To preface, I’m still currently in the military and attending UMGC for my associates before I get out. I decided to get it in Japanese, however I have extended twice to fit in this degree in time before leaving as its very important for my job I have lined up. I am required to take JAPN 111-115 (4 classes). I have already completed 2. I unfortunately can’t really afford to lower how many classes I take at a time.
**Problem**:
Rather loaded work/schoolwork schedule has made it hard to prioritize what really needs studying and what doesn’t. The amount of time it takes me to finish just the Japanese work for the 3rd class is hours instead of a few like it was for the first 2 classes. Classes are only 8 weeks and go through a lot of content very quickly. It has caused quite a bit of backlog and the amount of re-researching and relearning has been what is taking a lot of the time up. The speaking and some writing assignments have also gotten more and more difficult and I just feel so lost. Idk what happened where I went from most comfortable to struggling. I’m just massively stressed out from feeling like I have no time for anything between work and then doing school work all day, and that I feel like I just don’t know what I am doing.
\-**Grammar assignments**: 30-40 questions but I sometimes get topics confused or mixed up, leading to a lot of re-learning
\-**Reading assignments**\- aren’t too bad but still require a lot of looking up and are generally a lot easier for me to understand
\-**Listening assignments**: Few prompts of reading or specific responses which aren’t too bad sometimes but its the ones where I have to just openly talk about something is where idk what to do.
\-**Writing**: Same issue with freely coming up with my own things, I get lost and confuse myself with how I want to word things and question if I am right or not and can’t recall.
**Goal**:
I want to be able not to memorize everything but just be comfortable enough and have better means to cut down how many hours it takes to complete assignments so that I can fit in more adequate and consistent studying. I want to figure out a better method than what I am doing rn as it clearly is not working well atm. I want to set myself up better for success and not feel as stressed or stupid as I feel currently.
**Questions**:
What should I really focus on to put my extra time into to help make this an easier experience?
What are suggestions for really getting the most from limited time?
What are good websites for quick references that are reliable?
Do you happen to know anything that really helps with retention or usage of learned topics?
Would appreciate any form of assistance thank you.
by Skippy7547