Think of this post as an “inspirational” post…or something like that. Might be the opposite, depending on who you are.

Over the last five years or so, I feel like I’ve noticed an influx in “instant gratification textbooks.” Everyone is trying to claim that they can teach you Japanese faster. One book will say it can teach you Japanese in 12 very easy five minute lessons, another will say they can teach you everything you’d ever need to know in a week. I’ve even seen some that say “Learn Japanese now!”

I think sometimes we forget that speed isn’t the point. Learning  Japanese FAST is like cramming for an exam. Maybe you’ll remember for a little while (a very little while), but in the end, you’ll just end up forgetting and burning yourself out. It’s not a race, and it should never be thought of that way.

I could be wrong, but I bet a lot of people get tempted into buying one of these “fast” Japanese language books. People want instant gratification, and when a book markets this temptation, they sell books, but people don’t learn very much. When I go to the bookstore, it feels like most of the books in the Japanese section are like this: Quick one-night-stand textbooks that steal your money on the way out the next morning. They must be making money.

Basically, all I’m saying is don’t get tempted! Take the high road! Learning Japanese takes a lot of time, but trying to skip steps to speed it up won’t help any. If you want to speed up what you are learning, just study more; that’s all there is to it. If you spend too much time trying to figure out innovative new approaches to learning Japanese, you’ll waste a lot of time that you could be using to study.

Here is a little video for you to watch, mostly just entertainment, and me making a fool out of myself. Besides being the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done, his video is dedicated to Erin, because she hates this song so much, and I love it.

[youtube:http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=AVg6uphc7iQ]