You know, I was always worried that I was doing something wrong or that I need to be more disciplined because I wasn’t doing my SRS enough. In fact, feeling pressured to do it is probably what made me stop in the first place.

So I was reading through this post, expecting it to give me a way to make it fun because SRSing is an important part of things, but then I see, “If you’re bored/tired, stop.” And I stare like, “… What?”

This post really helped me relax more. I always sort of knew this was the case, but it’s reassuring hearing/seeing it from the one who’s website introduced me to immersion in the first place.

Another MMORPG addict speaking here… (:D) when you’re putting it this way, this method is starting to seem more and more fun. Grinding for quest items or experience might not be really “fun”, but it’s definitely satisfying.

yes I know very late to all this, but I only just started learning Japanese a week ago, I’ll add my bit any way 🙂

As a confirmed World of Warcraft addict who wants to learn Japanese because I’ll be going there for 6 months in november… I totally agree with toadhjo. Using Anki for my Kanji is absolutely on the same level as farming for mats or grinding for money/emblems in WoW. Lots of little wins whenever I look up the stats 😀

maybe not quite the same as FUN, but hey I do STOP when bored and go look up Japanese music on YouTube

I started with no Japanese ability at all. (I did know kanji, because I’ve kept active in Mandarin for the past 18 years — so there was a head start with that.) But 15 months later I can read light novels and manga with a high degree of comprehension. My listening is pretty good — and I get a lot of practice with that using Text Aloud and my SRS together. I struggle with writing — though it’s OK. Of course, my speaking is the worst. But I’m not worried about it as I have no Japanese friends or co-workers to embarrass myself in front of.

So the key thing to this rambling message is that I’ve done SRS “the wrong way” — heaven forbid J-E entries! (I learned Mandarin C-E without trouble, btw. Though I agree J-E is best if you can learn that way.) But I had fun doing it, and never troubled myself that I wasn’t doing it “right.” I’ve still got results that I’m happy with, and I know I am on track to get the additional results that I’m seeking.

I’m very glad to see Khatz posting these clarifications. Fun has made all the difference to me, even if I haven’t stuck to the program “as designed.” I’ve only missed 4 days out of 455 because it is fun. (And not having to face 100+ entries each day is big factor in that.) Remember, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. You don’t have to be totally fluent in 18 months!

Er. That’s what I meant. I was using the standard Anki RTK deck, the way it was originally set up, keyword to kanji. But most of my other cards were Japanese to English… or sometimes kanji to reading. Which is probably why I got mixed up (that and it’s been several months).

But that’s not the point (and I’m not just saying that because I’m embarrassed). The point is that doing a mix of Japanese and English eventually started to drive me bonkers, once I’d gotten enough input that Japanese was starting to take on a life of its own in my brain, if that makes any sense. It was much harder to remember and concentrate compared to Japanese-only, and I began adding Japanese keywords, which helped a little, but took a while. Then too, I had been borrowing someone’s copy of RTK and had to return it… so yeah.

I have a hard time switching from language to language. Anything to English is easy, but other transitions are pretty hard for me. For instance, it takes me at least a full page of text to get into the swing of reading Japanese, and my listing comprehension drops a lot if I have interruptions.

Ivan mentioned contracts, leases, etc., and you could throw in there listening and reading to the news ad nauseam or Khatzu wrote a post once about going clothes shopping and entering some language that was on the tags into his SRS. Info on clothing labels fun? I doubt it, but necessary to learn if you want to buy the right thing and know how to wash it properly.

But I think there are ways to find enjoyment or contentment out of doing those things; it’s just up to each person to find the way they can push through those types of things and still enjoy the process.

And anyway, yea, as to this Part 2, I agree with it much more than Part 1, because the key is knowing your own views on what’s fun and how to make it work for you as you learn what you want/need. Even Da Vinci wrote in his notebooks about taking regular breaks from painting throughout the day and reapproaching from different angles to get a fresh perspective!

You’re supposed to only go English to Japanese when you’re using RTK.

I saw that koohii.com thread you linked in the previous SRS post a while back and just went ‘Waitasec. Aren’t they missing the point?’ And that point (it’s got to be fun) is why even though I don’t do sentences at all anymore, I continue to recommend this site to people, but with heavy disclaimers about the emphasis on SRSs.

I mean, I used an SRS (Anki) for a while. It helped. But after a while, I had a giant expired pile, and that, combined with the way I was doing it (mostly Japanese-to-English what with Remembering the Kanji and all) made me want to beat my head against a conveniently placed wall… or just give up on Japanese. Which was silly, given the amount of progress I had made. So I ditched the SRS (I’ll still use it for study for a test-heavy class) and spent that time instead on Japanese news, dramas, anime, and now comics and novels as well.

So yeah, thank you. Because we all need a reminder to have enjoy the journey every now and again.

You sure about that?