Do you need to drop your native language to learn a new one?

Hello there!
It's been a while since I've last made a blog post about Japanese, let alone language learning. Quite a bit has happened since last time, so let me get you up to speed!

The branch to other languages

To set things straight, let me get one thing clear: I'm not quitting learning Japanese, I still learn the language every now and then. But I'm not as serious about it as I was a year ago, that is for a few reasons. One is that I'm learning other languages as well, a few examples include Spanish, French, German and then some. Another reason is because I've got several other things going on in my life, therefore I cannot be willing to focus on learning Japanese as much.

I certainly don't regret trying to learn Japanese, it has given me the needed confidence to pursue learning other languages including one I absolutely despised learning back in school (French).

My method to learning languages has slightly changed since last time. At first I insisted on learning a selected language by consuming any kind of media in the language I was interested in. I tried it out, but I ended up not enjoying this process since it is one thing to understand what is going on in the media you are consuming, and another to learn a new language whilst doing so. After some thought, I decided to abandon this approach and instead I decided to try learning languages from stuff I already knew.

Learning from the stuff you love

I started this approach by replaying one of my favourite SNES games "Terrainigma" (which I first played 4 years ago), in Japanese. The way I try to learn the language is by taking a photo of the dialogue in the screen with my phone through google translate and selecting certain words that I would like to learn. This process is quite tedious, but at least it is more bearable, since I've already played Terranigma, I know about everything that happens in the game from the characters to the plot. I'm also doing this with learning French from an RPG maker game called "Off", which I have also fully played in English.

The experience is not as novel as when first played... well maybe novel in another way, because I'm learning another language through it but you know what I mean. The fact that it isn't novel can give my brain more space to allocate for focusing on learning the words, because knowing the context of what is happening in the game can certainly add to the ease of learning the language. This approach has a wider application than just merely video games. You can do this with a film, television programme or book you enjoy.

You can even do this with leaflets, posters or books and suchlike.

The method

In the last point I explained that I use google translate on my mobile phone to assist me with the learning. I'll explain this in more depth, I select certain words of the sentence and try to memorise the words usually when I'm on a train journey somewhere. I remember doing something like this with French where I had to memorise a bunch of words for an exam, except here it is different: I'm not memorising things for an exam, I am memorising words so I can understand future things I consume in selected language better.

Funnily enough I remember it easier when I do this than any of the times when I had to memorise the vocab for a test back in school. Perhaps it's because the medium gave me a bit of context to remember the information, therefore I can refer to it.

Speaking the target language at this point might be good once in a while (just to get my feet wet), but I usually focus on input. I've tried to talk to a few people who know my select language but it's very difficult because I sound awkward when I speak to them due to my limited knowledge.

I think it's better if I focus on immersing in media and occasionally speaking the language to myself just to see how I am when I speak the language.

Conclusion

Although I'm not as committed to learning languages as much as I was back a year ago, the fire is still well and burning. Instead of studying the language, I try and learn it from consuming what I already enjoy, and through this, I would 'live' the language.

When I have reached my next milestone, I'll be sure to write a post about it.
That's all from me.