About Experience Posts

Whenever I see a post where someone passed N2 or N1 and shared their experiences, it's very interesting to me how they reached their level. Of course, not every experience post is equally useful. Some are quite vague, but others describe pretty clearly what the learner did, what worked well and what didn't. Detailed experience posts can provide valuable insights. That's why I like reading them. Maybe I can learn something from them?

Unfortunately, I often see lots of skepticism, accusations or defensiveness under such posts. Don't get me wrong, healthy skepticism is important. But instantly dismissing someone who shares detailed data and answers questions in a friendly tone is counterproductive in my opinion. It shifts the focus from learning to doubting and discrediting others.

When someone reaches a goal faster or more efficiently than we have, it can make us feel uncomfortable and inferior. I understand that, that’s human. But does attacking the OP helps anyone? Try to put these emotions aside and calmly ask yourself: "Is there something I can learn from this person?"

While some people have advantages that may influence the speed of learning (like a Chinese background, a high tolerance for ambiguity or lots of free time), they don’t negate the effort. Some learners simply compress their hours into a shorter timeframe. 

If you have less free time you'll probably make slower progress, but this doesn’t mean there’s nothing to learn from someone who learned faster. I think it's the opposite: Especially people with less free time can benefit from more efficient learning activities the most. The question is not if you can pass the N1 in the same time as the OP (you probably won't if you don't have the same advantages) but maybe you can reach your goal a bit faster than with your current approach. Posts from more experienced people can help to find out how.

That's why I would like to encourage every learner to ask themselves questions like:

• How much time did I actually spend reading and listening this month?

• Could I use my time more efficiently?

• Are there low-value activities I could reduce to focus more on Japanese?  (like reducing time on social media, etc.)

• How can I make my study routine more consistent?
   

There’s no “one right way“ to learn Japanese. However, after reading many experience posts I’ve noticed that high-level learners often share certain habits. Like, regularly engaging with native content. 

The specific material (novels, anime, visual novels, YouTube videos, etc.) seems less important. If the OP read lots of isekai light novels but isekai is not your cup of tea, feel free to pick a genre you like. If the OP watched mainly anime but you don't like anime, try watching series on Netflix in Japanese or YouTube videos.

The essential point I’ve noticed is consistent exposure to native speakers (be it in person or from content made for natives). But the details are up to you. Do whatever aligns with your goals and preferences.

For me, these posts aren’t strict recipes but inspiration. I don’t need to copy everything, I just extract what fits my lifestyle and goals (which for me means reaching a high level of comprehension).

I think by approaching such posts with an open mind and curiosity, we can benefit much more from such experience posts.