My name is Ryan. Long time lurker so I finally took the plunge and joined the Text Fugu community.

I’ve been studying Japanese on and off over the past 15 years (high school and dabbled afterwards). I’ve mastered the basics, but that’s basically it. I have tons of books, but I guess life gets in the way (aka I get lazy from time to time). I lived in Japan off and on in those 15 years (as a child and later as an adult). While living in Japan, my listening skills were awesome; I was able to understand Japanese conversations, but my ability to reply was severely limited. I hated that. I recently got married and my wife and step daughter are Japanese. Their English is top notch, but my Japanese is still bleh.

We plan on moving back to Japan and I want to improve on my existing skills. I want to have a conversation with my wife’s father. Most of all, I want to have a conversation with my step daughter.

I’m super motivated now! Looking forward to staying active on the site and working with everyone.