Becoming Fluent in Japanese in 6 months!

[@GermaineJapanese]

How long do you think it takes to become fluent in Japanese? How fluent are you now? Do also check out my interview with Jannah: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGTVqJ96h7h1g9E

[@kensanokaeri]

I am writing this from a Japanese person perspective. If people become fluent in Japanese in less than a year, I would be super super impressed by that. Even if you guys say that you guys only speak a little bit of Japanese, I feel very honored that you guys are studying my language and culture. ありがとう！ Immersion is key, Yes! KZbin is great to immerse yourself being in the language (especially the listening part). I watch KZbin videos to immerse myself in English and Chinese Mandarin. I think enjoying the process to achieve becoming fluent is quite important as well. I'm glad that you (Garmaineさん!) seem like enjoying learning Japanese and helping other learners as well.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thank you very much for the comment. I really value insights from a Japanese teacher. Thank you, Ken sensei, for always creating so much immersion material for us to use as well!!!

[@oojiman]

I've only just seen this video now actually and yeah nah i do agree with you tho its really not healthy to compare yourself to other people because at the end of the day we are all in different situations in life and some people arent willing to dedicate their entire life for a while to a goal that wont really improve your life as much as say dedicating that time to something such a going to uni or working would. Like people i feel like need to consider for example yeah i passed the jlpt n1 in 9 months but for those 9 months i really had to sacrifice a lot of other things so i think people need to ask themselves when they are feeling jealous, if they are really jealous also of everything that comes along with an achievement like that such as worse grades in school, worse relationships with friends and things like that. Because if you dont wont that but you just want to achieve the same thing without those sacrifices then i would argue that you really shouldnt feel jealous and should instead realise they don't have what you actually want. I know im ranting but i hope that made some sort of sense haha

[@thegreatiam7]

Hello, im glad i came across this video. Also glad that you did not accept/reject any ideas but is open to discussion. I watched that vid of Aussieman on passing n1 in 9 months and personally, i want to take that road as well 😁

[@michellecastanos1565]

thanks for this video Germain`~san, it gives me more courage to study.God bless you!!

[@williamle253]

Thanks for being real about your feelings when watching others on youtube. I've found myself doing that too and realised that I just end up feeling negative about my current progress. Another great video Germaine!

[@GermaineJapanese]

Glad to know you can relate to the negative feelings part. Time to put those thoughts aside!

[@jimleu1374]

So I've been actively studying Japanese for about 2 years now. I am in no way hardcore but it's a fun hobby that I try to put at least 30 minutes to 1-2 hours into everyday. I did the italki Language Test and it put me at a B1 level which I was pleasantly surprised. I think about the whole "completely fluent" goal and I've come to realize that although this is a great goal to have - get to C1 / C2 and speak like a native... it's really not realistic. I think that if I can get to a solid B2, I'd be happy because the "use case" of Japanese for me would be to consume Japanese media and to be able to get around Japan when I travel. What I've also realized is that you just need to learn to enjoy the process of language learning. It's not a sprint... but a marathon. I grew up in the U.S. and have been out in Asia (China and Taiwan) for over 20 years now and I would say that my spoken Chinese - even though I use it every day for work and in the environment is only at a high B2 / maybe C1 level. I really don't have any super desire to get it to a C2 level as I can pretty much function with it everyday. I'm not going to write a book in Chinese or have intellectual debates in Chinese. I treat Japanese learning (and language learning in general) as a fun hobby... it's what I like to do in my downtime. I like watching your videos and other Japanese learning videos because I find a lot of enjoyment in the "discovery" process. I love the feeling of "oh so that's what it means now". My "goal" is always... the next time I go to Japan... and that keeps me motivated to learn.

[@GermaineJapanese]

I think treating it as a hobby is great for keeping motivation up. The best method is the one that can be sustained. I respect people who can train themselves to grind at it for hours in a day but I know that will just kill my motivation. No shame in taking it slower!

[@fakamine]

Hi, Germaine! I've been studying Japanese by myself for 2 years now and I think I'm almost at a similar level than you (and that's why I got so related to your videos). BUT, I study at least 1 hour everyday, listen to podcasts, watch japanese TV shows, movies and series all the time. "Full imersion", as some might call it. As you can imagine, I also feel very skeptical on that "become fluent in x months" kind of thing... Ok... I started to learn at a very old age (I am 46) and I use to say that at the same time that I learn 3 new words, I forget 1. I'm pretty sure that younger fellows can do it way easier than me. But I also believe that they don't enjoy it as much as I do. I love it, I think it is very fun, it became a new target for me to reach and I'm not worried about how long it will take to become fluent (and even if I will be able to do it).

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for commenting! Yes, working at one's own pace is important. If we push ourselves too hard, we may end up hating the process and giving it up completely.

[@Oceancurve]

Hi Germaine. I am studying Japanese about 10 months now. About 30 minutes a day through listening & videos. I do not have the time for intense study as ive many other things. For me, i's ok though. Over time, I can see a gradual improvement. I don't have grade expectations and I'm happy to enjoy the language journey. Only now, can I understand the basic conversation and words.

[@GermaineJapanese]

10 months is still "young" :) All the best with your studies!

[@バカカバ-o4k]

I think “passing N1 in 9months” is not the same as “becoming fluent in 9 months” I have personally met quite a few people who have passed N1, and they are not at all fluent. They have decent comprehension/good reading practice, their vocabulary knowledge is also good, but very in-line with what’s actually in the exam. However, when it comes to listening to casual, everyday native speech at full speed AND when they themselves have to speak, they are not at all fluent. They definitely don’t suck, but they still have a long way to go. Which is fine! And what they have achieved is still a great, respectable achievement, but for them to say, “completely fluent” in 9 months or 6 months or a year etc, I still say BS. Simply because there is just TOO MUCH to learn. Just once, I would love to see someone on KZbin, who claims to have been studying Japanese for less than a year and be completely fluent, to actually demonstrate that, speaking completely fluent japanese, about a wide range of interesting topics, with a Japanese person, live in a video. I’ve never seen anyone do that.

[@GermaineJapanese]

I agree that the N1 is not a good mark of fluency. I also know people who have the N1 cert but don't speak well. To be fair to Aussieman though, he speaks Japanese really well. Which only makes me even more envious of what he's achieved. haha but well... no more comparing for me... You can check out his video in my description and see what you think.

[@バカカバ-o4k]

@@GermaineJapanese I agree 🙂 he speaks really well. But that’s after 3 years (that’s what he says) that’s not his speaking ability after 9 months. He admitted that his speaking really started to improve to where it is now, in his 3rd year. After a lot of speaking practice/experience.

[@GermaineJapanese]

@@バカカバ-o4k Haha, yes so that’s the one consolation I have. 🤣 Although I must say that even without speaking, passing the N1 in a year is theoretically still insane and deeply offensive hahahah

[@バカカバ-o4k]

@@GermaineJapanese Absolutely. It’s definitely a great effort!

[@バカカバ-o4k]

@@GermaineJapanese Also, just a thought I had today, to add to this. I think true fluency is very hard to achieve without living in the country. Just because there are lots of very specific (yet still casual, everyday language) that just wouldn’t really come up, no matter how much immersion you do. Just to use Ozzie Man as an example, as fluent as he seems, and as well as he does speak, I wonder if he had to say something like “I wanna go and get a new frame for this picture, cause the one it’s currently in isn’t quite big enough and the picture is hanging over the edges a little bit.” Or “I need to take my car down to the mechanic and get them to check the brakes, cause lately whenever I go down hill they’re making a weird screeching sound.” for example. They might not be the best examples, but I think it gets the point across. Of course these are still common sentences, using everyday language, but I’d bet there’s a chance that he still would not know how to say that Completely Naturally, not due to any fault of his own, but simply cause he hasn’t been living his everyday life in that world. They are sentences that simply wouldn’t really come up very often in immersion content. Of course I’m not only talking about Ozzie Man, he was just an example (and I could be completely wrong too) but I think that would be the case for most people. I think that true “complete” fluency is very hard to achieve without actually living your life in the country. Anyway, just a though I had during my walk. I’d love to know your thoughts Germaine and also everybody else’s opinions. 🙂🙏🏽

[@jasonkueh4023]

Hi again Germaine! I’ll try to share how my learning journey is like. So around April/May this year I kinda suddenly started learning Japanese hiragana/katakana. I got my minna no nihongo and then started to self study. Or at least attempt to and failed miserably around chapter 4 maybe. The pure Japanese was just too much for me. I tried listening to podcasts but I understood nothing too🥲 I found your channel along the way when I haven’t start lessons yet although it was still alien language to me at that time 😂😂 I thought wow this lady is such a pro speaking to Japanese people. I thought speaking to people (even I have to speak like a baby) would be a nice change of pace from reading textbooks so I steeled myself and had my first italki lesson. My Japanese was rubbish but thanks too much for my teacher for being patient with me. I can only introduce myself and some random Japanese words and thats it. However it was a leap of faith that brought the biggest change in my studies. I ditched my textbook and took maybe 2 lessons weekly with my first teacher. She took me to all the grammar points using her pdfs and flashcards. After 3 months in when I was probably around 70% in with N5 grammar, I saw one of your videos again and decided to have a real, no textbook speaking lesson. So I search for a guy teacher around my age and had conversation with him in as much Japanese as I can with him in half an hour. Boy that was crazy. But I was so glad I did it. Because I realised what motivates me the most is when people understand what I’m saying, when I can make my thoughts understood. Then I realised that the real me like to talk. Even in schools I study by listening and talking to the teacher more than reading. So I’ll have one conversation class, 2 grammar class per week. It was exhausting but improvement definitely can be seen. I also followed your videos cause I realised it’s not only for studying; it’s because I like to listen to people talk. And then somewhere between that I was into this singer called Yuuri and I listened to his songs everyday while commuting and eventually learnt how to play and sing those songs on guitar😂 i started to print Japanese only lyrics, write furikana and chords and practice. I’ll follow artists’ SNSs and watch guitar tutorials in Japanese. Overtime, my (romance-related😂) vocab increased and my reading speed too. This and that and this and that happened which made the me today. I’ve basically integrated having some Japanese in my life and not really “studying”. I’ve tried N4 practice test and there was a lot of words I dont know since I dont do vocab memorizing. But I can have simple conversations with my familiar topics, which may or may not use words from JLPT. That is enough for me while I continue moving forward at my own pace. Tl:dr, I integrated speaking and listening to my daily routine and hobbies cause it worked for me and not do traditional studying (Edit) sorry for wall of text. Didnt realized it was this long lmao

[@angelolotan2622]

Hey, I wanna do that weekly lesson too, but I feel like after maybe 2 lessons I already exhausted all the things I am pretty much able to say in Japanese. And repeating the same conversation is just so artificial that none of my teachers have suggested that yet. How do you face that, could very well be that your level is just so high that it's no problem at all for you to talk an hour about a new topic everytime, or maybe it's mostly asking questions to your teacher, interrupting a lot, to learn some not yet known words. Would love to hear your thoughts on that topic!

[@jasonkueh4023]

@@angelolotan2622 Obviously if you just randomly give me a topic to say I would’ve started to speak gibberish😂😂 What me and my conversation teacher do is to decide beforehand what topic are we going to say in next lesson. A homework or sorts. He usually give very specific ones though. I prepare a “script” to present and try to anticipate what follow up questions I will get and prepare the answer beforehand. I also jot down related sentence structure and vocabs to refer to during the lesson. It’s kinda “cheating” but actually I will remember it better once I used it correctly. And the thicker the “cheat book” gets, you get more sentence variety and vocabs! Once I get to a word I dont know, I bluff the katakana version of the english word which works like 30% of the time 😂😂😂 (No please dont learn this from me) I do interrupt my teacher to ask what is the meaning of the word only if it affects my ability to understand the sentence. If I can somehow guess the teachers’ meaning (by situation or body language) while not fully understanding the sentence, I’ll leave the learn new words part to when I review the lesson video. (Edit) If you do want to revisit the same conversation topic, maybe you can try it with different people?

[@angelolotan2622]

@@jasonkueh4023 Thank you for your very insightful answer! I definitely agree, that sentences prepared beforehand come in handy, but using them in an actual conversation really increases the learning effect. I see that learning new words through a review video seems very useful. Do you use a recorded version of your conversation for that or is that something your teacher provides? Since I am really an italki newbie not too sure how to do that, but I would love to go back on these kinds of conversations and really strengthening my vocabulary. The idea with homework for preparing the next lesson is great, I will try to communicate that with my future teachers 👍

[@jasonkueh4023]

@@angelolotan2622 I record every lesson I took and review them. I did ask for the teacher’s permission beforehand though. You can do it easily if it is Skype or Zoom but I dont know if italki classroom can do that. Good luck to you! I think the most important thing is to let your teacher know your needs.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for your long comment and I like how it's spun on to some good discussion about studying effectively with italki. I'm glad you've found your rhythm with italki. I also agree that doing a thematic study before the lesson and then using the sentences / words in the lesson is very useful.

[@joaobatistapinheironeto4233]

I leaned ,english ,germany alone , im able to undertand e have a good talk ,but japanese ,im studding for one year and notting happens , every day at the least 2 hours i study until i find your channel is amazing its has helped me a lot learn . Hug from Brasil 🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thank you so much for watching from Brazil!

[@jtrow5023]

This is such a helpful video. It keeps me motivated to continue learning. I was interested in your point about being more efficient when learning. Thanks for the video!

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for watching it! :)

[@paulwalther5237]

It's been a while but I think I was able to have simple conversations after about 3 years. I was really trying hard and putting all of my free time into it but I was also in my mid 30's and had a job. So that meant 2+ hours a day but not 6+ hours. There's a lot of difficulties with Japanese but I think the worst part is the writing system. Even if they had a good alphabet and spaces between the words (like say Korean), just getting used to a whole new alphabet is going to slow you down (most people) so that getting good at reading takes a while. When it comes to foreign languages I've always felt that reading separates serious learners from casual learners. But the Japanese writing system is so hard that it takes a special sort of person to pick it up and get used to it quickly. And in my opinion, even if you are good kanji, because it's not an alphabet but a real symbol that you're looking at, you don't pick up words from reading like you would other languages by reading it and listening to it in your head. At least that was my experience. Now after I got conversational I actually was so into Japanese that I quit my job and moved to Japan for two years where I worked part time as an English teacher but mostly just studied Japanese like it was my job. My rate of improvement did not go up like it seems to for some KZbinrs or Internet people. The law of diminishing returns definitely applied to me. I think I got about 9 hours total of studying in every day for a while though (over a year). All that time I was so frustrated at how hard it was to read. I did finally start reading more quickly to the point where I could read a book in a month (but studying Japanese like it was my job). When you care a lot about something you definitely compare yourself to other people and I compared myself to lots of people in Japan. I was doing better than most but not as good a the best of the best among the people I met and of course I compared myself to them mostly and got frustrated. Now I have a less competitive attitude, more like people say you should have as a language learner. But then, I don't care so much either. If my Japanese doesn't get any better - I really wouldn't care. So I kind of think that if you aren't comparing yourself to other people you're either really psychologically balanced or you aren't as crazy about learning Japanese as I was when I was in Japan. Anyway.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. It was the same for me when I was working in Japan. During that one year, I was very fortunate to have the time to study Japanese during my breaks in the staffroom as "part of the job". Like you, I felt that I wasn't really improving as quickly as I had hoped for, but now looking back on that time, I think it really was the foundation for anything I've now achieved with regard to Japanese. Sometimes I wonder how far I intend to take my Japanese but thinking about that is a scary thought. Like… so what if I do become fluent one day? I haven’t really thought about what happens after.

[@lesterbarnes2010]

Thank you for this statement, because I have similar feelings mainly about study methods, pronunciation, and memorizing Kanji. Some of the Japanese-learning-superheroes also make me jealous and sometimes frustrated. I started very impulsively without any knowledge. And I have chosen KZbin, Busuu, Podcasts, and animelon. I tried Manga and failed because even though they had furigana, it was just too small to read and not much enjoyable. Even Anime is too hard for me most of the time. I wanted to be able to read at least hiragana and katakana, which is in my humble opinion very, very helpful. I still struggle with Kanji, because I'm searching for the logic, and didn't find it yet. I guess finding associations or a mnemonic is the solution, but you will need a lot of them... After one year I am glad when I listen to Japanese I can understand some words. Connecting them in my brain still takes a lot of time to get the content. Also, the grammatical differences are hard to understand. My mother tongue is german and getting everything in the right word order is also not an easy-to-accomplish mission. Especially in real-time. Far too slow. After one year I can listen to beginner podcasts quite easily. One recommendation here is "Japanese with Shun". Also real conversations like on your Chanel or Benjiro-Sans for example are very, very helpful. I can only agree with your opinion, that listening is the most important thing. Even when not understanding, you learn sentence structure, and also pick up some words, which the more you listen, remain in your list of useful vocabulary. I think I spent around 1 h at least each day. To get 25 Points at Busuu every day is somehow motivating. My goal was also not to invest in textbooks. I wanted to inhale everything which is available for free. And there are loads of free content to learn from... Keep going! And thanks for your work. I like listening to your conversations!

[@raulcanuti7586]

I studied by myself for two years and that is was sufficient just to pass a couple of exams (N5 and N4) but it was absolutely unuseful about speaking. in this last year, I changed my planes and studied with a private mothertongue teacher. And more, I spent an average of 2 daily hours by study at home also: with this new strategy, I start to see something better about talking. I'm fluent? Absolutely not! I'm speaking like a 4/5 years baby and I think it's normal. I don't believe at all at the "genius" speaking fluently in 6 months or in 9 months and I always skip theirs videos because I don't want waste my time with people who invent things out of thin air.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Hahaha! I also want to skip them but I just end up clicking on the videos and then getting angry ahhahahah.

[@shanedurlik6729]

The AJATT community is hard core aswell! Watching things in Japanese for hours on end. Aussie man would have put in a ton of hours to get that good in that short time. He would have sacraficed alot. So you can't compare. But I'm similar to you always looking for that perfect method - but I don't think it exists because everyone is so different!! Enjoying your videos!

[@GermaineJapanese]

Haha, glad you can identify. Sometimes I think I spend too much time on perfecting the methods rather than on the actually learning.

[@glottaquest581]

So honest 👏🏽.

[@PaoSRC]

I am nowhere near fluent at Japanese, nor have a regular study schedule, but looking back on my skill level from 3 years ago I can still see progress I am quite happy with. Before I would know very basic sentences from one class in university, with only Kana under my belt. Now I am struggling to make slightly more complex / compound sentences with different verb tenses and Kanji, but can follow a general flow of a conversation (assuming I know some of the vocabulary) even if I miss some details. It isn't much still but it is still visible progress. Study for me was listening to KZbin videos or podcasts about grammar points while on the commute for work. Since we have been remote working given the pandemic it has not been as regular, but I still managed to retain my general immersion through consuming Japanese music and shows. Since it is not actually "studying" the pace has been slow but given my goal is to eventually be able to listen, read, and hopefully type -- to play games in Japanese eventually or watch streamers or the like -- I think it is still steps in the right direction as I get to practice what grammar points and vocabulary I do know and pick up new ones every now and again.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for commenting! Yea I agree, I think looking back on how much progress you've made is very important :)

[@jvlog5349]

Thank you for good movies I’m continuing to upload the video that showing Japan with Japanese and English subtitles. Thank you for sharing!!!

[@GermaineJapanese]

Thanks for watching and supporting!

[@realyua]

wow, you and Jannah are so impressive. To be able to speak fluently at such a short time is very amazing. I don't get the meaning of immersion. I felt that I am too slow and also confused with the grammar and particle usage. It hurts but I agree I do not have that kind of motivation as I have other things in life and work. I really hope it is not a competition and compare with others. Even if it is a competition, it is just a competition for yourself to improve and get better.

[@字幕なしで]

wdym you don't get the meaning of immersion? is bc you're confused with the grammar and particles usage you should be immersing

[@realyua]

@@字幕なしで indeed your Japanese must be very good. Great job.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Do you mean that you don't understand when you immerse in Japanese? Maybe you can use easier Japanese resources? When I first stared immersing, I only understood 30% of what I heard but slowly and almost magically, I started to understand more and more.

[@realyua]

@@GermaineJapanese Yes I mean that. Thanks for understanding it. I admired how you are so impressively fluent in japanese speaking right now. I felt that your contents are always so amazing and inspiring. Keep up the good work.

[@字幕なしで]

@@realyua いやまぁそこまで言わないけどさ…

[@SilentEdits]

I’m about a 18 months in. I still struggle following conversations. But I can follow and read basic stuff like NHK Easy.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Reading's a great way to improve quickly. I ought to read more than I actually do, haha.

[@Rationalific]

Personally, I've been studying Japanese of and on for over two decades, and I still can't speak as well as you can. From 2005-2013, I even taught English in Japan (in English), and I now wish I had tried harder to learn Japanese then. I can understand the conversations in your videos (minus an occasional word here and there), but news programs and many other shows are like another language totally. (Also, I can generally understand women better than men.) Anime like One Piece is good listening practice, but even today, I heard a short phrase in One Piece, had no idea what it was, read the subtitles, realized I knew every word in that utterance, and understood it when playing it back and already knowing the meaning, but I couldn't catch it just by hearing it. Basically, I can't understand it enough without subtitles, although I can still understand numerous phrases within it. Speaking is even worse. You are stellar at speaking, in my opinion. Maybe it is my lack of knowledge, but I think you speak really well. I'd be happy to be at that level. Anyway, 頑張って！

[@GermaineJapanese]

Oh my gosh, the part about understanding women better than men is so relatable. Now that you've mentioned it, that's so true. Why do Japanese guys have to assert their masculinity by slurring everything?! haha

[@Rationalific]

@@GermaineJapanese どうしてだろうね。😄

[@carerforever2118]

I'm still on N5 beginner level after 3 years, as l only use apps and study Japanese for 30 minutes a day.

[@EthanMoran1999]

Wow, A lot to unpack from this video. But I really appreciate your channel to I want to take the time to write my thoughts. No.1 About the 6 months/comparing yourself to others thing. I really agree that comparing yourself is a complete waste of time, based on the fact that EVERYONE learns differently. I began having simple conversations in Japanese after about 6 months of study. After about a year of study, I can speak about at your level. Does that mean I'm better at Japanese than most others? maybe, but I really don't think so. I have a lot of major weak points still. The point is, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and should find the best way to learn effectively for themselves. I also find the "learn to speak in 6 months" videos really annoying lol. No.2 About immersion vs textbooks/writing vs speaking. I find Jannah's example very relatable except for one thing, I would never speak Japanese and understand as I do now if not for learning writing and Kanji. I struggled severely with memorizing vocabulary until I began studying kanji, then it became easy to form patterns in my head. I like the idea of using textbooks just a little to understand the basic structure and fill the rest of the study with immersion. Again, I would wager to say that my method isn't necessarily inherently better, but it works for me. No.3 I love your little ”とか” at 5:00 because it's so relatable and a sign that you are becoming fluent in a language, I remember being so happy when I realized how often I accidentally used "えっと” even when speaking in English 😂😂. Anyway sorry for the long comment, just wanted to say thanks for your channel! And I think you are one of the most down to earth and relatable learners to me 😊

[@GermaineJapanese]

Ha... so you're one of those annoyingly gifted people who pick things up faster? haha. Thanks for taking the time to comment! You are at a really good place for just one year of study! Wishing you all the best as you continue with the grind!

[@Hank-Lapin]

Hi Germaine, I'm still at that under 2 years of lazy poor learning techniques mixed with a deep hate of grammar study, textbook studies and apps. Often it seems the word fluent is used flippantly. In Japanese learning N1 is the measure, but by no means are they ever going to be equal to a native speaker in any area of the language. I admire anyone who takes it that far though. My lazy ass will never put that kind of dedication in. As for a large chunk of youtubers, it's fair enough to think bulls**t. They play with algorithms and click-bait titles, offer ridiculous time frames, and suckers fall for it. We really can't help comparing ourselves to others, but like in any other field, some folks are just far more talented and learn languages much easier than a lot of us. There is no even playing field. I've met people who struggle for years to get to an intermediate level, and others who coast it towards advanced in less time. I remain jealous of those few, and angry with the bullsh**ers. I've probably wasted more time searching for the quickest and most effective way to learn a language than actually studying the language :) As always, thanks for your videos!

[@GermaineJapanese]

Hi Hank, thanks for the comment. I agree, and the funny thing is, whenever I watch these videos, I actually feel happy when it turns out to be clickbait. I think I find it hardest to deal with when I watch a video and their success turns out to be genuine (honestly I have come to realise that there ARE people who have made truly amazing progress) and it makes me bitter about my own learning journey. But yea, language learning is a personal journey, and it's better to just enjoy the process without comparisons. I'm trying to learn from the success of others although it's still hard not to feel jealous, haha.

[@noname-gi5bb]

Am start learn japanese before 8 months and i still cant make any correct sentence. And i remember just 70 words kind of 😅

[@wajdiammar]

Finally your realized that immersion is the key .. unfortunately you Lost 4 years with the wrong method ..for me I've been studying English for 10 month now with "mass immersion approach" and i had a great improvement . I've not started output yet but I can express myself somewhat as you see ..so try to focus on immersion as much as you can "watch anime, listen to podcasts, read novels" and you will improve quickly and gradually ..and you are "beautiful"

[@GermaineJapanese]

Never too late to start immersion!

[@wajdiammar]

@@GermaineJapanese Yes never late .. good luck

[@字幕なしで]

i remember watching a video of a korean dude with jp subtitles where he explains how he passed N1 in 1 month lol iirc chinese people can also pass N1 without studying or some shit like that jlpt is a scam

[@GermaineJapanese]

Love your username btw! Yea... Korean has a similar grammar structure but still, one month is...

[@harpie9022]

Regarding Jannah's progress, you cannot say she is fluent in japanese when she doesn't even know hiragana, katakana and kanji.

[@GermaineJapanese]

Fluency comes in different aspect. You can be a fluent speaker but not be able to read or write. That said, Jannah is not fluent yet, but she is a lot better at speaking after 6 months than I was after more than 1 year.

[@字幕なしで]

if you got a job and still want to learn japanese you still can do immersion and pull 3 hours during weekdays and then going crazy on weekends

[@lawrence_olaniyi]

言語は単語だけではなく、言語は生活の一部です。たった一年で文化や伝統や習慣などを覚えることは無理です。身に着けるには時間がかかるでしょう。

[@GermaineJapanese]

そうですね！言語を習うには時間がかかります！