Has it hit you that...

you just don't want to hear a word of Japanese when you are feeling down or just tired?

Many of us here are avid learners of the language, and most of us certainly use our leisure time to try to seek any opportunities to learn the language. However, sometimes I do find myself quite annoyed at some Japanese programming. I just had to switch the channel to an English channel. For some reason the fast paced spoken language coupled with hard sounds make me somewhat nervous when I am not 100% focused on the show. This, plus the fact that many Japanese announcers tend to say things at a non-stop rapid pace in a squeaky voice (those who have watched TV Champion on tokyo tv would know what I mean) just made me even more tired. It's not that I am not used to hearing the language since I've been learning it for a few years though...

This realisation somehow made me appreciate the effort of those foreigners who somehow can manage to stay in the country for a long duration.

I feel like this from time to time when I'm tired and, especially, hungry. I'm still at a point where understanding Japanese takes a fair amount of mental energy and sometimes I either don't want to expend it or I don't have any to expend.

But it always passes and then I'm ready to go again.

Same here J44xm, and I agree with the fact when I'm tired it's as if I don't want to hear/think in Japanese

Third that, A few times in Japan I was just too drained to try and figure out what someone was saying.

Since we're at it, how long did it take you to understand spoken japanese without any bigger mental effort?