日本語と私

I have this dream that I desperately want to make into a reality.

That is to enjoy a good conversation in Japanese with interesting people. To engage in dialogue with them and understand their stories. To be able to offer them encouragement or share with them my insights. To be able to ask them questions about their views on different aspects of life or even simple matters. 

It is this dream that motivates me to persist in my pursuit of improving my Japanese language proficiency.

My background in learning Japanese goes way back. When I was ten or eleven years old, a Japanese teacher started visiting my classroom to teach us Japanese. Perhaps her lessons were less than an hour and I can't say for sure how many times per week she visited. But strange enough, her lessons were the first memory I have of learning another language. I am guessing my school agreed to let her teach the lessons on a trial basis however because within one year, she stopped visiting my classroom and I never had the opportunity to learn Japanese in that school again.

The next language I took classes for was Spanish, along with Latin. Perhaps because I attended a private school, Latin was a mandatory language class for students to take.

After my aforementioned trial period of learning Japanese, I don't recall thinking much about Japanese language again until I was fourteen years old. It was at that time that the popular Japanese animation series "Sailor Moon" began to air on American cable television. I was a fan of the show and enjoyed drawing anime style characters in my sketchbook. The show was dubbed so I didn't hear any Japanese but I knew the show took place in Japan so I made that connection.

On a side note, when I was nine years old, my mother, brother and I did start practicing a Buddhist religion which originated in Japan. For whatever reason though, I don't recall taking interest in anything Japanese related simply because I said Buddhist prayers or went to meetings. Not until I was a teenager did that interest begin to bubble up.

Through anime I discovered J-pop and other types of Japanese artists. It was so fun for me that whenever I remember those early days of my youth I will simultaneously recall particular Japanese pop songs playing in the background. It didn't bother me at all that I didn't understand 100% of the lyrics. I loved the sound of the language and the different beats and melodies were fun to listen to. I liked American music too but listening to different Japanese artists was a nice change for me.

Fast forward to now. When I was younger, I never imagined I would ever live in Japan and make a living here. But when I first visited Japan in 2009, I knew then it was a place I would like to call "home" some day, if I had the chance. The chance presented itself in February 2015 and from then my life got the fresh start it needed.

Progress made in my Japanese language learning journey: I passed the JLPT N5 and N4 on the first attempts. After failing the N3 I decided to take a break on studying solely for the JLPT and instead focus on just acquiring the language so that listening and speaking could begin to feel like second-nature. I won't make excuses. During the pandemic, I could have studied in the safety of my home more than I did. I confess that my motivation to study had its ups and downs but I never decided "I give up" or "I'll never learn to speak this language". That's all thanks to my dream. 

Ultimately, I am hopeful that I will be able to contribute more and more to Japanese society in my own unique way. For now, that contribution is mainly as an English instructor at a vocational college (and in a couple months, at a Japanese university as well). Without a shadow of a doubt, my dream tells me that all the effort will be worth it.

p.s. Fun fact: one of my favorite Japanese words, one which I first learned many years ago, is 朝飯前。あさめしまえ。piece of cake!