Hey there!
I believe you are on a Japanese language learning journey, and that’s why you are here. It’s good to see that you are making conscious efforts to be consistent in your learning process, and you’re taking steps towards becoming the best version of yourself, keep it up!
Did you know that Japanese is the 9th most spoken language in the world, and Almost 10% of all Internet users are estimated to be Japanese, with Japan boasting one of the highest literacy rates in the world of over 99%? Oh well, now you know.
A Study with figures Gathered by the Japanese foundation showed that 3.66million people across 137 countries were learning the Japanese language in 2015. Isn’t it amazing how a language considered to be one of the hardest to learn still has such amount of people learning it?
Learning the Japanese language requires consistency and more than an average effort to become fluent. The Japanese language requires a lot of effort put into practicing, repetition, and dedication. Therefore,
here are a few tips to help you stay consistent in your learning process.
Set SMART goals.
You can’t expect to learn all Japanese Vocabs and grammar in a day. You have to start learning and practicing the basics slowly and then work your way towards the hard ones. You can apply the SMART goal of business in your Japanese learning process also.
S-specific
M- measurable
A- achievable
R- Realistic
T- timely.
For example, if you are a beginner, your SMART goal could be to study 1000 vocabulary and 500 kanji within a space of 2 months. This goal will definitely help you work harder and consistently so that you can accomplish it and move to the next goals.
Create a study schedule
Your study schedule and study goals work hand in hand to keep track of your daily study habits. With a study schedule, you can share your goals into smaller bits that can be achievable on a daily basis, set a particular time to work on these goals, and track your success after each study session. When you consciously adapt this learning style, it will be easy to meet up with your SMART goals.
Expose Yourself to the Japanese language daily
Apart from your study time, try to include Japanese in your spare time routine. By watching Japanese Movies, Tv-Shows, and programs with or without subtitles, you are training yourself to get accustomed to the words used on a daily basis and in real-life situations. Also, engage in conversations with native Japanese speakers every time you get an opportunity to do so. One thing About practicing Japanese on a daily basis is that you don’t need to learn a new thing every day. You can decide to review what you’ve learned until you are sure about it. Rather than just reading books or studying via apps, the best way to remain consistent in learning is by engaging in real-life conversations.
Take note of patterns.
The Japanese language tends to have a series of patterns that several sentences follow. Japanese and English are two different languages, and so, trying to separately translate each word contained in an English sentence into a Japanese sentence will definitely sound horrible.
Make mistakes
This is the part a lot of learners are afraid of. They prefer to ‘play safe’ during their learning process and so end up being stuck in a phase for too long. Learning is a continuous process, and mistakes are a part of its process. When you engage in a conversation head-first, making lots of grammatical error but yet doing your best to communicate, you will end up becoming a better speaker, even faster than the anyone who tries to hide behind reading and reluctantly use only those words or piece of language information they’ve already completely mastered. You can only experience true growth when you fail and try again.
Join a language school or get a tutor
If you fall among the group of people who find it hard to study consistently on their own, this is for you. As humans, sometimes we don’t take things seriously until we have someone to be accountable to. It takes discipline to self-study consistently, and if you are truthful to yourself, you know whether you are learning the way you should or just doing it as you like.
Furthermore, there’s only so much you can learn on your own, but when you join a language school or get a tutor, you are sure to be corrected each time you make a mistake. By being in an environment where you are held accountable, and Japanese is spoken on a regular basis, you will become fluent faster than if you try to do it on your own. Also, In a language school, you will have classmates with whom you speak the Japanese language.
Track your progress
How well can you memorize those kanji or Japanese vocabulary you learned the last time? How efficiently are you using your new Japanese knowledge in your conversations and daily routine? Until you are able to track your progress, you may not know if you are making any progress at all. And if you don’t know this, how then can you improve on the areas that require improvement?
Take your time
It doesn’t matter if your progress seems slow. It is better to have slow progress than no progress at all. In fact, the Japanese language isn’t like other languages that you can learn within a short time frame. It requires that you move at a slow pace if you must become fluent. Statistics show that it takes about 88 weeks of learning the Japanese language to become fluent in basic conversations.
In conclusion, until you make Japanese a part of your daily routine, you may find it difficult to learn what you are supposed to. Also, remember that setting your study goals is the foundation for consistency. So, set those goals and start learning consistently today, and in no time, you will get results that will make you proud of yourself.
