You want to be fluent in Japanese. You crave it. You don’t just want to be okay or good, you want to be great. I’ve discussed how in this day and age, saying it is impossible to become fluent in Japanese is a ridiculous statement. You have the tools, the techniques, and the time. You can do this. Yet you aren’t. What happened? Why do so few people actually become fluent in Japanese? Why do so many people give up? Why do people spend so much time only to fail?
It all comes down to motivation.
Motivation sounds obvious. You don’t need me telling you to get motivated. You probably are motivated . . . for now. Motivation is a resource that is voraciously consumed at an incredible pace. You may have had all the motivation in the world at the start of your studies, but watch as it slowly starts to wither away. This is normal. This is bad. You need to prevent this from happening.
I recommend physically or electronically creating a motivation chart that you look at once a week. You need to remind yourself why you are working so hard. This should be an ever evolving and updated work. Even if you think you know why you are motivated, you need to write it down.
This is crucial for when you have those bad days, bad weeks, bad months, where you are ready to throw it all away. You can’t rely on what is in your mind for motivation when your mind is currently held hostage by negativity and the thought of giving it all up.
Below is a sample. I’ve come up with some of the major things that motivate me and many others to master Japanese. Motivation is really split off into two types: 1) General motivation (what generally makes learning Japanese so great) and 2) Specific motivation (what makes becoming fluent in Japanese worthwhile for you). Often the two overlap. You can use some of things I present below, but make sure to personalize it to yourself as well. If you have any additional ideas, add them in the comments.
Motivation to Why You Should Become Fluent In Japanese
1.Japan has the 3rd largest economy in the world (only slightly trailing behind China now)
2.Japan has some of the largest companies in the world.
3.Japan is a world leader in technology and innovation.
4.Japan is a massive importer of foreign goods.
5.Japanese is a gateway language to Chinese
6.Learning about Japan introduces you to other Asian countries
7.Most in your country don’t speak fluent Japanese
8.Immersing in a foreign culture with fluent Japanese gives you better understanding and pride of your own culture
9.Japanese literature is ranked as some of the best in the world in both quantity and quality, and only a very small percentage ever gets translated into English
10.Japanese TV and movies are often just as good as any Western TV.
11.Japanese are the top users of the internet
12.Japan is another world, and one that you only get to truly experience w/fluency in the language.
13.Japanese people are attractive (fashion and caring about appearance add a lot)
14.Japan is a big trendsetter.
15.Many Western companies have offices in Japan now, and almost any major Japanese company has offices in the West
16.Japan has an extremely rich and old culture, history, and beauty
17.Japanese is the center of Anime, Manga, and Video Games,
18.Your resume/CV will stand out regardless of whether the company has any use for a Japanese speaking employee
19.It’s just generally impressive, you can show off to family members, friends, and members of the opposite sex (ha)
1. Japan has the 3rd largest economy in the world (only slightly trailing behind China now).
2. Japan has some of the largest companies in the world.
3. Japan is a world leader in technology and innovation.
4. Japan is a massive importer of foreign goods.
5. Japanese is a gateway language to Chinese.
6. Learning about Japan introduces you to other Asian countries.
7. Japanese sets you apart since most people in your country don’t speak fluent Japanese.
8. Immersing in a foreign culture gives you a better understanding and pride of your own culture.
9. Japanese literature is ranked as some of the best in the world in both quantity and quality, and only a very small percentage ever gets translated into English.
10. Japanese TV and movies are amazing.
11. Japanese people are some of the top users of the internet.
12. Japan is really another world, and to experience it to the fullest, you need fluency in the language.
13. Japanese people are quite attractive (caring about fashion and appearance contributes a lot)
14. Japan is a big trendsetter.
15. Many Western companies have offices in Japan now.
16. Japan has extremely rich and old culture, history, and beauty.
17. Japan is the center of Anime, Manga, and Video Games.
18. Your resume/CV will stand out regardless of whether the company you are applying to has any use for a Japanese speaking employee.
19. It’s just generally impressive to family members, friends, or members of the opposite sex.
20. Becoming fluent in Japanese will actually make you smarter and a better problem solver.
21. Being fluent in Japanese increases your ability to do general multi-tasking, since the brain does it on a subconscious level when switching between languages.
22. Being fluent in a foreign language prevents all kinds of neurological diseases as you get older (ex. Alzheimer’s)
22. Japanese music is extremely diverse and just plain excellent.
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Adam
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My motivation is my family. My uncle (but really he is my cousin but he is 50) has a wife who is japanese and he has lived in Japan for 15 years because of the army. He told me that if I pay for the plane ticket he will take me to Japan. So I wanna be some what fluent before I go.
My motivations for learning this great language, is that I love Japanese pop culture (anime, manga, video games etc.), Japanese people seem to be incredibly nice people to me and I’d love to make lots of friends, also like you mentioned Japanese music is excellent. Another motivation is that I’d like to live in Japan for a while.
My motivation was first the prospect of gaining greater understanding of my world and the amazing Japan-experience. It then transformed into a goal to transform myself and become a better person. Then, I met my currently girlfriend in Japan and my motivations changed again to creating an incredibly interesting lifestyle in East Asia. Everyday, visualize and believe you can do it. Surround yourself with can-do-people and never lose sight of your goals!
I want to learn Japanese because its just different then what a lot of people would pick as a second or even 3rd language. I know it will look great on resume and surprise people when you say “Yes I speak Japanese” and then proving your statement by speaking it. I also love it because I love the Japanese art. The old classic Japanese painting, I love them and as a artist myself I’m in aww of the art work. I will like to also learn more about the culture and be able to experience what Japan has to offer, like curtain books and movies that will never be in english and even if it was I would pick up the Japanese version just because I could. I would love to set this goal to be proud of myself and just knowing that I accomplished a difficult goal. That it was worth all the hard work and that it will be something I could use for the rest of my life.
“You probably are motivated . . . for now. Motivation is a resource that is voraciously consumed at an incredible pace.”
I wouldn’t say it’s the motivation that’s being consumed. Rather, it’s the drive that’s caused by the motivation. The motivation is constant; it doesn’t change. Perhaps it even grows larger, because you find more things you want to do in Japanese. But drive is different. It’s want makes you excited every day to learn Japanese. Sometimes, other hobbies get in the way of the drive (which is what happens to me). Other times, discouragement does (happened to me after taking the JLPT).
For me, what fires up my drive is reminding myself what I enjoy to do in Japanese (like understanding a drama or anime). As I described in my recent blog post (http://isitpossible.posterous.com/adding-oil), I regularly need to add oil to my fire. So while some people need to see the short-term and long-term goals that motivate them, that only motivates me a little. It’s the now that keeps me going. Using the Japanese I know now to have fun.
Before I really used to need motivation. Not anymore though. Now I have a japanese environment every waking hour, and have been watching the tv show from Ayumi Hamasaki (favorite singer) and have been learning a lot. Also I LOVE the japanese language, I can’t see myself doing a job not related with the japanese language in the future.
Now I’m on summer vacations finally, and will start downloading dramas with japanese subs again (like I used to like in october), but now I know I will understand quite a lot more. I can’t wait!
Btw, I made a similar post on my blog.
Checked it out. Nice post on your site. Though for some reason the link on your name here leads to a strange site that is not yours… Think you forgot the S in spot, http://www.nihongobakkashi.blogspot.com/
Still waiting and hoping for part two!! :D
Thank you for the excellent blog.
Although unrelated to this: I just visited China and bought a TV-series I thought had Japanese dub. but as it turned out only had Japanese sub. I watched it anyway and the subs really made a difference. When I accidentally turned them off I could hardly recognize the show! It just shows how focused you are on the subs and why you really should TURN OFF the ones not in your target language. As for the TV-show I would have prefered the Japanese dub and then without subs altogheter, but this way it feels like I still got some reading practice. I know I did in fact! :)
Great list, Adshap. I’ve just discovered your blog and am very impressed with your content. It would be great to interview you for the Foreign Language Mastery podcast sometime if you’re interested.
Thanks for the praise. I would be happy to interview for your site. E-mail me at adshap@japaneselevelup.com and we can work out a date and time.
We are so fortunate to have the internet and technology now that makes learning so much easier. Being thirty something I remember how hard it was to get anything to read in Japanese at all, and it was not uncommon for looking up a single kanji to take 15 minutes or more. Since the advent of the iPod/iPhone and a content filled internet, thus far I feel naturally motivated by what feels like lightning speed learning this year compared to studying in my misspent youth. As I can understand more, I just want to become better.
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