So I’m starting from zero when it comes to Japanese. I was sort of pushed by a friend to look into easy visual novels for early reading. I tried reading this visual novel called summer pockets, and so far, I’ve been able to understand about 70% of the text thanks to the pop-up dictionary that I am using and I am able to understand the general plot. I’ve been reading alongside using tae kim and anki and watching youtube and anime (about 80% immersion and 20% anki and grammar). However, I’ve been told by a few people that I am setting myself up for failure by diving into native content this early on. Am I fine continuing this way or should I dial back a bit and use easier material meant for learners if I’m only really struggling a tiny bit?
8 comments
I think people are just worried you will burnout, but if you are enjoying it then keep going.
You’re only setting yourself up for failure if you quit which if that’s what you want to do continue to them but if you feel like you want to dial it back then do so your still learning at the end of the day
TheMoeWay is highly regarded in this community, and their guide ([https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/](https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/)) advocates for early immersion. If you’re happy with your method and you feel like you’re making progress, there is no reason to change.
If you learn things and that you enjoy it, just stick to it! Don’t listen too much to what people tells you if it works for you, a lot of people spend most of their time trying to find the “best” way to learn without actually learning anything.
Being curious about a language and trying to understand it even if super slowly is always good. I think that you are fine. Many people cannot do what you are doing because they end up reading something they find a chore to read. As long as you don’t hate it, keep it up
Are you having fun? Are you learning? If yes to both, keep going. Don’t refuse yourself fun but challenging content due to people say you’re not ready for it because *they* want to spin their wheels and read artificially easy content for years.
To put it simply: if the method you’re using feels like it’s working, and it’s fun, then keep doing it for as long as it works and is fun. The worry people have here is burnout; overconsuming content at a relatively early stage can cause problems, but I wouldn’t change what I’m doing if I’m not bored of it.
A lot of people have a lot of biased opinions based on what worked for them. But most of them aren’t experts on language learning/teaching, they are just people who who found a method that’s perfect for them and trust too much in it’s potential.
The real constant to learning anything is to keep up the motivation and avoid burnout!
Also, when you’re getting a bit more confident about reading, I recommend Project Sekai (you can’t use a dictionary inside it since it’s a mobile game, but it’s fully voice acted). Pretty awesome neverending story that features some pretty authentic dialogue (like, realistic portraials of how people use politeness based on who they talk to and how that changes as people get to know each other better; or a bunch of culture/tradition/free-time related activities that you rarely find in anime/manga/vns usually).
Extra: If you can afford it, you could try Satori Reader (actually, they may have a free trial period). Loads of original stories, with good voice acting (naration) an a built-in dictionary with grammar breakdowns and many other features. The difficulty levels are perfectly graded and you can definitely find stuff even for absolute beginners.