GoddessCarlie.com » anki

Breathing Again

GoddessCarlie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:02:58 +0000

There is a common saying out there for writers that writing is like breathing. It’s just apart of who you are, it’s something that you have to do… There are many people out there who are like, “oh yeah, I want to write a book.” I don’t get those people. I don’t understand how you can be nonchalant about it. For me, writing is something I HAVE TO DO. I have an urge. It drives me…

Well, it did until about 2007. I’m not sure. Maybe I was burnt out? Maybe I just needed a break. But suddenly the cravings, the drive went away.

This is when I started learning Japanese. Japanese was my new drug. I don’t think I pursued Japanese with the lust and desire that I did with writing, but I kept up at it, and it filled my time.

Lately…. lately I feel the hunger return in me. I am still studying Japanese – although at the moment it is more of a back burner approach – I’m reading books and “studying” new words in Anki. That’s about it. I’m wanting to once again tackle the Nihongo 500 Mon / 日本語５００問 book that I talked about in my Best of 2009 article. It’s going to be school holidays and I think I just want to race through the book and see what holes I have left in my basic understanding of Japanese.

Never the less, in the past couple of days, I’ve been breathing again. I don’t know where this will take me, but I’m in the planning stages of writing a book, and the characters are beginning to really jump out at me. I am still trying to work out some WHYs, trying to add in some conflict, but I’m building a solid beginning and have some ideas about the ending. I hope I will continue to work on this one with hopefully having it finished by the end of the year.

No rush. I’m just enjoying the air. I’m breathing again.

Don’t Review Sentences in Your SRS

GoddessCarlie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:44:34 +0000

After a brief love affair with smart.fm (who look like they have actually improved a lot since I last used them – good to know for if/when I go back!), I’ve been back with anki a little while now.

One thing I haven’t done in a gazillion years is reviewing sentences. I think perhaps reviewing sentences has its merits but it has never worked for me. I am too focused on trying to remember unfamiliar vocabulary than the really pay attention to how the sentence is put together. In other words, I may remember the vocab and know how to read the sentence, but it doesn’t help me much with remembering/noticing what particle was used, for instance, or how to put the sentence together as a whole.

What it does do is take a lot of time.

OK, so it has never been promised that reviewing sentences in Anki passively would help with actively producing sentences (where I would need to know what particle goes there etc). However, reading and understanding sentences – I can do that by reading books. I can do that by reading manga. I can do that by reading websites, etc. I can even do that by reading textbooks. In other words, where was the source of the sentence? That’s where I can read it…

What is stopping me from reading it there? For me it is a lack of vocabulary. So, I need to work on vocab. Therefore, I review single words.

What are the advantages from reviewing sentences? Is it to check that you can understand a whole sentence, with each individual word in context? Sure. But… you can check that while you are reading the original source. If you don’t understand a sentence… why? Is it vocab? Is it grammar? Is it something else? That something is what you need to study, not all the extra information as well.

Simple Is Easy

Supermemo’s guide to formulating knowledge in learning is a great resource to look over when you are building your SRS deck. One point is that simple is easy. You learn faster with simple things because you only have to focus on one thing.

Another thing to think about is why Remembering the Kanji is such a popular method. It’s because it breaks learning the kanji down into baby steps. You learn how to write the kanji (with a simple idea of meaning) and nothing else. You then learn how to read and pronounce the kanji using other methods. By breaking down the process into small steps it is easier to climb the big mountain that is Japanese.

This is why I review vocab in my SRS.

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Carlie’s Japanese Progress – February 2009

GoddessCarlie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:14:32 +0000

It’s really bad, but it’s been a while since I’ve done a monthly update on my progress. In fact, unless I missed an entry, the last one I did was almost a year ago, back in May 2008!

All through 2008 I was experiencing burn out, mainly because I really wanted to study Japanese my own way but had to do it the University way. Now that I’m out of university, it means that I can do it my own way but no longer have the push that I absolutely have to get something done. So in a way, I can’t have it all, dammit!

So while my start to this year hasn’t been filled with as much Japanese study as I could have done, I’m making more of an effort now. Here’s some of the things I’ve been up to in Feb:

Anki, Remembering the Kanji and 2001 Kanji Odyssey

Currently I have 755 cards in my Anki deck, with 45% of the “mature” cards.

In Japanese at the moment my main aim is to be able to read. Even in English my reading and writing ability are stronger than my speaking ability. I am much more articulate in writing! I love to read, and what I really want to be able to do is read my manga collection with relative ease.

In manga, because of the relatively short dialogue, I am sure I know most of the grammar, but my biggest weaknesses are kanji and vocabulary. Eventually I want to move on to big thick novels.

I’ve decided I’m going to attack this with Remembering the Kanji and 2001 Kanji Odyssey, using Anki. What I am doing is going full speed at RtK, until I get bored of it, then I will study KO. I do reviews of both in the one Anki deck, but take turns in actively studying whatever I feel like it out of the two. I think I’m making good progress.

I don’t mind so much now about powering through RtK. Originally I wanted to just go through RtK as quickly as I could and get onto other things. It wasn’t working for me, which is why I’ve changed to this approach. With RtK, I do find it is the best way for me to learn how to write the kanji, plus a basic keyword which does come in handy when reading, as I can sometimes guess what a word is from a keyword.

However, while I really want to write the Kanji, perhaps a bigger concern for me at the moment is actually reading/knowing words. I’m really excited about KO as it provides what a lot of Kanji guides have PLUS three sentences for each Kanji. I find that when I’m using a SRS program, I do learn better with sentences vs just words. So this is great.

The first book is 555 kanji, and if I’m persistent (and don’t revert back to RtK or move on to something else… which is highly probable) I could finish it by my birthday in April easily.

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Eep… Must… Japanese… Now

GoddessCarlie — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:50:40 +0000

This morning for various reasons I sat in on one of Gakuranman’s free Edufire Japanese for Beginners Lessons. It was a bit of fun, a great reminder of what it was like to first be learning Japanese, and a bit of a way to see other people’s teaching styles, but mostly it was a huge kick in the face…. My Japanese is so rusty!!

If I was still in university it would still be another month away before it starts up again and before I would be actively studying. But that is no excuse now, as I’m out of university (actually… going to edufire reminds me of university, which is prob why I like it so much – all the stuff of university without assignments!!). What I need is to ship shape myself into action! I really have been slack.

So today I flicked through the text book and I’ve been working through what has built up in anki… If I clear out my deck tonight I want to add in a few more sentences from 2001 Kanji Odyssey – I’ve decided that I can’t do RtK on it’s own, I lose steam. So instead I’ve been alternating, depending on how I feel. Sometimes I’ll add KO to my deck, sometimes I’ll add RtK.

I’ve also decided that things like textbooks, manga that I read, etc etc. I’m not adding those sentences to Anki. Instead, I’ll just read them where they are. I’ve done the “sentence” thing and I got bored of it. OK, Yes, that’s what I’m doing with KO, I feel that would be the best way for me to study that book. But for manga, I don’t want to rip it to pieces. I want to enjoy it. So, if I really want to learn something from it, I will seek out the word/whatever in a different form.

So, fingers crossed that I can push myself to and over the intermediate level of Japanese.

Slogging Through The Kanji

GoddessCarlie — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:17:38 +0000

Well, I’m currently slogging through Remembering the Kanji. Tonight I am hoping to add about 30-40 kanji into anki, right now I am up to kanji number 709. I’m in the middle of a 130 kanji chapter which is hard going because there are so many (sometimes it is easy to confuse them when you are just solidifying them in your mind), but easy because there are so many (and thus there is lots of repetition of common elements). I’m looking forward to hopefully reaching 1000 kanji soon, about the half way mark!!!

Why this, why now? I want to keep up my language learning now that I’ve graduated from university. I want to move to the next level with my japanese but I feel like one thing is holding me back at the moment: My kanji ability. So, once again, I’m plowing through Remembering the Kanji.

My Process

Flash Cards – The Initial Creation Process

A long time ago I printed out a whole heep of flash cards for Remembering the Kanji from a fantastic website called Polar Cloud. So in a folder I have a lot of uncut kanji just waiting for me. At the moment I am in the middle of cutting out a few sheets into flash cards (cards 709 – 755 tonight).

I actually enjoy this process. While it would be horrible to cut them out all at once (the cards then would be harder to store, etc….) it is sort of fun to do a bit of cutting. You can explore these unknown kanji while you do so, perhaps already thinking up stories, but more likely going “what the hell is that?!?!”

After they are cut out, with my book in hand, I head over to Reviewing the Kanji website. Here I will look at the stories others have made up and look at the book to read Heisig’s notes.

Once I have a story I’ll do two things:-

write the story (often a shorter version!) in pencil on the back of my flash cards. In pencil because sometimes the story needs tweeking or a complete overhall.
put the kanji info and story into anki

Usually, like now, this happens at night time. So, after this, it’ll be bed for me!

The Learning Process

Now, what I will do is take my flash cards and have them in my pocket. Walking to the bus stop, sitting on the toilet, at lunch… there are many opportunities to go through them! Often it wont be just the new ones but ones from a couple of days ago too that I am still working to really build a foundation in my head. I do both sides of the cards, from the kanji to keyword (not really worried about getting this one right, but just more of a good look at the kanji, see what elements are in them, and how it is put together, then turning over to remind of keyword and story), and of course keyword to kanji, reading through both the keyword and the story before turning it over.

The Review Process

Then, at night, it’s back to anki. At the moment I’m getting about 200 cards to review a day. Not sure if it is going to get worse or easier, or stay around this number!!! I admit, I often get many wrong, but I find that it is the review process that helps get it in my mind. And if I am constantly getting kanji wrong, then I know I need to focus more on these particular ones.

My approach is more of a head first barge into it. I have faith that I will eventually come to perfect the kanji through other complimenting studies, right now I just want to get through this stepping stone as quickly as I can so I can move on. Although, even when I am through the book, I expect that I will continue to review in anki for quite a while!

Almost Finished Uni…

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:42:28 +0000

OK, right now I’m so close to finishing uni, I am so excited yet so stressed!! I look forward to writing on this site more often, I am often blogging in my head, I just rarely get the chance to actually write it down.

It’s not long now until I go to Japan! I’m so excited yet I have a lot to do before I go so I am probably thinking about it more than I should.

This is going to be my first time in Japan. I plan on going everywhere. I’m starting in Osaka, going up to Tokyo and then back down to Kyoto before leaving.

One thing I am hating right now is the exchange rate. Why did it have to happen NOW??? My money has effectively been halved thanks to it. I’m only going to be able to buy half the manga and visit half the love hotels I planned on going to.

Another thing I’ve been *naughty* in doing is studying Japanese my way. I really have a lot of things I need to be doing, yet I’ve been plugging away at my Intermediate Japanese textbook, and again have been using Anki – that program has changed a lot since I last used it, which I think was around July.

As for Dramas, I have been watching:

Innocent Love
I am really enjoying this, I think this one is my favourite so far this season. Of course, the season is still young though.
Oh! My Girl!!
*Yawn.* I found nothing special with this one. While cute, I’m not sure I’ll watch the rest of this one.
Ryusei no Kizuna
I’m enjoying this one. I think the cast have great chemistry, and it was more “mature” (i.e. lots of sex talk!) than I thought it would be for a Johnny’s show. I like the non-linear-ish story line. This one is a bit of fun, so far, but with dark undertones.
Bloody Monday
I haven’t finished watching the first episode yet, as I got interrupted, but this is one show I am planning to watch. From what I’ve seen it’s really intriguing.
Room of King
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

Reviving Remembering The Kanji

GoddessCarlie — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:38:24 +0000

I’m excited because it is not long now until I will have a weekly dose of Ikuta Toma when he co-stars with Ohno Satoshi in Maou. Which has nothing to do with the rest of the post which is about Reviewing the Kanji. After a bit of a break from studying Japanese, I am back into it with my quest to Remember the Kanji.

I’m on uni holidays now, so I would like to get as many as I can done in the next four weeks. I’m not expecting to finish, but I would like to come as close as I possibly can. I’ve done the maths, I know how much I need to do in order to get close to finishing. However, I’m not going to try and reach a certain number and put pressure on myself. I’m going to do as much as I can each day, trying not to burnout. Here’s some things I’m planning to do:

Use the Reviewing the Kanji Website to help me come up with new stories. There are lots of example stories there that give me something to start with that I can adapt for my own use. Saves lots of time!!
Use Anki to actually review the kanji. I just love Anki so much, it is the best flash card program that I have used so far, and I have used a few. I have written a post on how I structure my RtK deck in anki for those who are interested.
Because I am now working more hours at work, thanks to reduced time at uni, the good news is I will have a dedicated lunch time (instead of eating on the go between work and uni – not fun). So I plan to use my lunch break for actual study. Just to go through stories that I have had trouble with and need adapting, practise writing difficult kanji etc. This will be things I can do on paper, as when I write things down on paper often I remember them better. I also recommend this Practise Page Generator for RtK keywords.

So, remembering the kanji, here I come (again)!!

Carlie’s Japanese Progress – May 2008

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:52:01 +0000

May 2008 has been Major Burn Out Month. I discovered my problem, however – it wasn’t burnout from Japanese, rather it was a burnout from University. I will definitely be making a post on the pros and cons of learning a language in the class room.

That being said, I tried to maintain my Japanese study, even if I didn’t want to touch a lot of what I had to do with a ten foot pole. Some of my activities included the following:

Manga Reading.

I’ve been reading manga for the first time in Japanese, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a huge motivation booster, being able to read it, even if I couldn’t understand all of the words, I could understand the story as a whole. My next step will be to go back through it and look up the words that I didn’t understand.

Anki

Last month I had 619 cards in my Anki deck. Now I have 441. I totally changed my focus in Anki from sentences to mainly Heisig with some vocab thrown in.

However, again, I have barely touched Anki in May. I plan on deleting all the vocab words from Anki and then just using it for Heisig for the time being.

Drama Watching

In April I watched about 26 hours of Japanese tv. This month it was down, mainly due to it being the end of the university semester. I watched a total of 15 hours and 37 mins.

In May I really focused on listening and understanding. I tried to repeat out loud sentences. I am finding that I can understand more and more, with, again, vocabulary seeming to be the biggest problem I am having.

Vocabulary

I am experimenting with many vocabulary acquiring methods at the moment. I’ll talk more about this as I explore more about this

Overall, not the best month, but not the worst month. For June, I’d love to focus a lot of Heisig and vocabulary building, as well as keeping up watching lots of TV for enjoyment and to practise my listening/speaking skills.

How Should You Structure Your Flash Card Deck?

GoddessCarlie — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:44:02 +0000

In my post Divide and Conquer – a Vocab Post, Atreya asked the question:

I am quite confused about the method by which I should structure my Anki Deck. By method I mean, how does one create the cards in Anki?

Now, the short answer is, of course: Any way you want.

But that doesn’t help those who may be a little lost in how to structure flash cards in their deck. The best way to structure your deck is a individual thing, and with trial and error you will find the best way that works for you. In this post I’ll show you the best way that works for me.

My program of choice is Anki, and so many examples are taken from Anki, however, I’m sure most, if not all, can be structured into any flash card system.

What Is The Purpose Of Your Deck?

To start, I think this is the most important question to ask when structuring your deck. In other words, what are your aims, what do you want to achieve by using a flash card program (or, *gasp* a paper based system). Here are some ideas:

To learn vocabulary
To help produce Japanese sentences
To practise translation
As a main study aid in learning Japanese (i.e. primary method of learning the language, for instance AJATT method)

My Purpose #1 – To Help Learn Grammar Structures

My original purpose in using a flash card program was to internalise grammar structures that I was learning. My primary focus was on grammar recognition.

Production and Recognition

Production (in the flash card-based system) took too much of my time that I could use on other activities for learning Japanese. I also actively used Japanese in ways that felt more normal and natural to me – I had a workbook where I responded to questions in my own words, and I kept a diary. Both these made more sense to me than trying to replicate someone else’s words. That’s like trying to do a speech with someone else’s script.

I use Recognition cards only in Anki.

In Anki you can change what kinds of cards are produced (Recognition/Production) in the model properties from the edit menu. What kind of cards you want produced is dependant on your purpose and what other activities you are doing in your study.

Japanese Ability

At the beginning, at least it is for me, impossible to eliminate English.. In fact, it makes more sense for me to use what I already know. Sure, something may not have a direct equivalent in English, but at least English will give you a starting point so that as you become more familiar with the language and see the word used in a different contexts, you will learn the nuances of the word and wont even think about the English equivalent.

Here is an example of how my cards were structured at the very beginning of my Japanese studies:

Front Side: うちにかえって、電話をします。
Flip Side: うちにかえって、でんわをします。
I’m going to go home and make a telephone call.

(from Japanese for Everyone, lesson 7)

I would use kanji that I knew or was learning.
Anki automatically puts in the readings/kana section, which is nice.
I would type out the translation directly from my text book.
This uses the default “Japanese” structure within Anki.

I would put in sentences after learning the grammar point. Anki helped reinforce these grammar points while practising new kanji and vocabulary. My method of reviewing was dependant on time as well as my motivation levels for the session.

If I was short on time, or wanted to get through the deck as quickly as possible, I would only read the sentence in my head, and if I knew all readings and understood everything I would pass the card.
If I had a bit more time, I would read out the sentence aloud.
For an ultimate study session, I would read aloud and write down the sentence. This way I also practised writing the kanji instead of just recognising it.

Progressing in Ability

As I progressed it became apparent that English translation wasn’t necessary. For simpler sentences, or ones I was very familiar with, I knew what they meant in Japanese. For more difficult sentences or ones I was not 100% familiar with, I often would have to break them down into smaller chunks and translated them in my head into English in order to understand, however, at the end I either understood in Japanese or I didn’t. The translation, written down as an answer in Anki, again wasn’t necessary.

However, I wasn’t ready to go all Japanese – Japanese, as I didn’t know enough vocabulary and I was still learning the most basic words. So some English was still necessary, but not a translation. My cards were structured like this:

Front Side: このごろは遊ぶためにアルバイトをする学生も多いそうだ。

Flip Side: このごろはあそぶためにアルバイトをするがくせいもおおいそうだ。

V(plain, non past)ために = “in order to”

遊ぶ　- to play, make a visit

(From An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, chapter 4)

Again, anki automatically makes the kana version.
I put the grammar point I am studying as a reference in case I have forgotten and can’t quite work out what is going on.
At the end I put definitions of unknown words or words I have trouble with.
To review, I use the same method as previously.
I don’t try and memorise anything, I am only trying to understand. So I am not memorising grammar points at all, the information is just there for if I don’t understand a sentence. If I don’t understand something, it helps me to break it down into grammar terms/points, but when actively using the language I don’t think “grammar” at all.

My Purpose #2 – To Learn The Kanji Via Heisig’s Method

Another goal of mine is to learn all the kanji via the Heisig method. Many use the Reviewing the Kanji website, and I recommend it very much. I still use it for sentence creation and visit the wonderful community there. However, I have decided to use Anki for reviewing the kanji as I like the option of more than just “yes” or “no” when advancing cards, and I like reviewing everything all at once.

For learning the kanji, I just use the Heisig model deck that is automatically in Anki.

In Heisig, I use the “production” method – that is, I am producing the Kanji from the Heisig keyword given. I have also slightly modified some entries – if i know the word the Kanji is in, then I often have both Heisig’s keyword and the kana in the front side. For example:

Front Side: およ（ぐ）・Swim
Flip Side: 泳ぐ
*Story*
*amount of strokes, and what chapter the kanji is from*

There is also a link to the Reviewing the Kanji webpage for that kanji.

My Purpose #3 – To Learn Vocab

Recently, I decided to learn vocabulary out of context. I decided that I needed to learn a lot of words quickly so that when reading and hearing authentic Japanese sources I would be reinforcing my learnings instead of hearing/seeing words I don’t know. Again the focus here was on recognition – this would be a simple exercise of learning new vocabulary for me to use elsewhere.

I used Anki’s “Japanese” model and modified it slightly – I added an extra, non essential field for sentences – so that if I had time I would also be able to review a sentence containing the word, but if I did not have time it did not matter.

In this case, the card is structured like:

Front Side: 思考する
Flip Side: しこうする
to think, consider
*sample sentence*

Where To Get Sentences/Material To Review From

Another thing to consider is where you will get your sample sentences and material from. Again, to answer this you will have to consider your purpose.

When reviewing grammar, I used sentences from my text book. I prefer to read sentences from books actually in books – I see no reason to add these into anki as I can just enjoy them straight from the source. Same with quotes from movies and websites – I would rather enjoy these in their original form, reinforcing grammar of course but not actively or consciously so. This is why I used textbook sources only.

For Heisig, obviously I used Heisig’s order of kanji as a source.

For vocab, I am pulling these from everywhere, including books I am reading and shows I am watching. If I want to get the word deeper into my head I will add it to anki, and later test my “knowledge” by reading or watching the source text again.

Why I Decided Not To Share My Anki File

Before I end this post, I just want to write a short note about why I have decided not to share my Anki file. The biggest reason is I don’t see how anyone will benifit from it. It is helpful to see how other people structure their decks, which is why I wrote this post. However, for the actual content, I see it being little use to people unless they have the same level of knowledge that I have.

I also think there is value in creating your own deck from your own sources. The material you put into your flash card file should be relevant to you. Adding it in yourself will aid you with learning it.

Your Turn

Share your own thoughts on structuring your flash card deck. What is your purpose for using a flash card program? Do you use production methods, fill in the blank methods, or other? Where do you get your material from to review (textbooks, manga, other?) I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, as mine are always evolving.

Three Ways to Overcome Burn Out

GoddessCarlie — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:06:48 +0000

When I do something, I usually do it to extremes until I can no long stand to do it any more. For instance, when I was younger I stamp collected to death. All my spare time was devoted to collecting stamps until I could do it no longer – I’m not sure what happened to that awesome stamp collection, now I wish I still had it, but I haven’t looked at a stamp that way in many many years.

The same is true in most of what I do, including language learning. I do it to the extremes sometimes, which can be a good thing and a not so good thing. One side effect of this is that I often burn out.

I define burning out as not being able to find the motivation to do something, feel as though I’ve done it too much. But if I give up then my Japanese learning journey is over.

Learning a language is not fun and easy all the time. If it was we all know multiple languages by now. Unfortunately we sometimes need to push ourselves to just get that bit further. Here are some ideas on how to overcome burn out.

First things first, the most important thing to remember, no matter what you choose to do, is to not give up. If you give up you’ll never know Japanese. You can try blaming the language “But Japanese is too hard” – but ultimately it was you! Millions of other people can learn Japanese, so you can too.

1. Push Through What You are Doing.

Sometimes you have to keep doing what you are doing. For instance, if you are doing a course you may have to do something for homework and the like. Or perhaps this is part of your job. Or maybe you have a bet with your friends and don’t want to have to run down the street naked. Whatever. The point is you have to do it, you have no choice. It has to get done.

Here’s what you do: You do it. You just plough through it. If there is a lot you need to do, then break it up to smaller chunks and work through each chunk. Set yourself time limits and see how much you can get done. You have to do it, so you might as well get it over and done with.

At the moment I’m suffering from textbook overuse. Yes, I am almost three quarters of the way through Japanese for Everyone, and I am sick to death of looking at it! Unfortunately, I have to learn the presented grammar, vocabulary and kanji for University. What I do is just set aside thirty minutes every day to work through it. As soon as my thirty minutes is up I stop and don’t worry about it again.

Soon you will find that actually finishing what you had to do gives you a great sense of achievement. Or at least relief that it is over. When you are finished what you need to do, give yourself a (Japanese language related) reward. You deserve it.

2. Change Tactics

If you don’t have to keep on doing what you were doing, you have the freedom to change tactics. In other words, try a different approach. You will still be learning Japanese, how ever it will feel fresh, new, different.

You see, at the moment I’m suffering from SRS overuse (I told you I go hard at everything I do! And I’m feeling very burnt out at the moment!) I primarily use my SRS to learn new vocabulary and to practise grammar at the same time – through reviewing sentences. Anki has been sitting open on my computer for over a week and I haven’t touched it. If I’m not doing it, then I have to find something to replace this activity.

So I’ve started using the Assimil method. And I’m having fun with it! Even though I am still just reinforcing grammar and learning new words, it feels like I’m doing something different. It feels fun.

And you never know – by trying something new you may discover a method that works ten times better for you than your previous one. If not, no loss, just try something else new.

3. Take An Active Break

If you feel like you can’t go on, then perhaps you need to take a break. A break is completely healthy and may actually help your progress in the long run. But do not take a complete break.

When an jogger is running through the streets and gets to a red traffic light, often they will not stop and stand there, waiting for the green man. Instead, they do what is known as an active break. They will jog slowly on the spot, and when the light goes green they start running again. When they are puffed, instead of stopping and collapsing on the ground, they walk until they have their breath back, and are straight back into running.

So instead of stopping completely and doing nothing, try taking an active break. Sit down and watch some Japanese tv or a movie. Listen to your favourite Japanese music. Go to a Japanese restaurant and see how much of the menu you can understand. Do something!

An active break like this is also a great way to reward yourself for your hard work if you choose to do one of the other methods instead. It keeps us fresh and reminds us why we are learning Japanese in the first place!

But don’t forget to get back into studying again. Set yourself a limit and get back into it as soon as possible. Remember don’t give up. One week’s rest is a good amount of time to recuperate. If you still can’t get back into it you’re not trying hard enough. Don’t make excuses for yourself, just do it!

Get Back Into Learning Japanese And Enjoy It

Burn out = bad. But don’t let that stop you. Burning out is all in your head, so you can go on, you just need to give yourself a bit of a push.

As I said before, if things were all smooth sailing in language learning we’d all be polyglots. And if you don’t do it and give up, well, you are only hurting yourself, letting yourself down. Just keep at it and you’ll progress in no time at all.

In the comments, why not share your experiences of burn out and what you do to overcome it?

GoddessCarlie.com » anki

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