I have been in Japan for almost a year now. Unfortunately, my Japanese has not improved very much at all. This has been weighing down on me for quite a while now. I mean, it's pretty sad and I think most of you will agree with me on that! I'm not going to waste time on excuses in this blog. Let's just get into it!
First of all, why?
The first and most obvious answer that comes to mind is: I live in Japan! Everything is in Japanese! Everyone speaks Japanese! So if I want to have a life that's more than just hanging out with other foreigners and fumbling around with Japanese, then I better get my act together!
The fact that I live in Japan is a good reason to learn Japanese but I think it's still weak sauce. I should have a goal...or goals! And the reasons should be passionate! Here's a list:
-I want to be able to understand my naginata sensei when she tells me what to do. Right now I can understand very rudimentary commands like "cut," "forward," "faster," and so on...and I'm pretty "clever" (as the old women like to say) so I can mimic their movements very well.
-I want to be able to converse with the parents of the children at the school I teach at. Many can speak English quite well but I want to be able to praise and tease their children with them in Japanese! I feel there is a barrier between us and I would have more fun if I could speak Japanese.
-I want to make Japanese friends! I DO have Japanese friends, who can speak pretty damn good English! But once again, it's different when you can speak their language or at least understand as much of their language as they do of yours. Plus it would be cool to make friends with people who know very little English. It's a vicious cycle- want to learn Japanese to speak to Japanese people to practice my Japanese but must learn Japanese to speak to Japanese people. I think I could have conveyed that cycle a bit better but actually, I think my English is diminishing as well. Ha!
-I think there is a wealth of information that I'm missing out on by not being able to understand Japanese.I have become pretty fond of the museum on Hokkaido University's campus. They have pretty cool exhibits and it's free. I really enjoy the anthropological displays they have- some are fortunately translated into English- but I think I'm missing out on a lot by not being able to read. I don't know if I'll be able to get to that level but I hope to.
-I want to be able to travel around Japan with confidence.I can get by (and I'll get into that more later) but wouldn't it be nice to strike up a conversation with locals in a town? Have more than just a few words about where a certain thing is? People are very friendly here and I know that if I could just speak with them and understand them better, it'd make things so much nicer!
Well, that's all for now...I think I can add to this some other time but I think that's enough to get the motivation going...
Let's talk about something positive now: What CAN I do in Japanese
-I can read things that are in hiragana. This is good. I stumble sometimes and I am a little slow sometimes but I can read hiragana! However, most things are written with kanji. Womp, womp.
-I can read things that are in katakana but WITH DIFFICULTY most of the time. There is just something about this character set that I just can't wrap my head around. Some of the moms tell me that their kids have trouble too with katakana so I don't feel so bad. Haha. You would think that since katakana is mainly used for foreign words I would be OK but boy, do they use a lot of foreign words! And sometimes they put words in katakana that are native Japanese just BECAUSE!
-I can read SOME kanji and I can recognize many as kanji that I see everyday. I was recently looking at a wall of names at our dojo and counted over 20 kanji that I recognize and can read. Yay! Now only 1000+ more to go until I'm somewhat literate!
-I can order food, ask where something, talk about the weather a little bit, introduce myself, invite people to eat with me, etc. Very basic survival Japanese. And I've learned a few phrases that make Japanese people laugh because it's very natural Japanese.
-Even though I don't understand what people are saying, I've gotten pretty good figuring out what they mean. This has become a valuable trait but not something I want to use as a crutch.
I'm sure there's more but I want to move on to other topics and post this ASAP!
A funny thing that happens to me often: I went to watch a judo class at one of the city gymnasiums. After class, I went to the sensei and introduced myself and indicated that I was interested in joining the club. (I used all my very best Japanese and learned a few phrases just for the occasion!) After my monologue, he spoke to me in Japanese. At which point I panicked a bit, stumbled through an explanation that I'd practiced some Judo in America and whatever else I could think of to say in Japanese and then he just proclaims "OH! You're not Japanese!" Hahaha. This man must have thought I was the most awkward or most stupid Japanese girl he's ever met before realizing that I wasn't Japanese. This happens to me a lot. It stresses me out a little because people expect me to be able to speak in Japanese. Should I wear a sign that says "foreigner"?
Anyway, funny stories and worries aside, I am fully devoting myself to working on my Japanese. Ryan always tells me I need a fixed schedule and a routine and I know he's right. So I'm making a schedule that makes me study Japanese everyday. But more than that (because I've tried making a schedule already but still fail) I will make weekly goals. I've taken out "my Hello Kitty Dreams come true Happy Book" and I'm scheduling time and once I get a coworker to translate a few things in the planner for me, I'll be on my way to becoming ぺらぺら！ (ぺらぺら = fluent)
So that's my introduction. Stay tuned for more stories from my journey into にほんご。 (にほんご = Japanese)
P.S. The title of this blog is "Japanese is hard, isn't it?!" Written in Romaji is looks (and sounds) like this: "nihongo wa muzukashi desune."
N.B. And the URL of the blog is "ganbarijane." "Ganbari" means perseverence and is used in phrases like "ganbatte" which means "Good Luck!" and like "ganbarimasu" which means "Do your best!"
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