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?

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

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.

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.