I already talked about this, but the most important thing in the world is that you study consistently over a long period of time.

However, doing so requires a huge amount of effort. A huge amount of discipline. A huge amount of motivation.

Sounds horrible, yeah? But it's actually not that bad, if you take the right approach. That is, if you have a good mindset.

Imagine that this wheel is your study system:

Anything that we can call “studying" goes inside of this wheel. Reading textbooks; attending classes; listening to audio lessons; doing flashcards; having conversations with friends, teachers, co-workers—all of these go inside of the wheel.

(As a quick note, reading this study guide does not go inside of the wheel, because we are not studying Japanese right now. Please see the notes about Active VS Productive studying introduced later on in the Mindset Prep section.)

In my experience, all of the types of productive studying fit into three categories:

1. Learning—This is talking about any time we put new language into our brains. A word you hadn't heard before. A new grammar concept. The correct pronunciation of a word.
   
   
2. Review—This is talking about not forgetting language that we have already learned. There are active forms of review (such as flashcards), and then there are passive forms of review (like hearing words that you've learned in a conversation, or recalling words as you read novels, newspapers, etc.).
   
   
3. Practice—This is talking about making sentences in Japanese. Talking to teachers and friends, struggling to find the right word, the right way to express yourself. Writing essays, articles, emails, journals. Anytime we take the Japanese swirling around in our brains and try to put it out into the world, we are practicing.

So this is what our new wheel looks like:

Every time you turn that wheel, you will get better at Japanese. Days that you don't turn the wheel, you don't get better at Japanese.

It really is that simple.

Let's say that you want to ride your bike across the continental United States. A Zen monk told you that if you rode your bike across the US, you would automatically be super fluent at Japanese. Sweet!

What's the catch?

Well, you have to ride this bike:

N-3000 Super Study Bike

Days you ride this bike are days that you get closer to completing your goals. If you go a day without riding the bike, then that's one more day that you won't be at your destination (=fluency).

Smart studying, which is what this guide is really all about, means that you have a very nice bike. It has gears so that you can get over hills. You can go further by pedaling less. It's less likely to break down. You can ride it much further without getting nearly as worn out.

Consistent studying is like riding this bike every day. Your muscles grow. It gets easier. The first day that you ride a bike, it might be really difficult to go eight miles. But if you rode the bike eight miles every day, then I'm guessing that after a few months it would seem really easy, because you get stronger. Learning a language is very similar. It gets easier. I promise, it gets easier.

This study system will require a lot of initial effort, but the idea is to get to a level where you enjoy studying Japanese as quickly as possible.

For example, I can watch a TV show, understand it, enjoy it, and I'm passively studying Japanese. But I couldn't do this when I first started studying. I wasn't even close. I can read a novel in Japanese, and it's relaxing and entertaining, much like reading a novel in English is. But I couldn't do this when I first started studying.

I want to help people to get to that level, too. Because there were so many times when I almost gave up (and a few times that I actually did). But it really is possible to reach a level where studying is not a chore. Instead, it becomes integrated into your life, the same way your native language is. You've just got to keep pedaling that bike. Keep going. Turn those wheels 100,000 times if you have to.

Because those wheels will take you somewhere.