How Often Should You Study Japanese?

If you have started learning Japanese, or you are thinking about starting, you have probably asked how often you should study and the reality is the answer is not that clear. It is going to be slightly different for each person but really you should be doing as much as you, as often as you can handle it.

This is a pretty vague answer, so let’s get into some detail so you can have a better understanding of what you need to actually do.

Japanese Will Take A Lot Of Study

Before even trying to work out how often you need to study you need to realise that it will take a lot of time and effort to learn Japanese.

Whatever timeline you have in your head …it’s wrong, it’s way more than you think. I would argue that this is now a lifelong mission, you will always be learning.

Of course you will start to get proficient and comfortable, so maybe the intensity at which you need to study at will drop, but either way you need to appreciate that it will take a lot of effort and time and really this means you are going to have to study Japanese quite often.

An hour long lesson once a month just isn’t going to cut it, you will need to study a lot more often if you want to see results and this is something you need to focus your effort on.

Study As Often As Possible

The vague answer is of course “study as often as possible” which really means do what you can, and do it as much as you can.

This will look slightly different for everyone and that comes down to a few reasons. Some people have more free time, some people are just able to study for long periods of time without fatigue, some have better memories and some people have other experience with languages that will help them out.

As I’ve also already mentioned, the more proficient you get, the less you will need to actually study, so even if you are doing a lot now, it will not be this way forever.

My general advice is really as simple as just do as much as you can, whenever you can.

Aim For Daily

If I am saying “do as much as possible” it shouldn’t really be a shock that I think you should aim for studying daily.

Some people will think this is too intense, but it’s really not. Study is a pretty loose term and can include things like immersion …which is really just watching TV shows in your target language. There is no reason why you cannot do this daily.

However, I would be trying to do a little more than this. Daily immersion is massively important but you should also be looking to learn new words and definitely review some things that you have previous learned (by using Anki).

Studying every day can be tough, but it is more than reasonable expectation.

I would also say taking occasional days off is also fine, life can get busy, but I really would try and do at least something every day, even if it is only immersion.  We all have 24 hours in a day and we can all dedicate a few minutes to learning Japanese somewhere within that time.

If we want results, we will find the time.

Aim For Multiple Times A Day

If you really want success, I think you should be aiming to study multiple times a day. This doesn’t need to be hours at a time, but lot of small or short exposures can be useful and all will add up.

This will allow your brain to be thinking about Japanese a lot throughout the day and if we remember, a lot of the success with languages comes down to simply having a lot of repeat exposure from comprehensible input, and studying as often as you can throughout the day will help facilitate this.

I really am a strong believer in the more you can do, and the more often you can do it …the sooner you will see results.

If we just take anecdotal evidence from anyone who has learned Japanese to a high level …and did it quickly, they all say the same thing. They studied a lot and they did it often. Of course these people are usually dedicating 6-8 hours a day, maybe even more …but after a year or so, they are pretty much fluent, so it clearly works. 

Don’t Burn Yourself Out

While it is easy for me to sit here and tell you that you need to study as much as you can, all the time …this doesn’t work for everyone.

Really you need to find the balance.  

Do as much as you can, but avoid burning out and destroying yourself. This is why it is so hard to give an exact figure for how often you need to study, it’s down to you to find that balance. You need to push yourself, but don’t push yourself over the edge and this will be different for each of us and will also fluctuate from day to day.

You just have to try and do what you can and see how it feels and then adjust from there. Maybe today you can study for 3 hours, but tomorrow you can only do 30 minutes …and that’s okay.

(You can read more about – What Are The Causes Of Language Learning Burn Out?)

Consistency is Key

The whole question of “how often” cannot be answered without looking at consistency …this is the real secret sauce. 

So long as you are consistent with your studies, you will make progress. While I suggest every day, even multiple times a day is best, you need to be consistent with this.

If you can’t commit to every day, at least be consistent with what you can do, it will make the difference.    

Conclusion

So hopefully now you can understand that “how often” really comes down to studying as much as you can on a consistent bases and not burning yourself out.

If you can do this you will start to see progress and if you can try and push yourself to do this daily then you have the best chance of seeing actual success.

I just need you to remember that it is a long slow process and you just have to chip away at things until you get comfortable. It will take a while so try some things out and try and establish a pace that allows you to do this long term, and you will get there. It’s just matter of time and effort and it will happen. 

(If you are looking to learn Japanese, you can follow my plan – Learn Japanese – The Plan For A Complete Beginner)