Learning Japanese: My Journey So Far · Part 1: Growth Mindset

September 2, 2022. I landed at Haneda Airport, Tokyo. It was my first time in Japan, and I wasn't here as a tourist but to live here and work at Abbeal's Japanese office.

Everything was new and overwhelming. Even now, I still remember the mix of nervousness and excitement, and the first time I used my broken Japanese in a real situation. It's quite funny that the first time I went to the FamilyMart in Shibuya, when the cashier asked me if I wanted a plastic bag, I couldn't understand it because I had only learned the word 「袋」(ふくろ) from my textbook. He actually said 「レジ袋」(レジぶくろ), which literally translates to "register bag". But because of the rendaku, the sound change from ふくろ to ぶくろ, I didn't recognize it as the word I knew.

That was the beginning of a long journey. It's been 4 years since I started learning Japanese. I passed the JLPT N3 in January 2025. I didn't go to a Japanese school. I came here at 29 years old, started working right away, and learned Japanese in my free time along the way.

Telling you about my study routine and the tools I use won't matter if you give up six months later. Our biggest enemy is ourselves. That's why I want to start by sharing the mindset that helped me push through. In part 2, I'll share what worked for me to keep going. And in the final part, I will give you my daily routine and content recommendations.

The Growth Mindset

Learning Japanese is difficult. It's not only about understanding and speaking words or writing kanji. It's also about opening ourselves to Japan's culture, its people, society, and way of thinking. For example, "reading the air" (空気を読む) is one of the most important concepts to grasp (or at least to try to grasp). Japanese is an indirect, high-context language with nuances that can't always be captured in textbooks and can only be grasped through experience and sometimes embarrassing situations...

From my experience, by studying consistently for at least 2h every day, it takes around 2-3 years to reach some level of fluency for everyday life. For business contexts, it takes more than 5 years. Of course, some people learn faster, and many variables can either slow down or speed up the process, such as Chinese speakers already knowing kanji.

I don't want to give false hope or dreams. It takes consistent effort for a long period of time. Many people give up along the way. It's a danger everyone goes through when starting the journey and it's always lurking somewhere to jump at us whenever we're showing weakness.

Years ago, I learned about the Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck. A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and talents can be developed through effort and learning. It's opposed to the fixed mindset, the belief that intelligence and talent are static traits we either have or don't. There's depth and nuance and I highly recommend this talk by Carol Dweck.

Things don't come easily to me, but adopting a Growth Mindset helps me stay positive and believe I can improve and that my efforts will not betray me. Even if slow, I need to keep building my Japanese step by step. There's a famous Japanese word that describes this process: Kaizen (改善). It means "change for the better," referring to the practice of making small, continuous improvements over time.

It took time but with a few hours per day, I was able to reach the JLPT N3 level. Abbeal covered 2 hours per week for online lessons and I studied by myself before or after work almost every day.

The N3 felt so far away when I started. Just thinking of the number of kanji and vocabulary I needed to memorize overwhelmed me. I didn't dare think too far ahead about the N2 as there is a significant jump from the N3 requirements.

"Can I really do it?" "How long will it take?" There were times when these questions flooded my mind, and I began to doubt myself. By reminding myself to adopt a growth mindset, I avoided the trap of spiraling into self-doubt. I told myself that even if I'm average, with dedicated effort, I can do it. In the end, I really did it. The N3 is behind me, and the N2 is now within reach.

There's no magic shortcut in learning a language. The growth mindset is one of the weapons needed, but it's not enough to keep us safe from the danger of giving up. The key is consistent daily effort paired with time. It compounds, leading to results we didn't think would be possible when we started. But how can we keep studying every day for years without giving up? That's what I'll cover in the second part.