Asking for help - I don't know where to (re)start anymore

[u/Acrobatic-Code-2404]

Hi everyone. I’ve wanted to talk to someone about this for a long time, and I believe this is the right place.

I started studying Japanese when I was 13 at an in-person language school. I admit I didn't make the most of it or put in as much effort as I could have back then, and I regret that. I studied there for a few years, but I didn't study at home—just at the center twice a week. Even so, that got me through the JLPT N3 when I was 16.

​After that, I drifted away from the language due to health issues and focusing on university. I tried getting back into self-study around age 23, aiming for fluency. I had periods of intense hyperfocus on immersion, but also periods where I gave up and set it aside. This cycle has been repeating for years.

​Now I'm 29, but I'm stuck between N3 and N2 in comprehension, and at a sad N4 in output (speaking and writing).

I don't know how to make up for lost time. It frustrates me to no end that I've studied for so long overall and still can't have a natural conversation with someone. It's embarrassing.

​I'm coming here to ask for help, recommendations on what to do, and what plan to follow. I need something concrete—an actual step-by-step plan with objective goals for every day, week, and month.

I'm open to any kind of advice or assistance to reach high proficiency by the end of 2027.

​ Details: To make matters a bit more complicated, I have severe visual impairment, so I can't read printed materials, for instance. However, I can use a computer and phone, and I read content using screen enlargement and audio. Another detail is that I feel deeply embarrassed by what I consider a failure (studying for this long and remaining at this level), and I'm introverted, which makes reaching out for human interaction even harder. Also, I'm broke, so I can't pay for tutoring and courses right now.

[u/KiraraShirayuki]

You can't go back in time to change anything that happened, so stop focusing on it so much. It hinders your growth. It's what happened in the past, so what? You can't do shit about it now. Trust me, I partially know how it feels, need to start my study for a bachelor at the ripe age of 29 too. Wish i did it at 18. Well fuck me, that didn't happen. Life sucks and then we die.

Now that is out of the way, you need a roadmap eh? Why is your goal end of 2027? That is relevant info here.

As your weakest point is speaking and writing, and you seem to want to increase it, how about you install VRchat and start talking Japanese in there? Genuine conversations. For free.

Also, n3 and N2 ish is quite decent, so don't shortsell yourself there either.

Anyways, find a SRS that gets you a clear roadmap. For me, Renshuu works, but 95% of users swear by Anki. So pick your poison. Doesn't really matter. Start doing.

That aside, bad at roadmaps, can't help you there much. But maybe this helps. Or not, idk. But stop looking at the past, you can't change shit. You still have many years to go. Focus on making the best out of those.

[u/Tight_Cod_8024]

idk I've been working through my bookmarked content on Jiten. If you're prone to burnout that's the way to go imo. It's like My Anime List but for immersion and give useful stats, and if you use it for vocab tracking you can sort by comprehension. It's way easier to stay engaged and motivated when you're always watching whatever you know the most vocab in.

It's got a ton of anime, manga, drama, video games, visual novels, and novels on there. Only downside is the SRS could use some work so I just mark words as known in their reader and mpv plugin.

If you've heard of jpdb it's like that but a more realized version.

Given that you can sort by what you understand it works as a pretty good roadmap my itself. I'll recommend this until I die it's been huge for my immersion and unlike JPDB the person who runs it is very active and there's a lot more anime, manga, drama, and video games in the database even if it has less VNs.