NOW THAT I HAVE READ WHAT I WROTE, I AM GOING TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH AND DENSITY OF THIS LONG PARAGRAPH THAT I BET I COULD TURN INTO AN ESSAY! Hello everyone! I’m overjoyed to have finally taken the steps necessary to truly learn, love, and actually understand a language such as Japanese. In school I always struggled to learn a language because of the constant pressure that I felt having to juggle so many classes and tests at once. Now, I take an art class instead which alleviates much pressure and I took this opportunity to learn Japanese, a language that I love, spoken by a society I love. My interest in learning Japanese began when I became greatly fascinated with the samurai. Their code and morals and the way they lived everyday as if it was their last has been a driving force in getting me out of my depression and live. After studying samurai so closely, I began the journey into anime and manga…which is now more of an obsession, like a lot of people. Gradually I researched the real society that some of these shows depict, to see if their customs were being correctly shown. Of course, nobody fights demons and gods, but I am still amazed at how much the honorifics matter, which I just find to be an amazing custom (would you consider it customary or just the way we say Mr. and Mrs.?). The more I learn about a different country, the more I want to experience it, because as Charlemagne said; “To know another language is to have a second soul.” And for me, a second soul is something I very much wish to posses. Basically, to live in Japan, and find a way to experience a different life is a dream of mine, and thats also my motivation behind learning Japanese. Ok, now, I know that writing this much may make me seem as though I have a creepy fascination with Japan, and that I don’t appreciate where I live currently, but this is just how my mind runs, and honestly, this is the only place I could finally dump all of these thoughts because it is a place where many diverse people are trying to learn the same language and will hopefully understand.

Currently, I am actually typing this from school…and have free periods for the rest of the day, so I wanted to ask if this amount of time would actually work as a proper study time for this program. I have been trying to find a good time slot that WILL NOT be disrupted by anything or anyone. At school, I usually find a quiet place to study because everyone else acts like monkeys flinging poop. So, thank you very much for this opportunity to just unload and thank you for a place where support for learning this is provided.

Sincerely, Ben O.