Konnichiwa minnasan!

My name’s Ron, I’m an older dude living New Hampshire.  I want to learn Japanese because I love Japanese cinema and music.  Cinematically, I’m first and foremost a fan of Kurosawa, duh.  But I also enjoy Miike, Ozu, and many others.  I would love to be able to watch Japanese films without subtitles.  If anything, that’s my #1 goal.

I listen to a wide range of Japanese music… Miyavi, the pillows, Shiina Ringo and Tokyo Jihen, eX-Girl, Bo-Peep, Bleach03, Zazen Boys, Maximum The Hormone, Pizzicato Five, toe, Yoko Kanno, Yoshida Brothers… the list goes on.  I wouldn’t mind understanding some of what I’m listening to, or even singing along!

Ironically, I am not a big fan of anime.  No offense to those who love it, it just doesn’t move me.  I got through maybe four episodes of Cowboy Bebop (because I love the music) and maybe a third of Akira.  Blasphemy! you say.  Sorry.  Perhaps once I have a better grasp of the language I’ll discover a love for it.

I’ve previously tried learning the language via the Pimsleur program.  I felt like I was making progress, but there’s something very dry about it.  And being an audio-only program, I often had to take my best guess at exactly what they were saying.  I may still make use of it from time to time, but only as a minor supplement to TextFugu.

I’m really looking forward to diving in!  I’ve already got a pretty good grip on Hiragana but I’m going to do some polishing up before I feel ready to start Season 2.

Talk to you soon!  In English for now, okay? ;-)
ron