Hi,
I just passed N5 and it’s not that I am discouraged but learning Japanese is for me a much slower process than learning other (Western) languages such as French. Pronunciation aside, I remember almost the exact day when I went from frantically searching for words and grammar in my head to almost “letting go” and being able to converse (albeit arduously) and from there, it was like my brain “clicked” and the rest was a smoother and less conscious learning process. In contrast, in Japanese passing N5 almost meant nothing in terms of fluidity in speaking or thinking Japanese.
Will this “click” in your experience ever happen in Japanese, or is it more like a slogging process where you are always struggling? If it happens, at what kind of level (N4, N3, etc)?
Maybe knowing how far I am will make my goals more realistic.
Thanks a bunch,
12 comments
I feel exactly the same way. I thought that after passing N5 things would be easier but it’s just the opposite so I changed the way of studying. I try to write small paragraphs like a journal everyday in order to use the language even more. I often watch youtube videos of people talking Japanese slower in order to listen more since reading is impossible with the number of kanji that I know at the time. I am sure at sometime will get easier. がんばれ！
Not a surprise, N5 is still in the realms of what can be called beginner level. I wouldn’t say there’s a ‘click’ moment, but if you mean the time when you can use Japanese to some degree comfortably, N2 or N1 maybe? Though if I’m being honest, by the time you feel as though you have a real sense of control over the language, you could well be past N1.
It does get easier, mind. The beginner to early intermediate stages are a little bit like fighting a brick wall with your hands tied behind your back. Once you get past that, things get a bit faster, though this is tempered by the amount of stuff you have to cover due to the gap between Japanese and English (French is an Indo-European language with close vocabulary ties to English, of the languages of the world it is *very* close to English. Japanese is very starkly *not* so).
Kanji is a good analogy for this. Barring how mnemonics can scuff the progression a bit, the early stages are usually the biggest slog, but as you get familiar with what is a very unfamiliar system for European languages speakers, the process gets *exponentially* faster.
So, in short, it does get easier over time. There’s unlikely to be a ‘click’ moment, but it’s the earlier parts that are the biggest slog.
Well, as harsh as this may sound, the N5 is pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proud of your achievement or that the effort you put into it doesn’t matter – it will serve as the foundation of your future learning successes – but the journey ahead is extremely long and the N5 is naught but a few steps.
Answering your question, I’ve found that with japanese, there hasn’t been a moment yet in my 2 years of learning where something just “clicked” like I felt with english, firstly because 2 years is not that long of a time, and secondly because progress feels very gradual rather than explosive like it did when I was still studying my second language.
I can notice that my reading comprehension and speed is improving, I feel how comfortable it is to watch anime now when compared to a year ago, but this isn’t product of just waking up one day and having the realization that I was indeed fluent in this language – rather, it’s a daily sensation, a feeling that tells me my efforts pay a little bit more each day.
Maybe that was the case with English too and I just forgot though, who knows. Perhaps because of how close Indo-European languages are one might not realize the gradual nature of language learning.
Edit: Formatting. Also, as a reference, I’ve passed the N3 in december and planning on taking the N2 in july, which I’m confident in passing with a reasonably good score. Maybe if things go well and I can sustain my current study schedule, I’ll even take the N1 december this year.
In short, I felt the same until about N3. And even then, native material feels foreign. It’s just so different.
It’s going to depend a lot on how much you use it and how much you’re trying to tailor Japanese to you.
Are you making an effort to read, speak and write Japanese, as well as listening to it daily or almost daily? Excellent. You’re doing a lot.
Are you looking up and studying words which might fall outside of your proscribed method of study (e.g., looking outside of the textbook) and maintaining an extra vocab list based on personal interest (your occupation, words related to your hobbies and home life, etc.).
You’d know when it happens
I’m going to assume you are from Europe or NA, if that’s the case it will take very long time. It’s not like French where it share many similarities with English so I doubt that it will even happen anytime soon
Has not clicked for me, but after reaching 6k words I could read more comfortably. It was not until about 8k/9k words before I could read fairly easy. I can read Japanese faster than English now, which is kind of weird considering I am still slow by Japanese standards. When I think in Japanese it is very… nebulous… I know exactly what it means but I cannot often express it in English.
A surprising amount of the stuff is unexpectedly deep now and I cannot even figure out how I remember different minerals/ores… Like I associate Genbu with basalt, I did not even realize it was the SAME kanji until just this moment when I went to check. (With his stone, and type, and all making sense now.) More than half the words I encounter for the first time I already know innately because of the Kanji. If that’s what you mean by ‘click’ and not in a grammar sense – it happened very recently for me.
When I started having dreams in Japanese. My gf would tell me in the morning I was talking in Japanese in my sleep. I remember specifically being in a ryoukan and I kept breaking the rules. I forgot to take my shoes off at the entrance and accidently dunked my small drying towel in the onsen because I forgot it was on my head and decided to sumberge myself in the water. I kept going “gomenasai. Watashi no machigai, gaijin desu!” And the staff would go from irritated to laughing when I said it.
There is no “click”, it is a gradual process. I got a nearly full score on n1 in December, and while listening and reading is fairly easy, outputting is still very difficult. It’s gradually going to get easier as I practice it more.
In the context of learning Korean, it was about 3 or 4 years in when my knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar became a natural understanding.
Clicks do exist, but in different sizes and timelines for different people. Large clicks for me are rare. Small clicks happen everyday, but I don’t notice them as they happen.
For me it happened when I started speaking aloud in Japanese. I was still reviewing Genki 1 while studying Genki 2 at that point. I found a great conversation partner on iTalki and even though my sentences were basic, speaking them out loud helped grammar points click.
The old tried and true method of writing a daily journal worked wonders for me. Each week I would read what I wrote during my iTalki session and have fun discussions expanding on those topics.