That's great that you are still finding time to learn Japanese while raising your son! While I loved learning Japanese when I had the time I became too busy to continue it. I remember that I was always frustrated because a lot of kanji that I learned had different pronunciations depending on the sentence. If you use Chrome as your browser there is this really useful extension called rikaikun that is helpful when reading Japanese because you can hover over a kanji or phrase and it will translate it for you and give you it's pronunciation. (of course it is also really easy to become reliant on it too, but it you have self-control it's a great extension)

I also would use Memerise a lot since they have a lot of vocabulary decks to choose from and luckily someone already made ones that corresponded with the textbook I was using at the time

Thank you, it means a lot to hear that and it is definitely a challenge. He isn't exactly an laid back child so finding a good block of time to study is rare. It is really hard with many different kanji for the same word in different contexts. But I think I enjoy the language too much to give up on it, despite the little amount of time I have to dedicate to it. I'll definitely have to check out Rikaikun. I was giving some thought to an app to support my learning and that sounds like it is very useful. But I can also see the downside hence the self control like you mentioned.

I really find having physical flash cards give a chance to practice my writing and reading skills, because the process of making them can be so tedious by the time I am finished making them, I already know half of the vocabulary I was aiming to learn haha. But I have heard good things about Memerise so having a person vouch for it definitely makes me want to check it out properly. I really need something to keep me motivated since life has really been getting in the way, and maybe having vocabulary decks I can just go through at any time may help with my immersion and dedication to learning.

Personally I use the Genki textbooks as I have both volumes as physical and pdf copies. I like that they have audio files, so they really help to understand sentence pacing and pronunciation of words I am unsure of and help to correct any that I mispronounce. My end goal is to one day teach ESOL overseas in Korea and then move onto Japan. Unfortunately jobs are very hard to come by that pay appropriately where I live, and going overseas to travel and earn money to send back to my family kills two birds with one stone. I was really contemplating doing an official Japanese bachelor of arts and being a translator isn't something I am averse to doing as a job.

( Big wall of text, so sorry >-< i ramble waaay too much haha )

That's great! I tried Java but I didn't like it much as PHP, Javascript or Python. I agree. It's very friendly. Python was actually the first one I tried but didn't fit with what I wanted to do. So I switched over to Javascript which I stopped half way to learn PHP and soon I will go back to Javascript (: It's still in my head and I see some similarities between the two of them.

(Learned HTML and CSS on the way as well).

I've been on and off learning French and Japanese. I took French in college so it's easier for me than Japanese, but I have a hard time keeping up the motivation to continue.

I'm hoping that after I finish my current degree that I'll be able to focus myself and actually continuously work on a language. It gets pretty difficult when you don't have anyone to talk to/practice with. >_<

I've heard really great things about the Genki series ! I have been wanting to purchase the books but I'm waiting for the summer where I feel I might have more time to dedicate to it since I am already so busy. I wish there was a way to freeze time for just a little bit so I could catch up with everything and have some free time hahaha. If I remember correctly, Memrise has some courses already for the Genki series. But I do agree handwriting does help a lot more when memorizing vocabulary (especially kanji) since you get extra practice making the cards.

I am also looking in to teaching in Korea one day for at least a little bit. I think it would be a really great way to immerse myself in the culture while also trying to pay off some of my student loans. One of my majors is Linguistics and I have been taking classes about methods of teaching English to speakers of other languages and it's super interesting! Hopefully one day I can apply what I learn.

That's one of the reasons why I am sort of afraid to start a new computer language. I know people say once you know one then the others become easier to learn since you can apply the same logic, but I am afraid that I am going to start mixing up the the languages with one another.

HTML and CSS are great too! I wish I could master those. I have made a couple 'websites' for classes using them and they turned out so bad even though I felt like I spent a good amount of time working on them xD

I agree! I find it a little frustrating that I don't have many people to practice with. I also have the issue of being too embarrassed to speak and so I am frustrated with myself because of that too. I know making mistakes is part of the learning process but I still get so embarrassed D:

I noticed that's actually true. I read as well learning HTML and CSS first will help as well to learn computer languages. That's true as well (for me). That's why I first learned HTML and CSS, tried Python but went for Javascript in the end and now I'm going for PHP fully before going back to Javascript to learn the remaining parts.

I'm able thanks to HTML and CSS to make the connections of where I write PHP and Javascript and how to keep their syntax apart from each other. They do have some similarities but I haven't mixed them up yet (I do forget a ; sometimes haha).

CSS can be very annoying sometimes. I have still trouble with positioning XD (But that's something I'm working on). All I know is experimenting with CSS has helped me a lot to understand and have fun with it.

Oh yeah positioning is the worst xD When I was first introduced to HTML/ CSS I was told to use Skeleton to position the items on the page. Even though it's supposed to be a simple grid I couldn't wrap my head around it. But then it slowly started to make more sense as I worked with it

Saying I am teaching myself Japanese is kind of a joke since I am learning at a snails pace. XD But, since you mentioned Korean it made me think of this comic: https://tapas.io/series/Korean-Lessons

Though I am not actively trying to learn Korean myself, the strips amuse me none the less. Perhaps it will give you some ideas, or perhaps it will just make you smile.

(Oops! Though I accidentally linked the most recent episode rather than the first. Sorry about that. D: )

This is my first time seeing these! Ah these are so cute thanks for sharing them! I think its super creative and although I only got to read a couple so far it's so relatable xD

And good luck with your Japanese studies ! Even a snail's pace is better than nothing at all ;D Do you have any methods that you find helpful when studying?

The genki series are amazing, my high school used them and they are so easy to read and understand the concepts. I actually ended up being such a nerd my teacher gave me his non-romaji copy since the versions with romaji weren't challenging for me lol xD I had an awesome experience learning Japanese in high school and it seems to have carried on into my young adulthood as well. There is a huge drive for me to learn it, which is thrilling but also cumbersome with the little amount of time.

That's pretty much what I want to do. I really wanted to travel since I was young, and having a baby kind of made me feel like I can't. But my partner is so supportive of my goals and dreams. I want to travel everywhere all over Asia and experience all of the differences in culture, especially the food! South Korea has a lot of amazing incentives to teach over there, and the paid airfares and accommodation are very appealing to me. Airfares to anywhere from New Zealand are super expensive, so having less start up costs to worry about is a huge pro since it is so hard to save money when the living cost is higher than the average working wage.

My partner has paid of almost all of his student debt so it will just be mine left on top of whatever else I end up borrowing to put myself through another degree. The Japanese major at the university I am looking at attending gives you the equivalent of JLPT 2 at least and I know a lot of people go on about regretting studying Japanese as their major, so I have been looking at other options like linguistics. How did you find studying it? I was really considering it but I have no clue how I would manage to understand all of the jargon for it. Maybe the same way I am doing it for my Japanese studies lol. Or maybe Education since that would definitely give me a foothold into English teaching overseas. Only problem with that is it doesn't qualify me to be a teacher here at home, that is a completely separate degree that I am not quite sure I have the intellect for lol.

I heard the cost of living in Korea is pretty reasonable, too. Especially since the airfare and rent is paid I feel like you definitely have the opportunity to save up money! And I also heard that it is pretty easy to make money on the side if you are willing to tutor people in English outside of the job (but this is usually in violation of school contracts lol so it's a really do at your own risk sort of thing).

JLPT 2 is really good ! That is considered advanced right? I can see how they might regret taking it as their major though because honestly I think it would limit their career choices greatly.. As for Linguistics, I have really enjoyed studying it ! If you are able to, I highly recommend taking an introduction to linguistics class. I have taken a couple (to fulfill gen. ed requirements) and in both courses I felt like the terms were introduced at a good pace and usually once you seen them with an example it becomes a lot easier to remember. Most people I talked to also really enjoyed the intro course even when it didn't pertain to their major. If you have any specific questions about Linguistics I would be happy to answer them for you !^^

Are you looking to be purely an English teacher or a teacher in general? If you are focused on the English part I think it would be really useful to search for a degree in Second Language Studies that focuses on how second languages are acquired and can give you more insight on what the best teaching methods are. In addition, getting certified in TESOL/TEFEL would be really beneficial and I think you could use that both abroad or in New Zealand.

(ahh I rambled so much sorry ;-;)

With my limited time and current knowledge, I enjoy picking up games to help me with the basics. They keep me engaged for a time and force repetition to obtain the goal. Specifically, I had picked up Hiragana Pixel Party for the Switch some months ago. For less than the price of a Hiragana/Katakana workbook I'd picked up years ago. I also like fiddling with the app LingoDeer when I have a mind to learn more. Shows dubbed in English with the native language in learning is also enjoyable for me. It lets me hear it put to use and I eventually learn small nuances about words. Like what is more formal and such. It makes me happy when I eventually learn that a phrase wasn't translated quite correctly, and I understand the more unwritten meaning of what had been spoken. If that makes sense?

I'm learning Japanese too, and self studied before I finally took classes at university. It's so hard for me to speak it, since I haven't had much practice. I hope to work in Japan this year or next to improve my speaking and listening skills. I got a BA in TESOL (aka ESL, TESL, and other similar acronyms I'm sure... /eyeroll)

Oh hey, I'm in the Dayton area. :D Anyway, I've used various apps like Duolingo, and even played video games like Stardew Valley in Japanese, since it supports several languages. I've always struggles with motivation though. :/ I mean, I'm super passionate about teaching Japanese to other people, but yeah... My dream job is to be a high school Japanese teacher.

And thank you for mentioning rikaikun! I'd never heard of it before!