One thing’s for sure: I don’t find Japanese easy to learn. The grammar seems reasonably straightforward, but my inability to read very many kanji, which are the Chinese characters used in most Japanese writing, means I can’t read books very quickly, even with the aid of good dictionaries. However, I have found one really good [...]
Today (2008-10-08) was an auspicious day, as my Japanese language class graduated from the 初級 (beginning level) class to the 中級 (intermediate level) one. After having had a couple of weeks off to decompress and prepare, the day started with an introduction to the faculty for the intermediate level course. Some of the instructors are [...]
Learning a foreign language is hard. I studied French for several years, including while I lived and worked in France, and that taught me how important it is to always keep going. But nothing has taught me perseverance in quite the same degree as learning Japanese. I’m currently studying Japanese full-time at the YMCA Japanese Language Institute in Osaka. It’s a fantastic program, but I’m not sure that any system can fully prepare a westerner for learning an ideographic language: you have to just jump in the deep end and keep your head above water.
I registered recently to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) this year, in December 2008. One of the perennial problems with the JLPT is that it’s been offered only once a year, on the same date worldwide. This means that if you fail the test, you have to wait a full year before retaking [...]
