Burnout is the greatest enemy of learning any language. It takes a goal like fluency that motivates you, that drives you, and turns it into something you hate.
I think most of us have had that moment when we’ve worn ourselves down trying to memorize as much as we can in as little time as possible and for just a moment, you hate the language, you hate learning the language and you want to throw the whole project out and find something else to do.
Or worse, the amount of time you spend with the language slowly slips over time and before you know it, you haven’t touched it in a couple months!
Given my experiences with burnout, I’ve been trying to nail down what it is so I can deal with it directly.
I think there are 3 elements:
- Demanding Perfection too Soon
- Lack of Context
- Excessive Reviewing
I’ll start with context. Without context, all you have are Kanji and word lists. Long Kanji and word lists. We don’t use words out of context, why try to learn them there?
In my earlier kanji experiments, I tried using a list of the most commonly used Japanese words to provide context for learning kanji. Whenever I added kanji, I also computed what common words I could now read that only included kanji from my list.
This way I could build my vocabulary while building a feel for each kanji based on the words it appeared in.
It was horrible. The words added context for the kanji and that helped, but the words were out of context! Drilling the words to practice reading the kanji was absolutely mind numbing.
Wherever context is lacking, burnout is lurking.
Next up is excessive reviewing. This is simply a case of prioritization. What needs to be reviewed and what doesn’t?
Spending hours reviewing material that doesn’t need review is asking for burnout. Spaced Repetition Systems or SRS’s in their various forms are a great tool for dealing with this. Material that is easy for you is reviewed less and challenging material is reviewed more.
But even an SRS can blow up if you put too much in it too quickly. Then it doesn’t matter how well you’ve prioritized what to review, you’re spending way too much time reviewing.
Variety is the key. Reviewing/studying is one of many things to do to learn a language. When time spent studying pushes out reading for pleasure, enjoying a good TV show or conversing with a pen pal, burnout is bound to happen.
Lastly, Demanding perfection too soon. This one’s subtlety is what makes it more insidious. Kanji, words, grammar, pronunciation, listening comprehension, reading speed: All these things take time to learn and are learned at different rates.
Some kanji come easy and some are hard. Some grammar patterns are easy to read but harder to hear. Everything is learned at different rates.
So, to force yourself to study and restudy the words or kanji that challenge you, is fighting your own brain. Your mind wants pictures, sound, patterns to associate information. Subjecting it to more review and study for what your mind hasn’t built a pattern for is busy work.
See the kanji being used. See the word being used. Your mind will create imagery, uncover patterns that will be the basis for your memory.
The implication is that when you get an answer wrong, note the correct answer and move on. Subjecting your self to “extra” review is a recipe for burn out. Then, not only won’t you recall the information, but you might not even want to.
Learning a new language is a fun process. Eliminate sources of burnout and you can keep it that way.
4 Comments
Yes, learning in context while having fun is the most important part.
I taught myself English without ever using a textbook or a vocabulary list or anything that feels like studying even once. But as I native speaker of French, I already had the tools needed for that.
For Japanese, it’s a bit more difficult. This is why I think using a SRS is a good idea. And while I first objected about the lack of context in the Heisig method, it’s still worth the effort so that you can then use that to learn in context. Even if that means a little temporary burn-out.
But with exception of kanji, the SRS should be used only as a tool to not forget what you’re learning in context. Not to input huge lists and try to force feed them to your brain.
CODEXUS,
I absolutely agree that huge lists and force feeding are not the way to…anything, really. What I’ve found to be really valuable in an SRS is finding “memorable” examples of language.
For example - I collect some sentences and review them with an SRS but one of the most important features of that software is the *delete* button.
I frequently cull sentences that are uninteresting, don’t evoke imagery or are confusing outside the context of the original story.
Some of my favorite sentences are from funny or powerful scenes in Japanese movies or TV programs.
The context of that mental imagery makes review quick and easy.
But the flip side, I think, is that true learning doesn’t occur when we study.
If you lift weights for exercise, you don’t get stronger during the hour spent working out, you get stronger during the 2 days of rest afterward. Working out constantly will actually hurt you.
And so it is with language. Whatever the study technique, if there is no extended rest where you just listen or read and enjoy the language, burnout is around the corner.
Hi Khalid,
I think this hit it right on the head for me:
“Variety is the key. Reviewing/studying is one of many things to do to learn a language. When time spent studying pushes out reading for pleasure, enjoying a good TV show or conversing with a pen pal, burnout is bound to happen.”
I have a very limited amount of time to spend on Japanese, and for the past 1-2 years I’ve been spending most if not all of that time doing RTK reviews. Indeed, it’s like I’ve just been putting all this effort into memorizing a huge list, never getting the time to use it! Burnout has hit me more times than I’d like to admit, probably mainly for this reason.
It puts me in a strange position though; I know I should spend my precious time using the language, but I feel guilty as I see my expired cards stack up so I tend to avoid this. However, if I instead tell myself to put that time into reviewing my expired cards, I often avoid the whole situation and study no Japanese :-O.
Thanks for your ideas; I think I’ll try a more balanced approach and aim for more variety
Radical_Tyro,
I admire your dedication. I’ve had some really bad experiences with burnout outside of language learning. I looked at RTK after trying other Kanji learning techniques that burned me out and decided it just wasn’t for me. But I certainly can’t deny the advantage of knowing all those Kanji when you start reading more.
You mention dealing with your expired stack.
I’ve had a couple of conversations recently that have focused on the issue of daily review and I wonder if there is a better way.
All SRS’s review entries daily - Does this contribute to burnout? Could similar results be achieved through reviewing only 3 or 4 times a week?
If you have to review everyday, and you’re short on time, do you *only* get to study? Can the SRS methodology be modified to accommodate or even encourage more variety when learning Japanese?
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