One of the difficult things about writing a diary in Japanese is maintaining motivation. Even if you get motivated, it doesn’t make sense if it ends in a couple of days. On the contrary, if you can continue for half a year or a year, your Japanese ability will definitely improve. This time I would like to introduce some ways to keep you motivated when writing a Japanese diary.
1. Decide on a time
The first point is to make the time to write a Japanese diary into a routine. Generally, you will write a diary as a summary of the day, so it doesn’t matter if it’s before going to bed at night, or after taking a shower, etc., write it at a fixed time and in a fixed flow. By writing at the same time every day and making it a routine, it should become a natural task. Until you get used to it, you can use the alert function of your mobile phone to set an alert such as “diary” at 10 o’clock every day. By doing this, if you continue for a week or two, you should get into the habit naturally. You may even start feeling uncomfortable and guilty if you don’t write a diary. If you can make it a habit as natural as that, you will be able to continue without frustration.
2. Decide where to write
Also, it would be nice to be able to routinize where to write. For example, if you go to a cafe after work, get in the habit of writing at the cafe. People who write at home before going to bed can write in the bedroom. People who get on the train on their way home can write on the train, etc. It’s a good idea to set a routine for the place so that you can react that it’s time to write a diary when you go to that place.
3. Check if it’s fun
It is very important whether you can enjoy the Japanese diary itself. This is true not only for writing a diary but also for learning Japanese. For example, when studying for university entrance exams and qualification exams there are certain deadlines for studying, so even if you feel pain, you will be motivated to continue to that level. However, in the case of a Japanese diary, there probably aren’t a lot of people who specifically aim for qualifications or exams. So if you don’t find writing a diary fun, or feel pain in the first place, you’ll definitely be frustrated. So what if you feel like it’s not very fun? In this case, think about why it isn’t fun and take measures accordingly.
The causes and measures are as follows.
・ I can’t think of anything at all and it’s painful
There must be problems with your Japanese, but if you have nothing to write in the first place, it is a good idea to write on days when there are things to write and increase the frequency from there instead of trying to write every day. Again, the worst thing is that it goes to zero. Rather than not doing it at all, you can do it 2–3 times a week, as continuing it will improve your Japanese.
・ I don’t feel much progress
Results will be obtained only after a long period of time. Compliment yourself for the day you accomplished and don’t worry too much about your progress. After 1–3 months, check your Japanese ability through conversations using Japanese.
・ It is an unglamorous task
Let’s tell ourselves that the accumulation of this unglamorous task is the fastest way to improve your Japanese. Not just the diary but most of the Japanese learning is repetitive and simple tasks. Think that words and grammar are not something you can learn overnight and that it takes time. To put it the other way around, if you can continue to write a Japanese diary over time, you will definitely gain strength.
5. Be sure to look back
In addition, looking back is important for maintaining motivation. Let’s review the diary written so far and look back at least on a weekly basis. Perhaps writing every day for a week would be very difficult. Let’s compliment ourselves for being able to continue for a week. You should be motivated to keep up the good work than before. It’s also a good idea to look back on a monthly basis. Of course, you will know you were able to continue, but let’s also compare the sentence from one month ago with the sentence now and feel your own growth. You may not feel that much change in a month, but you should be steadily learning words and expressions. You will be more motivated by recognizing yourself growing as you write a diary.
6. Actually use Japanese other than the diary
Also, once you start writing a diary after a while, it’s a good idea to try out the Japanese proficiency you have cultivated in your diary. The easiest way is to participate in online conversations, Meetups, etc. and actually have a conversation in Japanese. For example, if you keep writing a diary for 1–3 months and practice reading aloud repeatedly, you will realize your growth. Feeling the growth will increase your motivation.
7. Imagine your goal
Earlier, I mentioned that it is difficult to find specific goals in the case of Japanese diary when compared with qualification exams and entrance exams, but it is still good to decide in advance what you want to be through the Japanese diary. Any goal is OK.
For example
・ Aim to be able to have a daily conversation
・ Aim for N2 class
・ Become able to write in Japanese naturally
It’s a good idea to decide first what you want to do in Japanese through your diary. If you lose your motivation, remember this first goal. Imagine yourself doing this for a year and your daily conversation is much better than it is now. This alone should be quite motivating.
Summary
The above is how to keep your motivation to write a diary in Japanese. First of all, think about what is the cause of your motivation and take appropriate measures. Also, some people may find measures other than those introduced here. It is also important to find a method that suits you.
Securing correctors is a barrier to learning Japanese with a Japanese diary. Therefore, Interchao is recommended.
Recommend app — Interchao
Interchao is a language exchange app through a diary. In principle, Japanese natives will correct the articles you wrote within 24 hours.
・ Write a diary in your native language
・ Translate the diary into Japanese
・ Have them corrected by Interchao
・ Read the corrected sentence aloud
With the above 4 steps, you can learn more and more Japanese phrases that you use every day.
Regarding pronunciation, you can correct it to some extent by doing “4. Reading Japanese after correction” to Siri and see if it can recognize it.
Interchao is free to use. To have your Japanese diary corrected, you will spend 10 points on the app. However, you can get 10 points by correcting the English language of the English learner. In other words, Interchao is a service that allows having your Japanese diary corrected
completely free of charge.
You may think that it’s troublesome to correct the English language of an English learner every day. However, English learners often post short sentences of 600 characters or less, and it usually takes less than 5 minutes to correct.
In addition, 100 points will be given when you register for an account, so you can receive corrections of your Japanese diary for 10 days without having to correct the English of the English learner.
There is no doubt that Interchao will be useful for learning Japanese using a Japanese diary. Experience the world of learning Japanese with a Japanese diary for 10 days from today.
