Hi! I’m Allison. I first discovered my love for Japanese language and culture when I saw anime films and TV shows and read manga. Death Note was my first favorite Japanese anime show. I took a year of Japanese in university. To answer the question “Why am I learning Japanese?”: I want to travel to Japan and stay there for a long period of time and, while I am there, I want to be able to speak fluently to people who live there. In general, I love learning languages, and I want to be fluent in many languages. I took five years of French in high school, and I think that the way I was taught French was unhelpful because ultimately I am not fluent in French. I helped my boyfriend learn Spanish and I think Spanish is extremely difficult and ridiculous as a language, as is French. In sum, I love Japanese culture and lifestyle, and I believe Japanese is the most practical language for the modern world, especially because it is essentially a “neutral” or “un-gendered” language. Gendered pronouns are rarely needed. Everyday objects and nouns are not gendered like in romantic languages. Now that we have established within the past thirty years that gender is an abstract and nonessential concept, I think we should embrace languages that do not rely on gendering. And Japanese is one of those languages! Which is why it is my favorite language, and I want to be fluent in it.