I need help.

Hello Everyone.

I have been studying Japanese now for 2 semesters and yet, I am struggling to remember the enormous amount of vocabulary they taught us and some of the grammar points.

So my question is, What is some of the most effective ways for retaining Japanese that you’ve learned? 172 vocabulary learned in 32 weeks is an enormous amount to commit to memory. I am not young, rather I am 39 years old, and yet I am determined to learn this language.

I find what is most frustrating, is knowing what I want to say, but not how to go about saying it. That is, extremely frustrating and so I am at a point where, I am unsure of what I need to do to commit this to memory. I checked quite a few sources on memory retention when it comes to languages, but so far no luck.

So if it is not too much trouble, may I ask how you retain what you learn?

Thank you.

26 comments
  1. Use a spaced repetition system like Anki.
    You could cram 172 words in 32 minutes that way. (Slight hyperbole)

  2. 172 is kinda small for 32 weeks. I’m learning 5 new words with Anki each day and it’s easy enough for me to keep going, takes around 7 minutes daily to review old and learn new

  3. As others said, use Anki.

    Most people put ~15 new words per day in there.

    In the beginning you will be fast, but if you rack up enough vocabulary, turn down the new words per day so you dont exceed 45 minutes of Anki a day. Or whatever you feel comfortable with, just a rough example.

  4. Let’s start from the ground up to break down your question just a bit, what is your study routine like? Are you doing class room studying? If so, what kind of studying you do outside of your classroom?

  5. any app that uses a spaced repetition system will help. the algorithm will help by telling you what to review if it thinks youre at risk of forgetting.

    anki is good, if you download premade decks it can save you time manually making the cards.

    however, anki is more like a highly useful tool for teaching yourself. since youre strugging, i would advise an app that acts more like a teacher.

    i recommend the website Wanikani. you may be struggling to learn new vocabulary because japanese alphabet/kanji/vocab feels too abstract to your brain. Wanikani does a really good job of making the kanji and vocab memorable. i started using it recently, and based on what you’ve shared i strongly recommend it to you as well.

    (however, it has a course layed out for you so you may have to wait to learn the specific words from your course. however, its still very useful to know all the basics! and by teaching you radicals it equips you with memorization tecqniques that will apply to the whole language)

    for learning specific words and kanjis, i use an app called Benkyou on iOS which uses spaced repetition and has all of the cards made already, you just have to add them to your deck.

    don’t listen to people on here who imply you’re taking too long to learn because *they* can learn 172 words in a day, or whatever. everyone processes information differently, and if you get the right resources and try your best you absolutely can learn japanese, so don’t be discouraged!

  6. For what is worth, if you never tried Spaced Repetition, i would not use Anki. It’s the most powerful SRS app, yes, but also the most complicated, un-intuitive, off-putting, and with an extremely punitive algorithm by default.

    Do some research (there are many apps), try a couple, and stick with whatever you feel comfortable with.

    I know that everybody uses Anki, but I really think is not a good recommendation.

  7. What everyone else is saying is to introduce a way to expose yourself to these words more frequently.

    Textbook learning sucks. Before the space repetition system bloomed into what it is today our only options were to write down vocabulary and grammar over And over again while also jamming flash cards down our throats.

    If you instead use the spaced repetition method with the anki app you get exposure to the vocabulary but also identify the things that you need to work on easier.

    It makes your more difficult items a priority.

    It looks a lot like digital flash cards. But the algorithm makes the words you know well appear less until they go away forever.

    Which book are you using?

    People here have a ton of resources for most textbooks.

    Let us give you a hand.

  8. I usually go through a list of vocabulary and the ones I struggle to remember I then make a separate list containing them and so on and so on. Or give a friend a list of Japanese words with the English counterpart and have them say the English word and you respond with the Japanese counterpart.

  9. 172/32 = 5.375

    If you can learn just 1 new word a day, 5/6 days of the week, then that amount of vocab is REALLY EASY.

    I’d recommend getting Anki and aiming for 5 new words a day. Just use a couple minutes to repeat and write the word to work it into your memory, and it really won’t be hard if you stay consistent.

    your problem may be that you let the workload build up. If you wait 32 weeks then suddenly have to memorise 172 words, thats very very difficult. Less than one a day on average is literally so easy though, just make sure to ACTUALLY put away time to work on (longer than a 5 minute motivation burst)

  10. The key to making language stick is to spend a lot of time experiencing it in meaningful ways. Storytelling and hands-on instructions (not *about* language, using a new language to show and tell how to do something) are the best but anything meaningful is better than nothing.

    And this isn’t anything new, this old [Krashen video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc0xPsSh9oE) demonstrates how easy it is to introduce new words.

    If you feed yourself simple Japanese stories you’ll find that 100 words a week is very reasonable. So I’m not 100% sure which you mean – I can imagine a class doing 172 words in 32 weeks, or pushing students to 172 words per week for 32 weeks.

    The first is frankly a tragedy. You’ve barely been taught any Japanese! How dare you blame *yourself* or your age?! By the end of a semester you should know 70 words – that’s like a driver’s education class taking several weeks discussing what a stop-sign means.

    Don’t blame yourself for having trouble. It’s impressive (shocking) that curricula like that exist.

    And the second would be quite intense, possible but not for everyone. At 32 weeks you would have been introduced to over 5,000 words total, which is enough for you to start tackling actual native-level manga. It doesn’t sound like that was the expectation, but if so my advice would be to slow down.

    I’m not sure I should answer your original question in detail. I have a lot of experience learning new words and then forgetting them. My general strategy is to fill the leaky bucket faster than it runs dry.

    Retention doesn’t matter very much when you can guess the meaning of a word just from context and the kanji used to spell it. I use software to help me find about 50-70 words a day that I’ve forgotten, since they’ll be easy to relearn.

    The thing that’s really important is that I listen to Japanese and look at Japanese text, which means I now mostly understand those things, so learning new words is no longer a challenge. I worry that showing you all the tools and talking about my statistics would just intimidate you.

    So instead, please trust that you can do it too.

    As a beginner it *will* be a challenge, and you’ll need to split your time between rote learning of vocabulary and trying to understand stories even though you don’t understand very much. The first several weeks of doing those things full time can be very rough emotionally.

    Until you ignite the spark. From that point it keeps getting easier, bit by bit.

  11. I don’t know if this will help you — but I thought I would give my two cents anyway. The best way to retain what you learned is to practically use it. That way you have context to these words/grammatical concepts/and so on.
    An easy way to do this is games, in my opinion. Because games make it so you are actively confronted with the same language/vocabulary again and again. The words for the menu, or typical objects. The way a character speaks won’t really be changed, and, often, that character will use the same words or kinds of words to express themselves. For quests, you’ll be given various descriptions describing the same scenario or objects with generally the same core vocabulary needed to understand what they’re asking you to do, and so on.

    Also, if games are not your thing, that is also fine. Think of things that interest you, and stay generally in that bubble or “domain”. Sticking to a particular subject, or subjects very closely related, will make it so you encounter the same vocabulary and speaking patterns regularly.
    It is more important to be comfortable with building a general understanding. Even if you can’t understand much in the beginning, be patient. Later in time you will be able to key out specifics like you are in your native language, and more intricate nuances will make sense little by little. The more practical examples you encounter, the more you’ll see the range of usage the word has. Also all these practical inputs will allow you to form an understanding of how Japanese speakers think and generally go about expressing concepts in their language. It will give you more of a basis and understanding when trying to understand or translate what you are comprehending in your own words/thoughts. Becoming accustomed to a new way of thinking takes time, so be kind to yourself.

    You will see all these concepts you learned used everywhere, even when you least expect it you’ll be like, “oh! This looks familiar”.

    So I guess my advice is try your best to practically use the language, even if you don’t understand a lot at the beginning just work slowly and think of ways to build basic, concrete context for these concepts/words.

    Also doing Anki/supplemental flash cards are good too. But using the vocabulary will help you bridge the gap between memory and comprehension.

    And for speaking, do a lot of like texting or messaging with people on language apps. Also start speaking even if you can’t get any words out, it will help. Speak to yourself, even. Just do anything to make yourself say things aloud and in time it will come. Just interact with the language as much as possible.

  12. In no way am I trying to be discouraging, but that is literally less than one word a day. At that rate, if you wanted to have an even *slightly*, barely, just kinda useful vocabulary (2k words at a *higher* rate of *one* word per day), it will take you five and a half years to reach that level of “proficiency”.

    If you want to have an actually useful vocabulary (10k words, at that blistering pace of… one word per day), it will take you over 27 years.

    Listen, we all go at our own pace. If you’re cool with 27 years to just barely begin to understand the language, then more power to you.

    But, jeez, mate, you have to get over this idea that 172 words is enormous. It’s not. All you need is a bit more confidence and a better study system. Even upping your regimen to 5 words a day, with weekends off, you can cut that three decades down to one decade (with more vocab). You can do this.

    **Anki anki anki**. Yes, it’s a learning curve to set it up. Do it anyway. Find a free hour and just knuckle down and work it out. If you really struggle with it, send me a PM and I’ll help you set it up.

    Also, find something to read. For your use case, probably just get a graded reader. Read it. Re-read it. Re-read it again. Read it over and over until you can read it with the ease and comprehension of Hungry Hungry Caterpillar in your native language. Then get another one. If you need a copy of a graded reader, PM me.

    You can do this. And you can do it *way* better than you’ve been doing it. Follow the above advice and one day soon you’ll be laughing that you used to think 172 words was “enormous”. And, even better, you’ll be using Japanese with greater and greater comfort.

  13. Writing out sentences using the words is great way to remember and learn their kanjs at the same time.

  14. Just use what you can and need to and don’t worry. I’m in Japan now after 2.5 years of study, am 50 and don’t have a vocabulary of 6million words that all the reddit pros say you need.

    I’m managing to hold conversations and make myself understood just fine.

    Build a habit and try to memorise what you can. Some words will drop through your brain like a sieve and others will stay because you are using them. Don’t stress about it. Just keep trying and practicing and learning and using what you have more.

    Also focus on what your learning it for. A manga readers needs are different from a tourists from a company employee.

  15. I suggest setting up Anki and putting the old words and new ones into that. As someone else commented, you’re learning less than 1 word per day, so set your settings to 1 new card per day for the time being. You get the benefits of higher retention and also picking up the pace.

    Also, try to immerse and find sentences you fully understand, that actually uses those words. Same when adding new ones. Only add the sentence if it’s an i+1 sentence (meaning you only need exactly that one “piece of the puzzle” to unlock and understanding of that sentence).

    Remember to just have fun diving into content that’s manageable and most importantly, fun!

  16. SRS tools are your friend, they suck to do but they’re effective.

    Beyond this, listen to stuff in Japanese, yeah you won’t understand much but as you learn new words you’ll hear them amongst the noise and that will help with retention.

    Regarding spaced repetition, I use [jpdb.io](https://jpdb.io) as beyond the numerous pre-made decks, adding new words is extremely simple. The tool also is all in one – so when you add a word it will also add the kanji and their components. It has a slight ramp-up time when you first begin using it due to the all-in-one nature of the site, but once you get in the swing of it and provided you dedicate the time daily needed to use it (I would recommend clearing the backlog and finishing new cards in the morning, and then checking it over the course of the day to clear any new reviews personally) it shows some great results in my personal experience.

  17. I know everyone said it but I’ll just add my voice to the mix here: It’s literally just Anki. I know it’s a pain to set up and understand how it works, but the time you put into setting it up will have paid off within like 2 weeks. Go on youtube and search for some tutorials for how to use it, set it up, and start putting your vocab in. Pay for the iPhone app if you have one.

    I started maybe 3 months ago with 10 new words a day, now i’m at a very leisurely 5 words a day, and I know 300 words and 80 kanji. All it takes is 20-30 minutes a day.

    Also 39 is not that old.

  18. It shouldn’t be as hard as you are experiencing, but that’s not really your fault.

    It is frustrating and difficult because you are lacking the correct tools to easily retain the vocab that you are learning. Unfortunately, most Japanese schools do not provide these free tools.

    You will want to use Anki software along with a premade Vocab sentence deck such as Tango N5 (the books can be purchased for cheap on Japanese Amazon):
    [https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/419481234](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/419481234)

    I’d also recommend checking out this video from Tokini Andy that lays out a beginner study plan (that includes textbook learning like you are doing):
    [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1NQoQivkIY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1NQoQivkIY)

    Textbook learning is great. But it only really teaches grammar. It cannot be your only resource.

  19. First off,

    Thank you all for your feedback. I have downloaded Anki and I will work on finding an N5 deck to study.

    I am in college for a Major in Japanese, and while I said 172 I believe my number is off. We use the textbook called Genki 1 3rd edition and we are up to lesson 8.

    As to how I study, I am a bit old fashioned, and just defaulted to my education back in the 90’s of “Grab a piece of paper and write the word down dozens of times.” and while this has offered me some success (I have a 95.5% in the class) It’s only short term memory and I tend to lose it.

    Typcially, when I am doing my homework, I run everything through my head first, then type it out in deepl to make sure it sounds right, and then write it down physically on paper.

    There are some days, due to other classes, where I fall behind in my studies in Japanese, which is something I have to hold myself accountable for, and I suppose honestly, that is what this is.

  20. When learning new vocabulary (besides using Anki as already mentioned), try to repeat the words as often as you can in your head and with your fingers (spelling and writing) throughout the day. For example when sitting in the bus or when showering.

    This is something that at least helps me a lot. It strengthens words that I already know and makes it easier to remember new ones.

  21. While I agree with everyone who said Anki being the best choice here, I think it’s useful to take a step back since you’re still using tree based technologies to something that might be more your style.

    Have you tried flashcards? Get a pack of 3×5 index cards. On the front write your word/phrase in either kanji or kana. On the back, write the definition in English, and a short example sentence. When you learn a new word, make a new flashcard. Shuffle them up into a huge pile. This huge pile is your study queue. Find 15 minutes. Pull a card from your study queue and look at the Japanese side of a card and try to remember what it means. If you remember it, set it aside. If you can’t remember it in 3 seconds, you put the card in a separate “forgot” pile. After the 15 minutes are up, go through that pile of “forgot” again. Repeat until there is no “forgot” pile left. Repeat this in 15 minute chunks whenever you feel like it until your huge pile is empty. Shuffle it up and start again. Do this for the rest of your life.

    This is basically what Anki does, except it uses the magic of computers to optimize the order of the cards and how long it waits before showing you the same card so you don’t spend time needlessly studying something you already know. So it’s just a more efficient version of the same thing, plus convenience of being able to carry it on your phone and integrating with a bunch of other tools.

  22. Anki is good, but if you don’t want to pay, I think Quizlet is free and is a very close alternative. Both apps have inbuilt spaced repetition, meaning words will appear later on to test your memory. The only tedious thing is that you have to enter in your own words first, the words aren’t pre-made in sets, so this could be difficult for a learner. I believe you can make an excel spreadsheet with one word in each row, and then copy paste that into Quizlet’s set maker, but I’ve never tried that

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