Hi! My name is Steven. I was born and raised in New Mexico and I’ve always been fascinated by the Japanese language, food, and culture. For as long as I can remember the #1 item on my bucket list has been to visit and experience Japan in person. Well I took the first step and opened a savings account specifically to save up for a nice long vacation. So now that I’ve made a sort of commitment to actually realize my dream, I thought “why stop there? why not enhance my future trip by learning the language as well?”. I already speak Spanish and German, apart from English, as well; and knowing the language before visiting the countries that speak it made my trips and visits infinitely more enjoyable and more inclusive.

So here I am, taking the plunge and ready to learn! I’ve also become quite the Anime and Manga fan, and it sure would be great to be able to enjoy those without the distraction of having to read subtitles or trying to track down translated copies.

So any tips, tricks, and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. And I look forward to interacting with you all on these forums as well.