About time I introduced myself! I’m getting towards the end of Season 3 now.

Sheer embarrassment brings me here. I’ve been working for Hitachi (日立) Europe for 14 years, based in the UK. I’ve been to Japan 20 times; my boss is Japanese; my closest colleague is Japanese; I’ve a Japanese guy in my team; I speak to Japan by phone almost daily – yet I’ve managed learn nearly no Japanese in all that time. Shocking really.

This year the company finally offered us a Rosetta Stone subscription which I’ve taken up. I am aware of its weaknesses, and it doesn’t really suit the way I learn particularly well, but I must say that it is fantastic for the motivation, and it has really catalysed my learning. So I’ve been spending two or three hours a day immersed in Japanese for the last couple of months – RS, here, WaniKani, JPod101 (for the commute), Anki decks, etc. – and am finding it highly addictive! I’m enjoying TextFugu’s approach: it is a good complement to RS.

My colleagues think it is hilarious as I blurt out malformed sentences in basic Japanese, but they really seem to appreciate the effort I’m putting in (very Japanese!) so it’s worth it for that. Looking forward to the day it all becomes effortless…

Anyway, はじめまして、よろしくお願いします。Thanks for listening!

Ben