Motivation

Learning Kanji: My Lightbulb Moment
August 12th, 2011

Learning one hundred kanji is difficult enough but learning the stroke orders, readings and meanings of over 2000 Joyo kanji is an onerous task. It can seem insurmountable at times but with time and effort it’s eminently achievable – 125 million Japanese say so. What can be really disheartening is the realisation that after studying kanji for months or even years (depending on your daily kanji diet), you still cannot understand your favourite Japanese tweeter or read the subtitles on your favourite anime.

Have Fun With Kanji Reps
June 22nd, 2011

The daily grind of learning new kanji, stroke orders, readings plus going over the old ones to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything is mostly exciting but occasionally just plain old boring. When that feeling starts to hit you again, try a few of the following quick fixes that should help keep kanji reps from being – well – repetitive. ^^

Just remember…..
May 6th, 2011

Sometimes I hit the wall and learning Japanese becomes a chore. It doesn’t happen every week or even every month but lack of motivation hits us all at some point. However, it’s the people who push through that wall and continue their studies that will eventually become a Japanese ninja. ^_^

Learning Japanese: Do It Your Own Way
June 10th, 2010

Everyone learns a different way. It’s an obvious statement but one that bears thinking about when you’re attempting to learn a language. For example, if you’re studying at school I guarantee that no-one bothered to ask you about how you wanted to learn Japanese?

Learning Japanese: Never Give Up
May 25th, 2010

Whether you’re a beginner, advanced or somewhere in between, at some point in your Japanese studies you’ve probably “hit the wall”. I’m sure you know the feeling – you’re over it, you don’t want to see another kanji or verb conjugation as long as you live.