Despite my 17 year fascination with Japanese, I've never taken a Japanese class. I've been studying on and off over the years on my own-- not very successfully, of course, since language is a social endeavor. Studying a language alone is like learning to play tennis alone against a backboard.
Japanese has always been my hobby, my escape from the world of technical writing and software architecture. But now economic and personal circumstances enable me to go back to school. So, I've signed up for my first Japanese class. School starts on Monday, August 26.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
August 10, 2002
Comments
Glad to hear it! Gambatte ne!
You know, I sort of went the opposite route, but have ended up in roughly the same spot. I first studied Japanese in high school (in Hawaii, one could do such things), back in...oh...1981 (argh, 20 years ago!; excuse me while I wince). And off and on (mostly off), I've taken classes here and there, at university, community colleges, private schools. I always did well, but I retained oh so little during my extended breaks from learning (mainly due to financial circumstances).
Now I find myself in Japan, and regretting terribly that I didn't apply myself more, or be more consistent in my learning. Not that it would have gotten me any closer to being fluent, there's really nothing for that other than speaking a language every day, but I sure would have had more of a headstart than I currently enjoy.
The point of this story is that schools are terribly expensive here, yet I feel that if I'm going to progress at all, I want to have the grammatical foundation only a class can provide (and living here provides a wonderful after-school "lab" in which to apply that foundation)... hopefully come September I'll be able to start a class, of some sort. It remains to be seen whether this will get me any closer to actually being proficient in the language, but i'm hopeful. It's funny, everyday I feel I inch just a little bit closer to turning the corner, but at the same time I can see that the corner is moving ahead as well. But rather than feel like Sisyphus, I feel more determined to press on. As others have said, the journey in this case is the destination....
Comment by: Kurt. Posted August 10, 2002 09:10 AM.
Why, Kurt. If you were in high school in the 80s, you are just a spring chicken compared with me! In fact, when I went to school yesterday to register, it hit me that I will no doubt be the oldest person in class. Not only are the other students young enough to be my children, but they are, in actuality, a good 5 years younger than my son.
You and I really did take a different route to the same place. I lived in Japan before I managed to learn much Japanese. I thought I would "pick it up" like those characters marooned in stories. There were many reasons why this didn't work for me...hmmm, I feel another post coming on.
Comment by: M Sinclair Stevens. Posted August 10, 2002 04:38 PM.
As Japanese has been for you, English seems to be my lifetime hobby.I believe as long as you keep studying the language, there will come a breakthrough in a certain period. Otagai, gambarimasho!
Comment by: Kiyo. Posted August 15, 2002 01:13 AM.
Share Your Thoughts
I'm going back to school to study...wait for it...Japanese!