Tried to learn on my own a few times but always ended up giving up. Should I try getting a tutor?

11 comments

1. check dms

2. I think you can either get a tutor (italki maybe) or try to get on a regular studying schedule. Or both.

   Getting on a schedule is hard at first but after you do it for like 100 days it is easy to keep up. The first 10 days are very hard though! Expect that they will feel excruciating. But after that the next 10 days are hard, but less hard. Once you keep it up it gets easier and you can become really good at studying.

3. having a tutor isn’t going to suddenly start motivating you, that’s something you need to find within yourself

   it’s possible they can offer directing you to material that actually interests you, but ultimately you need to decide what interests you and if learning japanese is actually interesting for you

   it’s also possible you’re forcing yourself to do a bunch of repetitive, rote things without anything interesting inbetween and thus boring yourself. everyone needs to memorize vocab, nothing to be done about that, but are you *also* trying to read any native material (however simple, kids books are fine), are you trying to write anything (a story, a poem, a tweet)?

   so go ahead and try a tutor, but you also need to ask yourself what interests you and experiment with engaging with material

4. I studied for a week or two last year and got into the same mindset of “I’ll do it tomorrow”. Now I do tutoring, I’ve only been going for 4 weeks but it’s definitely helped me study more and learn faster

5. You could always try to find an accountabillibuddy. Someone else whom you can talk to personally about your progress and learn together with. But with the specific goal of moving forward.

   If you can afford it. A tutor is nice. Or even if you have some class in your area. Something to help push yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit.

6. I started some reading discussion groups to force me to read some Japanese. [EX](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGhxdFwlvk0&list=PLNvL1DnM9hiyjcqo1SXEK5ht7Uo_ExaBT)

   You could look and join something like that.

7. You need to be clear on your goal and motivation. As in, how good do you want to get and why. The goal is needed to measure your progress and the motivation is needed so you don’t give up when it gets hard or boring.

8. Depends, are you able to do other things consistently or is Japanese just that much of a slog that you don’t enjoy it?

   If it’s the former you should seek counseling for possible adhd.

   Find the reason and motivation you want to learn Japanese and envision it, write it down and put it above your study area.

9. I’ve been studying on my own for about four months now and yeah, everyday is a struggle full of distractions and boredom. It’s easy to take breaks and get distracted and feel the burnout. I go on reddit to vent between study sessions, like right now! I drilled over 100 kanji a few seconds ago with an SRS app, something I never thought I’d ever do

   My advice is to have concrete goals, and pick a date for that thing. That helps you focus your pace and provides some urgency and motivation to get there.

   Learning Japanese is a very long road, so it helps to break it up into smaller wins, imho

10. Tutor here. I’ve found that students with a solid goal in mind do benefit from the regularity and accountability, but those who are just casually interested in learning often fall back into their old habits and don’t continue tutoring for very long. Learning a language is an investment, and without a clear goal it can be easy to let other things get in the way.
    That said, a good tutor can also help you identify your goals and interests, so it might be worth trying one out to see if that’s what works for you.

11. I was on and off for a long time until I got a tutor, then I stuck with it for years.