The ever changing pinned comment. 1. Anki Decks www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/s/mIAthqHJIf --- I like this one a lot. It also has pitch accent and kanji so the dudes with the blocks won’t show up to your house to critique your practice. 2. “Surviving in Japan”, and “Conversational Japanese” are two different things. It takes 2-3 weeks to learn ALL that you need to survive in Japan. That does not mean you can talk to people. -
@@PQ_497 I personally would just do as many as possible until I get tired. And then come back the next day. Using the mnemonic associations I referenced in the Part 1 video.
@vaughngene Ay, brotha... This is highly specific. But, could you explain how Anki works/should work (very briefly, like, it's function). I downloaded the app on android (S23 Ultra). And, I just couldn't understand how to use the damn thing. So, idk if it's a mobile problem (I don't have a computer, unfortunately). Or, if I just don't understand what the hell that app does. Everyone says ANKI ANKI ANKI. I thought I was going to be able to use it for easier notes of some variety. Cause, having to copy and past Japanese characters on a phone... with my fat fingers... It's really sloggin' me. If you see this, much love! If you don't. . . _much love._ You thought I'd be mad if you didn't see this? Fight me about it XD
I’m Japanese. I have been learning English for about 4 months so I understand your Japanese skills is so fascinating. I want to become like you. This is first comment to use English on my experience. I think my sentence is so wrong but I wont convert you about my feelings and thoughts. I have subscribed your channel. See you again from Japan.
There are certain mistakes, but for someone who's been studying a new language for 4 months, you're doing great! It's alright even if you make mistakes sometimes. がんばて!
Thank you! 🙏 And yes your English will improve overtime but we can still understand it! Well done. It’s good you are taking the time to practice and make mistakes. That’s how we get better. And Practicing with intention will give you the best results.
I'm 66yrs old and I really got interested in learning Japanese after watching the new series of Shogun, it's the sound of the language that appeals to me. Too me it sounds gutteral and spoken with intent and is authority. Keep going you will get there, don't worry about making mistakes, that's how we learn.
Oh baby here we go, recent sub based off your last video and perused your other ones as well. Vibing with your content, thanks for putting yourself on here man. It’s a great way to perpetuate this journey a lot of us are on
No need for apologies. I think you hit right on the mark when you mentioned there are a lot of people in Japan who struggle to have a regular conversation.
Yeah the number was truly astounding. Always the same type too. “I have a good accent, I have N1, I know x amount of Kanji, look how cool I am” But when I saw people who just spoke and connected with Natives, even with an accent, And had the time of their life in Japan, that was all I really needed to see. & Sadly, There will probably be detractors here too who won’t watch the whole video, mainly the part about poor return on investment. But as long as my point gets across to those who need it that’s all that matters. Much rather perfect my MMA and Music skills than an accent I was not born with. Simple as that.
I already commented on one of your shorts, but I want to say here that his method really works. I have been applying it with my German study for about four days and I’m already seeing results. The input is becoming comprehensible and I feel even more motivated to study because of how fast it’s working!! I love your channel already💖
Awesome! People are quite skeptical of the word 'FAST' because it's often times mixed with 'easy' for clickbait. But it's good to see you are getting results. It's going to continue to get better overtime too.
How many vocab words are you learning per day and how many are you aiming for? I have an Anki deck of 1.5k words in Japanese but idk how fast I should go through it. I want to do 100w/day and be done in 15d (I've already started this deck so the first 250/300 are not unknown to me) Refold suggests 10 new cards/d, AJATT suggests 30 so idk maybe it's a bit too ambitious, but I've tried the Refold way and it's too slow. I rewatched JJK without subs and couldn't understand much if anything so I really want to digest as many words as I can before going full immersion (also I like doing Anki cards lol so I always feel like I can do more). @vaughngene if you have time, I'd very much appreciate your thoughts on this. Also amazing video, loved part 1 as well and can't wait to implement this method
The most respectful part of your method is that you found your own way and sharing it with other Japanese leaners. I think that's cool. Also I'm looking forward to see your guitar lesson videos in the future, too.
Thank you, I want people to combine my methods with their own for best results. And yeah for sure! “Fretboard Fluency” is another language in a sense Lol.
Damn. So based. I’ve been ‘shitty’ studying Japanese for years ( on and off), but you really motivated me to start studying a bit more consistently. Everyday is an uphill battle, but I want to be more like you in terms of getting things done that I’m passionate about. Wish me luck and Thank you so much !
Really glad to discover your channel. I wanted to resume my Japanese learning and your previous video literally made it fun to start again! Thanks man! Instantly subbed
Awesome! 🙌 yeah the results come pretty fast so it’s a very rewarding process. Not easy but i find it’s easier to stick to because you can see the benefits right away!
Everyone is different, and what works for me might not work for someone else. However, when I watched your last video, I was like - yes, YES, finally someone is making sense. I studied English basically using the same tool, and now I'm studying Japaneese, and your video is a huge support and inspiration. Passive listening never worked for me, but it's all over RUclips, so I felt bad about not being able to implement it. Also, I really liked what you've said about vocab - when all is said and done, vocab is the only thing keeps you going. I'd say that N5/N4 grammar covers most of the grammar you need to communicate, and the rest of it is just posh versions of it, or written forms rarelly used, etc.Thank you for the new video too!
Spot on! and glad this helps solidify what you already kind of knew in a sense. I think the passive methods are pushed because it naturally will get more likes and subscribers (the truth tends to push people away Lol). But I'm all about practicality and results here so that's why I wanted to get this out there.
Man, I truly enjoyed this video and the last! As a black man myself I’m inspired by your journey! I recently moved to Japan this year and most of the things you have claimed and stated, as far as study and what’s important, I also agree. This is my first year in Japan and I passed N3 and planing on taking N2. I have a great japanese reading mind but when it came to speaking I was still struggling until I started targeting gaps in my knowledge and what I find myself talking about the most. The language test is broad and if you study for the test you will be good for the test over real life. I actively use chatGPT for my studies too! Thanks for your videos! And keep being great!
thank you, and it's good you found this! yeah those knowledge gaps eventually will turn into fluency. It's really all about just tackling each one as it comes up. But like you said, starting with what is most relevant right away.
Hello @Vaughngene your videos encourage me to learn Japanese I’m currently looking into Sanskrit. This will be on my goal list even if it’s a couple years from now keep making these encouraging videos. Those people made me annoyed when I seen comments about your pitch it didn’t discourage because I appreciate your videos so much that’s why I was sooo annoyed. I’m making my curriculum this is because of you! I was so lost on RUclips with information overload now I’m seeing what it is everything you explain on the last video about having so many interest helped me and I am feeling motivated Thanks so much 🙏🏾
Oh yeah rest assured that’s an EXTREME minority, and it’s only in Japanese for some reason. In real life they often cannot complete a thought out loud. I’ve seen it too many times Lol. WAY too many times. And my accent actually isn’t bad. I had plenty of clients reaching out to me in Japan wanting to work with me due to the way I spoke. So it’s good you ignore the trolls. Anything below “Native Speaker” is bad to them but they can’t even use the language freely. I’m glad I made this video though because I don’t want them affecting you all. 👌 Also glad the content helps! I’ll have more to add to that later!
dude i really like you and how you think and explain things. you think exactly how i do: i don’t care about sounding native or learn a million kanji or anything like that. i just want to be able to speak it and understand it without thinking about it. new sub!!
Thank you, and yeah it feels really nice to do what's practical, so it's good you already have that idea. And living in Japan so long, I can tell you now, the practical work (for any language really) will take you x100 further than the Kanji junkie who can barely speak.
so weird i just watched the other video and then this popped up as just posted haha. thanks for the advice i've been learning almost a year now and haven't gotten very far. i get excited and then do a bunch of studying all at once then get burnt out. i'm going to try and stay consistent this time. but if anything the info ive learned has stuck and i just need to keep adding more vocabulary.
My method is a bit intense, however, ironically since you see results right away, it actually helps you NOT burn out. Because you can start to feel like you have some competency in the language.
Thanks for the video 🙏 was feeling the slump today but got my motivation back after finishing this video. Imma try the sentence based studying 💪 Thx again
I think people are so used to scam artists giving out language advice, so they kind of come off as hostile. I'll roast a bit, but in a helpful way at the least.
I will watch the parts several times to understand the method well, otherwise I will flood you with questions haha. 😄 Thank you for the video, I have watched many videos about learning a language but always ended up buying the course to learn more about the method. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, not only about language learning 🙏🙌
I rarely comment on RUclips but I want to say I really appreciate your advice and perspective on learning things. I was learning Japanese at a decent rate this year and ive stopped the past few months because ive been so busy and I've really been getting in my head about starting again. Even though i know all i need to do is just get moving and put the work in, I think I needed to hear it like you say it. I'm 25 and really feel like that I am not where I could/ should be up to in my hobbies (similar to yours/ the comments of guitar, piano, coding, gym and japanese). I've managed to get a handle on the gym again and i was watching a couple of your videos on the treadmill yesterday and im going to really try to apply the 99% - 1% approach to my other hobbies I want to improve on. Hopefully I look back on this comment 6 months from now and smile knowing I've made a difference for myself.. appreciate you sharing all of this, ありがとうございます
Really glad I could help get that moving for you! And yeah 25 is still early. By the time you are 31 like me, you can be far better in those areas than I am for sure. Especially language.
Thanks! My accent is strange but I have good pronunciation so that’s probably why. Like a child actually Lol. Some people have the reverse effect. Or they try to speak too fast to sound “Japanese”. I was told this at work often from Natives.
Vaughn, thank you so much. I've been studying japanese for three years (not super focused), not knowing what I was doing, and now I live in Japan. I've been here for a month and a half, and I'm struggling to talk to people. If someone initiates a conversation, I can survive and make it by, but the conversations are far from pleasant for me. I thought when I got here, my Japanese would explode in knowledge because that's what happened to me when I spent 2 weeks on vacation here, but the kind of japanese I learned in that two week period, was basically everything I needed to know to survive 98% of Japan, as you stated. The times when my Japanese has really shown improvement, has been when I brute force studied in the most unpleasant ways. Hardcore grinding vocab in isolation, and memorizing sentences. My international friends who learned English, said I could just learn japanese watching tv, but I think they greatly misunderstand the vast amount of easy to access english content, the necessity to learn english, and the fact that they learned a lot of the basics in school, not to mention vocabulary. Most of them could read english pretty well before coming to America. I mistakenly took their advice, and spent countless hours doing "passive" immersion. Sure, the vocab and sentences I knew became more comprehensible to me, but I hardly learned anything new. I've been suffering through and definitely have made progress, but I really needed a punch in the gut. You've given me that. I have motivation, a goal, and a plan to get there now. You may have given the most real and practical advice ever. Thank you. I hope I can stay the course.
Hey really glad this helps. And your exact story is what I see in a lot of people. And everything you brought up is exactly what I wish more people knew. English is such a dominant language that that advice is just not good for something like Japanese. So part 1 and 2 of this works for any language, but is EXTREMELY useful for Japanese. You'll get there. Just take it a day at a time and try not to overplan it. Once you start to deliberately fill in those knowledge gaps, your confidence will continue to go up overtime.
All the advice in this video is pure gold. I remember learning stuff in english when I was a kid just by repeating sentences from video games and movies. Fast forward a few years I also learned some Japanese (I don't speak Japanese) but learned a few sentences from Naruto and others. Keep trying guys and enjoy it!
I've lived in Japan for almost 10 years and your spot on, my spoken japanese is absolute garbage, I can get by I guess but its embarrasing when someone asks me to speak lol. The traditional way of learning sucked the life out of me but you got me motivated to try out a different method.
Glad you said that because people still magically think you just soak in the language Lol. Yeah my methods in these two videos are intense, but it brings results quite fast. I find that makes it easier to stick to actually.
@@vaughngene ** in my opinion of course ** the only possible way to "soak the language" is not viable at all and people need to understand what you would need to be willing to give up. To soak the language like a child you would need to forgo all your technology and live in a village that is somewhat cut off from the main world and your native language. Then begin an extremely frustrating process that is by far more intense or extreme for an adult then the method you explained. I'll try to check back in a few months and update but want to keep the intensity at a somewhat slower pace to avoid burn out since traditional learning has scarred me 😂. Thanks for the videos and new found inspiration man!
I'm a new viewer here for about a month now. I love your content and I've been learning Japanese for about a two months I think but, I've been off and on but trying to get back into it much love and keep up with the great content.❤
Thank you for another insightful video. I know a lot of people who suggest self talk as a way to improve, I'll be honest, I have a lot of trouble with that. I'm going to take your advice and record myself, once I get over the initial discomfort, I'm sure I'll see improvements. Creating tangible and undeniable proof of progress gets me excited just thinking about it. Thanks again for providing even more helpful and practical steps to put into action. Looking forward to your next video.
Yeah it’s uncomfortable at first for sure, but just keep in mind, it’s better to deal with that on your own than when you are with Native Speakers. Mistakes are unavoidable of course but it makes the experience FAR more enjoyable when you get all the stress out of the way alone.
I came across one of your earlier videos about a month ago (or maybe it was your shorts first I forget) but I just wanted to say I really appreciate what you said about filtering out all the crap I see from the detractors. It did bother me as a beginner since I'm constantly questioning my methods so those comments always had me doubting which method was the way to go. I’ve been leveraging ChatGPT a ton and I love your ideas on using it for practicing sentences and all. After watching some of your older videos I've been actively immersing instead of passively immersing and I'm picking up so many grammar points and words along the way it's so much fun! You’re a huge role model for me and my little brother (we're 25 and 20 years old) as I’ve just started picking up piano and my little brother is picking up guitar because of your videos and seeing what you've been able to accomplish! He’s also learning Japanese and we hope to go there in 2026 to hopefully be able to speak and hang with some native speakers! Keep up the great work man I’m here for it!
Man that’s really awesome to hear 🙏, kudos to you both. And yeah idk if people will believe me but I quite often ran into them in Tokyo. Bragging about their Kanji, accent etc. And can barely get past “what’s your hobbies?”. It’s commenters personified really. People who are ACTUALLY fluent, are not running around judging other people’s language abilities like that. Just the people I referenced in the pictures Lol
It was my first time in Japan last month and I pretty much spent the whole of October there. I really enjoyed it and thought this is a place I would like to visit more often, so I’m really taking an interest in learning Japanese to socialise and communicate more next time I go. Your videos are super helpful, thank you
Nice! I'll be moving back over there myself soon enough. & Yeah with enough practice you'll be fine. I'll talk more about sentences and what to learn in the future.
Found your content about 2 weeks ago, revisit your videos regularly now. Viet American and have basics from just talking and growing up but still far from fluent. Have been applying everything in your videos and feel like I’m sky rocketing in my Vietnamese learning. ChatGPT is HUGE, and Google translate for pronunciation. Love your content, big fan. Ty for your videos!
That’s awesome to Hear! I love seeing people get results from what I post. Keep it up! The deliberate practice really will make your results so much better. 👌
Yo, I discovered you on the last video and told my wife ‘YO, there’s a black dude in Japan speaking fluent Japanese!!”. 😃 Really inspired me on my journey learning the language and learned alternative ways to push the envelope to learn a little faster without living in Japan (Live in Los Angeles). Like others who have said, I just started learning Kanji myself and find it fun actually because I loved those old Akira Kurosawa (7 Samurai, Red Beard, The Bodyguard, etc) films and some other director’s films like Shogun’s Shadow has signs in the background in old Kanji (for example: oil) that I thought was cool to be able to read off the screen. My point: we all have different motivations for learning things and it can sometimes take you into different directions than the inspirational source. Your videos are motivational and should be looked at as such. Fuck the Haters!! Keep the videos coming! Maybe later, take walks around the area and show us, who are not there, what life is like there from YOUR perspective!! Do you follow Baseball there? How does some of the people there respond to a heavily tattooed Black Dude from America on the street? Just ideas
Aye 🙌, glad I can inspire a bit. Yeah once I move back, I’d love to do some vlog type stuff here and there. Hopefully I run into Takashi From Japan too. He hangs around the area that my friends and I used to be at every weekend Lol. That would be a fun podcast/interview! Overall it was a blast! Like no issues. I’m excited to move back honestly.
Consistency and Motivation, motivation is when you want to do something... Consistency is when you have to do something whether you like or not, Good video!
Appreciate it, we need more encouragement like this. As a Spanish speaking native I find that knowing 2 languages helps attaining a 3rd one. Now at 55 it has become a hobby I enjoy, my friends tell me that why japanese out of all the other similar languages😂 I just tell them that they wouldn't understand what love feels like for something 😊❤ Cheers
i agree with you about delay knowing Kanji, it's actually mentioned before in one of other youtube channels I watched and it makes sense. Your method resembles little kids learning how to speak and it's the natural way of doing it. I'm just starting out @ 40 yo so this is going to be a bit of a challenge but it'll be fun.
Yeah after the basics it just slows you down 100% But I think it can have its place in the very beginning like I mentioned. I just see SO many people get caught up in it and at that point it’s just a sunken cost.
Re: perfectionism, it's so cool that you intuited early on how much of a trap that is. It's taken me much longer! My main instrument now is bass guitar, but I've played others throughout life. However, I never reached fluency with improvising because I focused so much on finding the "ideal" method/book/app/whatever but neglected to put in the practice to master the instrument. Bass has been totally different. I started playing just to have fun, not caring how my improv sounded. And I got SO much better, even without perfect knowledge. I play things all the time that sound kinda crappy, but I brush it off and keep going. Over time, the cool sounding things have started to outnumber the crappy. I never would have gotten there with my old mindset
Nice, yeah music in particular has 1million different ways to learn, so it's better to just pick something and see what you need like you noticed. Kind of the same with language. Practice, make mistakes, and when you find gaps, just practice those. It eventually all comes together for sure.
Outstanding channel and advice! Very inspiring! Would be cool for you to post what you are doing to learn Spanish...might inspire people to jump onboard and do it along with you.
I unsubscribed to every other channel except for you and language lords. The ONLY learners on the internet preaching and displaying the work it took to get to where you are. I'm at an intermediate lvl in Spanish and plan to be in the Dominican Republic, chillen, speaking fluent Spanish next February. I will give my update then. Godspeed.
Thank you! And yeah it’s good to see other people have a more deliberate approach. I find there is no substitute for it when you want lasting results. I discovered him through word of mouth and I really like his method too. Repetition 👌
@@vaughngene Thought I'd just come back here to say I'm a week in to the more intensive routine with one day break. I'm ALREADY over the honeymoon phase, there's ZERO motivation to continue for me at the moment. Nonetheless, I dug deep to give at least around 30 minutes today. Don't let motivation carry y'all. Discipline and routine is the only way.
23 years old and have been living in Japan since about April of this year, I'm not really where I want to be in my language studies and I just really wasn't sure where I was going wrong, but these 2 videos really gave me a lot of hope and motivation
Nice, glad they help. It can be hard to immerse in Japan because people typically don't talk (especially near Tokyo Lol). However you can find social areas around Harajuku and such. And just finding communities around your hobbies. Super Smash Bros events is where I got to practice a lot of Japanese apart from work.
Hello again 👋 I am learning English from your sophisticated talk 😃 I have been in the US for a long but I don’t think I can speak my mind out like you do in Japanese. I learned Spanish in Spain and yeah, I was pretty fluent after 6 months, but now English took over. Well well, I will be here often from now on 🙌
Thank you! It’s funny because I end up speaking Japanese the same way Lol. Even in very casual environments. And that’s awesome! So you already know what it takes it seems. Well done! 🙌
Yeah redditors (those kind at least) typically don't make it in Japan. I've seen it in person far too often Lol. So I just want to give people the confidence to go learn and make mistakes along the way.
Honestly I loved your first video and it’s great for people who want to learn Japanese as someone living in Japan I eventually have to take the JLPT and pass to stay here which is why I’m glad you addressed the whole kanji situation but like you said everyone has their own path and not everyone’s path included taking JLPT test.
Yeah definitely do that for the necessary evil part. Once you pass it, you can just disregard it anyways like some of my friends did and get back to real Japanese. But As long as people can separate JLPT from actual skills I think they will get results.
lol he is spot on about this. I just moved to Japan. I came across foreigners who been here for years but can’t speak the language, but they talk about how much kanji they know.
Yeah it's an odd one Lol, I think it's a lot easier to study that because there is no pressure. Whereas speaking you have to be willing to make mistakes and such to improve.
This video is really perfect for me because I just recently started looking into learning Japanese. I was going to go for a passive method but them I saw this video. I'm going to look more into the method and see how it turns out. I'm really think I'll have a good bit of success because I have a cousin who speaks fluent Japanese I can ask for advice too.
I love your channel! Just found you today and watched your part 1 & subscribed and just watched this part 2 after subscribing :) thanks for putting yourself out there. Loving your content so far 🙏🏽
i was just watching one of your other videos on how to handle multiple interests and as im doing my japanese course this comes up on my recommended just now! im so glad i found you and can hopefully accomplish more in life cause of it
Thank you for sharing your experience. For me kanji is rather important because I want to read Japanese books, RUclips subs, etc. Anki is super useful for that, I think. So my priority is listening > reading > speaking.
🙌 active listening is an amazing way to level up. Combine formal content with stuff like street Japanese and street interviews and you’ll understand just about everything no problem.
Hey Vaughn, really good video just wanted to let you know I was interested in a topic you've brought up in other videos of yours. It was "eating for your mental health" and you briefly covered it talking about how if you eat 3 eggs it has alot of the vitamins you need overall, and 2 oranges is enough to get your daily need for vitamin c, I think a video surrounding how to eat this way or how to go about it in general would be really cool to see.
Not me checking the comments when you said that you put YT on full screen bc otherwise you’d be checking the comments 😆. Closing them now and paying attention 👩🏾🎓
great vid! it would be cool to also see piano videos where you summarize and explain how you went to learn it and achieve your level (im personally trying to reach improvisation level)
Yeah I can get into that someday! I approach music the same way I approach language for the most part. Lots of deliberate learning and then drilling intervals and such to the point where I don't have to think much.
Hello, I'm learning Hangul and will be taking your advice for my learning process. I have gotten bored but want to step up my game and I think this will really help me. Thank you
Exactly Lol, Americans are spoiled because English is the language of the world and internet. so there is a sense of entitlement that we think other will have towards us. when it's really the opposite.
For the readers in the comments, a lot of the same core values here work on a reading focused learning approach. Implementing the repetition and AI leverage makes its difference. You could even mix the methods if you have sentence cards. "Personalized chosen sentences from your specific reading" is a perfect candidate for dropping into an AI voice reading thing, and repeating the sentences over and over again out loud. These will feed right back into the thing you're currently reading. Repeat the sentence and first target full perfect comprehension and then speed. While reading the same sentence over and over again quickly is really easy, it primes your brain for those same common patterns and creates this same "fluency bubble" for the written word, and when you see the phrase in reading, you can basically glance over it without thinking. I think the common example for this is なければならない。After the 1000th look, you don't need to read all that. Do some deliberate practice and knock that out early.
Bro between you and Mikel, I think you guys have put me on the right track. I've been studying Japanese for about 2 years now and made some good progress, but I am one of those dumbasses that is always looking for "a better way, an easier way" and I fall into the passive immersion trap thinking it'll automatically solve all issues... But the reality is and always has been that I want to learn Japanese specifically to speak it, not to consume Japanese content, but to use it and speak to Japanese friends. So the constant speaking practice, banging out the reps, and blasting tons of vocabulary through sheer hard work is actually a breath of fresh air... Even though it sounds like a heck of a lot of work 😂 I think I embrace the idea of hard work yielding results (powerlifting and calisthenics background!) so I'm all for this. Just a few days of doing this practice has already yielded some great results for me. Thank you both for the encouragement and direction I needed. I think this is going to make the biggest impact on my Japanese journey thus far 🙏 May the Lord bless you for your work brother!
@@japanese2811 hey that’s really good to hear. It was refreshing to wind up on Mikel’s page as well. Honestly hope he takes over the language learning community someday. The reality of those passive methods too is that a lot of these people cannot just turn on the camera and speak. RUclips Fluency and Real Life Fluency are two different skills. And sadly many people are misled. This is why they write scripts and have faceless channels usually, Or only do interviews / Omegle. Anyone can do that. I know I sound like that guy but I truly want everyone to get REAL results. And like you mentioned, the active efforts seem hard but since the feedback is so quick, it’s really not that bad. But I really want people to use the language like you mentioned. With intention and freedom.
I think one thing you should address is the confidence gap. Like, I’m a very shy person anyway and I’m terrified of embarrassing myself so for me the idea of speaking a language incorrectly is so uncomfortable I find it hard to try. AI is, of course, a fantastic solution for this nowadays but I can’t imagine I’d be conversationally fluent in 6 months. Maybe if I lived in Japan I’d have a decent amount of fluency and solid understanding/comprehension but my personality cripples me in actually speaking
I can talk about that sometime yeah. Mistake are apart of the game in general and you HAVE to make them. Just like a child learning their Native Language. exposure therapy is kind of the only solution imo. I don't think anyone on earth can make more mistakes than I did too Lol. I've sounded crazy on more occasions than I can count. At work, on the streets of Japan in general, etc. It's really not that bad. I think a big problem is the online language community too. they push a lot of perfectionist ideas but have no real world exp. Especially Japanese and Mandarin learners. But a lot of this will go away when you just put yourself out there.
The great thing about this process (of building up your own sort of database of sentences using highly relevant vocab and grammar variations through sentence-building) is that, if you decide to build up that database in your native language first, then go to AI or a hired translator or tutor or whatever for the translations, you can basically use that EXACT same database to learn another language, then another, then another. It's not going to take ~6 months down to 2 months or anything, but for many people, the process of coming up with what in the world they even want or need to say is going to be a pretty time-intensive process, especially if you have relied exclusively on conversation topics that textbooks have told you you need. Or maybe it's just me who, as a screenwriter, places far too much pressure on "good" dialogue hahaha
Exactly! It’s kind of plug and play at that point, and like you said, you only have to do the groundwork once. That’s a REALLY REALLY good point. I think it would knock off a month for sure.
*🤣 Great content! More Japanese memes. You put so much thought into it. Do you take requests? 1. Please sing.. Every Second (Japanese Version) · Mina Okabe in Japanese with the British accent. Mash it up with all the instruments you play in the style of Chocolate Rain. (Really try and break the Internet! Both American and Japanese. 2. Change the channel name to Alpha Flex Ball Roasting with Vaughn Gene. Lol*
@@vaughngene You are still killing it at 32. You have no idea. Your in super shape, you play instruments and most importantly you figured out your mental and you have compassion for yourself and comfortable in your body and identity. I don’t want to sound like I’m glazing you, but enjoy the compliment please.
Generally agree on kanji - after all even the Japanese don't learn it until grade 1, by which time they're already very fluent in Japanese. That said, I disagree on pitch accent and pronunciation. If you approach speaking Japanese, from day one, with even a general awareness of pitch accent and pronunciation, a consistent effort will lead to you having a better accent than most other foreigners - as you practice it more, it too, will come subconsciously. (and while it may not be important for basic communication, Japanese people will compliment you when they see you've put effort into it). Where we might find common ground here is that I would agree that being textbook-obsessed with looking up every single word is generally wasteful - simply by being observant, listening to and imitating real Japanese people, you can see significant improvements from that alone. As an English teacher in Japan (part of the 5% who actually care and put a concerted effort into improving things) I put my money where my mouth is on this one - I've developed and use a system for teaching Japanese students English phonetics and integrate it consistently into my lessons, seeing marked improvements not only in comprehensible spoken English, but in reading and writing. (This differs from Japanese because English spelling and phonics is a little more complex).
I think people have too much fear in 'learning bad habits' as in they can never correct something if they learn it wrong. Which is completely wrong. That's why I tell people to just relax. Because they never actually use the language. It's very hard to get people to balance it, since most people think in black and white. The goofy language community doesn't help either. But yeah if one can (without fear of perfectionism) then it's definitely a plus to check those boxes early. That's a small percent of people though from what I have seen.
I would love to see a video of you attempting to learn African languages! They are equally as hard and beautiful! I’m trying to learn myself and wonder if your technique will hold true.
My method is useful regardless of the language so it will work, as it’s fundamentally correct 👌. It’s pretty much how a child learns their native language, except with way more intention (since we need that as adults).
Great video ! I am trying to learn Japanese as well it would be my 3rd language, I changed my phone to Japanese so I can force my brain to think in Japanese. I have been learning vocab and doing Duolingo everyday I can’t wait to be able to finally fully understand. My motivation is that when I watch anime and I can recognize words and things they say before I read them it just like no other feeling ! I am trying my hardest to fully learn and remember hiragana and katakana, so far hiragana is pretty much down I still have to think a bit when I see words that contain っと or ひゃ、しゃ. I’m doing better but also katana and some that Duolingo doesn’t even have but I’m staying motivated ! I try to write things down so my grammar doesn’t fall behind. I speak it to people just to practice even if they don’t know what I’m saying sometimes it’s also a good conversation opener (if you know the person)
The ever changing pinned comment.
1. Anki Decks
www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/s/mIAthqHJIf
---
I like this one a lot.
It also has pitch accent and kanji so the dudes with the blocks won’t show up to your house to critique your practice.
2. “Surviving in Japan”, and “Conversational Japanese” are two different things.
It takes 2-3 weeks to learn ALL that you need to survive in Japan. That does not mean you can talk to people.
-
Please may you make a video on how to get started with anki and use this deck. Thank you
Woah... Thanks so much !!
I’ve been using this one. Thanks for confirming it is ok
@@PQ_497 I personally would just do as many as possible until I get tired.
And then come back the next day.
Using the mnemonic associations I referenced in the Part 1 video.
@vaughngene Ay, brotha... This is highly specific. But, could you explain how Anki works/should work (very briefly, like, it's function). I downloaded the app on android (S23 Ultra). And, I just couldn't understand how to use the damn thing. So, idk if it's a mobile problem (I don't have a computer, unfortunately). Or, if I just don't understand what the hell that app does. Everyone says ANKI ANKI ANKI. I thought I was going to be able to use it for easier notes of some variety. Cause, having to copy and past Japanese characters on a phone... with my fat fingers... It's really sloggin' me. If you see this, much love! If you don't. . . _much love._ You thought I'd be mad if you didn't see this? Fight me about it XD
I’m Japanese.
I have been learning English for about 4 months so I understand your Japanese skills is so fascinating.
I want to become like you.
This is first comment to use English on my experience.
I think my sentence is so wrong but I wont convert you about my feelings and thoughts.
I have subscribed your channel.
See you again from Japan.
There are certain mistakes, but for someone who's been studying a new language for 4 months, you're doing great! It's alright even if you make mistakes sometimes. がんばて!
Keep up the good work, we're all gonna make our language dreams come true. Don't stop.
Keep working hard and communicating, you'll get there!
Thank you! 🙏 And yes your English will improve overtime but we can still understand it! Well done.
It’s good you are taking the time to practice and make mistakes. That’s how we get better.
And Practicing with intention will give you the best results.
I'm 66yrs old and I really got interested in learning Japanese after watching the new series of Shogun, it's the sound of the language that appeals to me. Too me it sounds gutteral and spoken with intent and is authority. Keep going you will get there, don't worry about making mistakes, that's how we learn.
Oh baby here we go, recent sub based off your last video and perused your other ones as well. Vibing with your content, thanks for putting yourself on here man. It’s a great way to perpetuate this journey a lot of us are on
Aye 🙌 glad it’s helping.
No need for apologies. I think you hit right on the mark when you mentioned there are a lot of people in Japan who struggle to have a regular conversation.
Yeah the number was truly astounding. Always the same type too. “I have a good accent, I have N1, I know x amount of Kanji, look how cool I am”
But when I saw people who just spoke and connected with Natives, even with an accent,
And had the time of their life in Japan, that was all I really needed to see.
& Sadly, There will probably be detractors here too who won’t watch the whole video, mainly the part about poor return on investment.
But as long as my point gets across to those who need it that’s all that matters.
Much rather perfect my MMA and Music skills than an accent I was not born with. Simple as that.
I already commented on one of your shorts, but I want to say here that his method really works. I have been applying it with my German study for about four days and I’m already seeing results. The input is becoming comprehensible and I feel even more motivated to study because of how fast it’s working!! I love your channel already💖
Not to mention I’m already dreaming in German 😁🙏🏾
Awesome! People are quite skeptical of the word 'FAST' because it's often times mixed with 'easy' for clickbait. But it's good to see you are getting results. It's going to continue to get better overtime too.
How many vocab words are you learning per day and how many are you aiming for?
I have an Anki deck of 1.5k words in Japanese but idk how fast I should go through it. I want to do 100w/day and be done in 15d (I've already started this deck so the first 250/300 are not unknown to me)
Refold suggests 10 new cards/d, AJATT suggests 30 so idk maybe it's a bit too ambitious, but I've tried the Refold way and it's too slow. I rewatched JJK without subs and couldn't understand much if anything so I really want to digest as many words as I can before going full immersion (also I like doing Anki cards lol so I always feel like I can do more).
@vaughngene if you have time, I'd very much appreciate your thoughts on this.
Also amazing video, loved part 1 as well and can't wait to implement this method
sometimes when i dream the characters in my dream speak a bit of japanese or german too, but i just cannot understand japanese or german 😭
How could you see his shorts? He was seated.
The most respectful part of your method is that you found your own way and sharing it with other Japanese leaners. I think that's cool. Also I'm looking forward to see your guitar lesson videos in the future, too.
Thank you, I want people to combine my methods with their own for best results.
And yeah for sure! “Fretboard Fluency” is another language in a sense Lol.
@@vaughngene Yes. I think your language learning method is more musician like😀
Damn. So based. I’ve been ‘shitty’ studying Japanese for years ( on and off), but you really motivated me to start studying a bit more consistently. Everyday is an uphill battle, but I want to be more like you in terms of getting things done that I’m passionate about. Wish me luck and Thank you so much !
The deliberate work is “hard” however since the feedback is so quick, you’ll probably find yourself able to stick to it more than the passive ways!
Part 1 motivated me so much so I just started learning vocabulary yesterday! Thank you for your different approach to learning Japanese!
Happy to help! I want subconscious language use to be mainstream someday! 🙌
Im happy I came across your chanel I live in Japan and work in a English environment.
That's almost harder than not being in the country as far as learning. Though that will sound weird to others., but you got it. 👌
Really glad to discover your channel. I wanted to resume my Japanese learning and your previous video literally made it fun to start again! Thanks man! Instantly subbed
Awesome! 🙌 yeah the results come pretty fast so it’s a very rewarding process. Not easy but i find it’s easier to stick to because you can see the benefits right away!
Everyone is different, and what works for me might not work for someone else. However, when I watched your last video, I was like - yes, YES, finally someone is making sense. I studied English basically using the same tool, and now I'm studying Japaneese, and your video is a huge support and inspiration. Passive listening never worked for me, but it's all over RUclips, so I felt bad about not being able to implement it. Also, I really liked what you've said about vocab - when all is said and done, vocab is the only thing keeps you going. I'd say that N5/N4 grammar covers most of the grammar you need to communicate, and the rest of it is just posh versions of it, or written forms rarelly used, etc.Thank you for the new video too!
Spot on! and glad this helps solidify what you already kind of knew in a sense.
I think the passive methods are pushed because it naturally will get more likes and subscribers (the truth tends to push people away Lol). But I'm all about practicality and results here so that's why I wanted to get this out there.
Man, I truly enjoyed this video and the last! As a black man myself I’m inspired by your journey! I recently moved to Japan this year and most of the things you have claimed and stated, as far as study and what’s important, I also agree. This is my first year in Japan and I passed N3 and planing on taking N2. I have a great japanese reading mind but when it came to speaking I was still struggling until I started targeting gaps in my knowledge and what I find myself talking about the most. The language test is broad and if you study for the test you will be good for the test over real life. I actively use chatGPT for my studies too! Thanks for your videos! And keep being great!
thank you, and it's good you found this! yeah those knowledge gaps eventually will turn into fluency.
It's really all about just tackling each one as it comes up. But like you said, starting with what is most relevant right away.
Thank you so much for the AI Chat help. I never even thought about doing that. It's helping so much. You got a new sub.
Hello @Vaughngene your videos encourage me to learn Japanese I’m currently looking into Sanskrit. This will be on my goal list even if it’s a couple years from now keep making these encouraging videos. Those people made me annoyed when I seen comments about your pitch it didn’t discourage because I appreciate your videos so much that’s why I was sooo annoyed. I’m making my curriculum this is because of you! I was so lost on RUclips with information overload now I’m seeing what it is everything you explain on the last video about having so many interest helped me and I am feeling motivated Thanks so much 🙏🏾
Oh yeah rest assured that’s an EXTREME minority, and it’s only in Japanese for some reason.
In real life they often cannot complete a thought out loud. I’ve seen it too many times Lol.
WAY too many times.
And my accent actually isn’t bad. I had plenty of clients reaching out to me in Japan wanting to work with me due to the way I spoke.
So it’s good you ignore the trolls. Anything below “Native Speaker” is bad to them but they can’t even use the language freely.
I’m glad I made this video though because I don’t want them affecting you all. 👌
Also glad the content helps! I’ll have more to add to that later!
dude i really like you and how you think and explain things. you think exactly how i do: i don’t care about sounding native or learn a million kanji or anything like that. i just want to be able to speak it and understand it without thinking about it. new sub!!
Thank you, and yeah it feels really nice to do what's practical, so it's good you already have that idea.
And living in Japan so long, I can tell you now, the practical work (for any language really) will take you x100 further than the Kanji junkie who can barely speak.
so weird i just watched the other video and then this popped up as just posted haha. thanks for the advice i've been learning almost a year now and haven't gotten very far. i get excited and then do a bunch of studying all at once then get burnt out. i'm going to try and stay consistent this time. but if anything the info ive learned has stuck and i just need to keep adding more vocabulary.
it's not easy! stay consistent. ❤ i struggle too
My method is a bit intense, however, ironically since you see results right away, it actually helps you NOT burn out.
Because you can start to feel like you have some competency in the language.
That was a lovely posh British accent!
Very interesting channel. Nice to see another brother in Tokyo doing well.
One of my close friends is from the UK so I've had a lot of input Lol. And thanks!
Thanks for the video 🙏 was feeling the slump today but got my motivation back after finishing this video.
Imma try the sentence based studying 💪
Thx again
The feed back from both these videos are quick, so you’ll probably find it easier to stick to despite the method being more “intense”.
Love your explanation at the beginning ❤ so kind and understanding and reasonable and respectful
I think people are so used to scam artists giving out language advice, so they kind of come off as hostile.
I'll roast a bit, but in a helpful way at the least.
You're a legend, brother. May the Lord bless you greatly for sharing all your advice! 🙏
Thank you! 🙏, and God bless you too!
I wish I could have a friend like you. I am grateful for every advice you shared on this channel. Wish you all best!
Glad it helps! and wish you the best also!
Love the long form content if you posted a hour long video I’m stayin
Noted! 🙌 a rambling session in Japanese sounds like a fun video.
So few of us know how to learn effectively. Your content is much appreciated 💯
Glad it helps! thank you.
I will watch the parts several times to understand the method well, otherwise I will flood you with questions haha. 😄
Thank you for the video, I have watched many videos about learning a language but always ended up buying the course to learn more about the method. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, not only about language learning 🙏🙌
🙌
Great video bro! Thanks for making a follow up video discussing all the topics from last videos comment section and sharing more tips 💪💪
For sure, I’ll expand on more in the future 💪
I rarely comment on RUclips but I want to say I really appreciate your advice and perspective on learning things. I was learning Japanese at a decent rate this year and ive stopped the past few months because ive been so busy and I've really been getting in my head about starting again. Even though i know all i need to do is just get moving and put the work in, I think I needed to hear it like you say it.
I'm 25 and really feel like that I am not where I could/ should be up to in my hobbies (similar to yours/ the comments of guitar, piano, coding, gym and japanese). I've managed to get a handle on the gym again and i was watching a couple of your videos on the treadmill yesterday and im going to really try to apply the 99% - 1% approach to my other hobbies I want to improve on. Hopefully I look back on this comment 6 months from now and smile knowing I've made a difference for myself.. appreciate you sharing all of this, ありがとうございます
Really glad I could help get that moving for you!
And yeah 25 is still early.
By the time you are 31 like me, you can be far better in those areas than I am for sure.
Especially language.
Looking forward for your next video man! Thanks for this chunks of wisdom and experience!
🙌
I’m still a beginner in Japanese and don’t understand most but your Japanese is very clear to me unlike most language learning RUclipsrs.
Thanks! My accent is strange but I have good pronunciation so that’s probably why. Like a child actually Lol.
Some people have the reverse effect. Or they try to speak too fast to sound “Japanese”.
I was told this at work often from Natives.
Your videos are so motivating and keep me engaged. Thank you. I also found it very useful the vocab thing you mentioned last video. 😊
Hey good to see it helps!, you can really learn a lot of vocab in a short time this way!
Vaughn, thank you so much. I've been studying japanese for three years (not super focused), not knowing what I was doing, and now I live in Japan. I've been here for a month and a half, and I'm struggling to talk to people. If someone initiates a conversation, I can survive and make it by, but the conversations are far from pleasant for me. I thought when I got here, my Japanese would explode in knowledge because that's what happened to me when I spent 2 weeks on vacation here, but the kind of japanese I learned in that two week period, was basically everything I needed to know to survive 98% of Japan, as you stated. The times when my Japanese has really shown improvement, has been when I brute force studied in the most unpleasant ways. Hardcore grinding vocab in isolation, and memorizing sentences. My international friends who learned English, said I could just learn japanese watching tv, but I think they greatly misunderstand the vast amount of easy to access english content, the necessity to learn english, and the fact that they learned a lot of the basics in school, not to mention vocabulary. Most of them could read english pretty well before coming to America. I mistakenly took their advice, and spent countless hours doing "passive" immersion. Sure, the vocab and sentences I knew became more comprehensible to me, but I hardly learned anything new. I've been suffering through and definitely have made progress, but I really needed a punch in the gut. You've given me that. I have motivation, a goal, and a plan to get there now. You may have given the most real and practical advice ever. Thank you. I hope I can stay the course.
Hey really glad this helps. And your exact story is what I see in a lot of people. And everything you brought up is exactly what I wish more people knew.
English is such a dominant language that that advice is just not good for something like Japanese.
So part 1 and 2 of this works for any language, but is EXTREMELY useful for Japanese.
You'll get there. Just take it a day at a time and try not to overplan it. Once you start to deliberately fill in those knowledge gaps, your confidence will continue to go up overtime.
All the advice in this video is pure gold.
I remember learning stuff in english when I was a kid just by repeating sentences from video games and movies.
Fast forward a few years I also learned some Japanese (I don't speak Japanese) but learned a few sentences from Naruto and others.
Keep trying guys and enjoy it!
I discovered your channel yesterday and I have seen some videos. I think that your content is great. Thank you and please make more videos!
Thank you! and will do!
I've lived in Japan for almost 10 years and your spot on, my spoken japanese is absolute garbage, I can get by I guess but its embarrasing when someone asks me to speak lol.
The traditional way of learning sucked the life out of me but you got me motivated to try out a different method.
Glad you said that because people still magically think you just soak in the language Lol.
Yeah my methods in these two videos are intense, but it brings results quite fast.
I find that makes it easier to stick to actually.
@@vaughngene ** in my opinion of course ** the only possible way to "soak the language" is not viable at all and people need to understand what you would need to be willing to give up.
To soak the language like a child you would need to forgo all your technology and live in a village that is somewhat cut off from the main world and your native language. Then begin an extremely frustrating process that is by far more intense or extreme for an adult then the method you explained.
I'll try to check back in a few months and update but want to keep the intensity at a somewhat slower pace to avoid burn out since traditional learning has scarred me 😂.
Thanks for the videos and new found inspiration man!
Thank you bro. Subscribed.
I'm a new viewer here for about a month now. I love your content and I've been learning Japanese for about a two months I think but, I've been off and on but trying to get back into it much love and keep up with the great content.❤
You’ll find your groove soon enough! 👌,
Thank you for another insightful video. I know a lot of people who suggest self talk as a way to improve, I'll be honest, I have a lot of trouble with that.
I'm going to take your advice and record myself, once I get over the initial discomfort, I'm sure I'll see improvements. Creating tangible and undeniable proof of progress gets me excited just thinking about it.
Thanks again for providing even more helpful and practical steps to put into action. Looking forward to your next video.
Yeah it’s uncomfortable at first for sure, but just keep in mind, it’s better to deal with that on your own than when you are with Native Speakers.
Mistakes are unavoidable of course but it makes the experience FAR more enjoyable when you get all the stress out of the way alone.
I came across one of your earlier videos about a month ago (or maybe it was your shorts first I forget) but I just wanted to say I really appreciate what you said about filtering out all the crap I see from the detractors. It did bother me as a beginner since I'm constantly questioning my methods so those comments always had me doubting which method was the way to go. I’ve been leveraging ChatGPT a ton and I love your ideas on using it for practicing sentences and all. After watching some of your older videos I've been actively immersing instead of passively immersing and I'm picking up so many grammar points and words along the way it's so much fun! You’re a huge role model for me and my little brother (we're 25 and 20 years old) as I’ve just started picking up piano and my little brother is picking up guitar because of your videos and seeing what you've been able to accomplish! He’s also learning Japanese and we hope to go there in 2026 to hopefully be able to speak and hang with some native speakers! Keep up the great work man I’m here for it!
Man that’s really awesome to hear 🙏, kudos to you both.
And yeah idk if people will believe me but I quite often ran into them in Tokyo.
Bragging about their Kanji, accent etc.
And can barely get past “what’s your hobbies?”.
It’s commenters personified really.
People who are ACTUALLY fluent, are not running around judging other people’s language abilities like that.
Just the people I referenced in the pictures Lol
It was my first time in Japan last month and I pretty much spent the whole of October there. I really enjoyed it and thought this is a place I would like to visit more often, so I’m really taking an interest in learning Japanese to socialise and communicate more next time I go. Your videos are super helpful, thank you
Nice! I'll be moving back over there myself soon enough.
& Yeah with enough practice you'll be fine. I'll talk more about sentences and what to learn in the future.
Thank you , I appreciate your video . I started my Japanese learning journey few months ago🙂 🇯🇵
Awesome 頑張ってね 👍
Found your content about 2 weeks ago, revisit your videos regularly now. Viet American and have basics from just talking and growing up but still far from fluent. Have been applying everything in your videos and feel like I’m sky rocketing in my Vietnamese learning. ChatGPT is HUGE, and Google translate for pronunciation.
Love your content, big fan. Ty for your videos!
That’s awesome to Hear! I love seeing people get results from what I post.
Keep it up! The deliberate practice really will make your results so much better. 👌
Thanks man 🙏🏻 Learnt a lot from your videos. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! Glad it helps 💪
Bro, your channel is awesome. Really loving your content!
Thank you! glad it helps 💪
Yo, I discovered you on the last video and told my wife ‘YO, there’s a black dude in Japan speaking fluent Japanese!!”. 😃 Really inspired me on my journey learning the language and learned alternative ways to push the envelope to learn a little faster without living in Japan (Live in Los Angeles). Like others who have said, I just started learning Kanji myself and find it fun actually because I loved those old Akira Kurosawa (7 Samurai, Red Beard, The Bodyguard, etc) films and some other director’s films like Shogun’s Shadow has signs in the background in old Kanji (for example: oil) that I thought was cool to be able to read off the screen. My point: we all have different motivations for learning things and it can sometimes take you into different directions than the inspirational source. Your videos are motivational and should be looked at as such. Fuck the Haters!! Keep the videos coming! Maybe later, take walks around the area and show us, who are not there, what life is like there from YOUR perspective!! Do you follow Baseball there? How does some of the people there respond to a heavily tattooed Black Dude from America on the street? Just ideas
Aye 🙌, glad I can inspire a bit.
Yeah once I move back, I’d love to do some vlog type stuff here and there.
Hopefully I run into Takashi From Japan too.
He hangs around the area that my friends and I used to be at every weekend Lol.
That would be a fun podcast/interview!
Overall it was a blast! Like no issues. I’m excited to move back honestly.
Dear sir, your video just popped up on my feed, so I decided to check it out, and I acknowledge your command of the language. 👍🏽
Thank you!, what I say takes a lot of work but the feedback is so quick that it's actually more motivating than the slow methods.
Thank you for sharing part 1
Your videos are super helpful man
🙏
You're an amazing guy. Thanks for your tips and video 😊
🙏
Consistency and Motivation, motivation is when you want to do something... Consistency is when you have to do something whether you like or not, Good video!
Seeing the pay off quickly is motivating too. 👌. My method is deliberate but oddly easier than the slow methods. Because the feedback is quick.
Appreciate it, we need more encouragement like this. As a Spanish speaking native I find that knowing 2 languages helps attaining a 3rd one. Now at 55 it has become a hobby I enjoy, my friends tell me that why japanese out of all the other similar languages😂 I just tell them that they wouldn't understand what love feels like for something 😊❤ Cheers
I think it’s hard to convince others why. They just have to enjoy it for themselves.
And no problem 🌞
i agree with you about delay knowing Kanji, it's actually mentioned before in one of other youtube channels I watched and it makes sense. Your method resembles little kids learning how to speak and it's the natural way of doing it. I'm just starting out @ 40 yo so this is going to be a bit of a challenge but it'll be fun.
Yeah after the basics it just slows you down 100%
But I think it can have its place in the very beginning like I mentioned.
I just see SO many people get caught up in it and at that point it’s just a sunken cost.
Re: perfectionism, it's so cool that you intuited early on how much of a trap that is. It's taken me much longer!
My main instrument now is bass guitar, but I've played others throughout life. However, I never reached fluency with improvising because I focused so much on finding the "ideal" method/book/app/whatever but neglected to put in the practice to master the instrument.
Bass has been totally different. I started playing just to have fun, not caring how my improv sounded. And I got SO much better, even without perfect knowledge. I play things all the time that sound kinda crappy, but I brush it off and keep going. Over time, the cool sounding things have started to outnumber the crappy. I never would have gotten there with my old mindset
Nice, yeah music in particular has 1million different ways to learn, so it's better to just pick something and see what you need like you noticed.
Kind of the same with language. Practice, make mistakes, and when you find gaps, just practice those. It eventually all comes together for sure.
i love you doing that British accent😀
Lol thank you
From the UK here, that was actually pretty good. I'm impressed 👏🏾
Outstanding channel and advice! Very inspiring! Would be cool for you to post what you are doing to learn Spanish...might inspire people to jump onboard and do it along with you.
I can log what I do for sure yeah! Maybe not record everything but make a video about what I did each week or so!
I unsubscribed to every other channel except for you and language lords. The ONLY learners on the internet preaching and displaying the work it took to get to where you are. I'm at an intermediate lvl in Spanish and plan to be in the Dominican Republic, chillen, speaking fluent Spanish next February. I will give my update then. Godspeed.
Thank you! And yeah it’s good to see other people have a more deliberate approach. I find there is no substitute for it when you want lasting results.
I discovered him through word of mouth and I really like his method too.
Repetition 👌
@@vaughngene Thought I'd just come back here to say I'm a week in to the more intensive routine with one day break. I'm ALREADY over the honeymoon phase, there's ZERO motivation to continue for me at the moment.
Nonetheless, I dug deep to give at least around 30 minutes today. Don't let motivation carry y'all. Discipline and routine is the only way.
23 years old and have been living in Japan since about April of this year, I'm not really where I want to be in my language studies and I just really wasn't sure where I was going wrong, but these 2 videos really gave me a lot of hope and motivation
Nice, glad they help. It can be hard to immerse in Japan because people typically don't talk (especially near Tokyo Lol). However you can find social areas around Harajuku and such. And just finding communities around your hobbies.
Super Smash Bros events is where I got to practice a lot of Japanese apart from work.
Hello again 👋 I am learning English from your sophisticated talk 😃 I have been in the US for a long but I don’t think I can speak my mind out like you do in Japanese. I learned Spanish in Spain and yeah, I was pretty fluent after 6 months, but now English took over. Well well, I will be here often from now on 🙌
Thank you! It’s funny because I end up speaking Japanese the same way Lol. Even in very casual environments.
And that’s awesome! So you already know what it takes it seems. Well done! 🙌
I absolutely love the way that you don’t give a shit about the haters. Very inspirational indeed. Well done.
Yeah redditors (those kind at least) typically don't make it in Japan. I've seen it in person far too often Lol. So I just want to give people the confidence to go learn and make mistakes along the way.
Thanks for the inspiration and the available tools!
Honestly I loved your first video and it’s great for people who want to learn Japanese as someone living in Japan I eventually have to take the JLPT and pass to stay here which is why I’m glad you addressed the whole kanji situation but like you said everyone has their own path and not everyone’s path included taking JLPT test.
Yeah definitely do that for the necessary evil part. Once you pass it, you can just disregard it anyways like some of my friends did and get back to real Japanese.
But As long as people can separate JLPT from actual skills I think they will get results.
I'm looking forward for the next video about chat gpt tips !
Looking forward to the next video!! Just got into this Ai chatgpt thing, amazing!
Some people in the discord drop very useful information on AI also if you wanna join there.
Since you are learning Spanish now,
gracias por el video !
You really inspire me. I lived in Japan for 2 years and people made me feel weird about my Japanese. I wish I would have seen your videos earlier.
Wow, that was a great British impression!
Lol Thank You 🙏
lol he is spot on about this. I just moved to Japan. I came across foreigners who been here for years but can’t speak the language, but they talk about how much kanji they know.
Yeah it's an odd one Lol, I think it's a lot easier to study that because there is no pressure. Whereas speaking you have to be willing to make mistakes and such to improve.
Awesome video dude. Gonna try my best! Going to Japan for the first time soon.
💪
These videos are so amazing, enough said. ありがとう！
Glad they help! Thank you!
This video is really perfect for me because I just recently started looking into learning Japanese. I was going to go for a passive method but them I saw this video. I'm going to look more into the method and see how it turns out. I'm really think I'll have a good bit of success because I have a cousin who speaks fluent Japanese I can ask for advice too.
Nice, it's tough, the ideas in this video and the first, but it's well worth it.
I love your channel! Just found you today and watched your part 1 & subscribed and just watched this part 2 after subscribing :) thanks for putting yourself out there. Loving your content so far 🙏🏽
Bros the goat, bless you g🙏💪
🙏
i was just watching one of your other videos on how to handle multiple interests and as im doing my japanese course this comes up on my recommended just now! im so glad i found you and can hopefully accomplish more in life cause of it
Hey glad these help!
Yeah definitely take what you need from these 👌, I have a lot of random ideas and such in store for the channel.
Super helpful tips!!
Thank you for sharing your experience. For me kanji is rather important because I want to read Japanese books, RUclips subs, etc. Anki is super useful for that, I think. So my priority is listening > reading > speaking.
Nice, Yeah adapt the approach that you need for your goals. 👌
Your vids are motivating. Going to pick up my slack on learning japanese with your tips. Need to do more active listening.
🙌 active listening is an amazing way to level up.
Combine formal content with stuff like street Japanese and street interviews and you’ll understand just about everything no problem.
Hey Vaughn, really good video just wanted to let you know I was interested in a topic you've brought up in other videos of yours. It was "eating for your mental health" and you briefly covered it talking about how if you eat 3 eggs it has alot of the vitamins you need overall, and 2 oranges is enough to get your daily need for vitamin c, I think a video surrounding how to eat this way or how to go about it in general would be really cool to see.
It's something I'll cover a lot more on this channel someday for sure!
Banger dropped
جيد جدا، أريد اتكلم المزيد الفصحى العربية، طيب ✊
(Read right to left)
The “translate to English button” seems to works well.
You got it 👌, and thank you!
@@vaughngene keep doing what you're doing bro
Meh love the kindness we give
🙌
Increible! Te pasaste, es el metodo que estaba buscando, simple y practico, muchas gracias!
🙌¡Me alegra que te sirva! Estaré trabajando duro en mi español.
Not me checking the comments when you said that you put YT on full screen bc otherwise you’d be checking the comments 😆.
Closing them now and paying attention 👩🏾🎓
Lol we are the same it seems🤝
great vid! it would be cool to also see piano videos where you summarize and explain how you went to learn it and achieve your level (im personally trying to reach improvisation level)
Yeah I can get into that someday! I approach music the same way I approach language for the most part. Lots of deliberate learning and then drilling intervals and such to the point where I don't have to think much.
Finally, 'Practice makes man perfect'.
Hello, I'm learning Hangul and will be taking your advice for my learning process. I have gotten bored but want to step up my game and I think this will really help me. Thank you
It should help. Deliberate practice (this video and the 1st one) is more engaging.
That was a pretty convincing British accent 😂👍
Thank you Lol, one of my close friends in Japan is from the UK so I’ve had a lot of input 😂
Man you're so inspiring
🙏
Im learning korean with my jamaican accent and it is so funny, more for me to talk about.
Exactly Lol, Americans are spoiled because English is the language of the world and internet. so there is a sense of entitlement that we think other will have towards us. when it's really the opposite.
For the readers in the comments, a lot of the same core values here work on a reading focused learning approach. Implementing the repetition and AI leverage makes its difference.
You could even mix the methods if you have sentence cards. "Personalized chosen sentences from your specific reading" is a perfect candidate for dropping into an AI voice reading thing, and repeating the sentences over and over again out loud. These will feed right back into the thing you're currently reading. Repeat the sentence and first target full perfect comprehension and then speed. While reading the same sentence over and over again quickly is really easy, it primes your brain for those same common patterns and creates this same "fluency bubble" for the written word, and when you see the phrase in reading, you can basically glance over it without thinking. I think the common example for this is なければならない。After the 1000th look, you don't need to read all that. Do some deliberate practice and knock that out early.
お気に入りになりました、ギターはいつ弾いてくれますか？🎉
ありがとうございます！次の動画の最後に、ギターソロを即興で弾くかもしれません。 🙌
Bro between you and Mikel, I think you guys have put me on the right track. I've been studying Japanese for about 2 years now and made some good progress, but I am one of those dumbasses that is always looking for "a better way, an easier way" and I fall into the passive immersion trap thinking it'll automatically solve all issues... But the reality is and always has been that I want to learn Japanese specifically to speak it, not to consume Japanese content, but to use it and speak to Japanese friends.
So the constant speaking practice, banging out the reps, and blasting tons of vocabulary through sheer hard work is actually a breath of fresh air... Even though it sounds like a heck of a lot of work 😂 I think I embrace the idea of hard work yielding results (powerlifting and calisthenics background!) so I'm all for this.
Just a few days of doing this practice has already yielded some great results for me. Thank you both for the encouragement and direction I needed. I think this is going to make the biggest impact on my Japanese journey thus far 🙏 May the Lord bless you for your work brother!
Do you use anki?
@@japanese2811 hey that’s really good to hear.
It was refreshing to wind up on Mikel’s page as well. Honestly hope he takes over the language learning community someday.
The reality of those passive methods too is that a lot of these people cannot just turn on the camera and speak.
RUclips Fluency and Real Life Fluency are two different skills. And sadly many people are misled.
This is why they write scripts and have faceless channels usually,
Or only do interviews / Omegle.
Anyone can do that.
I know I sound like that guy but I truly want everyone to get REAL results.
And like you mentioned, the active efforts seem hard but since the feedback is so quick, it’s really not that bad.
But I really want people to use the language like you mentioned. With intention and freedom.
I think one thing you should address is the confidence gap. Like, I’m a very shy person anyway and I’m terrified of embarrassing myself so for me the idea of speaking a language incorrectly is so uncomfortable I find it hard to try. AI is, of course, a fantastic solution for this nowadays but I can’t imagine I’d be conversationally fluent in 6 months. Maybe if I lived in Japan I’d have a decent amount of fluency and solid understanding/comprehension but my personality cripples me in actually speaking
I can talk about that sometime yeah. Mistake are apart of the game in general and you HAVE to make them. Just like a child learning their Native Language.
exposure therapy is kind of the only solution imo.
I don't think anyone on earth can make more mistakes than I did too Lol. I've sounded crazy on more occasions than I can count. At work, on the streets of Japan in general, etc. It's really not that bad.
I think a big problem is the online language community too. they push a lot of perfectionist ideas but have no real world exp. Especially Japanese and Mandarin learners.
But a lot of this will go away when you just put yourself out there.
Thank you for your very informative videos. Do you use the free version of ChatGPT or a fee-paying one?
I use the 4.0 but you don't need to at all for language. It's pretty much the same thing. I just also use chatgpt for a million other things.
The great thing about this process (of building up your own sort of database of sentences using highly relevant vocab and grammar variations through sentence-building) is that, if you decide to build up that database in your native language first, then go to AI or a hired translator or tutor or whatever for the translations, you can basically use that EXACT same database to learn another language, then another, then another.
It's not going to take ~6 months down to 2 months or anything, but for many people, the process of coming up with what in the world they even want or need to say is going to be a pretty time-intensive process, especially if you have relied exclusively on conversation topics that textbooks have told you you need.
Or maybe it's just me who, as a screenwriter, places far too much pressure on "good" dialogue hahaha
Exactly! It’s kind of plug and play at that point, and like you said, you only have to do the groundwork once.
That’s a REALLY REALLY good point.
I think it would knock off a month for sure.
I'm from Japan and love your way of speaking Japanese.
Me watching this to learn English BTW. Thanks for sharing valuable tips.
Thank you! 🙏 And I’m glad I can help you learn English.
nice i did subscribe already
*🤣 Great content! More Japanese memes. You put so much thought into it. Do you take requests?
1. Please sing.. Every Second (Japanese Version) · Mina Okabe in Japanese with the British accent. Mash it up with all the instruments you play in the style of Chocolate Rain. (Really try and break the Internet! Both American and Japanese.
2. Change the channel name to Alpha Flex Ball Roasting with Vaughn Gene. Lol*
Maybe singing in Japanese is a reasonable thing someday Lol. With piano and guitar or something.
Really waiting for the Chatgpt Japanese technique video. When can we expect it?
I may do one video before that one that’s non-language related, but I would guess within a month.
We shall see Lol
@@vaughngene haha! Really excited 😁
You’re 28 bro? Wow you seem so damn accomplished being so young
No I’ll be 32 soon. I came back to America 3 years ago Lol.
@@vaughngene Ahh you’re still killing it man. Enjoy seeing your channel grow
@@vaughngene You are still killing it at 32. You have no idea. Your in super shape, you play instruments and most importantly you figured out your mental and you have compassion for yourself and comfortable in your body and identity.
I don’t want to sound like I’m glazing you, but enjoy the compliment please.
@@More_Row Much appreciated 🙏
The Best I can do is help others with the exp I have.
Pay it forward in a Sense.
Generally agree on kanji - after all even the Japanese don't learn it until grade 1, by which time they're already very fluent in Japanese. That said, I disagree on pitch accent and pronunciation.
If you approach speaking Japanese, from day one, with even a general awareness of pitch accent and pronunciation, a consistent effort will lead to you having a better accent than most other foreigners - as you practice it more, it too, will come subconsciously. (and while it may not be important for basic communication, Japanese people will compliment you when they see you've put effort into it). Where we might find common ground here is that I would agree that being textbook-obsessed with looking up every single word is generally wasteful - simply by being observant, listening to and imitating real Japanese people, you can see significant improvements from that alone.
As an English teacher in Japan (part of the 5% who actually care and put a concerted effort into improving things) I put my money where my mouth is on this one - I've developed and use a system for teaching Japanese students English phonetics and integrate it consistently into my lessons, seeing marked improvements not only in comprehensible spoken English, but in reading and writing. (This differs from Japanese because English spelling and phonics is a little more complex).
I think people have too much fear in 'learning bad habits' as in they can never correct something if they learn it wrong. Which is completely wrong. That's why I tell people to just relax.
Because they never actually use the language. It's very hard to get people to balance it, since most people think in black and white.
The goofy language community doesn't help either.
But yeah if one can (without fear of perfectionism) then it's definitely a plus to check those boxes early. That's a small percent of people though from what I have seen.
I would love to see a video of you attempting to learn African languages! They are equally as hard and beautiful! I’m trying to learn myself and wonder if your technique will hold true.
My method is useful regardless of the language so it will work, as it’s fundamentally correct 👌.
It’s pretty much how a child learns their native language, except with way more intention (since we need that as adults).
inspired!!!!!!
Great video ! I am trying to learn Japanese as well it would be my 3rd language, I changed my phone to Japanese so I can force my brain to think in Japanese. I have been learning vocab and doing Duolingo everyday I can’t wait to be able to finally fully understand. My motivation is that when I watch anime and I can recognize words and things they say before I read them it just like no other feeling ! I am trying my hardest to fully learn and remember hiragana and katakana, so far hiragana is pretty much down I still have to think a bit when I see words that contain っと or ひゃ、しゃ. I’m doing better but also katana and some that Duolingo doesn’t even have but I’m staying motivated ! I try to write things down so my grammar doesn’t fall behind. I speak it to people just to practice even if they don’t know what I’m saying sometimes it’s also a good conversation opener (if you know the person)
Nice, as long as you turn most things in to deliberate practice you will see some good results.