Hello all!

Terry from Silicon Valley introducing myself. I am learning Japanese since I want to be able to read Japanese literature in its native tongue, as well as being able to sate my Otaku-esque lust and be able to comprehend all the manga and anime I watch/read without needing translation or subtitles. I also fancied going on a motorcycle tour of the southern islands in a year or two and would like to be able to communicate well with the local populace.

I have one year of college level Japanese under my belt. And have taken 6 months of adult-level introductory Japanese at a Japanese school in San Francisco. I am better for both my experiences, so I am well-acquainted with the level of “hurt” you are in store for with learning Japanese. That said, I think I am trying TextFugu in the hopes that there will be a greater level of structure and consistency surrounding the learning. It may be different for others, but my college textbook was a 400 page binder of photocopied lessons that was created in the early late 80′s. My most recent experiences again included photocopied lessons, dozens of Kanji, but more recently was supplemented with use of the “Japanese For Busy People” textbook. As the classes moved to intermediate, we still had the same deluge of writing assignments, vocab, etc., a slew of Kanji presented to us for reading/writing, and some for primarily reading, while reverting to a text made in 1991.

I am here because I am genuinely frustrated with learning the language, and am feeling that my ability to internalize the language is damaged by the unstructured nature of its presentation. I do not fault my teachers at all, and they have been doing their job teaching people for years on end. Still I wonder if TextFugu is the “rethink” that I hope it was. Presenting the language, and all its “hardness,” while enabling me to encode what I learn systemically. I hated cramming things into my mind to pass the quizzes and tests, only for it to fall by the wayside since we did not review the material consistently.

I am chuffed to join other folks on this journey…

• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by  Terry Bates. Reason: Added more details about Japanese background
• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by  Terry Bates.
• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by  Terry Bates.
• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by  Terry Bates.