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Secrets to Smoother SRSing, Part 2: Fun
This is part 2 of a multi-part series on smoother SRSing.
At the risk of repeating myself, while sentences seem central to the so-called AJATT method, and while they represent a move away from the so-called “traditional” vocabulary-and-grammar approach, I don’t see them as the so-called core per se. The actual process as I saw and implement(ed) it centered around having fun. FUN.
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In fact, this whole thing is so all about fun that something with “fun” in it was one of the original domain name candidates. (When you see a word too many times, doesn’t it start to sound weird?) I don’t know why I picked something as long and unwieldy as alljapaneseallthetime, but there you go. FUN. FUN is so central to this that for a while there I was toying with making it like the closing line of every blog post, kind of like how Tony Robbins goes: “live with passion”, and Steve Pavlina goes: “live consciously” and Captain Planet goes: “the power is yours”, and Catholic priests go: “don’t cry, it’s just the special way Daddy loves you”. Get this etched into your head:
No fun = No good.
No, really. If it is not fun, stop now. STOP. STOP!!!
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Stop and either change to something else or figure out a way to make it fun. When you get down to it, this is something that may require getting back in touch with your feelings. I know, sounds gay. And by “gay”, I mean black people and Jews. Many schooled people have grown numb to their own desires, interests and lifestyle patterns – that’ll happen after years of being forced to do boring things with a roomful of other prisoners. You’re so used to “no pain no gain” and just pressing through. Stop. That crap works when other people are forcing you to do something, but it just won’t fly – not for long, anyway – when you’re in charge.
If you’re bored/tired, stop entering items. If you’re bored/tired, stop doing reps. If you’re bored/tired stop reading that book or watching that movie. WTF, man, what are you doing? Watching a movie that’s boring you, are you insane? Stop, OK? Mmmm kay? This is not a failure. This doesn’t mean SRSing “doesn’t work” or “isn’t for you” and it doesn’t mean that you’re “lazy” or “undisciplined”. It just means there are limits to your concentration, limits to how long you can run that little head-engine of yours in SRS gear. Very real limits. Lower than you wish. But don’t worry, after some rest, you’ll be ready again. Stay in the language, just do something else.
Thanks for reading. Check back soon for the next installment: part 3!
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