Looking back to go forward

I’ve recently begun adjusting my language learning routine to adapt to my new environment here in Tokyo. In my early days of studying Japanese, I struggled most with finding ways to get enough native language input. Now that I spend much of every weekday in a Japanese-speaking workplace, I have the opposite problem. I never seem to have enough focused study time in the day—hours where I’m intentionally trying my hardest to improve my Japanese.

When I imagined life after language school, I think I pictured myself spending my days joyfully speaking Japanese at home, work, the gym, and the grocery store. It seemed clear that I was headed for a wonderland of unlimited practice opportunities. Instead, what turns out to be more common is that, in the midst of a fast-paced work day, I fall back on my default Japanese phrases instead of pushing myself to try new things and improve my fluency.

A blast from the past

As a part of my search for the best path forward from here, I’ve been looking back at previous study routines to remind myself what worked before. One gem I recently re-discovered is japanesepod101.com. I used their site, podcast, and especially dictionary when I was first starting out, but eventually moved on to other tools that could give me more immersion time. Now that I have more than enough immersion during all the other hours of my day, the short blocks of focused teaching time that make up japanesepod101.com podcast episodes are actually kind of perfect. There are hundreds of upper intermediate and advanced lessons that are still plenty challenging for me, and finding time to listen to an episode before bed every now and then has been quite doable.

I do have some seasons that I like better than others, but I’ve officially re-subscribed and I’m going to see how much I can get through during the cold winter months ahead, alongside hopefully a few other study routines as I have the time to implement them. 🎧