Hi all – this is part question and part cry for help! I've been learning Japanese since about 2021. Been making slow process since then: did classes with my local university – which I suppose was good in giving me a start – and then with the university I'm affiliated with (but they put me in a class that was too advanced so I couldn't really keep up). Since then I've been trying to get through 'Japanese for Busy People' and Wanikani.
Separately, I've been accepted onto a PhD programme following on from a research masters. I'm a comparative area studies/social sciences researcher who specialises in public diplomacy. To be clear, I don't need to be able to speak Japanese to conduct my research (although it can't hurt). But my departmental affiliation is the Japanese institute, and because of the way I'm funded and supervised I'll have a doctorate in 'area studies (Japan)' at the end of it.
This often results in situations which are rather embarassing for me. People learn of my affiliation and speak to me in N1-level Japanese, under the entirely reasonable assumption that I can keep up. (I can't.) This is especially the case when I'm actually in Japan – I really do try, but my colleagues often take pity on me and switch to English. It's genuinely mortifying.
Sometimes I enjoy learning Japanese, and sometimes I feel so frustrated that I can't even bring myself to open the textbook. It's a bit like being in a hamster wheel. I'd love to know if anyone here has been in a similar situation – perhaps in having academic or professional pressure to speak Japanese – and what helped them to push through and keep going. Thank you.
by bad_ed_ucation