It’s been a long time since my last post on Natively. There have been some changes (hopefully for the better) in my life, and I had to take a break from language learning and reading. Now that I’m back to learning, I’ve decided to start by creating one of these logs.
Why do I learn languages?
- I’m a language enthusiast (well, most of us are, I guess)
- I don’t like reading translations
- I like to learn about other cultures
- It’s my coping mechanism
a little history on the coping part
Sometime in 2020, things happened, and I fell into depression. The worst parts lasted for about two years until sometime in 2022 (I joined Natively In December 2022) I picked up learning Japanese purely out of curiosity. It was the most foreign language to me. In early 2023, I got serious about it, bought textbooks, and suddenly started to remember that I can learn, that I can wake up earlier, plan my days, and become better. Learning Japanese reminded me of who I used to be.
The depression still comes and goes, so using this experience, I want to stick with language learning. It has really healed me and expanded my world.
Why start a log?
I have low self-esteem. I thought keeping track of my efforts might help me appreciate the results more and also give me ideas for setting realistic future goals.
I also hope that posting everything online will give me a sense of commitment and discipline.
Languages:
Japanese
As I mentioned before, I started studying Japanese seriously in 2023. To make things more exciting 
I decided (arrogantly) to take the JLPT N2 in December 2023. I passed—barely—but studying all that material on my own in almost one year has made me well aware that I’m not really proficient yet and still need a lot more practice.
I currently read level 27–30 books confidently. My listening level is probably around N3. Never practiced writing or speaking. I plan to take the N1 someday, but first, I need to feel confident in the N2 material and feel like I truly deserve that N2 certificate.
German
I’ve been stuck at the A2 level for years now, and it’s really getting on my nerves. I’ve made up my mind to reach C1 this year, and this will be my biggest goal. I plan to take a proficiency exam, though I’m still unsure which one and when.
English
I started learning English in a language institute at a young age and continued until I reached the C1 level about 8–9 years ago. Since then, I haven’t been under any pressure to speak or write in English without mistakes. So, a lot has been forgotten and I’m sure my output is flawed. I often struggle to express my thoughts the way I want.
On the other hand I mainly read and consume media in English, which keeps my reading and listening skills strong.
Other languages I’m interested in:
Spanish - Italian - Russian - Arabic
This past week I tried listening to Japanese podcasts for the first time. Always thought I’d get bored, but guess what? I actually had to stop myself from jumping to next episodes. They talk about so many interesting topics how did I even miss this? So yeah, new hobby unlocked: listening to Japanese podcasts.
Added Langenscheidt Basic German Vocabulary Anki deck to my study plan. Progressing in Japanese would have been almost impossible without anki. But I’ve never used it for German before. Still not sure if it will work for me. We’ll see.