Thinking about Giving Up (14)

1 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-09 22:48 ID:vQ4p7xt4

Ok, here we go. I was a Japanese language student up until about 3 weeks ago, when winter break started. I've been studying Japanese half-heartedly for the last year and a half, and to be honest, I can't justify continuing my studies. I just received a call from my school and evidently my 202 class was canceled because only 4 people would have shown up for the class. They need at least 10 students to have a class, so they canceled it. You know what? Fuck this, I was enjoying this, but to be honest, I only know about 170 kanji, have a lousy vocabulary, and speak like a goddamned 3 year old that's oddly concerned about life insurance and bullet trains. Unless I get plastic surgery, buy a one way ticket to Japan and get lost there, I'm not going to be learning Japanese in a normal or meaningful way. I honestly want someone out there to tell me there's a good reason to study this language, but I just don't see it right now. I won't stop you if you try to convince me to continue, but right now I feel completely burnt out.

2 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-09 22:54 ID:vQ4p7xt4

>>I honestly want someone out there to tell me there's a good reason to study this language, but I just don't see it right now. I won't stop you if you try to convince me to continue, but right now I feel completely burnt out.

There you have it, I'm so frustrated I end up conflicting my own statements.

3 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 00:08 ID:bYS3UuT3

The most important thing in laguage learning is motivation. It has little to do with classes being canceled. Personally, I don't think that classroom environment is the most efficient one in learning languages this day and age. Physical presence in Japan is a little unrealistic, but the material is right before your eyes, text, mp3, movie files on the internet. I won't continue talking about pedagogical side of the iisue, but if you loose interest, nothing is going to work. And interest and motivation is not something someone convinces someone to have. It's totally up to you.

4 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 00:40 ID:3AKyKwoO

Pep talk?

5 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 05:27 ID:MzOGSBDZ

You could drop out and do it next year. I'm not going to do that myself because then I'd lose all my classmates!

6 名前: 1 : 2008-01-10 06:33 ID:vQ4p7xt4

>>3

I think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head. I've basically lost any motivation I thought I had in learning Japanese right now. I've been going through a lot of thinking lately, and though my interest in the Japanese language isn't completely gone, it's been badly damaged by my experiences in the classroom environment (I'm going to turn in my Yookoso books tomorrow, alongside my other unused college books). Maybe taking a break from Japanese is what I need right now, I honestly don't see myself traveling outside the US very soon (need a steady job and income for that sort of thing, don't I?). Besides, what the hell would I do with myself if I went to Japan, join the legions of unwanted ex-pat English teachers? I do NOT want that. I want a more meaningful future for myself.

7 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 18:44 ID:J4J4ey+8

>>I honestly want someone out there to tell me there's a good reason to study this language, but I just don't see it right now.

Well if you see no reason to learn the language, why should we encourage you to do so? And how?
It's up to you and if you don't want to or aren't motivated enough, that's your thing. There's nothing much we can do.
Either find the reason yourself (eroge and other weeaboo stuff or whatever, I don't know why you're interested in the first place) or just let it be.
It's as simple as that.

8 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 20:42 ID:Heaven

>>1
I think it might be the first step in the right direction to keep your motivation as high as you started studying.
Read this. It's what I posted somewhere in 2ch to make my position clear about what Japanese people need when trying to increase English vocabulary. I think the same goes for you.
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I had half a mind to go without leaving a comment, but I have a say about this theme. As most of you know, Japanese people usually don't use English in daily lives. That's a main reason they suck at the language. Basically, they must twist their own arms to practice more (if they really want to improve). Still, I often hear them complaining like, "despite the fact that we are taught English at school for at least 6 years, we
can't speak English. It's because the English education of Japan is fucking shitty." I lol at this kind of idea. How much time do/did they actually spend in learning English?
To put it another way, what they need is practice more instead of ranting like that.

Concerning the idea of reading a lot, though, I think it sure helps get used to English. As I said above, what Japanese people need is to put more time into learning English (I'm assuming you are interested in the language since this is the English board). And reading books is an easy way to do so. To read makes your English good. With this in mind, however, I'm a bit dubious whether you can increase your vocabulary effectively only by reading. As for me, I've been reading my favorite stuff again and again... But I also used vocabulary books to learn about the meanings of rarely used words, and consulted dictionaries when I couldn't guess correctly what they meant from the contexts they were used in. Of course, I don't mean extensive reading in itself is useless. The point I'm trying to make is, there's no absolute method as you believe there is. So wake up and face the music. All you have to do is spend more time. Trial and error is the best teacher. Good luck to you.
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9 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-10 23:44 ID:Heaven

>>8
Just learn to convey the gist with less words, will you?

10 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-11 00:51 ID:Heaven

>>9
Don't be Yutori-brain-washed.

11 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-12 08:57 ID:Heaven

Everytime you face up to difficulties, you give up.

12 名前: 名無しさん@日本語勉強中 : 2008-01-12 09:15 ID:ggjWEaYN

>>1

>speak like a goddamned 3 year old that's oddly concerned about life insurance and bullet trains

Best thing I've read all day, LOL.

I visited an ex-girlfriend who was dating a Japanese exchange student. She encouraged me to try my Japanese on him. "What the Hell am I going to talk to him about? 'My car is the red car.' 'Where in the room is the television?' 'The hospital is near the train station.' 'I am going to the movies by taxi.' "

I know just enough to sound like a demented tourist who is obsessed with the color and location of common household objects.

Don't give up, Anon. Do not let suffering through Japanese grammar be for nothing.

I hope that helps.

13 名前: Pseudononymous : 2008-01-17 16:18 ID:E9K9LfhV

>>1
Well, take a break from the courses for a while, and try something else. Now might be a good time to practice kanji in your free time. I read the freely available parts of "Remembering the kanji" (Google it) and was remembered how much that approach is similar to my own, before I was required to learn a handful of them every week. It used to be really interesting, now it is just homework and doing badly at tests.

And we just finished one course, and with it the textbook. Here's an anecdote, sort of:

About one year ago, I went to my first class, started limping along with the first "A wa B desu", and really didn't know anything. Now, I can read the texts at the end of the last chapter (with lots of help from the vocabulary list), kanji and all.

It just hit me as I was preparing for class: if someone would have told me one and a half years ago I'd be capable of doing this today...

I - and you - have come a long way from those first steps. Just think about it. (How much did you understand of this board when you started? What about now?)

I've only studied a year (half a year full time) and I don't see myself taking any courses after summer this year. But I don't think I'll give up on the language either; maybe evening courses later on, maybe self-study, maybe trying to read more. Either way, it wont end completely just because I'm not taking classes three days a week.

So, well, take a break if you need to. It's not the end of the world. (but you might want to go back and re-read stuff to keep it alive; plus you'll probably want to, when you come across stuff you can just barely understand)

Continuing the way you're going now doesn't sound like it'll do much other than reinforcing the idea that Japanese is hard and boring.

Or that's what I think anyway.

14 名前: Pseudononymous : 2008-01-17 16:24 ID:E9K9LfhV

>>8

> With this in mind, however, I'm a bit dubious whether you can increase your vocabulary effectively only by reading.

Well, it's what I did (for English), even if it was a long time ago. You be the judge whether it worked. :-)

It won't necessarily instantly help with being able to write, or speak, but it's a foundation to build on at least.

Hmm. So I guess my advice to myself would be to go out and find some light reading in Japanese?

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