any older (40s or more) learners?

17 comments

1. yep

   it’s hard to memorize all this stuff, especially the large volume of vocabulary

   I use anki and it really does help me at least

   reading books and related things also seems to re-enforce memory

   and you know what, I was probably better at memorizing stuff 20 years ago but it’s still an interesting challenge

2. I’m 37, but I started in my 20s. As someone who’s older I’ve noticed a few things as my life has changed:

   1) Having time is one necessity. Unless you’re retired you might not have too much free time. You’d likely want to carve out like… 30-60 minutes a day. More if you can. You need to make time for learning.

   2) The second is repetition. The more you encounter something the quicker you’ll internalize it. Some people do flashcards daily; some copy words down 10 times each. Maybe you’ll watch the same video 3 times. Find out what works for you.

   3) Find out what’s effective and efficient for you. I’m better if I can put things to use right away and my believe is language is for communicating. I try to use new words and grammar right away in conversation.

   4) Have fun. The brain likes reward, pleasure, fun and generally being engaged. It doesn’t like being forced and pain. If doing flash cards makes you want to rip your eyes out, don’t do flashcards. There might be a game you can do.

3. I treat learning Japanese as a hobby to exercise my mind, takes the pressure off and allows me to enjoy it. I use WaniKani and follow several IG Japanese teachers to read sample sentences. Neocities sentence search helps retain words that just won’t stick by reading different sentences with that word. Wikipedia is great for grammar too. Good luck and have fun!

4. 42, definitely a hobbyist learner. I started using Duolingo a couple of months before the 2020 Covid lockdowns, and keeping the streak going became a sanity thing for me. Just about 1160 days now! I don’t make as much time for it as it deserves, but I figure slow progress is still progress. I listen to some YouTube content and recently started using Anki decks to supplement the learning.

5. Repetition, constant conversational usage, and a good night’s sleep. Reading helps, since it is in context rather than just straight memorization.

   I’m 47, started learning casually about ten years back, but kicked it up to actual hard work around 44 when I knew I was moving to Japan once borders opened. I can hold a conversation and read with a dictionary, but my kanji retention is a difficult point. I feel like Anki doesn’t work well for me anymore as I get older.

6. I use Skritter, which is an SRS app with a good kanji drawing component. It’s pretty expensive, but an advantage of being over 40 is that that’s not a deal-breaker. It was especially handy for pre-studying vocab for textbook chapters so I wasn’t always flipping back and forward between the glossary and the grammar sections which made focusing on the actual lesson much easier.

   Reading is probably the most essential part of fixing grammar in your mind. SRS’s are good for creating the memory but it’s only when you use it to create meaning that it becomes real in your mind.

7. I’m 44. I’ve tried learning off and on since my 20s but never made much progress. The last 6 months I’ve changed up my study method and it’s made all the difference in the world! I finally feel like I’m making real progress! Definitely have to find an efficient method that works for you, I hardly have any time to study so I have to make the most of the time I do have

8. I’m 37 so not quite there – but I honestly find learning easier now than in my 20s when I originally took Japanese in college. I enjoy it more now, I have more confidence in the process so even when I can’t feel the growth, I know it’s happening and can be patient – that sort of stuff. It helps that I work in IT so I’ve been constantly learning throughout my 30s – I really feel like learning is less of an age issue and more of a “muscle” issue. If you spend lots of time learning, your brain is more used to it. At least it feels that way to me.

   It probably helps that I don’t do any sorts of substances besides caffeinated teas. I have lots of friends and coworkers who drink consistently and it seems to really slow them down these days. Sleep is another thing I have to worry about more now than I did 10 years ago. Hopefully some of this is helpful to you – this is just what I’ve experienced.

9. I’m 59. I’m mostly using Bussu, along with some books and YT videos. I expect to move on to other methods over the summer. The goal is to be “tourist competent” by the end of the year.

10. Not 40+ but I had to build my memory retention skills up bit by bit with tricks and tips over the years. Your learning ability as “neuroplasticity” or whatever is something that is like any other muscle that you need to figure out how to use and how to improve. I relied heavily on SRS for my retention of Japanese because I had no audio input and no conversational partners. I’ve only been studying Japanese for a little over a year and a half. A daily routine and SRS is why I’ve made 90% of my progress. Though I can read just about anything short of classical Japanese now.

    I’m in my 30s and I’d wager that because I’ve never stopped learning I’ve just gotten better and better memory-wise. Then again Japanese was my 4th language… and it is completely on a different level then your “romance” languages.

11. 48yo here – I learnt some when I lived in Osaka for a couple of years, 15 years ago. I was pretty slack though. Probably around N5 but never studied, just picked up things socially.

    For the past six months, I’ve been doing two lessons a week with a private teacher who’s based in Shizuoka, using Minna No Nihongo, along with Anki for the vocab, as well as watching Japanese content on YouTube, etc. I’m going to add a few games (Persona 4, etc) to assist with the immersion. I’m studying again because I realise that I did myself a disservice not studying when I was there, and we’re looking at moving back at some stage.

    It’s going reasonably well. A lot is muscle memory is involved, and we’re uncovering and correcting bad habits and things I assumed were correct but weren’t. Also identifying a lot of Osaka-ben that I thought was ‘mainstream’ J-go. It’s a bit frustrating but the teacher is pretty good (even if she’s amused by all my old habits)

    Recall and memorising can be a challenge, especially as I’ve still got lingering mental affects from COVID, plus I work in IT which requires a lot of study by itself, but I’ve found the best way to get the Japanese into the brain is repetition and exposure via media.

12. Since no one mentioned this already but… there’s no evidence that says that older people/adults learn worse when it comes to languages. If anything, adults seem to learn better than kids when it comes to the early stages of learning (early grammar study, etc). Kids only get better than adults at the very top levels over a much longer period of time (and that is also a statistics, not an absolute fact).

    This is to say, unless your brain literally is impaired or you’re going senile, whether you are 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 (or whatever) years old you’ll learn the language in the **exact** same way as anyone else. Spend time with the language, study the basics, read a lot of books and talk to people. That’s the “learning method” you should be looking at. There’s no such thing as “over 40 learning methods” vs “under 40 learning method”

13. 42 here.

    I started in my early college years, forgot everything in the years after, went back to college, and signed up for JPN again, only to do worse because I was working full time… quit college again and completely forgot almost everything, then went back to college to finish my degree in my late 30s but was dissuaded from taking Japanese because of the “weaboo” stereotype.

    So now I’m in my 40s and trying to get back into studying because I regret not having learned it when I was younger.

    Edit: For writing, it’s the repetition that’s always been most effective for me. I’ve ordered a new set of keycaps so I can acclimate to being able to type using a second language, too.
    I still haven’t found my “best way” to learn how to best speak and understand the language

14. Flashcards is good. I use it daily and see it almost like a fun mobile game. I’ve actually used a few apps over the years but Anki really is the best. Only thing is you need to make your own decks which is painful. But I have it on my phone and use it like a game lol. I don’t like mobile games in general, so it’s a perfect fit. While others are playing candy crush or word search, I memories Japanese words 😉
    Also… I find repetition revision is good. So just revise similar grammer. Or re-read the same comprehension passage from time to time. I don’t do this nearly enough. But from time to if I do that, I feel like alot of grammer and words I learned just starts flooding back to me. Reading also really helps…. You can get short stories suited for your level, specifically for studends, or just like I say, just reread your favourite comprehension essays.

    It’s definitely hard, almost impossible, to retain EVERY SINGLE THING you learned. At least that’s my opinion and experience. But that doesn’t matter to me. Because if it is important I will encounter it again and then eventually get to remember it. But if it wasn’t as important then it will just go to the back of my mind. 🙂

15. 40 is only a few months away, so close enough.

    Like a few people here, been learning on and off since my 20’s, but only really hit my stride in the last few years.

    What works for me is finding Anime/games/manga/books I really like, mining every single thing and reinforcing through Anki reviews and rewatching/rereading.

    Consistency with Anki is the real key. Had I stuck with it I’d have been fluent a decade ago. Can’t turn back the clock, but I can be consistent now. Tired, sick, hungover, depressed, burnt out etc? Disregard, do Anki.

    Up to 18.3k Cards, and 869 day streak. No way am I gonna break it now.

16. I’m 40 and I’m getting back into Japanese! I forgot a lot of it

17. 47, renshuu