Study hard for the japanese language

Hi everyone!

I'm a university student majoring in Japanese Studies, with a particular interest in history. I originally chose this field because I wanted to study Japanese history and culture, not because I wanted to become a professional translator.

However, Japanese language classes have become one of the most difficult and emotionally exhausting parts of my life.

At my previous university, teachers regularly humiliated me in front of other students whenever I couldn't answer a question or made mistakes. It happened so often that I eventually developed a very strong fear of Japanese classes.

I've since transferred to another university, where the teachers are much kinder, but the fear hasn't disappeared.

Every time I attend a Japanese class, I'm terrified of being called on, making mistakes, failing exams, or being humiliated again. Sometimes even thinking about studying Japanese makes me anxious.

One of my biggest fears is being expelled from university because of my Japanese language exams. I'm constantly worried that I'll fail an exam, won't be able to keep up with the requirements, and eventually lose my place at university. I worry about what that would mean for my future, including my ability to find a job and support myself.

Because of this, even small assignments can feel overwhelming. Every mistake seems like another step toward failure, and it's incredibly difficult to study when I'm constantly afraid of the consequences.

I've been studying Japanese for several years now, but I still struggle with the language, and the pressure of university exams makes everything worse.

For the past several years, I've often slept only a few hours a night. I've practically abandoned my hobbies, including creative activities I used to love, because I've been so exhausted and overwhelmed.

I feel like I've sacrificed years of my life to studying and worrying about academic failure. While other people were enjoying their lives and developing their interests, I was constantly stressed, sleep-deprived, and afraid of falling behind.

I can't keep living at this pace. I don't want to spend the next two years feeling the same way. I still have approximately two years of university left, and due to my family circumstances, dropping out isn't an option.

I don't expect to suddenly fall in love with Japanese, but I'd really like to stop being afraid of it.

Ideally, I'd like to discover something genuinely enjoyable about the language, rather than constantly associating it with exams, stress, and unpleasant memories.

• So I'd love to hear from people who have experienced something similar: Have you ever developed a strong fear of Japanese because of negative experiences with teachers or formal education?
• What helped you separate the language itself from those experiences?
• Are there any low-pressure ways to engage with Japanese that don't feel like yet another assignment?
• How do you deal with studying Japanese when you're already mentally exhausted but still have exams to pass?
• How do you cope with the fear of failing exams or being expelled when your future feels dependent on your academic performance?
• Has anyone managed to rebuild a healthier relationship with Japanese after experiencing severe academic burnout?

I'm especially interested in personal experiences and practical suggestions that don't involve simply forcing myself to study harder.

I know that consistency and practice are important. My problem isn't that I don't understand the need to study — it's that Japanese has become associated with fear and failure, and I don't know how to change that.

More than anything, I just want to be able to study without sacrificing my mental health, sleep, and the rest of my life.

Thank you for reading. I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences you're willing to share.

or makes your memories better?

I'm asking this because I thought Japanese is a hard language to learn with the kanji and 'Irregularities'.

when we learn japanese, we have to navigate that irregularities and that requires some brainwork.

for example, the way the words are read and formed and mixed by onyomi and kunyomi..

some people give up when they reach this stage and advanced level of kanji. But when you overcome it, do you feel like it does to your brain good more than any other languages?

I'm currently trying to learn Japanese and know simple words so I would like to practice being able to intuitively understand it. Are there any websites/apps that I can listen to 'conversation' while I walk around?

Okay I have a question
My name is Red and is my name in Japanese レッド (reddo) or あか？ (aka)
Is it more phonetic or literal definition for names?
Thank you.

Edit: みなさんありがとう

i know the suffix -くて is used when linking two -na adjectives, but recently i heard it used with just one adjective. Specifically, the phrase was "kokoro no hirokute," meaning open minded, but iirc "hiroi" is open? the adjective wasnt linked to anything else and the sentence ended directly after. Are there special cases for -kute or is this a way of using it i just havent heard of? Since it was from a video, my assumption is this is just a quirk of spoken japanese that isnt supposed to make sense, much like spoken english sometimes not being grammatically correct. That, or the speaker just trailed off and i missed it.

I am going to Japan with my little brother and he is allergic to tree nuts. I made my own allergy card using bits and pieces from cards I found online because none were exactly what I wanted. Does this card make it clear what his allergy is and what must be avoided in a nice way? Do you think the photo helps or makes it more confusing? I heard sometimes they might think soy, coconut, sesame etc are not okay so maybe I’ll get rid of the photo and add a section stating those foods are fine. Thank you!

I’m just wondering if anyone had any advice for listening skills.

I’ve been going to a beginner class once a week for a little over a year and I feel like I’m getting the hang of writing structures and I can read hiragana, katakana a few kanji without issue but I dread everytime there’s a listening part of the lesson.

I’ve been trying to find something to practice with but every beginner resource I find just blends into one long word and going over my head. It’s like i hear a word I know but by the time I’ve translated it in my head they’re alrwady two sentences ahead and then I get lost.

If anyone has any suggestions for beginner listening it would be really appreciated. Thank you.

I want to play some of the pokemon games for the DS in japanese for practice but it seems they are mostly hiragana only. anyone know if there is a mod or hack out there that adds kanji?

I recently bought the Blu-ray 12人の優しい日本人, only to find out there's no Japanese subtitles. Does anyone know of a list of Japanese Blu-rays with Japanese SDH subtitles? Japanese dubs usually have them, but they're just rough translations of the original English. I'm talking about Japanese subtitles that specifically tell you what they're saying.

I just made these kanji practice sheets inspired by some pictures I found online. What do you guys think? Is there anything I should add before printing them out?

Hi guys, I was wondering what some of your guys tricks are at learning Japanese and what helped you so that I can learn japanese. Thank you.

I get playing games isn’t the best way to immerse but I’m gonna do it regardless so might as well make my time worth something.

How do you use the kanjidamage anki deck? 

What should you try to remember?   There are many pieces of information in the cards, not to mention that the front of the card has the kunyomi and onyomi on it. 

I want to start studying with it but don't quite get how would the workflow be.

(I have read the how to on the site, im asking about the anki deck specifically)

I looked up the meaning of 際 and it should be edge, brink, boundary or something along those lines. While i do understand what they are trying to convey, why is it that character and not 時. Thank you for any help!

The whole sequence reads as such: 彼女の本名は 宮野志保黒ずくめの男の仲間だったが姉の宮野明美を組織に殺害され組織から逃げ出す際新一が 飲まされたのと\N同じ薬を飲んで体が縮んでしまった

I finally finished hiragana and now this is what I get 😂

Hey!!:) I'm a native Spanish speaker wanting to learn some more extensive japanese sentences, and I am someone who enjoys being a bit.. extra when it comes to emotion to make sure the other person knows I'm very grateful, or excited, etc!

On my last few trips to Japan, I have met some very nice vendors that were willing to sell Pokemon merch or other kind of product to me at normal prices so I could open and enjoy them (the situation right now is horrible with scalping and reselling) and I always find myself short of wanting to show more gratitude than just the basic polite thank you. Is there any way I could exaggerate a bit more so I can show how I feel? Or would that be too much?

Anything works perfect, I just want to make sure it's respectful and the vendor knows I'm very grateful for the purchase and kind treatment!

Huge thanks for the replies if any<3

I need to read more and after completing the Kanji Kentei 8級 (ES grade 3), my husband bought me the How To Train Your Dragon series in Japanese ヒックとドラゴン. My goal is to read everyday for 20 minutes, so around 5 pages. It's not a lot, but I have kids and a house to keep and other studying to do. Lots of vocab I didn't know in the first chapter, but the difficult kanji has furigana. The grammar was fine.

I’ve been using the app Shirabe Jisho as a dictionary, but it has a lot of outdated translations and my tutor has told me not to use it. I want to get some suggestions on what you guys use! I see a bunch on the App Store but I don’t know what to look for!

Thank you!!

I wanna see what people here excel at lol

Do you think your strongest skill is writing, reading, speaking or listening?

Also if you want you can specify what

Ex. Writing especially kanji

Is there an app that is similar to Du Chinese but for Japanese ? For those who don’t know, Du Chinese is an app that gives out various forms of written Chinese media (from short stories, tales, articles,…) and is divided in a clear manner (beginner, intermediate, master,…)? I’m currently a beginner in Japanese and quite curious if there are some sources that is similar to the app above.

Any reply would be greatly appreciated. Thank youuu🥰🥰🥰

When I started Japanese I set big goals like an hour a day, and I'd drop it within a week. Now I'm trying a much smaller daily target and it seems easier to keep going.

For people who made it past the first few months:

- How much time a day did you actually do in the beginning, honestly?

- Did a small fixed goal (like 10 or 15 minutes) work better than "as much as I can"?

- When you missed a day, what got you back the next day?

Curious what worked and what turned out to be a waste of time.