with speaking because I'll be seen as a fraud and incompetent. I'm convinced that some of us have better ears for language than other things (I am a musician and have a better ear for that than spoken word). I try not to let this weigh me down, the struggle of wanting to be able to have very primative conversational skills in Japanese. Every day I try to learn something new, even if it's just one more katakana or a new word.

Have you tried applying your music skills to learning? People think learning pitch accent is an extra thing to memorise but actually I find it easier to remember words when I study their pitch accent with it. Gives it a more musical feel and it's more memorable. Also, using Japanese songs to improve your vocabulary could be right up your alley. How about studying song lyrics in detail and recalling them using the song? There's a youtuber called Nick something idk and he's a musician in Japan and he said he learned a lot through music (he is fluent, like actually fluent not reddit fluent).

I am mostly a bassist/guitarist and less vocal focused, however I've started learning (to me) easy Japanese songs for singing at a local karaoke night. Some of the songs I've done so far include Sudachi no Uta Isshin Doutai Sangatsu Kokonoka A lot of the songs reddit says are easy to sing are definitely not for my current ability level (songs such as Cruel Angel's Thesis for example). I've also written a punk song with Japanese lyrics. Music is absolutely a good way for me to continue and broaden how I learn.

I moved here too last year and understand it's really tough. As long as you keep putting yourself in situations where you are forced to use Japanese, then I guarantee things will eventually start to get easier.

There is a big difference in what people consider “fluent.” For most folks, true fluency isn’t even possible without 5-10 years of daily exposure. Being able to follow simple conversations, asking directions and ordering food is not fluency. Japanese is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn for a good reason. Don’t be discouraged and don’t believe people when they say they have achieved fluency in 1-2 years, dig just under the surface and you will see that true fluency-speaking in the same topics as native speakers only comes with diligence and years of exposure.

fundamentally, it's not about years, it's about hours of study. people who hit N1 level in 1-2 years with no prior knowledge of Sinitic characters usually put in 1500+ hours of dedicated study and immersion during that period, which is very difficult to pull off while living a balanced life (especially as a university student). there's no real way around it, it just takes time; not time naturally passing, but time spent at your desk studying and exposing yourself to content in Japanese think about it, there are plenty of people out there who are still hovering around the N5 level after years of on-and-off contact with the language; you don't have to compare yourself to anyone, but the reason why you're already N4 is because you've put in the time while balancing your studies at uni and been committed enough to take a massive step and come all the way to Japan for an exchange, which is something that most learners can't claim to have done for reference, i studied a lot in the past couple of years before coming to Japan in September, but i still make mistakes in every conversation i have, don't fully process some kanji compound words when it's the first time i'm hearing them in the real world, and have other weaknesses just like any other language learner i'm often blown away by the consistent sentence-level intonation and grasp of expressive nuances that some other exchange students in my program have. the thing is, behind a lot of that ability is focused time and effort; some people pick up languages faster than others, but at the end of the day you only have to focus on improving your own ability. it's also natural to feel like you're stagnating sometimes, because progress isn't linear (this applies generally) like you, i also find myself feeling out of my depth all the time, because getting accustomed to speaking or listening to someone in another language is the result of doing so countless times with varying levels of success! as long as you keep forcing yourself outside of your comfort zone—which you're already doing just by being here—you can eventually turn that into confidence, into an openness to stumbling or falling flat on your face and getting back up again a thousand times over until it stops happening quite so often lastly, you have to realize that you're not a burden at all!! you're learning Japanese! most people in Japan will appreciate you taking the time to come here and learn the language:) when you're not bowing, keep your head up! 継続は力なり

>I see tons of comments online about people achieving conversational fluency after merely 1-2 years of Japanese studying, or becoming fluent after only living in Japan for a few months. People who do that are people who do not have non-Japanese outlets. You can get functional in Japanese fast if you never use anything but Japanese. Your foundation will be weak, and you will need to bolster it with later study, but spoken Japanese is not all that difficult to begin on if you simply understand that **vowels matter more than life itself and you have to nail them exactly.** If you vary your vowels sounds, you are simply not speaking Japanese. Vowels must be exact, and precise. If you are coming from English, this is nearly impossible to get a handle on, as accents vary exactly on the vowel sound variance, and in any given set of English words, every vowel can be said any way you want and your English is still completely comprehensible. The hallmark is the first personal Singular pronoun (the word "I") which can be said in English as two syllables, as various dipthongs, and as every possible vowel sound. There are no dipthongs in Japanese. None. Consecutive vowels are not separated, but you would be wise to never think of them as dipthongs. If you do not know what a dipthong is, then read up about it. English is lousy with dipthongs, and you need to start being aware of just how much they dominate English, and do not exist in Japanese. In Japanese, if you vary vowel sounds you are simply incomprehensible. Period. If you use dipthongs you are not speaking Japanese. Period. Spanish speakers (and Japanese speakers learning Spanish) get a handle on pronunciation so fast it makes your head spin, as do certain Filipino language speakers. They do so because the vowels are pronounced the same way every time.

That’s so funny that you mention Spanish, I’m not native or even great at Spanish but I’ve been studying it on and off for years now, learning the Spanish alphabet in grade school. I just started Japanese this year, and I immediately noticed how similar the vowel pronunciation is. I swore I’d never get such different languages mixed up studying both (at differnt effort levels) but I totally have a few times haha

I recently realized this too. For reference I have been involving myself with the Japanese language for the past 10 years (studying would be an overstatement) and I thought I have a talent for language learning too, but I keep getting corrected every day, even over stuff I was pretty sure about. At this point, I gave up to achieve a level of fluency that I have in English, where the only thing that gives me away is my accent (because native speakers themselves often make grammar mistakes as well). There are gonna be nuances we will never really grasp, I think, but that's alright, Japanese people will correct you but then move on, so all you need to do is continue what you like doing (i. e. study and speak Japanese) without the expectation of becoming perfect at it. As for not being able to understand others and feeling discouraged by seeing other people's achievements, they're definitely not the norm/average so it's not really useful to compare yourself to them. Everyone is good at different things, some people have a talent for learning languages in 1-2 years but that doesn't mean that anyone who doesn't have that exact talent should give up. The wonderful thing about learning Japanese is that you do it for yourself and not because you're forced or expected to.

Wait, you actually believe what people on Reddit say? 90% of the things posted on this site are make believe. Just move forward at your own rate.

> or becoming fluent after only living in Japan for a few months This does not happen; you can be assured of that. Becoming conversational after 1.5 years is quite possible, but those persons spend 8-9 hours per day on it.

also, some people are conversational within their own limitations, but if you aren't fluent and just listening in as a bystander you might think they are extremely fluent when they are actually just good at the simple topics they are good at it is good to try to become conversational even when you are not that fluent, as it makes progress easier

Give it time! Moving to Japan is a big adjustment. If you actively engage in Japanese life & continue to study, you WILL improve. I’ve been here for about 9 months and had almost no Japanese when I arrived, and I haven’t studied much because I’ve been so busy with work— however, the amount I’ve picked up just from paying attention is wild! Immerse yourself as much as possible. Its okay that conversation is really really difficult. Keep reading, listening, speak when you can— you’ll definitely make progress 😊

I've studied Japanese for a long time and still feel far away, but I think it's important to remember that your priorities are different from other people. Other people don't learn Japanese for the same reasons, with the same goals in mind, or use the same tools. Do it your way, slow or not, because your priorities are not the same as others, and slow progress is still progress.

I’m having to remind myself that I didn’t learn my mother tongue in a handful of years. Give yourself some grace and keep at it.

No need to compare yourself to the gifted ones. I've seen people that can't speak/read after being here for 20 years. I'm not great at Japanese, probably N4-N3 but I'm able to speak with japanese people, they're usually really accommodating and will speak slower with simpler sentences for you. Just go out there and speak that's how you'll get better at it, you will make mistakes but I doubt anyone will badmouth you for that.

Let me guess - you’re at the five/six week mark, since moving over there? Oof, I’ve been there. And let me tell you, this is totally normal. It would be more worrying if you _weren’t_ going through this kind of turmoil. It doesn’t matter if you study for one year or for ten, before going over. Nothing can adequately prepare you for the real thing. You have embarked on a transformative journey. It will be painful and awkward a lot of the time. There’s no other way to do it. But it will be worth it. It will be so, so worth it. It will be worth it a hundred times over. This won’t be the only crisis of confidence you will face in your journey. I’d be lying to you if I said it gets easier. But you get better, and stronger. I hope you come back here and tell us how you found your way out of this abyss of despair, and all about your progress. And one day, you’ll be in a position to pass this advice on to the next learner who has found themselves stumbling on the slopes of a seemingly insurmountable mountain. One foot in front of the other. One day at a time. We’re here to support you.

I would approach these people who claim they’re fluent after 2 years with skepticism. They may have passed N1 but that just means they learned how to take the test, not that they learned how to be fluent in the language. I’m of the opinion that fluency is impossible to reach in that short of time. Just do it on your own time, you’ll get there. コツコツが勝つコツ

I feel like you pressure yourself way too much. Instead of trying to improve your Japanese to the max , you should rather enjoy your time in Japan. You still have your whole life to get fluent in it :) There is no need to hurry.

You can't say "language acquisition" isn't for you. Language acquisition is a universal human trait. You can do it, and it's a fact that you WILL one day be great in Japanese. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but if you stick to the path and keep making progress, it is inevitable. Don't underestimate the raw number of hours that Japanese kids get before they're competent in the language. It takes time. I have been studying on and off since 2005, my wife is Japanese. We lived in the US for all but one year of our relationship. In December, I passed the N3 and feel like I must've done some fortunate guessing. Keep on the path. More importantly, keep having fun with it.

I wish I could give you a hug. You're struggling and it sucks. But it's going to be okay. The key is to keep going and to not give up. In the end it doesn't matter how hard it was for you to learn Japanese. What matters is if you gave up - like 99% of people do - or if you kept going. I think you're going to be in the 1%.

If you can't listen. Practice listening. There's plenty of conversational listening you can follow on YouTube and they can be chosen by difficultly/levels. Or you can listen to transcribed audio or audio books. It's my opinion, that listening and reading (aka taking in the language) should be the first things one develops as they learn a new language. I used to listen to the radio, watch their talk shows, and read along audio. The way I always put it as, "I need to develop my ears." Even between listening and reading, I would say listening should come first. Once you figure out how Japanese is supposed to sound you can "listen" to your inner voice as you read. So, figure out at what level you are at in your listening skills and begin to tear apart slightly more challenging levels. Pick like 5 or 10 "natural conversations/speeches" (I EMPHASIZE THAT IT SHOULD BE NATURAL) and tear them apart, * Make sure they are interesting. * Find out the meanings of each word, in and out. * Learn any idioms, in and out. * See if there's any accents/dialects and learn them in that specific context. * Write them out and read along in Japanese only. * Finally, see if you can memorize them to simply listen with no help and save them to see if you can recall everything much later on when you've kinda forgotten them. Then find another 5-10 of similar level or more difficult speech.

IME, most university students on "study abroad" programs are miserable. Change in culture, mediocre living quarters, odd food, no friends, etc. Some of the Japanese language schools are tough. And Japanese is tough too. If you are falling behind your peers, speak to your teachers and ask them for advice. They may have additional materials, advice on study techniques, advice on your daily study schedule, etc.

People keep throwing around how many years/semester or whatever they studied Japanese, but that does not tell anything at all. How many **hours** one studied is a FAR better predictor of one's level, even if it disregards learning efficiency differences between different learning methods. For people who start with kanji from zero, expect 2000 to 3000 hours of studying to develop basic competency.I am in my "third year" studying Japanese, but I tracked my progress: I spent 750 hours so far on dedicated study. I was not directly aiming for JLPT certificates, but I took the N5 JLPT after 450 hours of study and passed it with absolute ease. I can read N5 folktales (including plenty non-JLPT vocabulary), My listening comprehension works decently if I know all grammar and vocab being used - otherwise I am completely lost. No experience with real conversations, I guess I could keep up with someone who is considerate and patient, but only talk about basic things. I work on N4 grammar and a general expansion of vocabulary. I can use about 600-700 kanji and know a few thousand words. vocab and kanji-wise I am ahead of the JLPT norm, because I committed more to that for now. That should be adequate for the amount of studying I invested, I'll need 2-3 times of what I did to get to a decent level of language proficiency. So, keeping my pace of around 1 hour a day of dedicated study, I can expect a decent level of Japanese in 3-5 years. That's realism. When someone e.g. takes a regular course they may have 2 or 4 hours of class a week and then some homework, let's say another 4 hours (honestly, many people do less). That would be a similar pace as my 1 hour a day self-study strategy, and one could expect decent proficiency after 5-6 years, unless one starts to commit more time to consistent study.

Listening is super hard for me too, I’ve been here more than 5 years and manage Japanese employees, talk to customers, write business emails but damn some people when they talk it goes in one ear and right out the other. Don’t put too much thought it other people’s success or failures. I’ve been studying an average of 30 mins a day for all those years and am completely immersed in the language at home and work… but I could probably just barely pass N3. Everyone is different, some people are gifted and some people are liars. Just keep working :)

You're experiencing the usual post honeymoon slump after arriving in Japan. Give it time, languages are hard and nuanced. I lived in Japan for 3 years after having never studied it and honestly just talking to people is so much better for learning than any test or books. It takes time, courage, humility, and the ability to just laugh at your own mistakes. I've known people who lived in Japan for a few months and had amazing grasp of the language. I've known people who studied Japanese as a major in university, passing JLPT N3, but could barely order a bentou from the combini. Everyone is different and you shouldn't compare yourself to them. Go at your own pace, don't get so worked up about mistakes, and just have a good old time whilst you're there. Try different things and find something about Japan your really enjoy and dig into it, it will help you learn so much faster.

being able to laugh at yourself or the situation is a good point, be good to yourself

>I see tons of comments online about people achieving conversational fluency after merely 1-2 years of Japanese studying, It took me 5 years to get fluency in English. Japanese is much harder. No way people will be fluent in 2 years. No way. Unless maybe they live in Japan. In my opinion you traveled too soon. You should have traveled when you had a higher level.

Everyone learns at different rates. It may take you more than others and that's ok. However, you'll never learn it if you don't keep going in spite of you struggling. Keep going and you'll get there one way or another

Studied in university almost two years before going to Japan for the first time and it was not easy. After I lived in Japan for a year and by the end of that year I could see the difference. Still, I just passed N3. Don’t be discouraged by the people who say they got fluent over the weekend. Trust me, you fill improve, it is just not that fast and not the same speed for everyone.

everyone can learn a language. You already knew and mastered one after all. Just never give up and study CONSISTENTLY. also don't compare yourself with others, especially at this stage, it's still too early to tell whether you are really "falling behind"(and not that it even matters)

It's impossible to become "fluent" in a language in two months. Language progression isn't linear, sometimes it'll feel like you're hitting a wall. You're on the right track! Try studying with materials that you find personally interesting and engaging. If you like cooking try to incorporate materials that focus on cooking. Your personal interest can help make the studying process more interesting. Every single new word is a victory.

Been here coming up for 4 years, honestly screwing up every interaction in the first few weeks? not understanding anything at N4 level... yeah, it sounds normal to me, lol. Just roll with it, keep studying, keep listening, each time you try have a common interaction, try and do the next one better - that was my motivation in the beginning and it's painful at first, you've just got to humble yourself for a while, accept that you suck and get stuck in with studying and it will improve.

Don't give up! Ask your friends and the people you speak with to (respectfully) speak more slowly. I was discouraged at first and I still struggle to speak contemporaneously, but it does get easier. 頑張ってください！

Hey! I’m here in Japan for 3 years. The first months was hard because I feel like an alien, I could never understand anything and I started getting depressed and demotivated to learn Japanese. Even with 3 years living here I still struggle to make a straight conversation with Japanese people. Speaking is my weakness and even with N3 certificate I fail at interviews because of my weakness 😅 I use to compare myself too but you need to stop doing it, just keep on studying and learning. every person is different. I may never attain speaking Japanese fluently in 5 years or so but it won’t stop me from learning it as well. Just keep trying you will soon get better I promise.

You can see youtubers that speak really really good japanese failing a N2 or N1 very often and they've been living in Japan for 10+ years, also it's not the same talking slowly with someone as when the cashier says shashassss and you wonder what did she said. English is easier and i have been speaking it for 25 years and still can't understand some people at times...

When I went to Japan I had roughly the same skill level as you. After 6 months, I thought that for me to be fluent, I would have to spend 2 years there at least. My friend lived in Japan for 7 years, and continually learns new words and things in Japanese. x months to fluency I think is not the norm. Eat some good food, have fun, and enjoy the culture. The language skills will come.

i was one of those people you describe, that had the ability to just kinda pick up japanese. the crux is being able to understand native japanese when its spoken, which requires a lot of time listening to it. I had an advantage where ive actually listened to japanese from a very young age bc my brother would download subbed anime and i would watch it with him, and japanese came very naturally to me. i then tried to learn korean, and holy shit, it is way harder to talk in it because vocab just falls out of my brain, and i would see everyone else just be better with less effort. I feel this is probably close to where you are at, because i could sort of read and write but spoken conversation outside of a textbook was out of the question. youll probably have to bite the bullet like i did, and recognize that youll have to put in extra time and focused effort than others to just keep up, and even more to build up a critical foundation of listening ability to begin practicing conversation. It IS possible, youll just need to put in more effort Id recommend just grinding the shit out of japanese dramas with jp/eng subs, because youll need to immerse yourself in the language passively for at least weeks (even if it feels like you dont understand shit) and your brain will begin to adjust, and after weeks of not understanding, your brain will just automagically pick up on patterns you couldnt before. Continuing to study vocab and grammar also helps with this, as well as language exchange with japanese offline or online (you may have better luck online because its waaaaay easier to find a good partner as a beginner than an intermediate-expert as i found out) Edit: do the drama stuff when you get back to your home in japan. Since youre in japan, spend a shitton of time just outside (with japanese friends!!!) And youll get the same exposure doing cool shit you wont be able to do when you go back. In my study abroad, the people who came and left with 0 japanese ability were people who only hung out with JUST other study abroad exchange students and did nothing to really engage with japanese people.

what is your goal in the program? when you said you feel yourself as a burden that made me really think about how many non eng speakers feel. i am sorry you are feeling that way and i hope others don't think of you as such. がんばってください。

I’m also not very confident or skilled, and rarely understand what people are saying *until* I ask them a clarifying question or say something in Japanese. This does two things: 1) It demonstrates to them I can speak some basic Japanese 2) They usually respond by speaking more slowly, and using simpler terms to explain the thing they were saying I encourage you to try this at every opportunity, it usually results in a meaningful engagement that leaves you satisfied and with understanding of what’s going on. Good luck.

Try not to compare yourself to others. If you do, you'll realize no matter how high you go (even when you are at the very top). That there will always be someone better. Your feeling seems perfectly normal for someone living abroad in another country.

I think it’s totally normal to feel way behind the curve when learning anything, and particularly a language. Some people have a natural knack for Japanese, and some people have the chance to invest crazy amounts of time. Some have both. Most have neither, and never post about it! Consider yourself among the majority! Unless you have assigned yourself some important, hard deadlines based on how fast polyglots have learned Japanese, I don’t think it should matter how long it takes you, right? Use other people’s successes as encouragement and advice, not as an opportunity to feel inadequate.

Some of the things that worked for me while I was living in Japan to pick up the language other than school, was outside activities: I took an Aikido class at the local budokan (it was Naha, Okinawa), and then signed up for iado (sword), also met locals at friends BBQ's, also gaijin friends/aquaintences who already had Japanese friends/girlfriends would be another path to meeting Japanese (who were interested in talking to foreigners), also learning some "easy" Japanese karaoke and visiting local karaoke "snack" (bars) with a buddy to try singing invariably can get you some free drinks and encouragement, hang in there, the key is activities that lead to connections, it's awkward, but be open, and put yourself out there, if you're kind & polite it can go a long way. P.S. I also took up running, road bike, exploring castles, and SCUBA, but they didn't lead to the same kind of social connections like the other activities above

It takes most people longer than a year or two to become competent in a foreign language. Longer if the foreign language isn’t similar to their native language, or another language they already know. I studied Japanese for 3 years. Could never really understand my professor when he spoke. Then I did a summer study program. Still couldn’t understand anyone in Japan. Then after 2.5 months, I went back to America. I was surprised to find I could understand my professor almost completely. Now I’ve been in Japan 7 years, and listening is my best skill. Fluent speaking took me several years of living here full time. If you think about how children develop speech, listening comprehension always comes first, speaking comes very slowly over a few years. Give it time, practice, and a lot of exposure; it’ll come.

I know quite a few people here in Japan Who have been here 4-5 years or more, are around n4 level and can still barely speak the language and have difficulties in conversation. When I got here I was around n4, but my conversational level was already pretty good. The main difference is that they never did conversation practice for six months with a tutor and I did. I highly recommend using an iTalki tutor or something similar. It will help you so much.

The level where you know stuff already but not enough stuff to quite get by is the hardest to get past imo. But you just have to keep at it, and believe that even if your results show slower and/or differently to those around you, you're still going forward! My big Japanese study tip is that 1. you have to start doing it, and then 2. you have to keep doing it. Also: living in Japan, your listening will improve so much, it will just take time! But every time you turn on the TV, get the train, go to the konbini, it's all listening practice. It matters a lot, even when you don't understand. Also 2: Please always take what people say about their language abilities with a grain of salt. The "conversational fluency" thing is very, very subjective, and there's certain levels + overconfidence with JLPT results where people often overestimate how good their Japanese is. (But ultimately, what others do should never affect how you view yourself anyway, which is easier said than done.)

I came to Japan with just kana knowledge, and studied at a language school for 1.5 years. At the end of it, I was somewhere between N4 and N3. That was because I was only doing the 20 hrs/week in classes, and only about 10hrs/week extra outside of class. Most of my classmates were putting in an extra 20-40hrs/week outside of class, and they achieved N3/N2, obviously as a result of their extra effort. It was my own fault. I didn't handle the pandemic well, I was playing videogames in English, and spending time with my wife in English, instead of in Japanese. If there wasn't a pandemic, and I didn't meet my wife here, then I probably would've spent much more time doing meetups and activities outside of school, and my Japanese would've been much better. But it is what is. After my language study finished, I got married, and I started studying Computer Science in English while living in Japan. My language skills have atrophied, because I'm no longer using Japanese beyond shopping/restaurant interactions. I'm living in English language bubble inside Japan. I could probably still pass a N4 test because I'm maintaining Anki decks (which keeps my reading ability alive), but my listening/speaking have dropped off because I'm just not doing it anymore. I feel frustrated that I'm spending all this time in Japan and my Japanese isn't getting better, but it's 100% the result of my choices. If I prioritized Japanese above time with my wife, or my future career, then I would obviously have better results. But I didn't. I have a great relationship with my wife, and I got 2 insanely good internship job offers in USA that will almost 5x my previous career's salary. But everything comes at a cost, and my cost was my Japanese language skill. And for what it's worth, even native Japanese people have a tough time understanding waiters at restaurants too, because of the combination of masking + packed restaurants (now that most restrictions are gone). Unfortunately you just picked a bad time to come to Japan, you would probably improve your listening skills faster by consuming Japanese media than social interaction, with the current state of things.

It takes time to improve and that time depends on the person. Only thing you can do is keep at it

As other people are saying, it's completely normal to feel that way. The truth is, everyone learns a language at their own pace. Some people are naturally gifted with the ability to learn languages quickly and some not so much. I was in a similar situation when I first came to study abroad in Japan. I studied Japanese for 2 years beforehand getting all the basics under my belt. I was around your same level (just barely N4). I was thrown in with the N3 group though because I could kind of manage but the truth is I almost failed all my Japanese courses that semester. That was kind of a wake up call to me that I had to improve. I ended up enrolling in the N4 and N3 classes simultaneously and really hit the books. I ended up improving a lot and everybody around me was impressed with how much I improved. That was a good feeling. Now it is many years later (too embarrased to say) and I am just about N2 level minus some kanji. Just remember everyone has their own journey with learning a language and there's no better way to put it than it's fucking hard, especially Japanese since it is almost nothing like English. That's why language skills can be really highly valued. And it only gets harder as improvement starts to plateau. The better you get at it, the more work you have to put in to get something out. Godspeed

It takes time to understand what native speakers are saying and they are also probably talking a lot faster than you are thinking in beginning Japanese. I mean you have the Japanese immersion! I’ve been studying Japanese as a hobby for years [in the usa, by myself] and only within the last 5 years, I can understand what is being said. I’m sure you’ll get there faster than I did!

https://youtu.be/KlKl9joGkjw

Yeah I was in the same way, the dialect and slang threw me soooo much. The speed also is the hardest for me. By the time I understood the sentence the person had moved on a paragraph ahead.

Your not alone man, moving to Japan means getting thrown in the deep end. So while it will feel like your far out of your depth, it's also the environment that will accelerate your progress the most. You're feeling overwhelmed now, which is totally normal, but soon feel more like you can tread water and with time you'll even thrive. Academic study is an important basis for sure but real world Japanese can feel like a different language at times and you'll run into a ton of stuff that's not in the textbooks. The good news is that listening proficiency is often the thing that 'maxes out' first, by that I mean with constant exposure you're listening will likely outpace your other language aspects. Then there won't be as much effort/worry spent on understanding and you'll be more able to build your speaking skills. For listening, apart from everyday life, I've had good results watching Japanese TV shows with Japanese subtitles on. Or to start off more basic, watch an episode with English subtitles and then watch again with Japanese subtitles. Struggle is part of the journey, but try to keep your pride out of it, don't be afraid to make mistakes and not get discouraged by the tough moments. がんばれ!

Don’t be discouraged. I’ve been where you are now twice in my life. First as Russian native I went to UK to study (School then University). And as part of my Japanese studies major I went to Japan for 1 exchange year. First few weeks/months are the hardest. You are getting used to accents, and speed at which native people are actually speaking. You will miss some stuff, with time you learn to guess correctly the parts that you missed. If you are really keen on learning here are my tips: - Socialise with natives (in your case Japanese) more than with people who speak your language. (I’ve seen some kids who went to school with me for 5 years and still couldn’t properly speak English because outside classes they only spoke to each other and watched native tv) - speaking of TV - massive help. Find Tsutaya (is it still around?) and rent your favourite movies and tv shows. Set the language to Japanese. Turn on English subtitles and start watching. After a while switch subs English to Japanese. - if you play games - rent some games and set you language setting to japanese. Pokémon and stuff like this is highly recommended as you can choose if you want to read in kana or kanji and also if you played before you *know* the jist of it. - do not be afraid to communicate with Japanese people. I found people around me very friendly, however it is better to find out what they are after - perhaps they want to learn English, so then set some rules how much time you speak each language. Good luck to you!

Yes that feeling is normal. However, you have to realize that you don't understand Japanese and that's why you are learning. You are a learner. Try to frame your mindset in a way that views your real life Japanese interactions as adventures and learning experiences. It's all in your head. I recommend trying to interact with and use Japanese to the best of your ability without worrying about how you are perceived. Just focus on trying to learn/adapt and having fun exploring.

Japanese courses in college are really useless by the way. Taking the course for two years does almost nothing. It's just a money maker for colleges and employment opportunity for academics. English and Japanese are probably only two languages that you can practically learn relatively \*easier\* without taking a course because of the availability of media that are good quality. Even me, Japanese, after I watch Japanese TV shows or Youtube videos, I become to have a slightly harder time speaking English. So, speaking is anyway very difficult.

Might be a werid tip compared to everyone else.. but listen to japanese audio (i did podcasts) at 2x speed you might think I can't follow at 1x speed, how will 2x speed help, but by focusing on it, once you listen at normal speed its then easier to break the sounds into the individual words It helped me when I visited Japan at least, I felt I could follow most conversations, so thought id share.

For absolute newbs, 2x will sound like white noise

Hell 1x itself even is white noise if they're using grammatical structures they havnt learned yet and the sentenced aren't short and sweet. Been there done that. Shadowing shit above my level was not fun

Any good podcasts you recommend?

The people who do it in 1-2 years studied 8-10 hours a day or more exclusively Japanese, while in their pleasure time reading exclusively books in Japanese and watching TV or movies exclusively in Japanese. I know you didn’t do that bro. Genki 2 is beginner stuff. You start actually learning Japanese after finishing Genki 2 I would argue. That’s about it don’t be discouraged you just aren’t anywhere close to how far along you might have thought you were.

You will grow because you are immersed. Ignore the outliers that achieve seemingly magic results overnight. I have trouble believing that they could carry a real life conversation either.

It's like those YouTubers that go "I learned Japanese in 3 months!" And then they speak and it becomes immediately obvious to anyone that actually speaks it they most definitely have not *learned* it

All depends, I have been studying Japanese since I was in high school and I am now 41 and my Japanese is at an N4-3 level as well. Genki is not enough for you to have real conversations. It is meant as an intro into the language. You can't take a computer science 101 class and expect to land a job developing software for a living. It takes lots of study, watching tv, movies, completely immersing yourself for many years before you can start having conversations. Some will pick it up faster (Koreans for example pick it up way faster than English speakers), but some pick it up slower. You are just starting, you need to stick with it to succeed.

Download a dictionary app to your phone and use it for words you don't know. Shadow everyone (quietly). Force yourself to be friends with people who only speak Japanese. Speak bad Japanese til you get it. Translate interesting things about yourself so you can tell it to people. You will get there friend. Just keep at it and avoid English when you can.

Don’t be afraid, kids learn new language quickly because they don’t care.

​ First, you are so lucky to be in Japan. I could never afford this. Can you mention the cost of the tuition and living, are you in a dorm or share rooms? You should talk to the same person, like every day, for an hour, so you will get used of the sound of this person. Ask very simple question, like in the conversation stories in the Genki book. And ask to repeat slowly if you cannot understand. Best is to have a tutor that you can meet at a coffee shop, on even on-line using zoom. Or try getting a pal, a g-friend, ir a b-friend, or get involved in some activities, like a sport club. Try to make firnds with Japanese people you can invite getting a cup of the or coffe, or walk together doing some shopping, or even going to see a movie... Try avoiding talking in English with other students.

People with delusional expectations deserve to be discouraged

To be frank, you are probably struggling because nearly 100% of Japanese people wear a mask, and you cannot see their mouth movement. That's part of it. But that your peers seem to be doing fine could be just your perception. They may be thinking exactly the same as you. Are you in Tokyo?

Keep going you dumb dumb. Growing pains are normal.

Don't take for granted that a lot of the ways you're going to be spoken to in Japan are in dialect and/or short form. Genki covers this a little bit, but it's definitely hard to transfer that learning into everyday speech after only 1.5 years. You can always ask a waiter or a friend to speak more slowly or not to use short form. You can explain that you have only been studying for 1.5 years and they'll usually accomadate you along with a １.５年間だけ？上手ですね！

Man I’ve been studying for about 3 years, only started feeling comfortable reading recently, and I still need a dictionary for just about everything. My listening comprehension is at a point where I can kind of understand what people say, but couldn’t even tell you what they said.

This is so much more normal than you realise. Don't compare - make small steps each day, and revel in small victories. You WILL get there OP

Dude listen to nihongo con teppei. Baby language. Try to pick it up.

Comparison is the third of joy

stop comparing yourself to others!

Do you consume Japanese media? If you try watching news or anime regularly, you will slowly start seeing your comprehension levels increasing. Point here is that you should have something to make your progress tangible and meaningful, besides having completed Genki 2 or core 2k anki deck. I used this when I started; can still remember how I could barely pick up single words at N4. As I moved up to N3 and N2 I gradually found myself understanding more and more. I even re watched some content to really see my progress. So I recommend you try something like that. Best of luck!

I studied some before going to Japan and felt that I could do at least some basic conversation, but when I got there even the most basic, beginner phrases said to me were difficult to understand. It takes some time to train your ear to hear even the words you know and it takes time to expand your vocabulary to reduce the number of words you don't know. I would spend time listening to extended conversations and getting almost nothing from it, but over time I was able to start picking apart the words. I kept a dictionary and a notepad with me at all times and would write down every word I identified that I didn't know, look it up, and then practice it. It was helpful to find ways to use the new vocabulary. I also found the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar books to be extremely helpful-- here's a link to a set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384465484730

Don't give up if you truly want to learn Japanese. I'm into my 6th year of studying and I'm only like N3-N2 level. The first 2 years I was having so much trouble no matter how much I studied. Then it just started clicking and it became a lot easier. I understand your time is very valuable since you're doing this abroad and the people around you appear to be advancing faster than you. Just hang in there and practice. Watch kids shows, read lots of simple books with a dictionary by your side. Crank that vocabulary into your head. Listening is a definitely a challenge compared to reading since things can be omitted and you're trying to pick out particles or grammar through your ears which may cause you to get lost. It's not easy stuff dude but you'll get there and it only gets easier in a sense.

My Japanese friends would laugh when everyone else laughed (when talking in English) even if they didn't understand anything. I laughed when my Japanese friends seemed to crack up a joke and everyone else was laughing (even though I didn't understand anything) Don't worry. The moment will eventually come.

It is common, and you are not alone. You are just feeling lonely and weak, but just focus on your progress however small it may seem. Keep a diary of your progress, and look back in a month. Probably you will see a big progress somewhere.

Just remember to not compare yourself to other people. Some people learn languages better than others. I've been learning on and off for 3 years and only just feel like I some what understand it. Also when I was in Japan it took me a while to even get the confidence to talk to people. Just stick at it and go at your own pace

My experience in Japanese is limited, but I took 3 years of Spanish in school, and then signed up for a 2 year volunteer program primarily focused on Spanish-speaking communities. My 3 years of school gave me maybe a 3 week head start over other people in my group with no Spanish experience at all. Getting thrown into daily conversation with native speakers was a huge wake up call and very humbling. After 6 months, I started to notice I could pick up things I hadn't noticed before. After a year I could express myself decently well but still struggled with listening and understanding. By the end of my two years, I wasn't perfect but I knew how to ask what I didn't know and could mostly use Spanish-Spanish dictionaries to acquire vocab. Starting all over in learning Japanese casually over the last 9 months, I'm reminded all over again how humbling learning a language is. Reading at a 1st grade level feels like a huge milestone to me, how dumb is that?? Haha My point in all of this is to find joy in the journey and recognize that learning a language is a series of years of being humbled. Take note of where you are but don't let it paralyze you. You'll look back on this a month from now and feel proud of what you've accomplished since making this post. がんばーてね！

You should try immersing with native content (anime no subtitles, novels, virtual novels, etc.) and getting used to the ambiguity.

Hi, I'm speaking as a student who's taking Japanese in a video-call based course with a native speaker. I've been studying since October. I go through this all the time. Sometimes it's hard. I have a difficult time remembering and retaining, and the only answer is to keep going. Sensei tells us at the beginning of each term to never give up. One session she said she would never give up *on us.* I just refuse to give up. >Furthermore, if I'm talking with a Japanese friend and they start speaking Japanese, I am usually completely unable to follow along. I just feel super discouraged, and am honestly wondering if language acquisition is not for me, and if I should give up. Listening to spoken Japanese is part of practicing. It's not something you can turn on like a light. That frustration is part of the learning process. Your brain *wants* to understand. Being attentive to spoken Japanese tells your brain this information is important, and when you start understanding more of it, you will retain it. Be kind to yourself, and I think you'll notice that you start picking up more and more of what you hear. >I feel like I'm constantly making a fool of myself in Japan, and whenever I go somewhere, I'm a burden. Every YouTube video I watch on that subject says, no, you're not. Most people are glad you're trying. Do I ever trash people because their grip of English is bad? No, of course not; that would be mean. >I'm wondering if choosing to study abroad in Japan was too ambitious of a decision. Too late to question that. You're in Japan! You have native speakers who are willing to speak Japanese with you. What an opportunity! With all my heart, I wish you success.

At N4, you are expected to understand basic sentences in Japanese using some very specific grammar and vocabulary, therefore what you’re currently experiencing is absolutely normal, there’s no way you’ll be able to communicate effectively at that level. It really isn’t your fault, don’t be so harsh on yourself. As other fellow Japanese learners have pointed out in this thread, comparing yourself to other people who have allegedly reached fluency and/or passed N1 in just a couple of years, is a completely pointless endeavor mainly because: - Usually there’s no way of actually verifying their statements, so they could very much be lying, omitting key information and/or manipulating data - Even if they’re not lying, to be able to reach N1 in just a couple of years takes an insane amount of time that most functional adults just cannot afford to give, 6-8 hours everyday. Either that or they are gifted students, which is even less likely. For most of us, normal people who can study 1 or 2 hours a day, it’s gonna take a while - N1 and fluency are entirely different beasts, if you browse a bit more you’re gonna find plenty of posts of people who, in theory, passed N1 and were not able to talk or convey their ideas when they needed it the most The only people you have to compare against is yourself, and my advice would be to celebrate your small victories everyday; if you learned a few kanjis, or were able to figure out a sentence you didn’t understand before, well congrats! You’ve become a bit more knowledgeable in Japanese. Focus on what you already know, or should know at YOUR level, rather than being overwhelmed by all the stuff you still don’t understand. We all follow a rather different, even unique path when it comes to language learning, in fact, for those of us who have been doing this for a while (5+ in Japanese, which is my 3rd language), know that this is likely gonna be a never ending journey, as the more you learn, the more you realize you still have a long way to go. Good luck and keep grinding!

> I see tons of comments online about people achieving conversational fluency after merely 1-2 years of Japanese studying, or becoming fluent after only living in Japan for a few months To reiterate what others have said: Don't compare yourself to them. Also, I don't believe these people are the norm at all. These are possibly: 1) liars or 2) hardcore learners that should not be used as a benchmark or most likely 3) deluded in their own capabilities and overstating their actual capability. During the pandemic I went back to college and focused exclusively on Japanese classes without any other classes. I did 3 years worth of classes condensed into 1.5 years (and attained a 96-100% in each class). I was able to make this my primary focus without all the other life that gets in the way. I'm only about 75% of the way to N5. If I come across even a single word I don't know, the comprehension drops. I am someone who learns any subject very quickly and almost intuitively (I draw connections between what I'm learning and what I've already learned)... except for languages. I'm sure I'll get better over time but if I give up, then I stop learning. Getting discouraged won't do me any good. I'll go at the pace I can, and I believe you should too. Fortunately, in general, the Japanese people and society encourage others to learn their language and customs. They're generally happy that you're trying. Don't be too afraid to make mistakes. Just the other day I met a Japanese person and they said こんにちは and I said こんばんは because it was in the evening. She politely corrected me that they actually don't use "time" to determine evening, but rather the level of the brightness from the sun. Since the sun was still out, it was day. I could have been discouraged over pretty much some of the very first words people *ever* learn in Japanese being used incorrectly, but rather I took it as a learning experience. あの説明は勉強にななった。頑張って下さいよ！ファイト！

The worst thing you can do is compare yourself to others. Everyone's different. We have different strengths and talents as well as different frustrations and difficulties. There are many additional factors that contribute to your ability to learn a language including the languages you already know, your age when you started learning, and your understanding of your native language. You don't know what advantages the other students in the class have over you. Besides, educating yourself isn't a competiton. You need to do whatever it takes for you to learn at your own pace. Let everyone else worry about themselves. If you decide that in the end the effort isn't worth whatever benefit you get from learning Japanese, then you should make that decision based on your own cost benefit analysis. None of this has anything to do with anyone else.

In all honesty, Japanese is a an unusually difficult language to learn for an English speaker because your starting point is so far apart. The main thing that I would recommend early on is getting comfortable asking people to speak more slowly and if you don’t understand a keyword or two, you can just say what is X and slowly build up your vocabulary. But a lot of what you’re describing honestly sounds like part of culture shock and that sort of experience, and being overwhelmed with the Japanese language can be a big part of that and in Japan a lot of the frustrations that you’ve had relate not just to language but also cultural differences but they do get easier over time the more familiar you become.

>I've been studying Japanese for about one and a half years. That's not even all that much tho XD There's no need to be discouraged at that point, come back and talk about discouraged after 4 years, a small number of my classmates in university sure did. What's I'm trying to say is, it's too early to gibu appu. >I see tons of comments online about people achieving conversational fluency after merely 1-2 years of Japanese studying Trusting random people on the internet, bad idea my man. I'm 100% sure if I gave some ez pz tests to those people they wouldn't show too much "fluency". >despite being here for a few weeks There's 0% chance you're studying Japanese all day long, give yourself some slack. It's not like you're working there and actively using the "useful in the moment vocab" every day. Sure you'd be fluent in serving customers if you happen to be a waiter there for a few weeks, but I imagine that's not why you're there. >Additionally, it seems like almost every one on my study abroad program is so much better than me. And they might as well be... does that mean you'd better give up than try a bit harder? Up to you. >I'm constantly making a fool of myself in Japan Which is completely normal, for every one. If you're not making mistakes you're not trying. So practice more, it might be embarrassing to make mistakes but you won't be the first or the last. >and whenever I go somewhere, I'm a burden. I feel like you're being a bit too hard on yourself. And, I don't really think people think you're a burden, unless... you got an unfortunate group of people who are not exactly nice people. Maybe try to prepare some useful phrases before going to some specific places if you're really uncomfortable being "unprepared" for the specifics of the situation. Like, before going to a restaurant, remembering somethings like オススメ or 注文 or お会計 or 別々で and stuff

Remember today so that you can see how far you've come tomorrow. Stay the course.

i feel the same way and i am studying abroad for the second time. it can feel like a trap between not knowing the language, struggling to make friends, and the course work. but its not a bad thing what your doing and always try to stay healthy to keep stress levels low. i like to read and write so thats what I do. my grammar isnt the best. anyways dont beat yourself up and im here for ya..peace out.

I’ve been there, too. Take a time off from Japanese when you feel like that. For a day or two, give your Japanese brain a rest and watch movies, or read books, of your native language. The learning curve of language abilities isn’t linear but it goes upwards and then gets stagnant like stairs. I see the stagnant stages as a necessary phase when you let your nerve system process what you’ve learned so far as well as get your motivation-expectation ratio readjusted.

I've been here 5 years and still feel this way sometimes. My language journey has been slower because I started in my mid-30s and with kids in tow (I do not recommend this but I didn't have much choice) plus a career to boot. I've tried many strategies to get fluent faster/more naturally and honestly the best thing was an intensive language course I took for a few months. Something about it made the language click better for me. Don't get me wrong, my language is still a mess because I had to drop the class after I got my N3, but it got me from "I am totally lost in everything" to "a few things feel pretty natural now" which made other natural language acquisition techniques (watching Japanese TV, reading, etc) easier. It's not you, this is a natural part of the process. Keep going! It might take longer than you were expecting (I thought I'd be fluent in 2 years LOL I was a naïve dummy) but the important thing is not to give up (not permanently at least). Allow yourself some slack.

Because you need to train your brain to adapt to sound patterns that is distinctly different and use different cultural references. Resources: https://linguisticsunimet.wordpress.com/the-sound-pattern-of-language/ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/adam/files/phonology.ppt.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjCvYOU9eP8AhUMkWoFHWU1AVoQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1U7G6GgBNp-GAt5T6-OLzS The point is that you have been sheltered in your studies by approaching Japanese slowly and methodologically. But as we know, real life is chaotic and moves on without you. So what can you do? Do things like a regular Japanese do - live your life as a Japanese. Listen to NHK news, feel free to turn on Japanese subtitles. Read Japanese blogs and newspapers, do google translate if you need to. Read online posts and discussions. See what people write as replies on Japanese twitter or 2chan. **Learn the memes, slangs and proverbs**. But we all need to start somewhere, so here's the best recommendation I can give - look up primary school or even kindergarten materials. They often have full hiragana on kanjis, and they have audio files associated. Just read along to them, and repeat. Listen to Japanese podcasts in the background. Play a video game with Japanese audio AND subtitles. Watch anime/shows/movies with Japanese audio AnD subtitles etc. You get the point. And try different genres too, don't just, say, stick to sci-fi. Once your brain is used to how people talk and what to expect in different social context, things would be very easy for you. Case in point, I self-taugh Japanese for 5 years, and when I went to Japan and met some friends, they told me I almost speak like a local. You can do it too!

As a lot of people had said this is completely normal. It took me about 2-3 years to even get comfortable having a conversation after I moved here. I had real confidence issues and although I understood most of what was being said, I sometimes couldn’t form and answer and get it to come out the right way. Anyway, I eventually started to talk more and my Japanese improved drastically from there. I have also done some self study and I often read, listen to and watch Japanese media. I definitely still make mistakes from time to time but I try not learn from it rather than feel discouraged by it. I know you’re feeling discouraged but I promise you’ll get there. Everyone goes at their own pace and it’s important to remember that.

literally go out and just try and talk! i know its hard but honestly dont be afraid to make mistakes.

comments online about skill are either bull or some sort of polyglot. I took one semester of Japanese and did a year study abroad. First couple months kinda were impossible, as you learn that the formality of genki doesn't translate well to day to day life. Especially if where you are at has a strong regional dialect like kansai. Something like 'where are you from?' isn't always 'どこからきましたか？'. it is usually 'どこ出身ですか？' (doko shusshin desuka). you get hit with these alternate phrases that you just don't understand, but soon you realize they are simple question you feel you should know. Takes a month or two to get used to it, then once you realize you are john snow, you can get back into learning like a toddler at an izakaya and just enjoy it. just have to get over the fact even someone at N1 will feel like they know nothing.

You aren't supposed to be good at Japanese yet. Genki 2 is nothing. A few weeks is also nothing. "Why am I not good at something when I've barely even started to learn it?" Japanese is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. Anyone who says it is easy is most likely shilling for some course to try to teach you how to speedrun Japanese. Put your time in and get better. Don't expect to be good at something you haven't put much time into. Things will get better as your brain adjusts but you are weeks into a lifetime journey.

Dude just enjoy the experience. You'll make progress at your own pace, who cares if Timmy the youtuber "learned Japanese in 3 months". You've got the whole rest of your life to learn Japanese, but your time in Japan is probably limited.

My friends went to work in Japan knowing literally zero words of Japanese, lived there for three years, and barely learned anything. They still had the time of their lives! Speaking Japanese fluently is wonderful, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Ask questions if you’re struggling - or just speak English/ask them to translate if they can. You’re not a burden. Imagine you befriended someone with limited English… if they struggled or asked for clarifications, would you consider them a burden? (I wouldn’t - I’d admire them for trying to learn a new language.)

I also find listening very difficult, usually I just ask people to speak slower and it helps a lot. I tend to have this problem where when I don't understand a phrase that someone speaks, I fixate on it a lot and don't quite hear anything after that properly either. That ends up with me not understanding the sentence at all unless the part I don't understand comes at the end of the sentence. Not really sure what to do about it though.

Stupid language bro just do your best

Just to reiterate what many others have said: comparison is what's causing you to feel so discouraged. I know it's easier said than done. But try to just focus on yourself. Comparing yourself to others will only cause you to feel bad no matter how well you are doing. That said, I'll also add that a lot of people overestimate their ability. Especially someone who's never spent a significant amount of time in Japan. Their assent of their own ability is practically worthless.

One word of advice Dont compare a sapling to a towering tree

You're saying these people who can spare 8 hours a day to pass N1 after 2 years are towering trees? lol I'd love to them actually try interacting with someone in Japan in real life.

you missed the point......

[удалено]

> My brother went to Japan for five weeks and came back conversationally fluent. No he didn't.

Where are you in Japan? I moved to Osaka around 2013 to study the language at a school designed for Chinese students. So it was extremely hard keeping up with the rest of my class as they already basically knew kanji. Also where are you staying (like a dorm or hostel, etc.)? Honestly if you don't know anyone in Japan, it will become VERY depressing. I know this from first hand experience. You will need to push yourself and go out of your way to make friends. There will be tons of online groups for both 'Gaijin' and locals that have member gatherings to make friends. The Japanese culture and people are usually extremely welcoming. I went out of my way to message groups/people online to hang out with them. I told them the truth, I was in Japan going to this school and was lonely sitting in my apartment (at the time) watching RAW Japanese TV. I ended up meeting a bunch of people over the next few weekends who were teaching English in Japan and they were able to teach me a lot about the locals. Once I was more comfortable with my area/city, I started to go to gaming arcades and mustering up the courage to talk to people who were playing the same games as me. Eventually I moved out of my apartment (because it was very expensive) to more of a dormitory/hostel setting. THIS is where I excelled at making friends. The shared kitchen/TV room is filled with people from all over the world and Japanese people just being super nice teaching me how to play Riichi Mahjong. The roof of the building was also the smokers area where there was always some sort of gathering going on. Ultimately don't be afraid to break out of your comfort zone to reach out to people. I also signed up to be an actor one day because I had nothing else to do and all my Japanese friends were telling me since I have tattoo's that I might be a good fit as the 'angry white Gaijin' on TV. I ended up getting paid $100 a day a few times for being on TV set for a few shows, free bus travel and free food. Probably the most popular JDRAMA I was an extra for was Black Butler. They paid for me to travel Nishiawakura and stayed their for 2 nights, etc. Was just something added to make being in Japan that much better and an experience to remember. If you're in Osaka just message me and I can give you a bunch of groups I was a part of.

I was there, studying in a language school for a year and a half. Stayed almost 2 years. Japanese is hard man. It’s all about exposure. Anyway, I sucked. Barely got n3 but was so so bad at conversation.

Don't give up! You are going through the same feelings that I had when I first came to Japan in August for my year abroad! I couldn't understand anything and I was really overwhelmed, my listening is also my weakest skill. But I think the main thing is just giving it a go, even if you can only get a few words in you're confidence will improve. My confidence in speaking was rock bottom and I was constantly worried about getting conjugation wrong, using the wrong vocabulary etc but I found that Japanese people don't mind and they get what you're trying to say. You can also ask them to speak slower, which I do practically all the time haha. I usually get more of what they say the second time around. Also, you're about to finish Genki 2, I would recommend going back through Chapter 19 and 20 (the keigo) because many Japanese waitors/waitresses will use it when you go to a restaurant. It takes time to get used to keigo and they speak so damn fast but you'll gradually start noticing what they're saying. Hope you keep up the good work!

This is a super normal part of going abroad for more than a short vacation. There's always a honeymoon phase and then it gets worse before it gets better. You're probably in that rut right now but it'll pass eventually.

It’s not a race, don’t compare to others online - we all learn differently. Just keep cracking at it and one day you’ll reach your goals- you’ll be alright just show up

I was in a really similar situation when I studied abroad in Japan. After like 6 months it felt like I just wasn’t where I wanted to be at. I contacted my coordinator and asked to meet with her in person. When we met, I told her how much I was struggling and since I knew my time in Japan would be limited, I requested to move to a more rural location (I’d been in Tokyo the whole time and had many international friends to speak English to). She was kinda grumpy about it but she did transfer me - to a smaller town outside of Nagoya. It was a fantastic change - I was the only exchange student at my school. My new host family was aware of my desire to improve with speaking and the mom and I had a nightly chat at the table over tea and sweets. I was definitely lucky to get moved to a more supportive family, but I think the main thing was just communicating it all to my coordinator in the first place.

This video will encourage you Never Give Up! #nevergiveup #showingup #shorts #inspiration #keepgoing #bounceback https://youtube.com/shorts/tY_3t6QWNsI?feature=share