  Over at the mediatinker.com blog, another expat shares his frustration with trying to learn Japanese in this post, urlLink Never Ending Study . I thought I would share with you all the advice that I gave him. This is the way I describe language learning. Think of concentric or nested cups. The smallest cup in the middle is listening. Once you fill your listening cup then it will naturally overflow into the speaking cup. Likewise, when the speaking cup starts to overflow it will naturally go into the reading cup. Finally when the reading cup is full it is only natural to start writing. Now is it possible to write when your listening cup is only half full? Of course, but it requires great effort. It doesn't flow. My advice for the language learner. Find out where it is flowing and spend your time there.
Don't be afraid of new challenges, but if it requires extreme effort, it probably is not helping you to become better at the language. Of course none of this makes any sense at all unless there is a steady of stream being poured into the first listening cup. Even if you quit classes, make sure that you are still receiving steady Japanese input. Good luck. Jonathan 
