when did the grammar start to click for you?

[trail shard]

I've been going over the grammar primer/cure dolly vids for a bit just to get a general gist of japanese grammar that can help me with comprehension but I find that despite understanding what particle does what, etc. i still don't understand the "nuances" of the sentence? for example ill get every vocab word in a sentence but totally get the grammar wrong- mixing up who did what in the sentence to whom and so on.

of course, im only on level 1 so i should take it easy and trust in the immersion, but im mostly curious as to how those of you in later stages realized the grammar just made sense- was it a sudden eureka moment where everything clicked? did you spend time parsing through a sentence to figure out who did what in it until you got it? i guess i would just like some anecdotes cause my brain feels all twisted up about it lol. thanks!

[wild yacht]

All of these things and other elements - grammar 'points,' vocab, and the way people say what they're saying (think of all the different ways you can say "ive got some news for you"), all come together to contribute to what someone means when they communicate. They're all pieces of the puzzle and the question of when you get every single one of a single type is kind of hard to understand in isolation in my opinion.

If you want to think of all these things as completely separate elements, really its just for the sake of making talking about them easier. You'll understand bits and pieces of each of these things better the more you run into them.

I think it makes a bit more sense to think about when you start to understand messages and content better as a whole, since the differences between all these parts that contribute to comprehension is just academic. And repeated exposure in lots of different situations is how you get better understandings of all of them

So you'll get better at all of it gradually. But if you're like me, you might notice large chunks of progress happen all at once - "wow I understood everything that happened in that scene!" Really it was a slow burn but wins like this can make it feel more modular.

[trail shard]

thanks for the response! youre very right, especially with regards to not thinking about these language elements in isolation- beyond "tolerating the ambiguity", going into the refold method has Largely been me trying to let go of my very linear and structured way of thinking- im always doing things step-by-step ; "i should be sure X Y Z is down pat before moving on" when language learning doesnt really work that way! just gotta keep chugging forward and trusting in the process. much appreciated !

[agile mulch]

I learned grammar almost entirely from immersion, and while it is gradual and I am still learning more grammar all the time, I think the very basics started to make sense within the first few months

It feels like I am past all of the most basics grammar

I still learn new things about basics grammar but I know them all pretty well

And the thing that took the longest was probably conjugations

Conjugations took a long time to learn just from immersion lol

[trail shard]

ooh that's very cool! gives me hope that itll just click someday, thanks for sharing! and lol i can imagine - conjugations are a nightmare but at least its not french conjugations 💀

[versed arch]

Just also keep in mind you get used to the level you are at very fast. You'll have realizations of improvement and increased comprehension but then you'll feel like you've learned nothing because you get used to that level

It will be a LONG time before you truly feel like "wow I'm really good at this language"

you'll constnatly be wanting the next level. Enjoy the journey, not the destination.

[trail shard]

very true very true 🙏🏼 always something to keep in mind. thanks!

[agile mulch]

Grammar never clicked for me, it just slowly makes more sense until you mostly get how some type of it works

But it doesn’t just click all at once