I’m Joel, I live in Australia. I’ve been a fan of anime and manga for quite some time. I eventually found the time (and money) to actually visit Japan with a friend last August – managing to get by with a phrasebook and charades – and I absolutely loved the place. I plan to go back someday, even if it’s just for another holiday, and as part of that (and to make my CV look a bit shinier) I’m currently studying for a Diploma of Language Studies (in Japanese) at the University of New South Wales – I’ve just finished year one (of three) with an HD average, and I’ll be sitting for the JLPT N5 next week.

I found this site (or more specifically, Tofugu) while Googling for common errors made in kanji, and I fell in love with its constant practice of asking “why? why? why?” – I’ve been doing the same with my lecturers all year. “Why does ‘sumimasen’ have the -masen negative verb ending? Why does ‘onegaishmasu’ end with the ‘to do’ verb?” et cetera. I read through the free season, and though it wasn’t terribly useful to me (I learnt hiragana in a single afternoon back in March, and mastered it over the next few weeks) the idea still intrigued me, and when I got word of this 33% off sale, I decided to sign up – yeah, I’m cheap, so sue me. =P

I see this as a handy tool to supplement my class learning. We’re using the Nakama textbook, and I’ve also been studying with Japanese for Busy People at home. My future plans are still somewhat up in the air – maybe I’ll apply for the JET program after I graduate, or look for a Japanese-speaking job here in Australia. I’m also hoping maybe I can attend the Ritsumeikan Winter Japanese Course next year – I couldn’t afford it this year.

Anyway, I think I’ve yattered enough. If anyone’s interested, my friend and I kept a blog of our Japan travels. You can find it at http://japan.jrudd.org – try notto be too amused at all the things I might have mistakenly thought were true back then =)