Want To Learn Japanese? Maybe You Should JFDI.

Sometimes we forget that the hard part about learning Japanese is actually just doing it. We whinge and we complain and we spend so much time preparing or learning how you should learn Japanese that we forget to just learn Japanese (i.e. we forget to JFDI). That is, strangely enough, the most important part about learning Japanese. Whoops.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa67kAb6oMc']

This is just a reminder to all of you out there that if you want to learn Japanese (or if you want to get better at Japanese), the key is to take action. Make something happen, you know? You can’t just think about learning Japanese forever, otherwise you’ll never learn Japanese. You won’t be able to look back and see all your progress six months from now (seriously, imagine how awesome that would feel, and how proud of yourself you would be).

If you want to learn Japanese, you need to Just do it… or, if you need a bigger kick in the butt, do what the image above says.

It’s better to spend an hour trying to learn something than to spend an hour thinking about learning something. Eventually, you’ll get good at learning Japanese, and it’ll get easier, and easier, and easier. There are resources out there that make the “how to learn Japanese” part a lot easier, I think (check out our reviewed Japanese Resources to see what other people tend to like) but really it comes down to how stubborn you are about taking action and getting things done.

So, every time you find yourself whinging and whining, just think “JFDI.” Then, you should JFDI. mmk?

Hugs n’ Kisses,

Koichi

P.S. Always available if you need help figuring out what you need to do to make action happen. Email me: koichi@tofugu.com

P.P.S. Also available on Twitter and Facebook, where we post things you can’t find here! 0_0

  • Otakurabu

    Hahaha, this is just what I needed to hear! Caught red-handed (I was just now wasting a ton of time thinking about how to learn rather than actually learning)!

  • PepperBunny

    This is absolutely brilliant! and so true 3 months ago I began Japanese,  I more or less had NO IDEA.  But being inspired by someone I set out to learn Kana, I didnt know if I was learning it right buut after a week…I could read every kana I came across :D I then put myself on the hesig method and srs even though I wasn’t sure and just kept at it, its worked incredibly well…3 months later here I am having full blown conversation on msn in Japanese with a Japanese person ^_________^.
    I also sat an studied verb and adjective conjugations just thought I will read this!, I know tai, te, ta, shou forms now to when I had no idea what they meant and actually used to throw me off. Im currently on my 800th Kanji -dances-Now I think about HOW MUCH there is still left to learn but seeing the progress I have made if I just keep doing it ill be fluent soon ;D 
    Keep up your learning guys!がんばりましょうね!

  • PepperBunny

    This is absolutely brilliant! and so true 3 months ago I began Japanese,  I more or less had NO IDEA.  But being inspired by someone I set out to learn Kana, I didnt know if I was learning it right buut after a week…I could read every kana I came across :D I then put myself on the hesig method and srs even though I wasn’t sure and just kept at it, its worked incredibly well…3 months later here I am having full blown conversation on msn in Japanese with a Japanese person ^_________^.
    I also sat an studied verb and adjective conjugations just thought I will read this!, I know tai, te, ta, shou forms now to when I had no idea what they meant and actually used to throw me off. Im currently on my 800th Kanji -dances-Now I think about HOW MUCH there is still left to learn but seeing the progress I have made if I just keep doing it ill be fluent soon ;D 
    Keep up your learning guys!がんばりましょうね!

  • PepperBunny

    This is absolutely brilliant! and so true 3 months ago I began Japanese,  I more or less had NO IDEA.  But being inspired by someone I set out to learn Kana, I didnt know if I was learning it right buut after a week…I could read every kana I came across :D I then put myself on the hesig method and srs even though I wasn’t sure and just kept at it, its worked incredibly well…3 months later here I am having full blown conversation on msn in Japanese with a Japanese person ^_________^.
    I also sat an studied verb and adjective conjugations just thought I will read this!, I know tai, te, ta, shou forms now to when I had no idea what they meant and actually used to throw me off. Im currently on my 800th Kanji -dances-Now I think about HOW MUCH there is still left to learn but seeing the progress I have made if I just keep doing it ill be fluent soon ;D 
    Keep up your learning guys!がんばりましょうね!

  • http://twitter.com/trainerkelly Kelly

    I don’t usually post on here (either because of fear or don’t really have anything to comment), but this post more or less describes my own experiences with learning Japanese. This post also made me think “I probably should go back to reviewing that lesson I oh-so-smartly crunched and now I can’t remember anything”, which I then proceeded to do and successfully remembered my vocabulary (and all that’s left is for me to go over is grammar once more and the kanji =DD).

    It took me 4 years to actually effin’ do something about learning Japanese. I REALLY wanted to learn and just like a lot of people who spent time thinking about it, I was confused where to start. I started collecting vocabulary from random anime/manga fansites, which really are horrible sources, and getting random books that claimed they could teach me Japanese. Wasn’t until April 2008 when I was jealous of my best friend at the time for being able to read Japanese and being angry that I couldn’t, so I just sat down and effin’ learned how to read kana on RealKana.

    Then, in late 2009, when I switched to an online school that had Japanese as a language, I just sat down and learned how to write in kana (in that JFDI mindset because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten around to it – I used the iPhone/iPod Touch app, iKana, by the way). The school was unfortunately using Rosette Stone (which made me grow an extreme hate for that program), so I summoned my courage to ask for a customized course using the Genki textbook instead, which they let me do. =D Since the school was awesome like that and is HUGE on personalized learning. Unfortunately, since it was a high school, I graduated, but I took action to make my Japanese instructor into my tutor (…which was by asking her “do you do tutoring for Japanese” XD).

    A large majority of those steps I took to learn Japanese was because I had the “JFDI” mindset. Same when I continued with my textbook after not touching it for months. >_> I just told myself to do it, quite harshly, and did it~

    And after all that nearly pointless autobiographical lesson that you probably didn’t care to know, I guess I kind of feel like offering a piece of advice to those who don’t really know where to start: Start with kana (hiragana/katakana). Learning kana is a great way to open up the doors to learning more Japanese, since it allows for the ability to read many different source materials, which in turn allows for the build up of vocabulary, grammar, and whatnot. Really, one can’t go wrong with starting with kana.

    …and I think that’s it for now. Haha.

  • murasaki

    Kelly,
    Good for you! That’s JFDI if I’ve ever seen it.
    As a master’s student of  second language learning, I completely agree with you that Rosetta Stone is, as we say in our sophisticated jargon…TOTALLY LAME. Get as many people away from it as you can, fight the good fight!  And keep JFD-ing your Japanese  (so will I), gambatte kudasai :)

  • Kiriain

    Yeah. My latest project is a translation of a song. And I learn as I go. But then I got stuck. Would happen to know if a word can be both passive and potential?

  • http://twitter.com/trainerkelly Kelly

    Thank you! ;D

    And oh yes, I definitely will. I’ve tried to, but I have some friends who don’t listen. >.> But it’s pretty apparent they haven’t learned anything from Rosette Stone since when I try to converse with them in Japanese, they’re still like “O_o what did you just say”. Haha.

    =D I will~ Thank you! ^^ You too~

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  • Sakuria

    I learned about Te-forms! :D I’ve been postponing that chapter for two years now…

  • http://www.facebook.com/treentje Irene de Koster

    夏休みなのに、勉強をしています!両親は反対だけど。。。

  • http://www.facebook.com/Ortiz.Ashley Ashley Ortiz

    Koichi, I’ve been making excuses forever and reading your post really made it hit that talking isn’t doing.  It’s just procrastination.  Thank you for maintaining this blog and posting knowledge about Japan and Japanese culture that we all can access.  Thank you for your time and for your work.

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  • Ma Riah

    Queue in inspirational music.

  • ミッテンズさん

    MR. MITTENS! I have the same shirt! : )  You have made me laugh more than usual because of that shirt~

    ☆ありがとう! ☆

  • http://openid-provider.appspot.com/gorudonu gordon

    not even trying is like regretting it for the rest of life?

  • benjamin le Mar

    ありがとうね! 
    今日の英語レッソンは”乙女心”に使いよう。このサイト好き。ベンです。

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  • bleach1st

    I’m one of those people who continuously try to learn better ways of studying Japanese but then actually forget to study it^^. Must stop that habit…

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  • Storm

    I’ve learned japanese for almost 5 years now, and I’m …Stuck. I don’t know what to learn first, there is SO much things I should know and I don’t…
    That’s terrifiying. I also don’t speak japanese, I’m only able to understand it. I do wish I’d know what to do now >_<

    But you gave me hope, when I really needed it. I'll re read my old books (and find lots of vocabulary I forgot – never learned…u_u') , before starting new ones!

    Thank you!