I don't think I'm a special case.Originally Posted by Gare
As usual I agree, but I think motivation is the biggest problem for most. As in, not giving up. You're a special case and as for myself, I needed it for school so quitting wasn't an option. But for most people it's a very scary language and as much as I'm in support of others trying their hands at it, not everyone has the necessary free time that's needed to be devoted to such an undertaking. Hell even I spend most of my waking hours memorizing new and unknown kanji, and it's still not enough for me to be content with myself.
(Don't listen to me btw, it's a fun language and very satisfying once you start seeing the results! Also you get to play awesome JRPGs that never made it to the west!)
Edit: Also it's not just free time, but money as well for classes and such. Many people do need teachers, even if others can manage alone.
Sorry for hijacking your thread Elmdor!I'm not fabulously talented or anything, as proven by my experiences with other languages in a formal environment. In Chinese I was top of my class mostly because I already knew a large chunk of the characters and lots of vocabulary, while other people were starting from scratch, but in Russian and French, I was pretty average. I'm not hugely motivated most of the time, either. I think it's very possible for anyone to achieve the level I have in Japanese, and to do it in a much shorter time to boot. Heck if nothing else, I think your current level is proof of that.
If you continue at your current rate, you'll be way ahead of me by the time you've been studying as long as I have.
Also, in terms of free time, I think even those who are very busy can find the time to learn a language. It takes a long time, but that long time doesn't have to mean eight hours a day. One hour a day over a year or two will quite quickly start to yield results.
EDIT: Yeah, sorry about that, Elmdor.
