Trying to get back into learning Japanese

I’m a little embarrassed to write this, but after living in Japan, for almost 4 years, I still don’t write or speak at the level of an elementary school student. This embarrassing realization recently caused me to start trying to find a way to get back into studying Japanese on a daily basis.

At the moment I’m trying to channel the enthusiasm of my younger self and try tackling some of the older JRPGs I played when I was younger. This time playing them only in Japanese. I’m starting with Final Fantasy VII and will tackle others in my collection when I feel comfortable.

I’m currently planning to play through a tiny bit of the game while writing down everything I see. I don’t stop until I fill up a page in my pocket notebook. I then take that page and work through the words and phrases in a larger notebook. It’s an odd approach to learning Japanese, so I think it’s still best to do the other, more standard, methods too. Luckily I still have books and other resources for that. Having a game to play will help make things a bit more exciting at times.