I’m going say right away that “simply getting by” is not a bad thing by any measure. As language learners it is very easy to judge your current performance against your end goal, or even fellow learners around you, and think that you are not up to the cut. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I haven’t done the same countless times either but I was thinking about it the other day and came to the epiphany that in actual fact all of us that are “just sticking in there” are more than likely being far too hard on themselves. The mettle it takes to go through an environment that is still mostly alien to you on a regular basis and continuing pursuing your objectives is something to be admired, and here’s why.
Language learners are pretty much famous now for setting high goals for themselves, which is ironic considering the vast majority of us are pretty bright people. This seems to be the firmest evidence that intelligence and self-awareness (at least in this sort of context) don’t always go hand in hand. Setting attainable benchmarks regularly along your language learning journey is difficult. I’m not here to say you should itemise every milestone along the way because, let’s be realistic, we all want to run headlong towards the end goal of fluency. What I think is much more important when facing the days where you can’t quite get the words together is reframing your perspective as to what the difficulty actually means.
The crux of this train of thought is that just by understanding a fragment of text or a voice line in a show you are already exhibiting the results of hours of practice. You are also leaps and bounds ahead of people that are not putting themselves within the battlefield of your target language. Many people out there that say they want to learn a language rarely even break past the first steps and frequently give up before they’ve begun. That being the case, if you have reached a point where you can digest a wholly foreign medium (regardless of difficulty or age range) then you should be incredibly proud of yourself.
Immersion is a double edged sword. While it comes with great learning potential it can be a little intimidating as you breach newer or more difficult content. It’s easily understandable how immersion can make you feel isolated or insecure, especially compared to the more safe and simplified “traditional methods of learning”. Metaphorically speaking it’s the difference between sitting in an inflatable in a pool with a life guard nearby and swimming in the open waters of the ocean. While immersing there are tools available to you but you may often find that dictionaries and translation tools just can’t keep up with language in its natural environment. You can by all means follow a simpler method of learning that holds your hand and nurtures you gently through each class but there will come a point where being released into wild (so to speak) is a necessity.
The perks of immersing yourself can be felt in all language but I feel like Japanese especially shows this phenomenon of understanding but not quite being able to use your vocabulary. Due to the famous difficulty of the language and the picturesque nature of the kanji it is easy to see a word, have no idea how to pronounce it, but easily get the meaning behind it. Less abstract concepts especially are easy to look at and at the very least find a tenuous link to what you’ve read before. the sentence structure in particular also helps you identify if it’s a noun, adjective or verb etc. If you have imagery such as in the scenes in games and television you can get by and follow the gist of things while being theoretically unable to read or speak the language you’re seeing. This is where perspective is important. Obviously it’s not nice to see something you want to understand and be frustrated by it, but on the flip side, from the ground up you are basically understanding a concept you have yet to physically learn simply by using the patterns and natural thought process from your experience so far (a bit like a native speaker…don’t you think?). In the pursuit of learning familiarity it king.
At the end of the day, we are all at different points within this journey, we all have down days and it is a hell of a struggle to keep getting on the horse. That simple thought that “yeah, actually I’m doing pretty good” was enough to spur me on to learn more and enjoy studying again after a rough patch. If I can do the same for you then I’ll have made all of this worthwhile. You may not be fluent yet and it may be a while off but, next time you are enjoying your favourite game, TV show or book in your target language, change your view. Not to end this on a cliché but you’re doing better than the you from yesterday, keep it up. You got this.
If you’re having any moments where you are struggling, whether that be in terms of language or mentality feel free to leave a comment below, get in touch through the extras page or find me on Instagram or Facebook. I’m always happy to help.
Games & Kanji 