I think it’s funny when I see advertisements like this. “Learn Japanese in 10 Days” it says, without telling you how much Japanese you’ll learn in those ten days. How to say “hello?” How to say “I was ripped off?” No, probably not even that much. Here are the ads I’m talking about (don’t try clicking on them, because they won’t actually go anywhere… and won’t teach you Japanese in 10 days). durr.
It’s advertisements and companies like this that trick people into buying products by toying with their emotions. The promise of instant gratification is a powerful thing.
Unfortunately, ads like this are only worth a laugh or two. Learning a language is a long-term venture. You get a ton out of it if you stick with it, opening doors to new friends, new jobs, and new experiences, but more likely than not the type of person who buys the “Learn Japanese in 10 Days” products will never get there, even if there’s an upsell after the first ten days to buy another section, and another section, and another section. They’re just selling bits at a time until your “learning-something-new” high runs out.
Maybe instead of focusing on people’s need to be (too) fast, they should do more realistic ads. “Learn Japanese is 12-24 months,” or “Learn 2,000 kanji in four years” (Ha! Yeah right!) Once you start focusing on the long term, then and only then can you pinpoint the issues that make it so hard to study Japanese after that initial excitement is over. It’s so easy to study Japanese for 10 days, and so hard to study it for 20. Your initial adrenaline rush dies down, and 90% of people end up quitting at that point. Be real with yourself (and be a pal, Pimsleur), and focus on getting past the first 10 days and into the future.
Anyhoo, this is just a quick reminder to everyone to think long term, stick with it, and be consistent, whether it be 100, 1000, 0r 10,000 days of Japanese study… Here’s to making it past day 10.