Thoughts on language learning progression
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Thoughts on language learning progression

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language learning

For context, English is my native language and I’m currently actively learning Japanese. If anyone reads this and has any suggestions to fix my dilemma, feel free to suggest them 🙂

I’ve been learning Japanese on and off for several years but only started properly getting to grips with it since the beginning of Lockdown in 2020. My learning is all self studying with no formal tutoring due to finances and being unable to afford to pay for an official course or a regular tutor and I’m also living pretty far away from anywhere with any native Japanese people so keeping this in mind, perhaps lack of interaction with native speakers and lack of formal instruction is my issue. There are no language exchange clubs nearby and online I’ve yet to find a language exchange partner who I can contact and try to strike up a conversation with (the sites I’ve tried are either all paid for in order to send out initial invites or the people on them never get back to me, or maybe I’m just boring and no one wants to talk to me 😂).

I can read Japanese at an almost N4 level, understanding most of what I read (at that level or the grammar for that level if I’m reading stuff above that level) and being able to get the gist of podcasts and easy news without translating, can understand short conversations heard even when spoken at a natural level, though my speaking is slow (understandable with little opportunity to speak in Japanese) and my writing is still basic because even on here, I don’t expect others to correct me or read my short, disjointed posts in Japanese and I’ve been unable to get a tutor to help me correct my writing skills, though I am greatful when people do take the time to read over and correct my Japanese posts.

I know practice is required in order to improve but I’m struggling to figure out how to practice writing properly without expecting others to correct me and without writing the same stuff on a daily basis (I’ve tried the diary method, most entries are the same; what day/ date it is, what the weather is like, what I ate for meals and what times I studied or did whatever during the day). I’m not at the stage where I feel I could write a short story that would remotely make any sense and I’m unsure how to express my feelings about something I’ve read or watched so think I would struggle to make sense if I choose to write like that as well as being unable to explain what I’ve read or watched though I am trying this time for the multilingual book club to explain stuff while probably making little to no sense.

I can’t figure out how to improve where I am in writing without getting a tutor but also can’t afford to use a tutor regularly or take a course so I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place feeling like my reading and listening is improving so much more while my speaking and writing are falling behind.

I’m unable to decide if I should be reviewing stuff I know inside and out now so that I can improve my writing and speaking to bring them to a similar level as my reading and listening skills or if I should be cracking on with learning new things so that I can continue to improve my reading and listening skills knowing that my speaking and writing skills are falling way behind.

That’s my current thoughts on my progress and thank you to anyone who chose to read through this. Good luck with your own language learning journey 🙂

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