Forgetting things and dealing with frustration

7 comments

1. I just tell myself that there are good days and bad days and I don’t really deal with it 🤷🏻‍♀️. Not sure if it’s a good solution though.

   But yeah, some days I forget the most basic kanjis and think I have Alzheimer’s, and other days I feel like I’m a genius of memorization, so it balances out I guess

2. I think it’s all part of the learning journey. Also when I get tired my Japanese language ability completely tanks. I notice even in my native language in have my good days and bad days, of course it’s not as noticeable as it is in my still rudimentary Japanese.

3. If you’re early in the process, perhaps stop trying to learn about the language (i.e., grammar).

   Do a search for Stephen Krashen. His talks on language acquisition are very informative.

   Then find some more enjoyable source material.

4. I started learning for about 3 months now and still have days where I completely forget the basics of hiragana and other days where there is no problems at all. As others have said we have good days and bad days. You’ll wake up day and look at this with no problems at all!

5. Language acquisition is not a linear process.

6. Take a small break when you’re feeling super burnt out, not when you’re simply forgetting things.

   Start by removing the “most likely normal” part first and fully internalize that’s literally what learning is. The idea that you’d remember something by only seeing it once or even multiple times and it’s somehow going to be there locked in forever with perfect recall is silly.

   Separate your own ego from the situation and realize that forgetting something isn’t a negative reflection of your ability. You’re probably forgetting information all the time on other things in your daily life, but you’ve not tied those things to your ego. You ever forget where your car keys or cell phone are? Is that a reflection on you? Do you curse life and have to take a break to recover from such an embarrassing mistake?

   I also want to highlight something very important you wrote

   >I am halfway with quartet book 1 and there are genki 2 grammar I still forget.

   Progress is a like a staircase with broken steps than a straight line, you’ll always stumble but eventually you get to the top floor. If you keep at it, eventually you’re gonna find yourself thinking

   >I am halfway with quartet book 2 and there are quartet 1 grammar I still forget.

   And then

   >I am halfway with Shin Kanzen Master N1 and there are quartet book 2 grammar I still forget.

   And then finally

   >あーやばい！またその言葉を忘れちゃった！

   I’m know I sound very pseudo-self help guru with this advice lol, but in dealing with the exact same frustrations, I realized it wasn’t just coming from learning Japanese and came from other deeper insecurities that were revealed to me when I started learning a new challenging skill.

7. It really takes weeks for your brain to be able to process new information. It’s not like I already learned this kanji, okay my brain already learned it. It could take weeks or months, because some topics are just easier to understand. And that’s okay, you’re not a machine.

   You can take a break from learning Japanese and start enjoying it. Read for the sake of reading, watch series for the sake of watching, don’t try to understand everything. And if you forget something, it’s okay, you’ll eventually learn it.

   I learned English without learning English. I spent years in an institute where I learned nothing. NOTHING. And wanting to watch faster animes was the reason I started immersion. And not six hours a day, I didn’t have time for that. 5 years later I can already read, speak, understand. The same can happen with all languages.

   Don’t overdo it