/lit/ - Literature

>>12237246
Admittedly I still do read in translation, but I've been studying the language for ~3.5 years now and am conversationally fluent. The issue with reading is all the damn kanji still slowing me down and constantly forcing me to shift my attention to a dictionary which kills my enjoyment (I will admit it is good studying however).

I'm hoping by the 5 year mark I'll finally hit a point that I can read Japanese books without having to look up kanji or vocabulary much.

As for your last point, simply put I feel incredibly alienated from most literary works (and most people) of my country. The way characters and narrator's think is practically alien to me, and it feels very uncanny knowing that this is from my own culture. Whereas with most Japanese literature I can almost completely identify with the way a narrator expresses his thoughts. I always felt this way, but now after having studied the language and having lived there for a while, I even better appreciate the way these works are written. And again, my goal is to read them untranslated. But Japanese is not for the faint of heart, and most people I met all attest to that fact that it will take around 5 years before you can comfortably read.

>>11758018
Been learning Japanese for 3 in a half years at this point. I've attained conversational fluency and study at the advance level. You need STRONG motivation to learn this language, and in the course of my studies I found only 3 motivations that are strong enough to keep people learning. Also, depending on your motivation, the speed in which you progress differs.

Category 1: Weebs who want to learn Japanese because they like weeb shit. In my experience most of these people quit because honestly, there is little reason to learn such a complex language like this for a hobby. Especially when most anime and manga get fan-translated into English. The few in this category who do persist tend to evolve into category 3.

Category 2: Infatuation with Japanese women. Not going to lie, this was my primary motive myself. Sex is an incredibly powerful motivator, especially for those with intense cases of Yellow Fever. From what I have seen from myself and others I knew who fell into this category, you tend to reach conversational fluency pretty quickly (with in 2 to 3 years often), but once you start actually achieving your goal of sex you reach a plateau. Most conversations in Japanese are basic and dull, and you really aren't going to be talking about anything complex with most Japanese women. Once you get conversational enough to flirt well, you will likely lose your motivation to further study, and probably won't improve much unless you end up marrying a Japanese women, or if you transition into category 3.

Category 3: These are the people who reach overall proficiency in the language. They can not only speak fluently, but they can also read newspapers and books. These people tend to genuinely fall in love with Japanese literature and culture. They also more often than not move to Japan.

I've only met a handful of Category 3s, and often they evolved from Category 1. The real roadblock for category 2s is that there is no point in focusing on learning literary and professional Japanese since you only need to be able to converse well. Most of your practice will also consequently be verbal. And again, most Japanese don't talk about interesting or intellectual topics, so you will rarely be exposed to those words if you get most of your practice from conversation.