How to Learn Japanese

Everything started for me one morning in January 2022, with the determination to make a dream come true, a dream I had cherished since childhood: learning Japanese.
After a failed attempt when I was in middle school I had started learning kana and watched a few videos by Julien Fontanier I quickly gave up because, at that time, I spent all my time on Minecraft…

In high school, I gave it another shot: every evening after classes, “one video,” I told myself.
But since my school was quite far from my home, I got back every night at 7:00 / 7:30 p.m… so impossible.

It was only when I finally found myself alone with myself that I went back to the source: L2 LEA ENGLISH-SPANISH.
Despite good grades, I wondered: what the hell am I doing here?
In January, I decided to give up my apartment and leave. Back to the house, to my mom’s place. Back to square one.

So… what are you going to do now?

There was no question of wandering around like an idiot.
And I made the best decision of my life: a determination that had been buried deep inside me for a long time, and that throughout that whole year never stopped resurfacing.
Why am I learning this when what I really want is to learn and speak Japanese?
I don’t give a damn about French studies or Spanish.

And since that cold morning of January 2022, in my old house in the countryside, where I grew up, I made the most important choice of my life.
From that day on, I never stopped studying Japanese, not even for a single day.

I had a goal: to get into a degree program where Japanese was taught.
For that, I planned to prepare myself until September.
It was January, so I had 9 months ahead of me.

Every day, usually in the morning:

one Julien Fontanier video, a notebook, and notes.
After 6 months, I had finished his YouTube channel. I loved his very pedagogical teaching style, which allowed me to build solid foundations.

I remember at the beginning I was so afraid of breaking this habit that was still fragile, since it was only a few months old, that I respected my pact by doing my reviews on the train, during lunch breaks when I was working at Decathlon to earn some money, or even at friends’ places… I couldn’t afford to fail, not even a single day, until this habit became a part of me. Now it’s impossible for me not to study every day — the longer a habit lasts, the stronger it becomes, like a tree that matures.

Then, I used other resources: English-Japanese Discord servers to practice speaking, Nihongo no Mori, Wanikani… And finally: higher education, university, exchange at Hiroshima University, etc.

Japanese is now part of my life.
I speak Japanese more often than French, and I also often find myself thinking in Japanese.

Even so, after 4 years of study, I don’t have the level of a native speaker.
Because Japanese is the work of a lifetime.
With all these readings, these kanji, these nuances… I’ve got at least 10 years ahead of me.
I want a native-level fluency. I love kanji. Japanese has become my drug.
I love learning.

And now with YUMEGO (extension),

For me, it was a tool I wanted to create personally. In the past, I used Language Reactor, but it was generic and very bad for Japanese — it helped me a bit, nothing more… So I decided to create this tool by teaming up with an outstanding developer. I personally use YUMEGO EVERY day to continue my learning while enjoying what I love: Japanese animation.

But know one thing: when I started my learning journey, I never looked at the summit or the finish line.

Because even now, I couldn’t tell you where it is.
People, out of fear, try to look at the finish line and ask themselves whether it’s doable or not.
A loser mentality.
When you climb a mountain, you look at your feet. Period.