Surprisingly, learning Japanese really is like going up stairs in a wheelchair, possibly sans the ninja. I get so many emails of people asking me why their Japanese isn’t getting any better. Here’s how these emails usually go:

Hey Koichi, I’ve been studying Japanese for a few years now. I take classes, I talk with Japanese people, and I use flashcards for kanji…but I don’t feel like I’m getting any better. What am I doing wrong?

Response: You just have to keep on studying. Not “getting any better” is really normal. You’ll feel like this for a while, and then all of a sudden a bunch of things will fall right into place. You just need to keep on persevering, and then there will be a moment where everything suddenly gets better!

I don’t really delve into the details of this phenomenon via email, so I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you everything I know (which might not be that much, so all of you studying out there can help me).

Here’s my story. I started studying Japanese in high school, and spent two years stumbling through the language. After going to Japan for a year, I learned that there were, in fact, distinct steps in the Japanese learning process.

Although it is different for each person and each situation, most people feel like they are climbing stairs when learning Japanese. Here’s what might happen:

1. You will study-study-study, and you’ll feel like you are getting nowhere. It’s okay! Keep studying and you will be fine.
2. After a while you will feel upset at yourself for not getting any better (optional)
3. All of a sudden, everything will fall right into place. It really will feel like you’ve “leveled-up;” like you’ve picked up a Mario Mushroom. You won’t suddenly become fluent, but there are distinct levels and feelings to each level, and each one feels like a fairly large jump.

So there you have it! When I was in Japan it felt like every two months I would suddenly make the move upwards. While studying not in Japan, those level-ups take a lot longer. Wherever you are, though, expect sudden advancement when you least expect it. You just have to persevere through the hard times and you’ll be rewarded for sure.

People who have been studying Japanese for a while: Please share your stories! Please let us know if this is true or if I’m making it all up. It definitely is true for myself and for others I know, but I’m excited to see what others have to say.