Am I cheating myself if I slow down for a few days and just do review?

19 comments

1. Yes. Review is essential. Go back and practice grammar (or whatever) as needed.

2. I dont do lesson everyday, i do lesson when i hit a certain amount of item to review. Example : around 20 items to review it’s the sign for me to do one lesson. You can use any number of review as a guideline to do lesson.

3. There’s nothing wrong with having a slower pace sometimes. You don’t want to forget too many things, but it’s no race!

4. 100% if you’re struggling you should stop adding new material and review what you have until you’re confident.

5. Cheating for what? Are you in a competition? Is there a time limit?

   Beginners always think learning a language is like making a cake or some shit that it’ll be done and finished after doing a certain number of steps.

   Learning a language is never done.

6. The only thing that will you help you understand is time and experience. If you rush it you will feel overwhelmed. Relax

7. Well essentially your whole use of the language is a review. You’re actually helping yourself to take a few days to review

8. If you have a hard time wrapping your head around something it’s a good idea to slow down.
   Also, what’s the rush?

9. Im in the same boat- I’m stuck on Genki lesson 3 (verb conjugation) and had to take a week and use multiple other resources (YouTube, Bunpo etc) to help solidify the concepts before attempting the lesson again. I feel like grammar is such a huge deal that if I don’t build a good grammar foundation that my sentences are going to end up like word salad.

10. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes, slowing down is better than pushing ahead and burning out.

11. No not at all. The only thing to make sure of is that you don’t slow down then slow down then slow down then stop completely. As long as you are doing this with the intention of having a better grasp and understanding of what you are learning then there is no mistake in doing so. Right now I’m having to cut back for the next week because of college finals. I just do not have the time in the day to put in what I usually do so I am just reviewing my anki, reading some grammar points and watching an episode of anime with J-subs. Taking little breaks to better understand or to give yourself some space is never a bad thing as long as it doesn’t turn into a long-term thing.

12. Nobody can tell you what’s good for you and the way that your brain is built.
    Reddit and YouTube is full of people telling you how you should study and don’t get me wrong they make some good points, but take everything with a pinch of salt.
    Do what YOU feel is best for your brain. It might take longer or it might be quicker but the main thing is that the end goal is the same.

13. Absolutely not, review is how things stick!

14. What do you mean? Just go at your own pace and enjoy the journey.

15. Imo with self study its worse to go too fast than too slow (assuming you’re actually studying consistently). Being able to easily understand and recall what you already know is really important to being able to actually use a language

16. Yep, I ran through N5 grammar at first and then had to go back and USE it to actually learn it. I’d argue that doing the lessons you are just making yourself acquainted with a grammar point, as in “introducing yourself” to it. You definitely don’t learn it until it comes to you almost unbidden when you need to speak it or read it in context or hear it go by (and not think about the grammar point, just understand what was said). Review for sure until what you have been introduced to is cemented a bit more in place. Then you’ll be ready for more.

17. Yes you should slow down it you’re feeling unease.

    And imo grammar isn’t like vocab, that if you get a review right doesn’t mean you really recalled it. Like if it was a class the teacher wouldn’t just ask 1 single question and be like “Oh you got it then”. What I do and I’d also recommend is using the “cram” function to practice with more questions, like a self-imposed homework, or test on yourself. Also practice grammar points that are similarly related together, so that you’d really need to pay attention to differentiate for the correct one. Like example if you’re on past-negative verb conjugation, you should also put past verb conju, negative verb conju and maybe dictionary form verb in the same practice section. You can’t get anything else by review a words 10 times in a row. But with grammar, practicing, doing more questions really help with learning and memorizing.

18. I know 100% how you feel right now.
    I finally began to compartmentalize the concept of conjugation without feeling overwhelmed or stuck. But I, like you, had a phase where I felt stuck when it came to conjugations. There was much too much “ichidan this” “godan that” “irregular verbs this) etc. So when I reached this mental block moment, I just stopped advancing and went backwards to review verb conjugation from scratch. I googled all sorts of websites to see how they explain it differently. And I studied from each website/platform as if I’ve never learned conjugation before. Repetition after repeation, I finally grasped the fundamentals. Learning a language is all about repetition. I suggest don’t advance until you finally grasp this concept. Because you’ll end up coming back if you move past it without perfecting it from the beginning.

19. Verb nominalization(however it’s spelled) comes with time. I was once as confused as you and now it feels almost natural. Don’t sweat these kinds of things. If you’re hung up on a particular point just skip it until later. You’ll catch on eventually. If the human brain is good at anything it’s language. Repetition and exposure work wonders. Just don’t give up.