I can't remember.....Dx

[sarcastic_enigma]

I've been teaching myself Japanese for about 7 months. The only things I have to help me learn Japanese is books from libraries and the internet. I haven't learned as much as I thought I would by now. I think the main problem is that I dont really remember anything I learn. I remember some particles, verbs, nouns, counters, and most of the kana. I'm still working on katakana and forget some hiragana. And it seems that I'm completly uncapable of remembering any kanji. I can see a character and think, "Oh!! I know this one!, Wait...Grr, I cant remember." It's become really fustrating. I don't have a teacher for this, and that might be one reason I'm not doing so well at learning it. I dont think I'm going about learning japanese the right way either. I wont be able to take a Japanese Language class in school for about 2 more years, and I dont want to just postpone learning it for that long. If anyone could give me some advice on how to remember what I read, and maybe what I should start learning first and what to work up to, I would love you for the rest of my life.

[richvh]

Get into the chat and interact with other people. Find some easy and interesting reading matter on the web. (search the forums for "childrens stories" and you'll find several threads giving suggestions.) More than anything else, find a way to use what you've already learned so you retain it.

[Infidel]

rich is completely right. Using what you learn is how you remember it. That is the only way to make the language come alive. Otherwise it is just dead data tables tabulated in the brain.

[Zoidburg]

I havn't learned much Japanese on my own yet (I might be able to take a course this fall, so I'm trying not to dive in head first). At work or something, when you're doing a task, say it in english, then in Japanese. Not sure if you're right? Write it down and look it up when you get home. It's worked well with French, and I assume it'll do the same with Japanese.