Your Daily Study Routines 日常勉強生活

[MidoriAbby]

Alright guys, I've officially finished my new study schedule, I've been doing parts of it for a while but I finally wrote it all down, and I want to start implementing it as soon as possible.

Verbal Skills
1. Talk to a native speaker on Skype or make a video blog at least 2 times in a week
2. Go to Japanese discussion group at least once a month

Listening Skills
1. Use JLPT listening exercises from either iPod apps or online sources at every other day at least.
2. In one week, watch 2 episodes of a Japanese program of some sort (TV, drama, movie, anime, etc)
3. Listen to podcasts/ native speaker YouTube vlogs
4. Watch Nihongo no Mori Japanese Lessons on Youtube (all in Japanese, so immersion practice while learning grammar and vocab)

Vocabulary Building

1. Every two weeks, find a new song to translate and translate it without help. Spend the first week on this. At the end of the first week, check translation online. Spend the second week learning new vocab/things you learned, then find a new song one completely memorized.
2. Learn 1-2 new vocab words every day, write down in notebook.
3. Use Anki as regularly as possible.

Writing Practice
1. Do a Lang-8 journal twice a week (MUST stick to this this time, Abby!)
2. Practice writing kanji and sentences in notebook regularly
3. Write drafts of Lang-8 entries by hand in notebook before publishing them.

Kanji
1. Use Kanji learning app (I recently bought a really good Kanji drill app for grades 1-6) daily
2. Learn to write 5 new Kanji every week
3. Review last week's Kanji
4. Learn to read 10 new Kanji every week.

Grammar
1. The Lang-8 entries will help with this
2. Use current immersion textbooks, spend 30 minutes on this at least twice a week.
3. Watching the Nihongo no Mori immersion YouTube lessons is excellent for this-- watch JLPT N2 grammar series for new concepts
4. Use Lang-8 to practice the new concepts learned with the YouTube lessons.

So... that's what I've got. My more or less complete study schedule. This week I've been more or less following it, from now on I want to do so more diligently. Tell me what you guys think!

[Jade]

Damn I feel so lazy compared to everyone here!

I don't have a study routine at all, I used to study from my JLPT textbooks every day and read Japanese novels every day, but lately I haven't done much actual study at all. My current routine with Japanese is having Japanese TV playing in the background, watching a JDrama whenever the mood hits, reading novels, blogging on Ameba, and playing games in Japanese.

I haven't done any actual study in a very long time. I speak Japanese to my friends whenever I can catch them online, and when I'm in a Japanese mood I'll avoid English as much as I can, but I've never been good at studying so I rarely do it. Maybe once I'm doing Japanese uni classes again I'll do more, but the last Japanese classes I took at uni were entirely in English and focused more on pop culture, so hopefully next year's classes actually involve Japanese.

One day I'll have a proper study schedule... just probably not any time soon! ( ´艸｀)

[Jembru]

Hey, don't worry Jade, I'd probably study more like you if I had as good a grasp of the basics. It's my intention to cool off a lot next year. I need to prioritise my friends and family more, instead of avoiding any kind of social interraction that isn't with Japanese speakers, in favour of staying in and studying on my nights off. I've let Japanese study dominate my life and that is shameful. It's a hobby.. something that should be fun. Being fluent in Japanese won't be in the slightest bit life changeing. Sure, I can kid myself that I could get a job where I need Japanese, but why would I be chosen for such a job over a native speaker?

I could move to Japan and become a translator.. like every single other person who studies Japanese thinks they'll do.. because Japan is just crying out for translators isn't it? Especially translators who haven't taken a single exam or official course in Japanese! So I'm pretty angry with myself, for allowing Japanese to become my whole life like this. No one will appreciate it, or care, even when I DO become fluent, but I'll have grown older, I'd have made no effort to progress in life, my friends will all have moved on (if they haven't already) and worse of all, my loved ones won't all be here anymore, and I'll have missed those precious memories because I was just too busy practicing verb conjugation, to go on that shopping trip, or movie, or weekend away... or just be there at the end of the phone when I was needed.

What I'm trying to say is, of course, if your career goals include Japanese, then go for it all guns blazing, because it's a competitive world out there, but otherwise, you should be proud that you've mastered enough Japanese for your current needs, and actually still had a life outside of Japanese. I have too many regrets and not enough linguistic talent to even say, 'but hey, it was worth it'.

[Jade]

That's the thing though: my career goals do include Japanese. Once I get back from America I'm going to save up the $500+ I'll need for translator/interpreter test prep kits and related textbooks (and then study the hell out of them and my JLPT N1 books). I'm hopefully going to finish uni next year, and hopefully I'll have finished my TESOL course by the end of it or June the year after, and then once all of that's done apply for jobs in Japan or here in Aus that'd have me actually using Japanese.

As for having a life outside of Japanese study, I don't. I have hobbies outside of Japanese study, but pretty much all of it comes back to Japanese. My friends? Majority of them study Japanese or are Japanese. My video games can be switched to Japanese, the majority of my books are Japanese, etc, etc. I do get to see my family all the time, but if I didn't live with them then I'd be spending all my time on Japanese stuff or writing or games. A lot of the time I use my studying as a reason not to leave the house, because what would I need to buy? I can order games online and they'd be in Japanese, the nearest Japanese bookstore is HOURS away from my house, my town has nothing interesting to me at all.

Studying Japanese has been part of my life for a decade/a bit over a decade now, a freakin' decade. I can't imagine not having studied Japanese or not having gone to Japan and made so many awesome friends there and meeting so many amazing people online through mutual study of Japanese. I may not be doing what most people my age are (a friend of mine goes out basically every day and I can't imagine that at all!), and I may not have much of social life by the standards of extroverted people, but meh. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing (well, I can, but I need better Japanese for it first sooooo... lol).

Sorry for ramble/going off-topic. My bad!

[MidoriAbby]

Jade
Haha, don't worry, I never had a study schedule really set up before now and look how far I got! The only reason I felt I needed this was because high school got crazy and in attempts to keep my GPA up I just kind of forgot about Japanese altogether- even though I noticed, hey I still have 2 to 3 hours of free time every night after my homework-- but what am I wasting it on? Procrastinating on Tumblr and YouTube, not being productive whatsoever... there is no excuse for me not studying Japanese with at least some of my free time. But I'm just so bad at managing time that even though I thought "oh, I need to practice or I'll get out of practice", I never did anything about it. So finally I sat myself down and said "Abby, you keep on feeling bad about the fact that your Japanese is getting rusty but you aren't doing anything about it," and I decided to make a study schedule. And it's helping me. So yeah if you're doing fine without a study schedule, all the perks to you, but I'm such a chronic procrastinator and I know this about myself, so it wasn't working for me.

Jembru
I get what you're saying. It's important to have balance. Because my career goals do involve being able to be employed in Japan, not just for a brief English teaching period like the JET program or anything similar, although that is how I plan on starting my career, but long term, as in being able to get teaching positions in public schools without help of a JET-like company, maintaining a work visa, teaching somewhere that ISN'T an eikaiwa (although I would do that during a transition looking for another job, I don't really want to do that long term), etcetera, and I know that speaking Japanese is something I will need to do job interviews, keep on good terms with my employers, etc. Plus I plan on spending as much of my life as I can abroad, it's always been something I wanted to do, and since I plan on living in Japan long term I definitely want to learn the language. Also there is the chance that living in Japan may for whatever reason not work out, something I don't like to but am willing to admit, and if that doesn't happen I would follow my second career choice- teaching Japanese in school somewhere in the US like in Oregon or California where it is offered in lots of public schools.
Yes, I know I have assimilated enough skills not to have to stress about it any time soon, when I move to Japan I will pick up things more naturally and I won't have to study as hard, etc etc, but then add the part that it's FUN for me, communicating with people and making friends I wouldn't have without my second language is thrilling and fullfilling to me and that's great. Language is something I'm passionate about so yes I'm going to spend time.
But yeah it is true that I can't have it take over my whole life, which I think I've done a good job of so far. I have friends who have completely different interests who I barely talk to about my studies, and then I have friends that I can be a geek about Kanji with. I study other stuff in school of course, I'm invested in my academics, I have a regular social life and do extracurricular activities that have nothing to do with Japanese. It's a part of my interests but I think I keep things fairly balanced.
So yeah I wouldn't be ashamed of spending time on Japanese if it's something you enjoy doing, but if you feel it's taking away from other parts of your life then not spending quite so much time on it may be a good idea.

[Jembru]

Ah, you guys are young and students though, you're meant to be focused on studying and aiming high with your lives. At my age, I just feel everyone looks at me as a) stuck in the past, acting like I'm still that carefree 21 year old, stepping out into the big wide world, and b) selfish, for spending my free time on myself. It doesn't help that some of my friends have kids, or high profile jobs, that simply don't allow them the luxury of indulging in such a time consuming and demanding hobby, so while I agree with them to a point, that I AM selfish with my time, there may be a hint of jealousy in there too (lawyers and public school teachers being jealous of little old me..? it seems a bit crazy now I read that back, but still.. maybe). So I of course won't stop studying Japanese altogether. In fact, the whole point of creating my new study schedule, was to streamline my study so that I get almost the same amount of benefit from my study, but in a shorter space of time.

My plan is to follow the schedule as much as I can, but only if time allows. If someone calls for a chat, or invites me out to something, that has to take priority.

Jade: Don't forget that it is harder to develop some language skills when you're not in the country, but these usually catch up very quickly when you're there, so you're probably much closer to fluency than you think. I've been lucky enough to meet a few returning students from their year in Japan, and they all pretty much report the same thing.. that it was tough at first but after the first few months, things started to fall into place. You've already got a very good command of Japanese, so I don't think you have much to worry about besides, at worst, a month or two of awkward Japanese. Also, I'm sure you already know this, but the good thing about translating Japanese, is that the most money is in the easiest work (I know of at least one very talented and successful translator of Japanese who openly admits he can't follow spoken Japanese above N3 material, or hold a conversation beyond small-talk.. although that might have been to stop me hounding him to voice skype with me ^^). So I STILL say you don't need to worry too much if your studies are a little more relaxed just now. If I'd already mastered N2 (and N1?) material, trust me, all I'd be doing is watching Japanese TV and hanging out with my Japanese friends at the weekend. So either way, I stand by what I said, you don't need to feel bad!

[Jembru]

Well, I said before Christmas that I wanted to share my new notebooks when I got them. Those who used the old forum, might remember the photos I shared on there of the endless stream of notebooks I've used. Well, the pile just got bigger!

Since starting to study more seriously 2 years ago, I have been buying myself new notebooks at the start of each year, almost like mentally starting a new phase in my study. This year, the books were joint gifts from JP and my mum, although I bought the kanji one myself so I could make a head start. I'm still tying up lose ends from last year, so still using one of the old books, as well as its new equivalent.

I make no apology for how sickly girly my books are. For me, having lovely stationary helps me to want to use them and makes my study time feel indulgent somehow. I do apologise for them being Hello Kitty however. I really like Sanrio, but actually not Kitty herself. My friends think this is very funny as so much of my Sanrio stuff has Kitty on. It's because people see Kuromi, my actual favourite character, and think it's kitty, so always buy me things with Kitty on. In this case though, it was just a really nice matching set of different style notebooks. They could have had Ben Ten on and I'd still have wanted the set ^^

So, I mentioned I use 7 main study methods right? And I keep talking about my 'checklist'. Well here it is.. So you can see there are 7 different categories, broken down into smaller parts, that I can tick off as I complete. This way, I can plan my daily study/practice session based on what still needs to be done for that week. This is kept on the boiler and I mark it off before I go to bed.



I keep a more detailed account of my daily study too. I have a 'week to view' diary. I had taken a photo but I've decided not to post it because I'm sure everyone knows what a diary with notes in looks like. In this, I write down details such as who I had a conversation with, how long I spent working on my lang-8 post, which lessons I studied from Jpod 101 and which kanji I added to the kanji notebook. Any little thing goes in there in fact. Even 'replied to ____'s post on FB'. I also plan my study for the following day in this diary. I do so in pencil so I can change it if I didn't have time or did something different. Week to view diaries usually have 'notes' in the final panel so there can be 4 panels per page. I use this to write my overall thoughts on the week and how I feel the study plan is working for me.

So... here are the beauties themselves... I just love these books. The pages are so nicely decorated with boarders or patterns. This is how I bring all my study methods together. I kinda wish I'd put my android tablet with them as I mainly use this for anki. Oh well.



So from left to right..

Far left is my grammar journal. I write one structure per page, in pencil. Pages are numbered so I can reference different uses of the same structure, or different structures with the same use. I include example sentences and details of how it is constructed such as 'always follows plain form' or 'never appears in 'if/when' clauses' and so on. I can come across the items I add to this any time, whether I'm chatting with friends or reading lang-8 feedback, so I usually have this book close by when I study.

Next you can see the Chococat notelets. I mentioned these already in this thread. I write a grammar question on one side and the answer on the back. These are usually questions about persistent mistakes I make, or a peculiarity I've noticed while studying, that I don't want to forget. Here's a random example of one I've just plucked, to give you an idea..

Chococat asks: 'If 火をつける' is 'to light on fire/turn on the heat, and 火を消す is 'to switch off/put it out, how would you say, 'reduce the heat'?

Chococat answers:

SPOILER: Click to show

'You'd say '日を弱くする'. I bet you also remember how to say 'increase the heat' then, right?'

These cards are on top of my kanji notebook. This is the only book in the set that isn't spiral-bound so I couldn't hang a keychain from it (I always hang keychains form spiral bound notebooks ^^).  

I'm not learning kanji in any particular order, although I'm roughly guided by a reference book I have that lists them in order of frequency in magazines. I also often add a kanji simply because I've been noticing it a lot, or because there are two words I keep mixing up and learning the kanji used to write them helps me to clear this up.

for each kanji, I write a selection of compounds. These are either words I already knew but just didn't know the kanji, or they're words I've never come across, but which use the new kanji and one I already knew so I can memorise them easily. I come back and add such compounds as I find them, rather than fill the page at once. It's easier to learn if I pace myself this way. At the bottom of each page, I write a little mnemonic to help remember the kanji.  

Here's an example page..



The mnemonic reads: 'I see a tree house with a skylight window that opens up. TCP' (TCP is because the kanji looks like these letters). 

The next two notebooks are identical. I used a similar book last year too. They are actually 2 notebooks in one: a lined notebook, with a kitty shaped smaller notebook with patterned paper attached to the front (does anyone else think this image of Kitty looks like she's flipping the bird? Just me?). One is for language exchange and the other is for studying from online lessons. I scribble notes in the shaped section. So if I'm out with friends and ask 'what's 'flatpack' in Japanese? I'll scribble their reply in romaji and then forget about it. Once I'm home, I can write this up neatly in the main section, looking up the Japanese writing of the word. I also write up any interesting things I learnt, or noticed, while out with Japanese speaking friends. 

The other book is mainly for jpod101 lessons using my study method, but the front section also has lists of vocabulary I collect from nihongo no mori's youtube channel, or my chibimarukochan book. These words don't necessarily make it into anki though. I'm quite particular about what is anki-worthy. I do however, always write these words into my hand written dictionary. That is the book you can see covered in stickers to the far right. I started this last year (although only decorated it recently when I thought it was time I used up some of the hundreds of stickers I have lying around the place). Each page has a sticker in the top left corner, with hiragana on. They're in kana order too. I write everything in Japanese in this book, including the definitions. The definitions have to be understandable to me, so are usually simple things like, '...と同じ意味。'. 

So there's just that thick white book left.. I actually described this on the old forum as I've had it a while now. This is where I record notes on my video journal. I don't write up all of them any more, as I'm making several a week now that it is less of a chore to speak. I have lists of 'useful phrases', as well as subject-specific vocabulary such as 'words for talking about cats' and so on. I use them less these days, but it can be handy to read over these lists before I start making a journal, so that words are fresher in my mind.  

As these are basically all the notebooks I need when I study, I have a box to keep them in. This way, I can carry them from room to room. I still often use my big basket that I mentioned on the old forum, but only if I also have a stack of textbooks to lug from room to room. Oh and of course, I still have a little pink 'study bag' that I throw into my backpack to take my tablet, marukochan book and jpod notebook to work in! 



There's room for it, but I don't keep my weekly planner in here. This is always, without fail, next to where I sit in the living room. 

So, how do you organise your study? Do you have a filofax like Jacob was thinking about using? Or maybe you keep everything digitally on your PC? Do you have ring binders of notes and things you've printed off the Internet? Do you also like cute stationary, or do you prefer more mature-looking books to show how serious you are about studying?  

Next year, I really want to start a filofax so everything can be kept together. I'd thought of that after I'd asked JP and my mum for the Kitty notebooks, or I'd have done it this year. I want one with an i-pad compartment, and hopefully somewhere I can hang a keychain from!  

[Jembru]

There's no stopping me.. I went out to buy a bed, and came back with yet more stationary. I found a mini clipboard and pad that matches my day planner. I decided I definitely needed it, despite having loads of pretty notepads. I need to be stopped, I really do! ^^

And... I definitely didn't also buy a bunch of pretty oriental notebooks and a little book of stickers and mini post-it notes.. definitely not!

[Jembru]

Hmm, I thought I'd written about this here, but it must have been another thread. Well, anyway, I now time my study sessions so that I stay focused on the task, but also don't try to learn more than my brain can handle in one go. I learnt that 45 minutes is the longest we should go without a break before we start overloading our brains and forgetting what we've been learning. Most of my sessions require 2 40 minute blocks and jpod sessions often run into 3, but I'm definitely finding that timing my sessions is helpful. It stops me from drifting off and starting to tidy up, or check out gaiwa, or watch youtube videos or any of the many things I distract myself with when I'm meant to be studying.

I was setting a timer on my phone, but I've recently started using this;

www.online-stopwatch.com/timer/40minutes/

I thought I'd share it somewhere in case others feel that timing their study sessions could benefit them (and it's not just studying Japanese that this applies to!)

Oh, and I've started 2 new notebooks since I last posted here: one for usage notes (collocations and other details pertaining to the more natural ways to use words) and a book for keeping all my notes from authentic material such as videos, podcasts, books and so on: I basically just list words I've had to look up and any interesting grammar or usage I noticed.

So this brings my notebooks to:

-kanji
-language exchange
-grammar
-usage
-video journals
-hand-written dictionary
-jpod lessons
-authentic material
-hand-written journal

And while not strictly notebooks, also..
-week to view day planner
-tablet for anki
-chococat cards
-tick box chart (for checking I've covered everything each week)
-lang-8 feedback (this is a file on my laptop , but I usually end up recording the information in my notebooks too)

No wonder I needed a new bookcase ^^

[chocopie]

I just noticed this thread because Jembru mentioned it in another one. So here is the daily routine I try to follow.

1) Anki
I have one deck of sentences for reading practice and another for practising writing kanji.

2) Reading
I set a small goal of reading for at least 10min. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as I read for at least 10min straight without spending too much time looking stuff up. A small goal like 10min everyday is definitely attainable so it's easy to keep up with.

3) Listening
I have a half hour journey to uni each day so I usually listen to a podcast or when I have more time I'll watch some drama or a film.

[Jembru]

I'm so jealous Chocopie! I realise I have no business being jealous of someone who worked to get where they have, but short of killing, I'd do anything to reach a point where my study was more like maintaining a skill rather than having to actively study.

You've inspired me with the '10 minutes of reading' idea. Currently, I've set 'being able to join in with everyday conversations' as my long-term goal. I know that unless I achieve this, I'll never move beyond the intermediate level of study, and I've been stuck here for 2 years. I have to move on eventually. I have to! If I don't stop pushing myself, I'll hopefully achieve my goal within the next year. I THINK I'm slowly approaching that level, for the first time ever, I can actually feel my improvement from month to month. I've overestimated by ability in the past though, so I'm proceeding with caution and trying not to get too excited, as I may have much further to go than I think. 

Assuming I DO achieve my first long-term goal this year, my next goal will be to patch up any gaps in my JLPT knowledge. I don't like that I refer to my ability in reference to the European framework of reference for languages (because I used to teach English, so this is how I recognise people's language ability), when the rest of the Japanese learning community refers to the JLPT levels. I AM studying at around the upper intermediate level (B2) but that's working towards, I definitely wouldn't say I've comfortably achieved these yet. This level is defined by;

-Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation.*
-Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
-Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

*Except I can't read kanji well enough to claim this for text. Also for 'producing text' I'm only referring to typing, not handwriting, but as a former teacher, I know this does count. My 'specialist subject' would have to be Minecraft though. I can comfortably follow most lets plays, spotlights and tutorials, without too much trouble.

This does not mean I can claim to be equivalent to someone studying to sit N2 though, but when I say 'upper intermediate' some people might assume this is what I mean. I could never pass the JLPT and wouldn't even attempt it. There is still far too much that an N2 student would know, that I'm yet to study. In fact, there's plenty at N3 and N4 I don't know, and conversely there are things at N1 I DO know. I might match an N2 in verbal interactions though, I've never tried to converse with someone studying at N2 level. My guess would be that their vocabulary would outstrip mine too much though.

So yeah, I need to bridge those skill gaps so I CAN tell people roughly where I am on a scale that makes sense to anyone besides me! When I start that, I'll definitely be using your 10 minutes reading idea! I really hope I can start this sooner rather than later...

[chocopie]

Jembru

I know that unless I achieve this, I'll never move beyond the intermediate level of study, and I've been stuck here for 2 years. I have to move on eventually. I have to!

You will do it although you probably won't realise until a bit after!

When I start that, I'll definitely be using your 10 minutes reading idea! I really hope I can start this sooner rather than later...

I think you could easily start it sooner, after all it's a mere 10 minutes of your day! You just need to choose something that's at the right level. I'm not really doing it to learn new words and grammar but to simply practise reading for the sake of being able to read faster. I used to read a lot of educational stuff aimed at children because I would already have all the necessary background information and it's written in a clear way. Plus you pick up different ways to explain things in Japanese which then makes it easier to explain things yourself when you're not sure how to say something.

Sites I like:
Kids 学園 - particularly the 科学の不思議探検 section
キッズサイエンティスト - more science (I'm a scientist in case you can't tell)
Japan Foreign Trade Council's Kid's Site - Otherwise I would never practise the vocab I've learnt relating to trade/economy. It's an incredibly cute and friendly site.
man@bow - learn about the economy! YEAH! The 基礎から学ぼう section is good. 
キッズヤフー - stuff for primary school kids

[Jembru]

Woah, those sites look great! For easy reading, I usually either read that Chibimaruko manga book I have, or use NHK's website and the reading section of a series called 'o-hanashi no kuni'. That's for very small kids ^^ I'm expecting those to be taken down pretty soon though.

Science is good! My degree is in biological sciences, so I still have that curiosity.

I guess I could give it a try, my schedule is pretty packed as it is, but maybe I could find 10 minutes while at work. I mean.. I'm at work now, and this took me well over 10 minutes to write. I always take forever to write forum posts. It's a real issue.. especially annoying that I still misspell, or write things like 'it's' when I meant 'its'. I do know better, but I'm technologically challenged. So if I managed to write this, I could have been reading something in that time.

[Jembru]

What is wrong with me? I started using my Kuromi stationary back in August and I never shared a photo? I mean, as obsessed as I am about my notes, this seems very out of character..

Okay fixed! ^^

As I keep saying, I'm currently focusing on reading and writing so I can study mainly monolingually next year. Next year I will be using My Melody stationary. A friend of mine brought me back a set of 3 My Melody notebooks from Japan last year (actually, she went a bit mad and got me a whole goody-bag of Melo-chan merch.. I'm forever in her debt for that). They were so beautiful that I didn't want to use them. So I decided that I wouldn't write in them until I could write in them entirely in Japanese. So it's earning the right to use these books that is motivating me to improve my written Japanese (and why neatness is so important to me). I like my stationary to be themed though, so I've bought a few other bits of My Melody stationary.. notebooks, stickers and a 2015 schedule book from Japan over the last few months. Of course, I'll bore you with photos of THAT in January too (bet you can't wait ^^).

I often wonder if it is really Japanese that I am obsessed over, or if it is the act of studying itself.. If I wasn't so obsessed with buying stationary, would I have concentrated on studying for as long as I have? Makes me wonder...

[Jade]

Your stationery is really cute, Jembru, I'm jealous! lol

Actually I have a question for you! Have you ever taken a huge break from studying and then started again? If so, how'd you get back into it from there?

I just realised last week that I hadn't actually studied Japanese in like a year, nor made any attempts to work on improving my Japanese. I don't actually study well (I was one of those annoying students who just skated by without studying at all) and now that I actually want to start studying I get so frustrated at it just being the same stuff over and over that I drop it for months on end again.

Any advice? ❤